History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 187

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170

USA > New Jersey > Somerset County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 187
USA > New Jersey > Hunterdon County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 187

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

"Jacob Ten Eyck, 12 bushel of weat.

" Joseph Stull, 12 bushel of ri.

"North Branch, Oct. 30, 1782."

No knowledge has been obtained of where the house was located or by whom the school was kept.

In the north part of the township, those who can still remember the school-days relate that a log school-house was erected on the east side of the river, where Dr. Berg now lives; this was afterwards re- placed by a frame. Later the site was used for the erection of the Dutch Reformed church, and the school built where it at present stands. Another was on the edge of the wood on the Van Kampen or Van Camp tract. The present districts are of compara- tively recent date. The township is divided into four districts, as follows : North Branch, No. 19; Cedar Grove, No. 20; South Branch, No. 22; Fairview, No. 23.

The whole number of children in the township be- tween five and eighteen years of age is 458, of which North Branch District has 183; Cedar Grove, 86; South Branch, 115; Fairview, 74. Valuation of school property, $4600,-North Branch, $600; Cedar Grove, $500; South Branch, $2500; Fairview, $1000. The total amount of money received from all sources was $1802.11, of which North Branch received $716.03; Cedar Grove, $374.37 ; South Branch, $411.71; Fair- view, $300. One female and three male teachers are employed, at an average salary of $35 per month.

HIAMLETS.

Branchburg has no village within its limits. North Branch, situated on the North Branch of the Raritan, was laid out Dec. 25, 1844, by Joseph Thompson, at the request of Garret Stryker, on whose land it was. It contains 120 inhabitants, a hotel, post-office, store, grist- mill, school - house, blacksmith-shop, wagon- shop, and two wheelwrights. Here prior to the Rev- olution 100 acres were purchased of the Ten Eycks

for a mill-site, and a mill was built upon it with two large undershot-wheels. About 1812 (the property then belonging to John Baylis) a smaller wheel was added. This continued until 1840, at which time the property came into the hands of John Runk, by whom the mill was remodeled and the fulling-mill removed. From that time to the present it has been a grist-mill. It is now owned by the estate of a Mr. Beekman of New York.

A tavern was there in 1773, and kept by Dr. Abra- ham Bertron till 1795. It has changed hands many times. At an early day it was kept by Flummerfelt and by John Baylis. It is now owned and kept by S. A. Coddington. A post-office was established be- yond the memory of those living in the neighborhood, but among the postmasters were Edward Barto, Ralph Van Pelt, J. B. Smith, A. Rigger, and the present incumbent, Abraham Van Nest. The only other post-office in the town is at the North Branch Station. This office was established in 1862, and has had the following postmasters: David K. Craig, William Van Doren, Peter L. Kline, Abraham S. Gaston, and Peter S. Cramer.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

HON. CALVIN CORLE.

Hon. Calvin Corle is a native of Hillsborough town- ship, Somerset Co., N. J., where he was born on Jan. 22, 1830. His father, Charles Corle, was born in Delaware township, Hunterdon Co., on May 2, 1798. He married a lady of that county,-Hannah Hoag- land,-by whom he had three children,-viz., Calvin, the subject of this notice; Benjamin, who died in 1847; and Ellen Elizabeth, who died at the age of three years and ten months. Charles Corle spent the early portion of his life, until the age of thirty, in Hunterdon County, where he was a farmer by occu- pation. In 1827 he removed with his wife, whom he had recently married, to Hillsborough township, where, in connection with his brother Samuel, he purchased the Beekman mills, and engaged in farm- ing, milling, and storekeeping until Mr. Corle's death, which occurred on Nov. 5, 1857. He was for many years a justice of the peace in the township of Hillsborough, and was known as a man of probity and strict integrity of character.

Mr. and Mrs. Corle both died during the same week, of typhoid fever.

The subject of this sketch was brought up at the mills in Hillsborough township, and, besides attend- ing the common schools of his district, received an academical education at Pennington Seminary, New Jersey. In October, 1852, he married Hannah Van Camp for his first wife, by whom he had two chil- dren,-Charles and Hannah M. Corle,-both deceased.

