Netherland Connections and VA Newsletter Articles

Index for Articles on Research and Trips in the Netherlands

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A Vacation to Cadzand - by Roger and Marjorie Van Aken

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Dutch Naming Patterns

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In Search of Van Aken Origins in Europe    Vol 1 (1984) 

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Notes on Our European Cousins    Vol 2 (1985)

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On the Road to Cadzand  De Hervormde Kerk van Cadzand    Vol 3 (1986)

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Holland Relations (Van Aken Records from Cadzand and  Surrounding Area)  Vol 6 (1989) 

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A Brief Trip to Cadzand, Holland     Vol 13 (1996)      

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Letters From a Belgian Cousin                                    

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The Mathias Van Aken Home Page                                    

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Letters from the Netherlands      Vol 16 (1999)  

A Vacation to Cadzand - by Roger and Marjorie Van Aken

September 17, 2001

My wife Marjorie and I had visited the Netherlands three years ago, but were unable to visit Cadzand.  After reading the adventures of some of the cousins we decided to include it in our next trip to the Benelux nations.  Our timing was not good.  We scheduled a flight from Orlando, Fl.  to Schiphol outside of Amsterdam for Sept. 17.  After the terrorist attack on the 11th all of the airports and airlines were in a state of chaos.  I was reassured by the Martinair representative  that our plane would leave as scheduled.   Arriving at the airport at 6PM we discovered our flight had been cancelled.  After a long discussion we were given tickets on another flight, but it didn't leave until 2AM and by this time were were very weary.  The flight went well and we were the only Americans on the flight.  All the others were Dutch citizens who had been stranded in   America and Canada.  After spending a few days in Amsterdam we returned to Schiphol to pick up a rental car.   Once on the road we had a pleasant drive through farm fields filled with vegetables and beautiful fall flowers.  Arriving in Vlissigan we boarded a good sized ferry filled with cars and trucks and proceeded across the waterway which is the main artery to the Netherlands and Belgium.. Arriving in Bresken we left quickly for Cadzand. Within a short time I could see a large windmill in the distance and soon we were entering Cadzand.  I stopped and took a few pictures of the windmill and continued through through the village.  My purpose was not to dig into the history of the Van  Aken family, but try and get a sense of what it might have like to live in this area.  I saw a bar across the street from the windmill and further on a bakery.  Both of these places would be important to me within the next 24 hours.  With one more pass of the village I marveled at how clean it was and even though the houses were close to the road, flowers were planted with great thought in front of the houses.  Toward the end of the village is a sturdy church with a large steeple and to the right of the church and a short ride down the road we discovered the cemetery which protected the graves with a large decorative steel gate. 
     Because there isn't a hotel in Cadzand we went a few kilometers to Cadzand bad, which means on the sea.  The Hotel de Blanke Top, or white top was directly in front of us and we checked in.  Although the high season ends on Aug . 25th we got the last room.  From our room we could see Cadzand and the windmill and the church steeple.  The sand dunes and dike are about 100 ft. high and we had a view of Cadzand and the ocean.  On the ocean hundreds of ships were sailing in and out of the waterway.
     The next morning after breakfast we decided to go back into the village and take more pictures and to investigate the church and cemetery.  One again standing across from the bar I took pictures of the windmill.  Getting back into the car I started it and was ready to move on, but the car wouldn't shift.  With complete frustration I looked for someone to help me at 11AM on a Sun. morning in a village that didn't have a service station.  I first tried the bar which I thought would be closed being Sun. and early in the day.  To my surprise the bar and tables were full of happy Dutchmen celebrating Sun. with the traditional jenever, a Dutch gin and Heineken beer.  The owner listened to my problem and agreed to read the owners manual which was in Dutch, but he couldn't translate it into English.  He took me in the backroom to let me use his phone, but I needed a touch tone phone to get a Hertz Rep. Walking with my wife down the street we came to the bakery which was also open and the owner was busy getting her orders ready for the hotels and people in the village.  She listened to my problem and immediately brought a touch tone phone and dialed and talked to the the service agent for me.  After an hour the service agent suggested that I try one thing before he sent out a mechanic.  Rushing back to the car I found that the car went into gear and I drove it back to the bakery.  When she asked me what I did to get it to go into gear I said I first stepped on the brake.  Feeling very stupid we all had a good laugh about it.  During this time we inquired about the Van Aken family and she said there were no Van Aken family members in the village.  She also told us about the flood in 1953 that covered the area in almost five meters of water. 
     After leaving the bakery we went to the cemetery and opened the large steel gate and walked down the rows of graves looking at the names and dates and getting a feeling for the families joined there.  As we went back to our hotel we promised to come back to this area again to talk more with the many people we had met in the village and Cadzand bad.  But tomorrow we would be off to Ghent, Belgium to view the paintings  of the famous Dutch painter named Jerome Van Aken, but known as Hieronymus Bosch.
 

