I have subscribed to the above lists because I have become aware of a
significant potential for surname confusion.
I am the administrator for the RootsWeb DeCamp-L mailing list. Over the
years we have discussed a surprising number of variations on our surname.
Briefly, the historical facts suggest that our DeCamp progenitor (Laurens
Jansen DeCamp, who apparently came to New Amsterdam about 1664, and later
settled in Staten Island) was a French Huguenot, who closely allied himself
with a variety of Dutch families.
In contrast, the Camp surname appears earliest in an English family in
Milford, New Haven Co., Connecticut, probably before 1645. The earliest
appearance of the VanCamp and VanCampen surnames seems to be in the Orange
and Ulster Co. area of New York, probably before 1660. The LeCompte surname
appears at least by 1670 with a Huguenot family in Maryland, as well as even
earlier in Quebec.
The surname confusion seems to derive, in part, from English clerks who
recorded the Dutch patronymic names in a variety of ways, complicated in
later times by the "De" prefix being recorded as the initial "D".
Thus we
have a well-documented DeCamp whose gravestone in Washington Co., PA, as well
as Revolutionary pension records, identify him as "Moses D. Camp".
Similarly, there are other early records that use VanCamp and VanCampen
interchangeably with "DeCamp". Whether there are instances where they have
been further shortened to Camp (possibly by census takers) is an open
question.
The LeCompte question seems to arise in a different way. At least one of the
sons of Laurens DeCamp is noted in some Staten Island records with the
surname "LeCompte", which has been suggested as indicating some sort of
titled ancestry. In fairness, let it be noted that there appears to be no
further proof of that claim. There also seems to be further connection
between the DeCamp families of colonial New Jersey and a family named
"LeCount" (an obvious translation of "LeCompte"), for whom there seems
to be
no record before about 1750. To complicate things further, this name appears
to have morphed in some way into Brecount (at least in Ohio) by the early
1800's.
So why this detailed discussion? Simply to point out that, if you are
researching any of the above surnames, there are many variations that may
have to be investigated. Obviously, any subscriber to any of these lists
knows how to subscribe, so you don't need to be told that.
But, if you want to subscribe to any of the others, I'm sure you'll find them
interesting.
Wilson DeCamp