Caeni Cole

Rev Henry Voorhees.

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BRANCHBURG.

Mrs. Corle died in March, 1869, and he married for his second wife Anna Hankins, of Allentown, N. J., on May 9, 1871. He has had no children by the sec- ond marriage.

Mr. Corle has all his life been engaged in agricul- tural pursuits, and may be regarded as a model farmer in the seetion of country where he resides. Ile re- moved to his present residence, in the township of Branchburg, in March, 1860, and has recently pur- chased the adjoining farm. He now owns one of the most beautiful estates in this rich valley, consisting of two hundred and forty acres of land under a high state of cultivation.

In politics Mr. Corle is a Democrat, and has always firmly adhered to the principles of that party. In the fall of 1869 he was elected to represent Somerset County in the State Senate, and served in that body during the sessions of 1870, 1871, and 1872, acting as a member of several important committees. He has taken an active interest in all public improvements in his township and county, and is highly estecmed as a patriotic, liberal, and enterprising citizen. His integrity and honor are above suspicion or reproach. Mr. Corle, as trustee, executor, and administrator, has been largely engaged in the settlement of estates. Since November, 1879, he has held the responsible position of president of the Somerset County Bank, at Somerville.

REV. HENRY VAN DERVEER VOORHEES.

N. J., and of Dinah Van Berg, his wife, historically called "Juffrow" Hardenberg, who was the widow of Rev. John Frelinghuysen. One branch of the Schenk family can be traced back thirteen hundred years. It received its elevation to the peerage and its patent of nobility from the hand of Charlemagne himself. In the coat-of-arms decreed to the family the shield is in the form of a goblet, with "Die Schenken" (the Dutch for "cup-bearer") in German text at the bot- tom.

The genealogy of the Voorhees family is more dis- tinetly traceable, link by link, to their origin in lol- land than most other families of foreign extraction in this country. They take their name from their estates before the village of Hies, south of Ruinen, in the province of Drenthe, Holland, a part of ancient Friesland. The last ancestor of the family at that place, prior to the departure to these shores, was Coert Albertse. His son Steven Coerte, born in the year 1600, who received at his birth the name of " Van Voorhees," emigrated to this country, with his wife and seven children, in the ship " Bonticoe," Capt. Pieter Lucassen, and arrived at New York in April, 1660. ITis son, Lucas Stevens Van Voorhees, resided in 1685 at Hackensack, N. J., through whom the succession runs to the second son, Jan Lucasse, who removed to Flat Lands, L. I. The first son, Eldert, and his descendants dropped the surname of Van Voorhees, substituted that of Eldert, and thus branched off.

Jan Lucasse, of Flat Lands, married three times. By his first wife, Anna Vanduyckhuysen, he had one son, Johannes Lueas Voorhees. By his second, Mayke R. Schenk, he had twelve children, the seventh ehild and sixth son of whom was Isaac, baptized March 23, 1716, the great-grandfather of Rev. Henry V. Voor- hees. The third wife of Jan Lucasse was Fametje Remsen, by whom he had no issue.

