The Van Wagenen Family Genealogy
INTRODUCTION
This is a genealogical history of the Holland-Dutch families who call themselves Van Wagenen, Van Wagoner, Van Wagonen, Van Wagner and Van Wagnen, and who are descended from the earliest Dutch settlers who came to New Netherlands from Wageningen, Holland, sometime between 1637 and 1650. For your information you are not a "Holland-Dutchman", but a "Netherlander". The Netherlands country is comprised of several provinces, two of which are North Holland and South Holland. People who live there are rightly called "Hollander's". But the remaining citizens of the country are "Netherlanders". (If you really want to have that explained, I suggest you go to the U-Tube site "Holland vs. The Netherlands" and it will all be explained to you very clearly).
I have toiled for over thirty-three years, starting with the names of my grand-
parents who I knew were associated with the area of New Paltz in Ulster County, New
York in the late 19th century. With help from the Haviland-Heidgard Libary in New
Paltz, it was a mater of only a few weeks before I discovered that ours was one of the
earliest families to settle in the Hudson Valley of New York State, some 25 years after
the voyage of Hendrick Hudson in 1609. It was also clear that for some reason, our
family genealogy had not been researched and published in the manner of other
early families of the area, such as Dubois, Deyo, Elting, Free, Hasbrouck, Freer,
and Schoonmaker. All of those families had had extensive research completed and
family histories published, but not since 1882 had anyone undertaken the task
of completing a genealogy of the Van Wagenen family by any of it's various
spellings.
Within a week or two I had identified some eleven generations of ancestors
and could, (perhaps should) have quit looking and been content with the discoveries
I had already made. Instead, apparently with the inquisitive mind and nature of a
retired state police investigator, I decided to learn what had become of the
siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins and myriad other relatives who were born into
those families who used the name Van Wagenen by all of its various spellings. I
soon learned that there were at least three other distinct families who had adopted
the name of Van Wagenen or variations thereof.
One of those families settled the area of Bergen County, New Jersey about
1660. Most of that branch later went to Utah with the Mormon movement. An
extensive family genealogy entitled "The ‘Vans’ Van Wagenen – Van Wagoner,
1630-1969" was published in 1969 by the John Halmagh Van Wagoner
Family Organization. This genealogy, frequently referred to as "The Red Book",
traced their immigration from Wageningen, and their subsequent trek west to
Winter Quarters and Salt Lake City, Utah, where many of them still reside. The
members of this family generally used only two spellings of their last name, namely,
Van Wagenen and Van Wagoner.
A third family named Waggoner, of apparent German descent, settled on
the eastern side of the Hudson River in Columbia County, New York. While some of
them retained their Waggoner and Wagoner name, many other branches inserted a
"Van" into their name and thus became Van Wagoner’s and Van Wagner’s. This
adoption of the Dutch variation of our last name presented me with some
nearly insurmountable problems with regard to my research. Many of those
families, mostly using Van Wagner, were located within Columbia and Dutchess
Counties through the later part of the 19th century, but few are located in that vicinity
today.
Still another group of Van Wagner’s, apparently of German-Hessian origin,
came into New York State from Ontario, Canada during the Revolutionary War and
settled in the Mohawk Valley and Adirondack regions of upper New York State. I
have recorded in my data-base any number of other Van Wagner family lines which are
as yet unidentified, their origins thus far remaining undiscovered despite my best
efforts. I’ve been required to research each of these families in addition to our own,
in order to identify who belonged to who. It has been a confusing and challenging
effort over these many years, but one that keeps challenging me and making my
research even more interesting.
Two or three of our ancestors had undertaken a family study; Gerrit Hubert
Van Wagenen of Rye, New York published a small book in 1882 that covered the first
five generations of our family. In 1916, Ernest Lyon Van Wagner of Staten Island, a
New York City Police Lieutenant and personal secretary to Teddy Roosevelt when he
was the Police Commissioner, amplified the 1882 genealogy, but was content to
follow only his "direct" ancestry. His was a comprehensive family history and he
did extensive research on collateral family lines, but he made a serious error with
regard to his own direct ancestry which led him to draw some erroneous conclusions.
