The Fulkerson Family Pages
Fulkerson Family Patriarch--Dirck de Noorman (Holgerson)
Some early researchers concluded Dirck was one of the Volckertsen brothers from Hoorn, a Dutch seaport, who had been early investors in the Virginia tobacco trade; but there is no evidence in the Dutch record that they themselves ever sailed to America. This thought is based on a record dated 24 Sep 1621:
At the request of Dierck Volckertsen, Doctor Verus and Dr. Carbasius, all of Hoorn, Pieter State General Nannincx of Mdemblik, and Cornelis Volckertsen together with Pieter Dircksen Schoders, bookkeeper have received permission to send a ship to the Virginies loaded with all sorts of merchandise, to trade there and return with their cargo, goods and merchandise, agent and sailors to this country. They have to return before July 1, 1622.
Further research is needed to examine whether there is a connection between the Dierck Volckertsen of Hoorn and the Dirck de Norman and founding father of New York City whom thousands of us Fulkersons claim as an ancestor today.
There is a chance a line or two of Fulkersons also were woven in to the Family tree by a misapplication of our evolved patronymic to an uncommon English/Irish/Scotch surname, not very common, 'Farqharson."
Someone has noted a very small number of Fulkersons may have immigrated to America from the British Isles, probably about 1840 and afterwards. They did not establish any significant family lines in the United States. This is a tidbit of info which has not been verified.
In almost all cases (99.9%), Americans and Canadians born with the surname Fulkerson- or a similar variant - descend from Volkert, the son of Dirck De Noorman of the New Amsterdam settlement.
There is a long-standing belief in some regions of America that the Fulkerson family's ancestors immigrated from Germany. There are similar German names such as Falk, Falck, Falke and Faulk. However, the Fulkerson surname is not German and has no direct-lineage connection to any people of German origin; although there are some family names associated through maternal lines (especially the Bruner/Brunner sisters of New Jersey/Kentucky, who married into the family near the time of the American Revolution) which have extensive German roots of their own.
Associated Names
Murderously misspelled notations on Census and other records have twisted this most common version of our name Fulkerson into variants as similar as having one letter off, such as Fulkersin, Folkerson, Falkerson, or Fockerson; to as disfigured as Faulkerson, Furkison," and, perhaps, even "Ferguson."
These variations of spelling were generally either (1) a matter of preference, or (2) frontier spellings concocted by guessing at the sound of the name.
Careful attention to marriage, birth, and death records is needed to tease out these name variances and how they may actually connect with the main "trunk" of our family tree, stemming from the household established by Dirck and Christina in New Amsterdam.
Dirck was born at about mid-reign of King Christian IV. It was in the latter part of King Christian's reign that many witch hunts, witch trials, and executions of witches were conducted, both in Norway and in Denmark.
We believe with a fair amount of certainty Dirck was a ship's carpenter; otherwise, not much information has been gathered about him prior to documents concerning him appearing in what is today New York City, New York. His name starts appearing in these historical papers around 1630.
Grandfather Dirck's Norwegian origins are virtually a certainty, based on the fact he was often called Dirck De Noorman [Dutch: Norseman]. Several other immigrants in New Amsterdam were also called "De Noorman." All of these people were documented as immigrating from Norway. A few of New Amsterdam's immigrants came from Bergen. Dirck, also, is thought by most family researchers to have been a native of Bergen, a.k.a. Bryggen, or at least to have sailed to America from that city.
At least 57 Norwegians settled in the New Amsterdam colony of New Netherland between 1630 and 1674 ["The Norwegian Americans" by James M. Cornelius, Chelsea House Publishers, New York, NY, 1989, p. 31-32].
According to a website of the Gulicks of New Jersey, Dirck Noorman Holgerson was born in Norway in 1595. Some genealogies, including the Gulicks', associate him with the family headed by Volkert Maertense Seylemaecker and his wife, Anna Dirks; however, this could not be possible, as their son Dirck is recorded as having died in 1630, which would have been about the time our Grandfather Dirck was courting and marrying his wife Christine Vigne.
Although Dirck's presence was noted in multiple areas of modern Manhattan and on Long Island, New York, much of his life was spent on his farm in Bushwick. One historian (this is oft-quoted--still trying to trace primary document to cite) has stated:
Dirck naturally contributed in the layout of the village, and in the construction of the buildings, the docks at the waterways, the roads and highly important palisade.
The Fulkerson Name
Whether or not Dirck ever went by the name of "Volckertszen" is uncertain, but it seems doubtful--more references to him as "Holgerson" or as "The Norman" have been noted.
What complicates matters with regard to Dirck's name was that the Norwegian naming practice was primary patronymic. The father's first name became the children's last name, so there was no such thing as a "family name" that passed from one generation to the next.
Certain other individuals, such as one in Schenectady, New York, at a later time, have been documented as having had the name "Volckerts"or "Volkerts." There is possibly, perhaps likely, a family connection between Dirck and that individual in Schenectady.
In the first few generations born after Dirck formed his household with Christine Vigne (a.k.a. Chirstina) and the couple launched their first descendants, a first name was commonly used for boys--that first name was "Volkertz" or "Volkerts," or sometimes even "Volkerse."
Within three or four more generations, the names "Fulkard" and "Folkard" were being given to newborn sons. Another version which has appeared repeatedly is Folkert. From these first names the modern version of our family name, "Fulkerson,"evolved over time.
Under this system, the surname of Dirck's children was Dircks (sometimes spelled Dirckse or Dirckx). In the following generation, the children of his son Volkert Dircks had surnames based on his first name, Volkert.
When the English seized New Amsterdam by military force in 1664 and renamed it New York, both Dutch rule and the patronymic system ceased. The patronyms then in use by the former Dutch colonists became permanent family names, and over time were 'translated' into English surnames.
In our case, a permanent last name was established, based on the root name of Volkert. Over the next 75 to 100 years, the family name was spelled Volkerts, Volkertse, Folkerts, Folkertse, Volkertson and Folkertson.
By the time of the American Revolution our surname was almost universally spelled Fulkerson.
Click photo for important information:
Text authored by Bob Fulkerson, from his site Fulkerson.org, with edits and added info and links in 2015.
Click here to read about the Household of Dirck Holgerson de Noorman and Christine Vigne.
Documents, such as a ship's passenger list, have not been found to give a definite date of Grandfather Dirck's arrival in New Amsterdam. Digging around in NYC historic archives to try to find this information could make a worthy project for an NY-area family member.
Starring in Early American Documents--Grandfather Dirck Made a Name for Himself
Continue to Fulkerson Family Holdings: Our Lost Fortune in NYC Real Estate
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