Excerpt from The Van Doorn Family (Van Doorn, Van Dorn, Van Doren, Etc.) In Holland and America, 1088-1908

The van doorn family has existed under this precise name, and with this spelling, in the Netherlands for at least eight hundred and fifty years. Under that name some of its members came to America in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries, and there also came some who, before or after their arrival, dropped the van. As the first following pages of Part I show, there became variations in the spelling in the Netherlands during the latter part of the Middle Ages, but certain leading branches of the family never departed from it, nor have they to this day. It is a pity that the American descendants of these worthy Hollanders consented to change to Van Dorn, Van Doren, Van Doran, Dorn, etc., but nearly all of them did, excepting the branch known as The Rhode Island Line.

This work, the result of years of correspondence and searches and personal inquiries, tabulates about persons who have resided, or are at present living, in America, bearing the name of, or the various names derived from van Doorn, or descended from them and bearing other surnames. Also who intermarried. Total names given, Dates and names have been obtained from so many sources, often contradictory, that it is not to be expected they will be found in every instances to be absolutely correct. Bible records frequently differ from tombstone records, and different members of a family send dates at variance with other dates; this is one of the difficulties of insuring correctness. But the author has done his best to secure as much accuracy as possible.

The usual arrangement of names in the genealogical portion of this work is intended to be strictly alphabetical, first as to Christian names, and then as to middle names. In a few cases there may be found a slight departure from the rule, because of names coming in late, and a strict adherence to it would affect the cross-references. The idea of an alphabetical arrangement, which practically makes of the work an encyclopedia, was first suggested by the author of the Corwin Genealogy, which, so far as known, has been followed by no one else, except by the present author himself in a previous genealogical work, entitled Joannes Nevius and His Descendants. This arrangement is intended to make reference to all V. D. Names as easy as possible, and renders unnecessary a voluminous Index.

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