Dutch Naming Patterns 

A practice that was commonly used until the beginning of the twentieth century was the consistent pattern that was used to name children after close relatives. Some local customs varied, but the most common system is listed below.

System for Naming Sons:  

First son:                               named for his paternal grandfather
Second son:          named for his maternal grandfather
Third son:              named for his father’s paternal grandfather
Fourth son:           named for his mother’s paternal grandfather
Fifth son:                               named for his father’s maternal grandfather
Sixth son:               named for his mother’s maternal grandfather

System for Naming Daughters: 

First daughter:                      named for her maternal grandfather
Second daughter:                 named for her paternal grandmother
Third daughter:                    named for her mother’s maternal grandmother
Fourth daughter:                  named for her father’s maternal grandmother
Fifth daughter:                      named for her mother’s paternal grandmother
Sixth daughter:                     named for her father’s paternal grandmother

Source: Franklin, Charles M., Dutch Genealogical Research; Indianapolis, IA, Ye Old Genealogie Shoppe, 1982

 

DUTCH SURNAMES

 Surnames were not required in the Netherlands until the Napoleonic decree of 1811 made fixed surnames a law. Many families, beginning with the nobility, adopted surnames at a much earlier date, even as early as the sixteenth century. The Dutch immigrants to America in the seventeenth century found the adoption of surnames a necessity. 

There were four main categories from which surnames were derived: 

  1. Geographic
  2. Aliases and Nicknames
  3. Occupational and trade surnames
  4. Patronymic and metronymic surnames (derived from the individuals father’s or mother’s names).

A study of the name differences from the various provinces of the Netherlands can prove invaluable in determining the origin of your immigrant Dutch ancestors. Each province had several characteristics in the names of many of its occupant families. A detailed account of each province follows: 

  1. Drenthe province: Characteristics of this province are patronymic surnames with the following endings (suffixes): -inge, -inghe, -ink, -inck, -nge (these are the most common), -iens, and –ies. Also common in this province’s surnames are names containing heide and veen for heather and moor respectively.

  2. Friesland province: Patronymic surname suffixes common to this province include the following: -a, -inga, -ma, -sma, -stra (these are the most common), -es, -n, -ns, -s, and –sz. 

  3. Gelderland province: Patronymic surname suffixes in this province are similar to those found in the Drenthe province, with –inck, -ink, and –ing being the most common. Also found often are the suffixes –e, -hof, and –loo.

  4. Groningen province:  Patronymic surname suffixes in this province with the following distinctive suffixes were predominant: -huis, -ker, -sema, -tjer, and –wold being more prevalent in native names.

  5. Limburg province: One of the most distinctive name combinations that is charcteristic of this province is names with an Ingen – beginning instead of Inden-, as is found in most other provinces. Also prevalent is the patronymic surname suffix –mans.

  6. Noord Brabant province: This province shares commonly with Limburg the patronymic surname suffix –mans. Also common to this province are the suffixes –ens and –ers.

  7. Noord Holland province: This is probably the most variable of all provinces in the Netherlands, with Amsterdam drawing families from all areas. Of the few distinctive patterns that can be deduced are commonly found surnames with the –sz and –x suffixes. Very short surnames are also not uncommon, for example, Bos, Es or Nes, Vos, and Hap.

  8. Overijssel province: The patronymic surnames of this province show similarities to several other provinces. It shares the suffixes –inck, -ing, and –ink with Gelderland province. It shares the suffixes –inge, -inghe, -inck, -ink with Drenthe province. Also common to this province is the suffix –huis as found in Groningen province. Among the more distinctive common suffixes is –sen. Also common are the prefixes ten and ter.

  9. Utrecht province: The patronymics of this province are predominately of the geographic variety, being derived from the names of various towns and estates. Also extremely common are the prefixes van and van dem.