One particular error made my research-life miserable for some three or four years
until I discovered where his mistake had occurred.
In 1942, a third relative, Frank L. Van Wagenen of Buffalo, did a history of his
direct ancestry, together with some collateral lines. His work was of great value to
me during my research of the Gerrit Aertsen Van Wagenen family which will be
contained in Book Two of this two-part series. A great deal of research still remains to
be done on this family before it will be ready for publication.
The most extensive genealogy of the Jacob Aertsen Van Wagenen family was
done by Philo Van Wagoner of Los Angeles, California. He published a book in 1985
and it contains a thorough study of his direct family, following his ancestors from
Dutchess County to Saratoga County in New York, and then westward through the
Ohio valley and into Michigan in 1824. Philo Van Wagoner maintained the "Van
Wagoner Family Library" at 8891 Collingwood Drive, Los Angeles, California,
and continued to research all branches of our family until his death in the early 2000’s.
This Michigan family branch also has a "family association" which meets yearly for
the purpose of renewing acquaintances and updating their family genealogy. Upon
his death, Philo’s genealogical library and it’s entire contents were donated to
the Southern California Genealogy Society.
All too soon it became apparent to me that ours was indeed a very large family,
with ancestors spread all over America, and with several branches having changed
the spelling of their last name to Van Wagoner, Van Wagonen, Van Wagner and
Van Wagnen. Some of the reasons for these spelling changes are obscure, having
likely occurred through misspellings by census-takers or simple illiteracy. Others,
I am certain, most assuredly shortened their name for the convenience of simplified
the spelling. During these years of research, hundreds of letters were sent to likely
family members, requesting information about their particular families. For the most
part, the response was remarkable and complete. In only two instances did
people indicate that they had no interest whatsoever in my research and asked asked
me not to bother them again. In one such instance, an elderly woman refused to accept
the fact that her maiden name had not always been Van Wagner and declined to
discuss what she knew about her family. These instances were for the most
part overcome by obtaining the information from other sources, however, in some
cases they leave a void in the research which will have to be completed at another time.
No great monetary wealth has been discovered in our family, although our
earliest ancestors owned vast property holdings just across the Hudson River
from Kingston, in what is now the Town of Rhinebeck in Dutchess County. That land
was purchased by Gerrit Aertsen (Van Wagenen) and three others from the native
Indians and it has long since been gone from our family name or ownership. In the
hamlet of Rhinecliff a very small family cemetery with a dozen or so hand-
chiseled gravestones is the only reminder of the family presence in that area.
James Henry Van Wagenen, a government employee during the administration of President Warren G. Harding, did boundary surveying in the Yukon, on the Alaska-Canadian border, and as a reward for his work, Mt. Van Wagenen was named for him.
Murray Van Wagoner, a resident of Michigan, became governor of that
state during the first year of the Second World War. Many family members have
become physicians, lawyers, or similar professionals, but if there is any common
bond within the family, I have concluded that it would be a perceptible and distinct
thread of civil service. There have been many postmasters, town magistrates,
police officers, soldiers, and town officials of various offices who have served with
great distinction. I’ve found only a few instances where a family member
became negatively involved with the law, and because this is a family genealogy and
not an expose’, I have decided to make no mention of their transgressions within my book.
Within this genealogy I have attempted to include something more than just
names, dates, and cold statistics. Where census data was available, it was
included because it often showed occupations or marital status, and in some cases
the state of one’s health. And in many instances, newspaper accounts or obituaries
are quoted for the sake of readability.
After much deliberation, I have concluded that family photographs are generally
of interest only to those who are directly related to the subjects depicted. Based upon
my own experience, thirty three years of genealogical research, and a critical view of
old photographs of deceased relatives, I have decided that everybody’s
great-grandparents look just like everyone else’s great-grandparents. Furthermore, no
one really looks at these photographs except the direct relatives anyway.
Since photographs dramatically increase the price of publication, I simply opted
against including them in my book.
Errors are bound to occur when one deals with 350 years of family history, to
say nothing of misinformation that is carried over from one generation to another.
