Van Siclen family

The Van Siclen (also spelled Van Sicklen ) family resided in the New Lots district of Flatbush in Kings County (present-day Brooklyn), and the town of Gravesend in Kings County. The family was descended from one of the first Dutch families to settle on Long Island in the 17th century.

Little is known about the individuals most prominent in this collection. Materials pertaining to the branch of the Van Siclen family residing in Flatbush indicate that Abraham Van Siclen (d. circa 1830) was married to Cornelia Van Siclen, and that in his will he bequeathed his estate to her, stipulating that upon her death the estate would be equally split between his eldest sons, John Van Siclen, an inn-keeper, and Abraham Van Siclen, Jr, a yeoman. There are also documents that indicate that John Van Siclen was a soldier in several regiments of the New York State Militia.

Materials pertaining to the family branch in Gravesend (the members of which often spelled their surname as Van Sicklen ) identify such family members as Richard Emerson Van Sicklen (1880-1969) and Daisy F. (Reiss) Van Sicklen (1881-1969), Henry Johnson Van Sicklen (1835-1909) and Anna Maria (Robe) Van Sicklen (1840-1909), Lester Robe Van Sicklen (1876-1975), Mabel Chase Van Sicklen (b. 1877), Anna Elisabeth Van Sicklen (1863-1946), and Mary (Van Sicklen) Suydam. While these materials provide details regarding the relationships of these individuals through birth and/or marriage, as well as birth, death, and marriage dates, they contain little more in the way of biographical information.

Although little is known about the individuals represented in this collection, certain locales in present-day Brooklyn recognize the significance of the Van Siclen/Van Sicklen family name, including Van Siclen Avenue, which runs north and south through the neighborhoods of Cypress Hills, East New York, and Canarsie; and Van Sicklen Street, which runs north and south through a small part of the neighborhood of Gravesend. Furthermore, several members of the family, including some featured in this collection, are interred at Gravesend's Van Sicklen Cemetery.