Long before there was an American Revolution, before there was even an America, the Van Dyke family lived in the Netherlands—a nation of merchants, sailors, and settlers who looked across the Atlantic and saw opportunity. In the early 1600s, when the Dutch West India Company established New Netherland along the Hudson River, families with names like Van Dyck packed their lives into wooden ships and sailed west to build something new in an unknown land.
This is the story of how a Dutch family became an American family—how "Van Dyck" transformed from a name in Amsterdam or Rotterdam into a name in New Jersey, carried forward through generations that would fight for independence, push westward with the frontier, and build lives across four centuries of American history.
New Netherland: The Dutch Colony That Became New York
In 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson, sailing for the Dutch East India Company, navigated up the river that would bear his name. He found a landscape of forests, fertile valleys, and indigenous peoples who had lived there for millennia. The Dutch saw not just beauty but opportunity—a place to establish a trading colony, extract furs, and create a foothold in the New World to rival Spanish and English claims.
By 1624, the Dutch West India Company had established New Netherland, a colony stretching from the Delaware River to Connecticut, centered on the Hudson River valley. New Amsterdam, founded at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, became the colony's capital—a rough trading post that would one day become New York City.
New Netherland was never just a trading post. It was home to families who crossed an ocean, built farms, raised children, and planted roots that would reach through centuries of American history.
Dutch settlers brought their language, their Reformed Church tradition, their architectural styles, and their names. Families like Van Dyck, Van Rensselaer, Roosevelt, and Vanderbilt arrived in waves through the mid-1600s. They established farms along the Hudson and in what would become New Jersey. They traded with Native Americans. They built windmills and gabled houses that looked like miniature versions of home.
The colony was diverse from the beginning. Along with Dutch settlers came Walloons (French-speaking Belgians), Germans, Scandinavians, and enslaved Africans. New Amsterdam spoke a dozen languages on its streets. But the dominant culture was Dutch, and the dominant language was Dutch, and families like the Van Dycks kept their heritage alive even as the political landscape changed around them.
Then came 1664. English warships appeared in the harbor. The director-general of New Netherland, Peter Stuyvesant, wanted to fight, but the colonists had no appetite for bloodshed. The English promised to respect property rights, religious freedom, and Dutch legal traditions. The colony surrendered without a shot fired. New Amsterdam became New York. New Netherland became an English colony.
The Hartgers View (1651) shows New Amsterdam from the harbor, with Dutch windmills, fort, and colonial buildings. This was the world the Van Dyke family entered as Dutch settlers.Image: Public Domain, NYPL Digital Collections / Wikimedia Commons
But the Dutch families stayed. They continued farming their lands, speaking Dutch in their homes, worshipping in Dutch Reformed churches. Their names remained Dutch even as their children learned English. By the time of the American Revolution, families like the Van Dycks had been in America for over a century—no longer Dutch, not quite English, but something new: American.
The Name: Van Dyck, Van Dyk, Van Dyke
The Dutch "van" means "from" or "of"—a geographic marker indicating origin. "Van Dyck" or "Van Dyk" literally means "from the dyke" or "of the dyke," referring to the earthen dams that held back the sea in the Netherlands. It was a common name, identifying families who lived near or maintained the dykes that made Dutch agriculture possible in a land largely below sea level.
The spelling varied even in the Netherlands—Van Dyck, Van Dyk, Van Dijck—and became even more fluid in the New World. Early colonial records show the same family's name spelled differently from document to document, from generation to generation. By the time of the American Revolution, "Van Dyke" with an 'e' had become the common American spelling, though "Van Dyck" persisted in some family lines.
What never changed was the Dutch identity embedded in that "van." Even today, centuries after the family left the Netherlands, the name announces its origins. Van Dyke is a Dutch name, carried by descendants who fought in the Revolution, migrated westward, and became thoroughly American while never quite losing the echo of Amsterdam or Rotterdam in their surname.
Origins Timeline
Hudson's Voyage
Henry Hudson sails up the river that will bear his name, claiming the territory for the Dutch.
New Netherland Founded
First Dutch settlers arrive. New Amsterdam established at the tip of Manhattan. The colony of New Netherland officially begins.
Van Dyck Families Arrive
Dutch families with the Van Dyck name settle in New Netherland. They establish farms, join the Dutch Reformed Church, and begin building their American legacy.
English Takeover
English warships arrive. Colony surrenders peacefully. New Amsterdam becomes New York. Dutch families remain, retaining their language and culture under English rule.
Somerset County Settlement
Van Dyck families established in Somerset County, New Jersey. Dutch language still spoken at home. Dutch Reformed Church remains spiritual center. Community tight-knit.
William Van Dyck Born
The Revolutionary War generation arrives. William will grow up Dutch-American, fight for American independence, and carry the family into the new nation.
Revolution Begins
Dutch-descended families in New Jersey face a choice: loyalty to the crown or revolution. The Van Dycks choose independence.