Beverhoudt Family History & Genealogy

History

Today the name Beverhoudt is found mainly in the U. S. Virgin Islands and America.  Many have endeavoured to trace the origin of the name and their ancestors into the past, beyond these places, however there is as yet a brick wall in history here. 


The earliest record of the use of the name Beverhoudt is in 1673 when Engel van Beverhoudt, who was Vice Commandant on the island of Saba from 1687 until his untimely death in 1690, is recorded as visiting the island of St Thomas to attend  court. Also named as being on St Thomas in 1673 are Jannis van Beverhodut, Daniel van Beverhoudt and James van Beverhoudt.


Beverhoudt is believed to be of Dutch origin and the van Beverhoudts found in Saba and St Eustatius in the 1600s are assumed to be from among the settlers from Zeeland, a province on the south coast of the Netherlands.  Zeeland is partly made up of estuary islands and 2 of these are named Noord (North) Beveland and Suid (South) Beveland.  It has been suggested that the name Beveland came from the monastery of St Bavo.  However, a more literal translation of Beveland is simply 'beaver land' a meaning of the name which could have come from the constant work of shoring up the coast of these small islands against the sea and flooding - a work that is still maintained today in the dykes of Zeeland.  The Dutch translation of Beverhoudt is 'beaver keeps or holds'. 


In the records from the Danish West Indies (US Virgin Islands) the names van Beverhoudt and von Beverhoudt appear regularly to identify members of the same families. The family of Lucas van Beverhoudt who migrated to St Thomas from St Eustatius in 1680s, and whose grandchildren moved to the US in 1700s tend to use 'van' more often.  The families who came to St Thomas from Saba, Johannes von Beverhoudt uses von often and Claudius' family uses von sometimes.  This is another mystery of the Beverhoudt name which may be resolved in time.  The reason may be as simple as the ancestry of the Beverhoudt spouse, or of the person who wrote the record using the familiar form - von is usually Germanic and van is usually Dutch.


Found in the records of the Danish West Indies and Guinea Company, in the Danish Archives, is another indication that the name Beverhoudt comes from the Netherlands. It is in the use of patronymics in the Dutch form - Claudizoon (Claudi's son), Janzoon (Jan's son), Johannes EZ (Engelzoon - Johannes the son of Engel)  Johannes CZ (Claudizoon - Johannes the son of Claudi).  Interestingly, these patronymics don't seem to be used as much in the family of Lucas van Beverhoudt as in the families of Claudius and Johannes.

Name Origin

If you look at the earliest records of the van B. family you will see that the name was spelled Beverhout not Beverhoudt. Beverhout is "wood felled by a beaver". It is also a colloquial name for a type of Aspen, in Dutch called "Rattel populier".
In late medieval time, perhaps also early renaissance, there was a forest called Beverhoutvelt
(velt=forest) situated a little east south east of Brugge, in Flanders Belgium. Right next to the forest there was a flat stretch of land called Beverhoutplein (where a famous battle took place - google it - between the citizens of Gent and Brugge.). That same stretch of land - perhaps even part of the forest - was owned by the count of Flanders, who rented/leased it to so called
"Leensmans", a kind of lesser feudal lords.
One of these was called Ghidolf van Beverhout and he is the first (1360) to be mentioned as Leensman of the "Beverhoutshof" (today "Blauw Kasteel").
Link

(in Dutch).
You can follow var. families using that name in Flanders up till shortly after 1600 (takes a lot of patience but it's all there online).
In the 1640es a person called Gelaude van Beverhout tried to get a position as preacher in the Dutch Antillies (see link )
He was sent to St. Martin and ST. Eustatius in 1650 and died out there 13 years later. He is in my mind the best candidate for first Beverhout in the Caribbean and a likely progenitor of all later Beverhoudts out there.
Coments welcome [contact link] (The name is R. Klausen)

Spellings & Pronunciations

We don't have any alternate spellings or pronunciation information on the Beverhoudt name. Have information to share?

Nationality & Ethnicity

Most likely Flanders

Famous People named Beverhoudt

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Early Beverhoudts

These are the earliest records we have of the Beverhoudt family.