PREFACE.
In compiling the genealogical history of Laurent De Camp, an early Huguenot emigrant to the New Netherlands, and his descendants, I have been actuated not only by the desire to perpetuate the memory of the first American ancestor of an old New Jersey family, but also to preserve for future generations manuscript records rapidly disintegrating and in many cases inaccessible to the general public. The early French and Dutch church records in New York and New Jersey have, with few exceptions, remained unprinted and have been so carelessly kept that the writings have almost faded away. To add to my difficulty the puzzling method adopted by the ignorant Dutch clerks of entering the French name “De Camp” in its Dutch equivalents “Van Camp” and “Van Campen” has necessitated a long and thorough search against each name in order that no important fact concerning the De Camp family, so erroneously recorded, might be overlooked. Throughout this search I have found no evidence to prove the “De Camp” and “Van Campen” families identical or even related in any degree. I have further had to struggle against a curious apathy among the present “De Camps” concerning their origin and in several cases an absolute refusal to furnish the slightest information about their immediate generation.
The result of six years’ labor is contained in these pages, and I trust the data collected may prove of value to those interested in the subject, and spur them on to further research.
Some mistakes will doubtless be found throughout the work, but all criticism and correction will be warmly welcomed and any additional information gratefully received.