  10. Zeeland province: The patronymic surname suffixes of this province have a flair all their own. Most common is the suffix –se. Also common are the suffixes –aert, -ge, -ghe, -ick, and –uck. The French prefixes of d’, de, and ver have also been adopted by many families from this province.

  11. Zuid Holland province: The patronymic surnames of this province are most similar to the surnames used in Utrecht province. Several prefixes are very common, including the following: de, den, van, vande, vanden, van der, and ver. Short surnames like the ones found in Noord Holland are also very common.

From: Franklin, Charles M., Dutch Genealogical Research, 1982, Ye Old Genealogie Shoppe, Indianapolis, IN

A BRIEF TRIP TO CADZAND, HOLLAND - by Lorenz Finison (#139)
    VAN AKEN/VAN AUKEN NEWSLETTER - Vol 13 

Hearing that my brother, Lorenz, would be travelling to Holland to attend a conference in December 1995, I quickly reminded him that our immigrant ancestors, Marinus Van Aken and Pieternelle de Pre were married in Cadzand, Holland in 1682. Happily,  he agreed to visit the Cadzand area and bring back maps and write a report on his trip. We have had other reports on our Holland connection in previous issues. Millard and Olive Cronk Van Aken (#52) reported on their 1976 trip in 1986 (Vol 3 No. 1 & 2) and Florence Van Aken (#56) reported on some results from her correspondence  with the Archives in Holland in 1989 (Vol 6 No. 2). (A copy of the Van Aken/de Pre marriage certificate appears in that issue.) If anyone is interested in pursuing research with the genealogist mentioned in the article, we hope that you will keep us informed. -   Ann Croston

We (wife Carmen, daughters Maria, Karly and myself) stayed overnight at the Hotel du Commerce in the very nice small city of Middleburg.  Next morning we drove the short distance to Vlissingen, and then took the fifteen minute ferry boat to Breskens.  From there we took the route described by Olive (Cronk) Van Aken in 1976.  Upon arriving in Cadzand‑dorf (dorf for village), we looked for the church, and having found it, went up the street to a bakery, where we discovered a woman who could help us, as she spoke English.  We discovered that the house next to the bank described by Olive Cronk was now inhabited by this woman's father‑in‑law, but she described a "Pastorie" diagonally across from the bank.  An inquiry there turned up nothing for us, as the woman answering the door spoke no English, and we spoke no Dutch.  We also discovered that the VVV (tourist) office is now in Cadzand‑bad, not Cadzand‑dorf. Cadzand‑bad is a beachfront tourist area just a few kilometers from Cadzand‑dorf.  We inquired at VVV about the church, and were advised that there was a woman in Cadzand who was very knowledgeable about our church.  This lady informed us that the minister (Schockking) was no longer at the church, but that we could contact the current rector (Docent Hoowart) at Lange Wolstraat 3 in Sluis, a city a few kilometers nearer the Belgian border.   Docent Hoowart informed us that a considerable lot had been written about the church and its history by de Hullu. This writing is in the Archive of Middleburg.  Hoowart referred separately to the "archives of the church of Cadzand" also at the Archive of Middleburg.  We believe that this archive can be found at the Provinciale Griffie on St. Pieterstraat in Middleburg.

 

There exists an active genealogical section at this building.  The various "lists" on Cadzand are there but are extremely difficult reading due to our unfamiliarity with the writing and poor copy quality.  One will notice that the marriage record for Marinus van Aken and Pieternelle de Pre was copied in September, 1953.  This was due to the original records being damaged in the great floods of 1953.

 

On our way back from Cadzand to Middleburg we visited a genealogist in Vlissingen.  His name was H. William Gobel.  He is listed in the Vlissingen Yellow Pages under the title "Familiehistoricus" His address is Heemskerck plein 27 4384 BD Vlissinger and phone number is: 0118‑471364  He has a sister living in Annapolis, speaks quite good English and was very friendly and interested.  His office is in a modern apartment development.  The street is not easily found on maps, except the most detailed, of Vlissingen.  He looked at the marriage record and had two immediate comments:

 

·                     First, Prientge (the first wife of Marinus van Aken was probably Trientje, and the name had been mis‑copied. 

·                     Secondly, Pieternelle de Pre  "J.D. van Wingen" (young daughter from Wingen) was from a village in Belgium called Wingene.  A look at the map shows that this is a village just south of the border between Holland and Belgium. 

Having only a few moments with him, we thanked him for his help and promised to seek his professional consultation in the future. 