Rev. Henry Van Derveer Voorhees, whose portrait appears in this work, represents in himself some of the oldest, most prominent, and most highly respected families of the State. His maternal grand- mother, Alche (Letitia) Schenk, who married Israel Harris, a brilliant lawyer and judge, and once sheriff of Somerset County, was one of the five sisters of that name who, by their marriage with strong men, and Isaac Voorhees was also twice married. By his by their careful training of their children in right ' first wife, Sarah, he had John, who married Miss principles, have indelibly stamped the impress of Rodney, of Maryland, and Stephen, a Presbyterian minister, and father of Robert Voorhees, of Prince- ton, N. J. His second wife was Helena, daughter of Derrick and Jannetje Van Arsdale Barkalo, of Mon- mouth Co., N. J. She was born Dec. 22, 1723, and the children of the marriage were Derrick, baptized June 22, 1755, who moved to Ohio and became the ancestor of United States senator Daniel Voorhees; David, born Dec. 4, 1757 ; Jane (Mrs. Du Bois) ; and Maria (Mrs. Huth, of Neshanic). their names upon the annals of the State and nation. The eldest sister, Mary, married Dr. Lawrence Van Derveer, a great and good man ; the second, Catharine, married Elias Van Derveer, his brother, who died at the age of thirty-three from the effects of cruel treat- ment during a long imprisonment by the British during the Revolutionary war (his son was the cele- brated Dr. Henry Van Derveer, late of Pluckamin) ; the third, Gertrude, married Gen. Frederick Freling- huysen, of Millstone, and became the mother of the David, the second child of Isaae and Helena Voor- hees, when eighteen or nineteen years of age, was left in charge of the Voorhees residence at Middle- bush, N. J., during the Revolutionary struggle. Seeing a portion of Lord Howe's army approaching, he took his musket and went alone from the field to the house to protect the property. He was soon overpowered and bound, but, having a tenacious memory, he kept account of all that the enemy destroyed, and, escaping three prominent representatives of that family in the State, John, Theodore, and Frederick ; and the fifth (Alche being the fourth) sister married Gen. Peter I. Stryker, a popular physician of Somerville for many years. Their brother, Dr. Henry Schenk, of Neshanie, married Eleanor Hardenberg, daughter of Rev. Dr. Jacob R. Hardenberg, a prominent Dutch Reformed minister and former president of Rutgers College,

768

SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

from his captors, was afterwards able to write out a list of the articles destroyed, with their value, which the lawful authorities recognized as just, and upon which remunerative payment was made. David Voorhees married Eve Oakey on May 2, 1788, and settled in New Brunswick, N. J., where he became a successful grain-merchant. His second son, Abraham Oakey Voorhees, was born Aug. 23, 1791, and mar- ried, March 24, 1814, Margaret P. Harris, of Middle- brook. Their seventh child and fourth son was Rev. Henry V. Voorhees, who was born in New Brunswick, N. J., on Dec. 19, 1826. When six weeks old he was removed by his parents to New York City, where his father engaged in the grain business as a member of the firm of Voorhees & Wilbur, and where he enjoyed a reputation for probity and fair dealing that any one might justly envy.

Rev. Henry V. Voorhees was born with a delicate physical and nervous organization, and it was only with the greatest care that he was raised. When ten years of age he was deprived by death of his excellent mother, whose special care he had been to that time. A few years later he removed with his father to Princeton, N. J., the latter having been made execu- tor of the will of his cousin, Robert Voorhees, and the settlement of his large estate requiring his con- stant care and attention. His father subsequently purchased a farm in the vicinity of Rocky Hill, N. J., where he resided until his death, on June 27, 1866.

After the death of his mother, Mr. Voorhees passed to the fostering care of his grandmother Harris, but in a few years she also passed away, at Princeton, on Aug. 9, 1840, leaving him to the care of the eldest sister, Catharine Letitia, who subsequently became the wife of Rev. Winthrop Bailey, of Long Island. Mr. Voorhees received his preliminary educational training in the schools at Princeton with a view of entering the excellent college at that place, but, yield- ing to the wishes of his father, who clung to the Dutch traditions of the family, he entered Rutgers College as a sophomore in 1844, whence he was grad- uated in the class of 1847. He subsequently entered the seminary at New Brunswick, and was graduated in 1850. In April following he was invited to supply the church at Geneva, N. Y., for six months, and at the close of that period he was unanimously chosen its pastor. While he entered upon the discharge of his duties without experience and under many diffi- culties, he continued for four years in the pastorate, achieving great success and popularity, and leaving behind him a united congregation and a lively and warm recollection of his excellencies and virtues as a Christian minister. In the year 1854, though suffer- ing from a severe attack of sore throat, Mr. Voorhees was urgently invited to become the pastor of the Broome Street Reformed Church, of New York, which was then laboring under some difficulties. In the early summer of 1855, yielding to a mistaken sense of duty, he accepted the call; he was shortly

after, however, prostrated by sunstroke, and compelled to seek the seclusion of the country for absolute rest. Later still he suffered from a severe attack of conges- tion of the brain, which confined him to the bed for six months and disabled him for duty for two years. As soon as he could write he sent in his resignation of his pastoral office. This was in 1856. His min- istry had been providentially interfered with, but among its fruits was the conversion of Leonard W. Kip, now a gifted and successful minister of Amoy, China.

