My last name is Van Duser?

Question:

My last name is Van Duser?

i have tried to research this and am ending up with a dead end. It is a rumor in my family and has been swept under the carpet by my grandmother who was of wealth and did not want this to be out in the open, that one of my great great great someone's was a "bad" leader of Germany. I will say there is alot of "negative" blood in that side. Where can i go for help? I cannot find this name anywhere. I can only find Van Dusen. With and 'n' yes as you see.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: It's a very old Dutch name in this country. The earliest references I have to "van Duser" come from the time of the New Netherlands colony the Dutch founded in what's now New York. There are several who settled on Staten Island. If you want info on the earliest US residents of that name, look up the Holland Society of America at http://www.hollandsociety.org/

Here's a Revolutionary war record for one van Duser:

Name: Barrent Van Duser
Event: Lived
Year: 1776
County: Albany
Province: New York
Comments: (Land Bounty Rights) 8th Reg't
Source: New York in the Revolution as Colony and State, Vol. I - Extracts

There are also several dozen who emigrated from the Netherlands in the 19th and 20th centuries. You can check them out at www.castlegarden.org. Here's the list using the root name "duser" (van meaning "from" and not always being used in the surname in official records):

First name Last name Occupation Age Sex Arrived Origin Ship
Andreas Duser Farmer 44 M 8 Oct 1884 Germany Leerdam
Anna Duser Child, Youngster 3 F 8 Oct 1884 Germany Leerdam
Dina Duser Farmer 15 F 8 Oct 1884 Germany Leerdam
Elisabeth Duser Child, Youngster 8 F 8 Oct 1884 Germany Leerdam
Fritz Duser Child, Youngster 10 M 8 Oct 1884 Germany Leerdam
Helene Duser Servant, Gentleman's Servant 16 F 26 Jul 1893 Germany Havel
Henry Duser Unknown 16 M 16 Jul 1895 Germany Weimar
Josefine Duser Farmer 38 F 8 Oct 1884 Germany Leerdam
Theodor Duser Child, Youngster 12 M 8 Oct 1884 Germany Leerdam

⩠2005 CastleGarden.Org

Perhaps most helpful for you is that in 1938 someone did a biographical record on the Van Duser family and published it in New York State. Here's the publication information and it seems you can order it from the LDS Family History Centers:

Source: The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record (quarterly-1938) - Extracts
Publisher: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society
Publication info: New York, Ny.
Additional Info: Also available on microfilm at Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Page: 148
Subject Name: Van Duser
Event: Lived
Year: 1783
Place: New York City
County: New York
Province: New York

It appears that the folk tale of the "bad" leader of Germany is nothing more. There's never been anyone with even a similar name who led any of the German states pre- or post-unification during the existence of the United States.

Were I to make an educated guess, I'm betting you trace back to New Netherlands and your original family name was Van Dusen and it changed somewhere around 1770. Start with the Holland Society and your own research and see what you can find.

FWIW, we've all had "rumors" like the one you've heard. Usually there's not even a shred of truth to them (if you have a year, I'll tell you all about my "disinherited Polish princess who lived in a house in Elmira NY that was as big as a city block...when she really lived in a tiny shack in Beaver PA and never saw the lap of luxury in her life). Don't even let rumors like those play any role in your research. Go straight from census, military, birth/marriage/death and religious records. Everything else isn't ready for prime time and can really send you down the wrong path. The truth is what it is...and if you're good at following the fundamental rules of research, you'll find the truth all on your own.