On 5/28/07, Elliot M. Stern <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Actually, I would think that the name van Helder points more to Netherlandish ancestry. If German, the name would be "von Helder". Den Helder is a city or town some 40 or so miles north of Amsterdam.
Interesting point. OTOH ve haff Walther von der Vogelweide*, *medieval German poet. FWIW the Mennonite "William Rittenhouse", started life as "Wilhelm Rittenhausen", moved to New Amsterdam where he was "Willem Ruitenhausen", then finally to Philly where he became Rittenhouse. But I guess I have to concede the point about "van/von". The great Dutch Mennonite painters Solomon van Ruysdael and his nephew Jacob are cases in point, as is Dutch Mennonite poet and dramatist Joost van den Vondel, the guy who apostasized and became Catholic and after whom Vondel Park in Amsterdam is named, and which is now full of hippies. -- Ross Bender http://rossbender.org/mqrtoc.html
