OUR VAN VALKENBURG HERITAGE
By Paul C. Van Valkenburgh President, N.A.V.V.F. (undated)

As Van Valkenburgs, or as descendants of Van Valkenburgs, we have a most unusual, distinctive and really fascinating family background.

It is unusual because most of those individuals in America bearing the Van Valkenburg name are usually related, being descendants of one Dutch couple who came to America not long after the famed Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Hence, association members often refer to one another as "cousins".

The Van Valkenburg family is distinctive because our ancestors came to America over one hundred thirty years before our nation was founded. Their frontier "Trading Post" of "New Amsterdam" later became "New York City" and the sturdy Dutch pioneers, with their devout religious beliefs and principles of honesty and hard work, provided a sound influence in the founding of our great nation.

Our family background is fascinating because of circumstances surrounding the establishment in America of the early Dutch Colony "New Amsterdam" and because of the high caliber of many of the early Dutch settlers. Immigrants from many countries came to America to get away from old world tyranny, or perhaps from religious persecution as did the pilgrims, and some of the immigrants were said to be individuals running from the law. In contrast, many of the early Dutch settlers were landowners, traders, merchants, or craftsmen to service their large fleet of merchant ships.

The founding of "New Amsterdam Trading Post" was part of a vast program being carried out by The Netherlands to set up colonies in foreign lands to buy raw materials from the native peoples to ship back home for processing, and to sell their finished goods. At that time The Netherlands was one of the largest and most powerful empires the world has ever known. They had a vast fleet of merchant vessels and warships, which according to one authority totaled over 34,000 vessels. The Dutch were highly competent and fearless seamen and their navies dominated the seas and oceans of the world. The Dutch were noted for the excellent quality of their merchandise and the honesty of their weights and measures. Wherever they established colonies they respected the customs, the beliefs, and the property rights of the local peoples.

Our fine old family has a background that is truly unusual, quite distinctive, and really fascinating. As Van Valkenburgs, we have a heritage that probably few American families can match.

Contributed by Marina Van Valkenburgh, NAVVF Historian.

NAVVF News Notes

Fall 1998