Lawrence Gwyn Van Loon
Collection, ca. 1939-2013

SC16677

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Biographical Note:

Lawrence Gwyn Van Loon (1903-1985) was a physician who spent much of his life and career in Reading, Pennsylvania. Later he was medical director of the Kalaupapa Mission in Molokai, Hawaii, followed by positions at state-run schools at Cresson, Pennsylvania, and Wassaic, Dutchess County, New York. In 1982 he retired and moved to Gloversville, New York, where he spent the last years of his life. His avocation was history, specializing in research relative to the Dutch exploration and settlement of North America during the seventeenth century. This interest stemmed largely from the fact that he was a descendant of Jan van Loon, an early settler of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which later became New York. Dr. Van Loon spent a considerable amount of time learning the Dutch language, and it seems he used his knowledge of the language and of history to forge a number of documents during the 1930s that appeared to be historically authentic. A more thorough analysis in the 1980s of the documents' physical attributes, linguistics, and historical evidence proved otherwise.

Scope and Content Note:

This collection consists of a number of documents the New York State Library acquired from Dr. L.G. Van Loon, circa 1938, that have largely been determined to be forgeries. The content of the documents generally concerns relations between the Dutch and Native Americans. One example is a letter supposedly written by Jeronimus dela Croix, with accompanying map, detailing the expedition led by Harmen Myndertsz van der Bogart from Fort Orange into the Mohawk Valley in the winter of 1634-1635. Careful analysis of the text of this document conducted by Charles T. Gehring and William A. Starna, and published in New York State History in 1985, points out linguistic errors as well as historical inaccuracies. The article references a laboratory analysis of the physical attributes of the document done at Buffalo State College which concluded the paper dated from the seventeenth century but the ink dated from the twentieth century. Also the relative even density of the ink throughout the documents indicates that a more modern writing instrument was used and not a quill pen that would have been used in the seventeenth century. A copy of the Gehring and Starna article is included with the collection.

This collection also includes a photostatic copy of an agreement between Jacob Eelckens (Elkins) and the Iroquois Indians chiefs on April 21, 1613, that is also known as the Tawagonshi treaty. The whereabouts of the original is not known and reportedly the only person known to have seen it was Dr. Van Loon. The authenticity of the treaty has also been refuted as a result of extensive research and analysis conducted by Gehring and Starna and published in New York History in 1987 and 2012. The latter article states the Tawagonshi treaty is a "fake." However, a number of individuals who believe the treaty to be authentic have also published their views. Copies of these articles, both pro and con, are included in this collection.

The other documents in the collection have not yet been subject to as much research and analysis as the two aforementioned pieces but, since they have the same provenance and similar physical characteristics as the dela Croix letter, they are thought to be forgeries as well. For example, the Indian deed to Manhattan Island, dated July 10, 1626, was discredited because of the incorrect name of one of the Dutch signers of the deed: Bastiaen Jansz Crol, a known Dutch officer of the period, has "signed" the deed as "Jans Sabastian Croll." More importantly, Charles Gehring and others have indicated these documents are also ripe with many serious linguistic errors and historical inaccuracies.

Provenance Note:

This collection of documents was received by this repository in 1938 from Dr. L.G. Van Loon. At the time, A.J.F. van Laer, the authority on Dutch language and history at the New York State Library, was about to retire and did not have time to thoroughly evaluate the authenticity of the documents. They were stored in the library's vault until about August 1977 when the State Library was moving from the Education Building to the Cultural Education Center. At that time they were officially accessioned to the library's holdings. The accession log does not specify whether they were purchased or were a gift.

The phototatic copy of the Tawagonshi Treaty was presented to this repository as a gift from J. Howard Haring in November 1959. It was officially accessioned to the holdings of this repository circa April 1965. A two-page typewritten translation done by L.G. Van Loon accompanied the document.

Part A: Inventory of documents

Part B: Inventory of secondary material