W is for Walloon

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is W for Walloon

Walloons come from Belgium and have many historical and cultural similarities with Huguenots from France.

I have written a book about one Walloon immigrant who settled in New Amsterdam (now New York City), New Netherland.

New Netherland Settlers: A Walloon in New Amsterdam:: Adriaen Vincent and his Wife Magdaleen Eloy - 2nd edition! available on Amazon

Adriaen Vincent, a Walloon from Belgium, made the perilous journey to New Netherland with his wife Magdaleen and their young family in the early 1640s. 

A former West Indies Company soldier, Adriaen was embarking on a new life. The family settled in the village of New Amsterdam, which would one day become the city of New York. Life could not have been easy for the couple, faced with a different culture and language. But settlers were pouring in and New Amsterdam was flourishing. 

Within a few years Adriaen and Magdaleen opened a tavern which catered to sailors and new arrivals. Their fortunes soon took a turn for the better and the family settled into their new life. This book contains new information on the family in the Netherlands and New Netherland, as well as details on descendants of Adriaen and Magdaleen