Why Kissam history? If you share the surname Kissam,  you can most likely trace your ancestry to the first Kissam in America in the mid-17th century.  The Kissam family is fortunate to have a documented geneology since 1644, carefully researched by Edward Kissam originally in the late 19th century ("The Kissam Family in America: 1644-1825", published in 1892), and updated by Robert Varick Kissam in 1991.   The existence of a detailed genealogy allows family members to connect their ancestors with historical events, notable individuals, prominent institutions, and the progress of everyday life in America.  The Kissam Family Association aims to explore these connections, past and present. . The Kissam name   In 1892, Edward Kissam published the family's first genealogy, The Kissam Family in America 1644-1825.  He writes: The name of the founder of this family in America, like those of many other families, as the public records show, underwent various changes...and was not fixed until near the close of the seventeenth century, so that of "Kissam" it is most unquestionable, as we say, of American origin. John Kissam, of Flushing, L.I., born July, 1644, of English origin who was the progenitor of this family in America, and then known as John Ocasson [or Ockeson as it was written in the "Albany Records"] had license from the Provincial Secretary dated July 10th, 1667, for marriage with Susannah, a daughter of William Thorne, of Jamaica, L.I.  The same person, under the name of "John Ockeson," purchased a farm of John Smith, February 4th, 1678, on Great Neck, in the same county, to which he then removed.  His sons were Daniel, John, and Thomas.  Under the date of March 26th, 1695, this same individual conveyed to his eldest son a part of the same farm by deed of "John Kissam and Susannah, his wife, to Daniel Kissam," which is recorded in the office of the County of Queens.