The source of this story is the National Museum of the Pacific War Digital Archive. ORAL HISTORY PROJECT BY BRAD WEBER FOR INTERVIEW WITH AL QUACKENBUSH, U.S.S. Tangier October 10, 1999 Al Quackenbush was a First Class Ships Cook on the USS Tangier at the time of Pearl Harbor. Today he resides in Minnesota and is very involved with the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.
BW: Can you give me your full name, rate, and length of service on the Tangier.
AQ: My name is Al Quackenbush. At the time we put the Tangier in commission I was Ships Cook first class. Bill Fletcher and I were watch officers in our galley. I entered the Navy as a swimmer when right out of high school in a swimming program the Navy had in those days. In 1931 you couldn’t get into the Navy in those days unless you was an athlete. So it was quite an honor for me to be accepted into the Navy when they was turning so many people. In 1931 there wasn’t much action. So I was real fortunate. All I did for the first few years was swept for the Navy. I almost made the 1932 Olympic team. I tried out for it and the Navy was good enough to send me all over to Panama along with everybody. I had a great time with alot of great people. I had this picture taken with Buster Crabbe at a swimming race. I later met him in Hawaii. We had a good times. It was a wonderful life.
When you hear the name Quackenbush, you’re hearing the distant echo of marshlands and wild woods in the old Netherlands.
Long before the name appeared on mailboxes in New York, Michigan, Oregon, or anywhere else in North America, it belonged to a single family living near a Dutch woodland known as Quackenbosch — literally “the woods of the night heron.” The “kwak,” a bird known for its distinct call, lived in the “bosch,” the scrubby, untamed forestland of Holland.
And from that ancient landscape came a surname that would cross oceans, settle new continents, fracture into dozens of spellings, and ultimately become a distinctly American family line.
From Quackenbosch to Quackenbush
Most surname researchers and genealogists agree:
1. The name originated in the Netherlands
“Quackenbosch” was originally a Dutch toponymic surname meaning:
kwak → night heron
bosch → woods or forest
Quackenbosch → “the woods where the night heron calls”
Over time, as Dutch settlers arrived in North America during the 1600s, the name began to shift — first into Quackenbosch, then Quackenbos, and eventually into the now-dominant spelling Quackenbush.
2. The family’s North American story begins in the 1600s
The earliest widely accepted ancestor is Pieter (or Pieter van) Quackenbosch, who arrived in New Netherland (later New York) during the mid-17th century.
His descendants adopted English spellings, intermarried with other colonial families, and spread outward from the Hudson Valley into the Midwest and beyond.
3. A surname that multiplies by variation
Because colonial record-keeping was inconsistent, the name splintered into numerous variants:
Quackenbosch, Quackenbos, Quackinbush, Quackenboss, Quackanbush, Quackenboom, Quackenbol, Kwakkenbos, Kwackenbosch, Quackenboer, Quackenburgh, and more.
Each spelling reflects a moment in time — a clerk’s handwriting, a census taker’s guess, an immigrant’s adaptation, or a family’s personal choice.
How Many People Have the Name?
Thanks to modern genealogy and surname statistics, we can now estimate the global footprint of the Quackenbush name.
A. U.S. Census Count (Most Reliable Official Number)
According to the 2010 U.S. Census:
4,164 people in the United States have the surname Quackenbush
Making it the 7,947th most common surname in the U.S.
Frequency: about 1.41 per 100,000 people
Roughly 95–96% of bearers are recorded as White/European-descent
Why the difference?
Different projects count different things — census records, phone directories, genealogy submissions, or variant spellings. So the “real” number is somewhere within the full range.
Where in the World Are the Quackenbushes Today?
United States
The surname is most concentrated in:
New York (especially the Hudson Valley)
Michigan
Ohio
Indiana
Illinois & Wisconsin
Iowa & Minnesota
Oregon, Washington, and North Carolina
Earlier global data also suggested:
About 5,402 Quackenbushes in the U.S.