In January, 1858, Mr. Voorhees became the pastor of the church at Bound Brook, and, shortly after, a glorious revival of religion ensued. On Nov. 3, 1859, he was united in marriage to Jane Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Hon. Thomas G. Talmage, late mayor of Brook- lyn, N. Y., and a judge and State senator of New York. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Dr. Bethune, a life-long friend and patron of both Mr. and Mrs. Voorhees. In 1862, owing to internal dis- sensions in his church, caused by the civil war, Mr. Voorhees withdrew from Bound Brook. His next field of labor was in one of the enterprises of the Board of Domestic Missions in One Hundred and Fifty-Second Street, New York, then known as Car- mansville. Here he remained in charge of a weak and struggling church until the spring of 1865, when he resigned. He had taken it under a misapprehen- sion of facts, and found it in no condition to be per- manently benefited. His next pastoral charge was the South Bushwick Church, Brooklyn, the call to which he accepted in 1867. He retired from this ministry two years later because of the unhealthy condition of the locality, both himself and family suffering from ill health and one child being removed by death. On Jan. 1, 1871, he became the pastor of the church at Nyack, N. Y., where he labored with much success, until, worn out by hard work during a succession of warm revival seasons, he was com- pelled to resign his charge in 1878. He was the more willing to do this because the church was at that time laboring under great financial difficulties.

Mr. Voorhees, since his resignation, has taken up his residence in his beautiful home near North Branch, N. J., where he has lived at intervals for the past fifteen years. The surroundings of the place are delightful, well calculated for rest and recuper- ation, and please the eye with the beauty of its scenery. As a speaker Mr. Voorhees takes high rank among the orators of his day. His style, at first ex- pository, then argumentative, leads him to the expres- sion of the most graceful and chaste imagery, and the whole combined leads to certain conviction in the minds and hearts of his hearers. Though not as rich in fancy as his gifted brother Robert, of Harlingen,- one of the most accomplished speakers of the State, -his style is better adapted to sustain those cogent appeals to the consciences of his hearers which this gospel preacher makes at the close of his discourses.

A. fleming

WILLIAM FLEMING, father of the above, born in 1770, married Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob Cook; was a farmer, and spent most of his life in the township of Alexandria, Hunter- don Co., where he was identified with the local interests of the vicinity. He was for many years a trustee of the Presbyterian Church there, and was officially connected with that body as elder. For a short time he was a resident of Oxford township, Warren Co., and was a mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church there. He died in 1833, aged sixty-three years.

His children were Eleanor, Jacob C., Thomas, Andrew, William, Joanna, Tylee, and Abbott.

Andrew Fleming was born in Alexandria township, Oet. 23, 1805. At the age of eleven years he went from home to care for himself, and until he was twenty-six years of age was mostly engaged working on a farm. For six years following he was a huckster in Hunterdon and Warren Counties. In 1838 he married Margaret, daughter of John Lawshe, of Union. township. She was born May 10, 1817.

Following his marriage, in 1839, he settled in the township of Branchburg, Somerset Co., and engaged in farming and milling at Milltown, where he rented the Van der Veer farm and mill.

In 1846 he purchased the farm upon which he now resides, at that time consisting of two hundred acres, a part of which he sold to

Jonathan Robbins. A subsequent purchase of twenty-five acres makes his present farm one hundred and twenty-five acres, upon which he erected a briek house in 1850.

Besides his agricultural pursuits, Mr. Flem- ing has been a director for twenty-two years, and treasurer for twenty-four years, of the Far- mers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of New Jersey, located at Readington.

