The Underhill Society of America

09/18/2026

We’re excited to share a new, easy way to visit the Underhill Society of America website: our new QR Code!

To use it, simply open the camera on your phone, point it at the QR Code, and tap the link that appears on your screen. We’ll include the QR Code in future membership communications so you can reach our website quickly and easily whenever you need it.

09/01/2026

Step Back in Time: Revolutionary War history and the legacy of Hudson Valley Quakers. If you are in the Yorktown, NY area on September 26 or 27, this might be of interest to you! A tour of the 195-year-old Amawalk Friends Meeting House and Sarah (Field) Underhill's story during the time of the Revolutionary War. She and husband, Isaac Underhill, a descendant of Capt. John Underhill through his son Nathaniel, brought up 11 children in a house that still exists today in Yorktown!

08/22/2026

Fun Facts! 🕵

Across New York State, the name Underhill appears on 42 streets, roads, lanes, avenues, courts, trails, or places—from the Bronx north to Yorktown Heights. Westchester County alone has 10 Underhill-named roads, while Nassau County has 8. Each one is a small reminder of how family names, farms, settlements, and old local landmarks often became part of the maps we still use today. And New York is only part of the story—Underhill streets can be found in other states as well. Take a look at the numbers below!

17 - CA
14 – FL
9 – MI
8 - CT
7 – PA
6 - TX
5 – MA, NJ, NC, OR, TN, VA
4 – IL, MO
3 – NH, WI
2- AR, GA, IN, IA, MD, OH, VT
1 – AL, CO, KS, KY, ME, MN, MS, MT, NV, SC, UT, WA

08/17/2026

Underhill vineyards planted by Richard T. Underhill at Croton Point, a peninsula on the east shore of the Hudson River; one hour north of New York City. Engraving in Harper’s Weekly, 1867. The Underhills also developed the hybrids Croton (Delaware x Chasselas de fontainbleau, 1863) and Senasqua (Concord x Black Prince, 1863).
Thomas Pinney says the Underhills were the “first dynasty in American viticulture . . . The scale and the long life of their vineyards give them a claim to be the real founders of the winegrowing industry in New York.” Croton Historical Society
https://crotonhistory.org/2013/02/27/the-underhill-vineyards-1867

07/31/2026

07/25/2026

Fun Fact!

Hollywood film and television actress Jane Waddington Wyatt, b 1910 NJ d 2006 CA, was a 10th generation Capt. John Underhill descendant through the Capt.’s daughter, Hannah. Launching her career on stage and screen after studying at Barnard College, Jane was best known for her role in “Father Knows Best” for which she won 3 Emmy awards as best actress.

She appeared in over two dozen films during Hollywood’s golden age, including Lost Horizon (1937) and None But the Lonely Heart (1944) with Cary Grant. Later, she played Amanda, Spock’s human mother, in Star Trek and reprised the role in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).

07/10/2026

In 1932, Henry C. Shelley researched and wrote "John Underhill, Captain of New England and New Netherlands", though only 500 hard cover copies were published. In 2025, Underhill Society of America Board member M. J. Joseph recognized the importance of making this work more widely available to readers, researchers, and anyone interested in adding it to their library.

We are pleased to share that the book is now available online in softcover through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The new 2026 edition was fully underwritten by M. J. Joseph, who ensured that it was faithfully reproduced from the 1932 edition, including its images. The cover of the book has been revised to now include an image.