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The name Van Deusen (one of many variants in spelling) arrived in the New World in the time period between 1629 and 1636 with Abraham Pietersen Van Deursen; probably by way of Aspen and Haarlem from the town of Deurn in the Duchy of Brabant, historically divided between the two modern national states of the Netherlands and Belgium. Without getting to technical about things, the name could be translated to mean something on the order of, "son of the fief holder of a place by the water".
Two excellent chroniclers of the family are E. R. Van Deusen, 300 Tate Street, Greensboro, NC 27403, who has heavily based his work on that of the other chronicler Albert Harrison Van Deusen, "History of the Van Deusen Family".
A source for the Porter family is "A Genealogy of the Descendants of Richard Porter, who Settled at Weymouth, Mass., 1635, and Allied Families: also, Some Account of the Descendants of John Porter, who Settled at Hingham, Mass., 1635, and Salem, (Danvers) Mass., 1644." by Joseph W. Porter of Burlington, Maine, published 1878 in Bangor by Burr & Robinson, Printers.
A source for the Clapp family is "Record of the Clapp Family in America" David Clapp & Sons Publishing, 1876, all may be available from Higginson Book Company, Derby Square, Salem, Mass., 01970 http://www.higginsonbooks.com/.
Unless there are descendants from my grandfather's brother Robert Lay Van Deusen, it would appear that I am the last Van Deusen in a direct lineage from my Great-grandfather, John Porter Van Deusen. I would be very interested to hear if this is not the case.
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