Van Arsdale Myth

The Van Arsdale Myth

There exists an article in the Somerset County Historical Quarterly (for Somerset County, New Jersey), Vol. :VIII, pg. 99, 100-101, New York Historical Society which states in part:    "..... The VanArsdale family derive their origin from Jan Van Arsdale, a knight of Holland, who in 1211 erected a castle (now the county house) Arsdale, from which it took his name.  His armorial bearings now constitute the public arms of the bailiwick of Arsdale. From him descended Symon Jansen VanArsdalen who emigrated to New Amsterdam in 1653 and located at Flatlands......"

(Here is a quote from a letter addressed to Gordon van Arsdale. Mr. Charles  Vanorsdale purchased a copy of the letter from Mr. Gordon van Arsdale, and it is Charles who provided the transcript below.)

CENTRAAL BUREAU VOOR GENEALOGIE
NL-2502 AT The Hague
P.O. Box 11755
Netherlands
E. Th. R. Unger

Mr. Gordon van Arsdale

Your letter:  March 2, 1991   Our ref.: 91-04-414/uu
Subject: Research on Simon van Arsdale

“.... Anyhow the Van Arsdale's certainly did not belong the the [sic] Knighthood as is maintained here and there in American genealogical literature.  If we were to  beleive (they misspelled the word believe) American literature nearly each family would have royal blood in the veins or at the least be descended from a Knight.  Of course it is impossible that all these stories should be true for this would imply about half of the Dutch population round about 1600 (roughly 2 million inhabitants) belonged to the Knighthood!  The truth is that in the middle-ages the County of Holland numbered at most soms [sic] tens of families belonging to the Knighthood or nobility.  As it is already suggested in the article you added to your letter ("Simon Janssen van Arsdale, from Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and his children"), the name of Van Aersdal will be mixed up with Van Arkel, one of the most important families of knights in the County of Holland.  The said family resided at a large castle near Gorinchem and became extinct when Jan Van Arkel was murdered in the streets of Gorinchem in 1403.”
 
 

Reference to these letters sparked discussion amongst “Van” researchers on the VanArsdale Mailing List. Following is an edited synopsis of that discussion:
 

The blurb quoted from the SCHQ can be traced to James Riker's book "Evacuation Day", which was printed back in the 1880s. Riker also refers to our "ancient Helvetian origin" which has caused some consternation. The Helvetii were a group of people who populated northwestern Switzerland at the time of Julius Caesar. If Riker could have possibly traced us back that far, my hat's off to him.

It was A. J. F. Van Laer who wrote that "Van Arsdale" must have been confused with "Van Arkel" who was a knight of Old Holland. Van Arkel was murdered, however, before producing any offspring to carry on his name, and so the surname died out.

Nevertheless,  we still  hear  that there was and may still be a Castle ARSDALE / OSDOLL. Supposedly  the castle was being used in World War I to cure "TBC" patients (tuberculosis?). Others have insisted that the castle exists and/or the land of Arsdale exists in the Low Countries.

If not in a castle, where are our roots? The Belgian VVF has said that our surname is derived from a place in East Flanders called "Arretsdal". The name appears in a document dated 1377. A Belgian genealogist is currently rooting through medieval cartography to find that document.

We are always joyful when we are able to identify data & documents which provide us with insight into our ancestor's lives. The “Van list” would appreciate hearing from anyone who has access to materials useful in tracing our heritage, however noble it may or may not be.

The Van Arsdale Mailing List can be searched by anyone interested in doing so:
<https://mailinglists.rootsweb.com/listindexes/?surname=VanArsdale-L>
An alternate means of searching the Mailing lists can be found at:
<http://searches.rootsweb.com/roots-l.html>
A third place to search the Mailing Lists for Van Arsdale information is:
<https://lists.rootsweb.com/hyperkitty/> a Threaded Archive - you will need to Sign-up for access (free)
If you have already Signed-up, you can go directly to <https://lists.rootsweb.com/hyperkitty/VANARSDALE-L/>
Please DO use ALL of these search engines, as they will each have different results for you.

Please don't forget about the GenConnect@RootsWeb Boards for the Van Arsdale families:

           <http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/FamilyAssoc/VanArsdale>
           <http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/FamilyAssoc/VanArsdaleBibl>
           <http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/FamilyAssoc/VanArsdaleBios>
           <http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/FamilyAssoc/VanArsdaleDeed>
           <http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/FamilyAssoc/VanArsdaleObits>
           <http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/FamilyAssoc/VanArsdalePens>
           <http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/FamilyAssoc/VanArsdaleWill>
 

Return to the Van Arsdale Documents Page
<http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~brianter/vanarsdaledocuments.htm>