Other comments and questions on the lists at Middleburg 

·                     At various times van Akens, van Akkers and other similar names appear.  Similarly de Pre and de Pree are relatively common names in the Cadzand index.  Unfortunately it will take a pair trained eyes to follow‑up on these to see if any of them are the key personages.  It seems clear, now, that the de Pre name is to be found in Belgium, not in Holland.  All of the other witnesses to the wedding showed up in the birth listings.  Gobels remarked on the large number (4) of witnesses. 

·                     It is perhaps noteworthy that the name de Pre is not listed among the witnesses. 

·                     Was the witness Cornelis van Aken father, brother, uncle? Or unrelated? 

·                     Why the discrepancy in dates between the wedding (1683) and the record (1685) of the wedding? 

 

LETTERS FROM A BELGIAN COUSIN   
    VAN AKEN/VAN AUKEN NEWSLETTER - Vol 13  

I thought you might be interested in mail from our European Cousins... - Harold R. Van Aken (#274) 

(Harold Van Aken grew up in Livingston Manor, NY where his mother lives yet on the old Van Aken homestead. "I get to Holland about once a year - we have a major company - AKZO- that I visit in Leyden". Harold's Home Page is at http://wwworks.com/~macbeth.) 

On 30Apr1996 Charles Van Aken @rug.ac.be wrote: 

As a consequence of the information I got from Mathias Van Aken I think it is important that I tell you that although I am living near Ghent, I was born in Wolvertem. This is a village near Brussels. My brother who is still living there was able to trace back my ancesters till Pascal Van Aken born in Wolvertem about 1768. He didn't go further because therefore he had to consult the national birth registers in Brussels and he was not interested enough to do so. 

Also I think that there is a possibility that the Van Aken family that came to the U.S. in 1905 was born in Wolvertem and was related to my father. 

Finally I got from the Internet that there are 679 Van Aken names in the Belgian Phone Book, nearly all of them living in Flanders. 

Also I want to apologize for my English, but for me it is only my thirth language.

          Best Wishes

Charles Van Aken, Prof. Dr. Ir. Ch Van Aken, Laboratorium voor Vervoertechniek, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, B9000 Gent. 

On 10May1996 Charles wrote: 

After consulting your home page (Harold's), I have some remarks to make: 

1. The escutcheons I have sent you are not only from the Netherlands; the coloured one is from Flanders (Belgium). The others are mostly from The Netherlands (Holland) but some are from Flanders and if my memory is good, one is from Austria.

2. The use of the name Aix-la-Chapelle is a nonsense. There is not such a city, even in France. The french speaking countries transalated the name Aachen in Aix-la-Chapelle. I don't know why.

3. In Europe it is generally accepted that Aachen comens from the latin name Aquis Granum, and not from the Dutch founder John Van Aken. Aquis comes from Aqua (water). Granum is a Celtic God. 

Finally I have to inform you that your sentences were too large, they obstructed my mail box for two days!

On 14May1996 Charles wrote: 

In reply to your email I can tell you the following: 

-Wingene (Pieternelle de Pre was from here) is situated about 25 km to the south of Bruges.

-Cadzand is situated some 25 km to the northeast of Bruges. (Don't forget that until 1648 Cadzand was a part of Flanders-Belgium).

-For me it is not possible at this moment to spend too much time to do research. This will change 31-12-1997 when I retire.

-The only complete genealogic study for a direct line among the branches in Flanders goes back to Michel Van Aken. It is admitrted that he was a wealthy salesman coming from Aachen (Germany). He married a certain Catherina in Bruges in 1472. In this direct line no Marinus is mentioned. This Van Aken branch was a wealthy family, and although till the 19th century several daughters married noblemen (barons etc.), this van Aken family itself never obtained a noble title.

- More information about Marinus could be obtained from the different genealogic associations: 1) V.V.F. in Antwerpen and 2) V.V.F., Kan. Dr. L. Colensstraat 6, 8400 Oostend, Belgium.

 

Regards,

 

ANOTHER LETTER FROM A BELGIAN COUSIN

THE MATHIAS VAN AKEN HOME PAGE http://www.club.innet.be/~pub00438

Mathias Van Aken's Homepage

Hello, my name is Mathias Van Aken.  I'm 20 years old and study Applied Economics at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium.