Roughly 21% in New York alone
Followed by clusters in California, Florida, Indiana, and Oregon
From a marshy Dutch woodland in the 1600s to thousands of households across North America today, the name Quackenbush has traveled continents, survived wars, crossed oceans, and adapted to more than a dozen spellings.
Whether you meet a Quackenbush in:
New York
Ontario
Florida
Oregon
Adelaide
or a small town in the Midwest
…you are looking at the living continuation of a name that should have vanished centuries ago — but didn’t.
During the early days of the settlement of America, when large numbers of sturdy Dutch pioneers crossed the Atlantic and founded New Amsterdam, two brother named Quack Boss came to this country, one of who, settled in Albany, took the name of Quackenbush, while the other, remaining in New York City, adopted the name of Quackenbos. From the latter of the two brothers, the subject of this notice is descended. For generations the family has been one of wealth, prominence, and influence, and it has given to New York many of its leading merchants, attorneys, and physicians. One of the most prominent members was George P. Quackenbos, the noted school-book author, who was a cousin of our subject.
WWII Photography Fights Interpretation Unit Film "Photography Fights" 77784. Created for the U.S. Navy by the Treasury Dept. as part of the 6th War Loan drive, PHOTOGRAPHY FIGHTS is a docudrama that showcases the role of a naval photographic interpretation team in theater. The film begins and ends with a "typical" American couple who openly doubt the value of photography in the war, and then shows an interpretation team working on the front lines at Guadalcanal in the Pacific. An aerial photograph is analyzed to reveal that Japanese troops are constructing an air strip on an adjacent island at Munda. The film then suggests the destruction of the strip by showing scenes of aerial and naval bombardment. The film (according to a 1944 guide) "shows how under enemy action photographic crews work precious minutes getting and scanning pictures to search for signs of enemy emplacements and evidence of his movements. It shows what happens when well trained, discerning photographic interpreters can read from pictures shot by the crew."
John A. Quackenbush. son of Harmon J.; born October 16. 1828 in Schaghticoke, New York; married September 29, 1852 to Harriet Kinney (died November 12. 1899). Together they had the following children: Jacob, born July 19. 1855; died September 14, 1855. George Edward, born November 10, 1855; died January 12. 1857. John Henry, born May 12. 1858; married Nellie Newland. Emma, born June 2, 1863; married December 29, 1890, George Ira Rayner. No children.
John Adam Quackenbush was a U.S. Republican politician from New York. He was born in Schaghticoke, New York. He attended the district schools and the local academy in Stillwater N.Y.; engaged in agricultural pursuits and was also interested in the lumber business. He was the supervisor of Schaghticoke 1860 - 1862 and chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Rensselaer County in 1862. He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Rensselaer Co., 2nd D.) in 1863. John served as the Sheriff of Rensselaer County from 1873 - 1876. He was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-first and Fifty-second Congresses (March 4, 1889 - March 3, 1893. John was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Fifty-third Congress. He resumed agricultural pursuits and died in Schaghticoke, N.Y. on May 11, 1908. John was buried in the City Cemetery.
Michael Spillane (born March 18, 1976), better known by his ring name Mike Quackenbush, is an American professional wrestler, trainer, author and the founder of both The Wrestle Factory and Chikara. Quackenbush is best known as the patriarch of the Chikara family and his work on the independent circuit, the latter of which has spanned for over 15 years. He has written seven books: Fantastic Finishers (1998), Headquarters (2001), Secret Identity (2004), Chikara Yearbook (2002, 2004, 2009 and 2011). From 1998 to 2008, he penned a regular column for The Wrestler magazine entitled 'From Bell To Bell' and 'International Report' in Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Both Headquarters and Secret Identity were re-released as e-books for the Kindle in May 2010. He is also the host of the weekly video podcast entitled "Chikara Podcast–A–Go–Go". Quackenbush also hosts a non-wrestling related podcast called "The Grizzly Bear Egg Cafe" with his long-time friend, Fox News host Clayton Morris. In wrestling, Quackenbush is a former NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion and one half of the Chikara Campeones de Parejas with Jigsaw.
