The cumulative evidence presented here proves that the origin of the surname Wyckoff is Frisian and refers to a household or settlement on a bay, although many uninformed American descendants of Pieter Claessen Wyckoff continue to believe the name to be Dutch. Frisian was only one of the many languages spoken by early settlers of New Netherland. In the Northern Germanic linguistic area of Europe, the surname occurs principally in the Lower Saxony area of Germany which includes East Frisia from where our American ancestor emigrated. Amid the proliferation of costly false and inaccurate information being disseminated on popular interactive genealogy websites, the author suggests corrective measures that could be taken by professional genealogical societies and family associations such as the Wyckoff Association of America.

American colonial history is told through the stories of four young people who left Europe and its Age of Enlightenment to start new lives in an uncertain new world in this scholarly work. Carlos R. Hamilton Jr. aims to determine what experiences they and thousands of other immigrants had and the role those experiences played in influencing the future United States of America, including its government and culture. One of the primary reasons these immigrants settled in a new place thousands of miles from home was the prospect of being able to enjoy religious freedom. Other drivers included a desire to enjoy more economic opportunity and achieve security for one’s self and their family. While this study is limited to Anglo-European immigration, the historical background of homelands of African, Latino, and Asian immigrants are as important in understanding the circumstances of their many contributions to the subsequent culture of the United States of America. The author suggests that the same reasons people immigrated to what would become the United States hundreds of years ago remain primary reasons increasing numbers of immigrants are seeking residence in America today.

This edition of A Description of New Netherland provides the first complete and accurate English-language translation of an essential first-hand account of the lives and world of Dutch colonists and northeastern Native communities in the seventeenth century. Adriaen van der Donck, a graduate of Leiden University in the 1640s, became the law enforcement officer for the Dutch patroonship of Rensselaerswijck, located along the upper Hudson River. His position enabled him to interact extensively with Dutch colonists and the local Algonquians and Iroquoians. An astute observer, detailed recorder, and accessible writer, Van der Donck was ideally situated to write about his experiences and the natural and cultural worlds around him. Van der Donck s Beschryvinge van Nieuw-Nederlant was first published in 1655 and then expanded in 1656. An inaccurate and abbreviated English translation appeared in 1841 and was reprinted in 1968. This new volume features an accurate, polished translation by Diederik Willem Goedhuys and includes all the material from the original 1655 and 1656 editions. The result is an indispensable first-hand account with enduring value to historians, ethnohistorians, and anthropologists.