Census enumerators were notoriously inaccurate in both their spelling and their
recording of names, dates, etc., leaving a large margin for error and making research
in the 1850’s thru the 1880’s a perilous venture for even the most accurate
of genealogists. Likewise, the details of family stories change ever so slightly during
the retelling from one generation to the next, and eventually one is hard pressed
to distinguish between what actually occurred and the story now being told. I have tried
my best to add interesting biographical sketches where appropriate and have, in
some instances, quoted from authentic personal letters that found their way to me over
the years. Military records have also been quoted wherever possible because the
lend authenticity to what would otherwise be rather dry fact.
The end result of less than accurate record keeping leads to the biggest
nightmare of all genealogists, that they are "re-telling" unproven or possibly
inaccurate information. Wherever this sort of information appears in my research,
I’ve made reasonable efforts to explain that the possibility for error exists.
I will not apologize for errors that may have occurred along the way because
I’ve approached my research as an investigative challenge and for person
enjoyment. Professional genealogists demand that all facts be "proven three ways"
before they can be accepted as true. I have not done that because, with the magnitude
of my quest and the sheer numbers of people involved, I could not hope to finish
my research in my lifetime. I began my research in the fall of 1979 with a few packs
of 3 x 5 index cards, thinking that this would serve as an adequate indexing system.
Now, looking back at the twenty to thirty charts which filled my two-car garage for the
first three years while I tried to figure out who belonged to whom, I am amazed
that I persevered and accomplished as much as I did.
I also intended my project to be interesting and enjoyable. To that end, I
have succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. My only regret is that it has taken me
so many years to complete and in the interim many people who contributed to my
work have passed away. I can only hope that somehow they will forgive my tardiness
and know that through my book their names and identities will forever be recorded.
My finest reward will be in knowing that because of my efforts, hundreds and hundreds
of family members will finally become acquainted with their uncles, aunts, cousins,
and each other.
I would be remiss not to mention and offer thanks to a few of the people who
have helped and supported me over all these years. Most particularly to my wife
Suzanne for be supportive for such a long period of time, waiting patiently
while I wandered through cemeteries and local libraries. To my daughters Tracy
and Jamie, and to my grandson Aaron, each of whom lent me encouragement
and support along the way. To Robert Bruce Van Wagner of Lake Forest, Illinois,
who gave me a donation of one-hundred dollars in 1991 without really knowing whether
my research would ever see the light of day. To Barbara Van Wagenen Thompson
of Allentown, New Jersey who gave me her copy of the John Halmagh Van
Wagenen family genealogy. To Irene Martin of the Haviland-Heidgert Genealogical
Library in New Paltz who started me on my quest back in the fall of 1979, and to Philo
Van Wagoner of Los Angeles who gave me moral support and a copy of his
family genealogy which he published in 1985.
Finally, let me simply thank each and every person who has responded to
my inquiries and returned questionnaires during these many years. Without
your confidence and contributions, this book would never have been possible.
So now, having unscrambled our family lines, I have arrived at the point where
the only remaining chore is to have my research published. I sincerely hope that
this genealogy lends insights into the historical significance of the Van Wagenen
families. I also hope that family members who have hated spelling their last name over
and over (and had wished their name was Smith or Jones, rather than Van Wagenen,
Van Wagoner, Van Wagnen, Van Wagner, et. al.) will now take a new found pride in
the fact that their name is indeed significant and historical, and that ours is indeed
a founding family of America.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you can see, my website has undergone some changes which occurred when my previous hosting provider for reasons unclear to me, deleted the entire content of my previous website, leaving me with no choice but to begin all over again and get myself back on line and in full operation. Let me begin by showing you who the Van Wagenen's are and where they came from.
Please understand, that there are more than one Van Wagenen family lines. A family who adopted the Van Wagenen/Van Wagoner name came to America about 1670 and settled in Bergen County, New Jersey. A majority of those families followed the Mormon movement to Utah and there is no known connection between the two families.
Additionally, there are any number of Van Wagner families who are not necessarily a part of the Holland-Dutch Van Wagenen genealogy. Many of these family lines are of German/Hessian heritage, and although I have not thorouly researched them, I do have great many of them in my data base.