 

Notes from a Belgian Cousin:

 

Van AkenGenealogie

 

Mijn grootvader van vaders zijde, Edmond Van Aken, is begonnen een stamboom

op te stellen van onze tak van de Van Akens. Zijn werk wordt nu verder gezet

door Hugo Van Aken (Spoorwegstraat 137, 2610 Wilrijk). Op deze bladzijden

vindt u de resultaten van hun opzoekingswerk. In mannelijke lijn stam ik af

van volgende personen:

 

Mathias VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Guy Victor Maria Jozef VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Edmond Frans VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Adriaan Jozef VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Petrus Joannes VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Michael VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Bernardus VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Norbertus Frans VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Bernardus VAN AKEN

 

Tekening

In de VS is heel wat onderzoek gepleegd naar de afstammelingen van ene

Marinus Van Aken, die omstreeks 1683 vanuit Cadzand naar Amerika is

 uitgeweken. Tot dusver is echter nog geen link gevonden tussen onze familie

en deze van Marinus. Uitgebreide informatie over hemzelf en zijn circa 4000

 nazaten is beschikbaar op onderstaande pagina's:

 

Van Aken Genealogy

 

My grandfather from my father's side started researching our branch of the

Van Aken family. His work is now being continued by Hugo Van Aken

(Spoorwegstraat 137, 2610 Wilrijk). On these pages you will find the results

 of their research. These are my ancestors in paternal line:

 

 

Mathias VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Guy Victor Maria Jozef VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Edmond Frans VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Adriaan Jozef VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Petrus Joannes VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Michael VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Bernardus VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Norbertus Frans VAN AKEN, zoon van / son of

Bernardus VAN AKEN

 

Chart

 

In the US a great deal of research has been done on the descendants of

Marinus Van Aken, who migrated to the New World round 1683. So far there is

no evidence of a possible link between Marinus' and my family. Extensive

information about Marinus and his 4000 descendants can be found on the

following pages:

 

 

Letters from the Netherlands 

     VAN AKEN/VAN AUKEN NEWSLETTER - Vol 16 

Hallo Mrs.Ann Croston,

I had some contacts with Mr.van Aken of Gent and gave him info about Marinus vA x Rents/du Pree. I found no deeper info or connections of Marinus...made only a hypothesis that: Marinus is a uncle of Pieternella vA and Marinus is a brother of Cornelis VA.;and that Pieternella her name came from the wife of Marinus; Pieternella du Pree; that Prijntje Rents is possible the granddaughter of Isaac Rents x Prijntje Bijns; this couple married 10‑05‑1643 in Retranchement (5 km from Cadzand), and had a mentioned daughter Elizabeth. Further on we saw a Prijntje Bijn, born 29‑07‑1618 in Cadzand,with parents Bartholomeus Bijn x Catelijne Jacobson de Graef (wrong written de Swaef),which names we have in our own pedigree. 

Besides: We found earlier Van Akens,nl.: Catelijne van Aken born 07‑02‑1596 in Hoek (30 km from Cadzand/Flanders), daughter of Jacob van Aken. Another Jacob van Aken x Janneke Wantlee,both died before 1705,they left a daughter who was heir of Jan Wantlee in 1705 in Oostburg. That Jacob van Aken was also called Joos van Haken (The H adjoined,because of the "proper" pronunciation of the name in Flanders,where they have problems with saying the H like the Frenche have.) There are other van Aken's in Breskens and surroundings,but no names to be in connection with your names. I can only advise to ask mr.Van Aken in Gent,to have a look in the archives in Middelburg to dig out possible connections,as I saw several Rents and Du Pree's in Cadzand,so one has to look in birth‑/death‑acts or dates from notaries.We had a look too in archives of socalled "weeskamers"(orphanage‑acts)in Flanders,but found no further connections. 

We suppose that the original Van Aken's came from Germany;from the town AKEN (in german Aachen). I hope you can do something with this info and wish you success in your research! 

Hans/Annie van Houte,Vorden Holland 

---- On Dec 16 Charles Van Aken  wrote: 

Dear Bradford,

I have some remarks on your family histoty.

-Aken, generally known as Aix la Chapelle has no sense.t is simply the french translation of Aachen (Aken).In holland or in Flanders nobody knows the French name! -The Dutch flag in your home page is not appropriate.You can be sure that Marinus was born near Bruges (Flanders -Belgium).His wife was from Wingene and his father from Thielt , both cities to the south of Bruges.