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It's often noted that the early Dutch families are amazingly inbred. Though marrying first cousins are comparatively rare, marrying seconds and third are pretty common. What turns out to be surprising is that this intermarriage seems to have almost been planned. Anne Grant describes the tradition of "companies" in Dutch New York. Children were broken up into various companies, and these companies would compete amongst themselves in various social activities. But, interestingly, no two children from the same immediate family were allowed in the same company, and the companies were split equally by sex. The result? Many children married within their own company. The New York Dutch community described by Grant is one that is centered on the children. Read over Henry's poems and look at his drawings, and you see that same New York Dutch importance of children.