He has been interested in all questions affect- ing the interests of the vicinity in which he has lived, and always conscientiously acting in poli- tics upon principles that seemed right and just to him, irrespective of the party men who repre- sented them. For five years he has officiated as justice of the peace, which position he filled with honor to himself and justice to those who received his eounsel. He was several years superintendent of public schools in Branch- burg, and has always taken great interest in educational matters.

To Mr. and Mrs. Fleming have been born fifteen children. Those who reached maturity were John; Jane; Ann, wife of Alonzo Butler, of Holland township; George, resides in Clin- ton, and is the principal of the institute there; Levi, a teacher in Easton, Pa., died in 1875, aged twenty-eight; Robins, a civil engineer in Cleveland, Ohio; Kate, wife of Alfred But- ler, of Chambersburg, N. J .; Asher, at home; and John, who is also a teacher.

Junis Van Camp

TUNIS VAN CAMP is a grandson of Thomas Van Camp, who was a resident of the territory comprising the pres- ent township of Branchburg at an early day, and occu- pied one hundred and seventy-five aeres of land where Christian V. D. Corle now resides. Ile served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war throughout its entire duration, and was taken prisoner by the British and confined for seven months, at the expiration of which time he was paroled. His wife was Catharine Van Middlesworth, and the issue of the marriage were Cornelius, Tunis and John (twins), and Jane. The latter became the wife of Abraham Smock, of Read. ington.

John, son of Thomas Van Camp, was born on his father's farm on May 30, 1784, and in 1806 purebased of his cousin, Cornelius Van Camp, the place where Peter Van Camp now resides, which became the family homestead thereafter. Here he lived, engaged in agri- eultural pursuits, for over half a century.

lle was one of the old substantial citizens of the town. ship, to whose industry and enterprise much of its pres- ent prosperity is due. His farm comprised two hundred and eighty-six neres of rich and productive land, and to its cultivation he devoted all of his energies. He died on Aug. 6, 1875, over ninety-ono years of age. His wife wns Jane, daughter of Gilbert Lane, of North Branch, whom he married Oct. 6, 1804. Her father served as a drummer in the Revolutionary war, where he was one of the Minute-Men. She was born April 16, 1784, and died about 1872. The children of the marriage were Gilbert L., born March 9, 1807, died Nov. 28, 1864; Tunis, born Nov. 19, 1811 ; Peter; Susan D. and Robecen i in Branchburg; and Rachel Anna.

Elizabeth (twins), born Jan. 29, 1815; and Jane. Susan became the wife of Cornelius P. Brokaw, of Roycefield, N. J .; Rebecea married Frederick Ten Eyek, of Mill- stone; Jano became the wife of George Barber, of Hun- terdon County.

Tunis Van Camp, the subject of this sketch, was born on the old homestead on Nov. 19, 1811, and is the oldest male representative of the family now living. llis edu- cational advantages were limited to those afforded by the district schools of his locality. In 1843 he pur- chased a farm near his father's, comprising one hundred and sixty-seven acres, which he occupied until a few years ago. Ile now resides at Neshanic Depot, in a pleasant home, and has retired from the active duties of life. Mr. Van Camp has always been identified with the Democratie party, though he has abstained from seeking or tilling public otlice. Hle is a regular attendant of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Neshanie, of which his wife is now a member. Ilis life has been a worthy and industrious one, exemplifying the principles of integrity and honor, and being crowned with that success that it so richly deserves.

On Nov. 20, 1844, Mr. Van Camp was united in mar- riage to Ida, daughter of Gilbert Schenck, formerly of Ringos, and latterly of Hillsborough township. Iler mother was Rachel, daughter of Dennis Van Liew one of the early substantial citizens of Ilillsborough, and who lived to the advanced age of ninety-three years. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Van Camp now living are Jeannette, widow of Dr. Richard Ludlow, who re- sides at Neshanie ; John, who occupies his father's farm

حية

769

BRANCHBURG.

Mr. Voorhees is yet in the prime of life, enjoying the companionship of a loving helpmeet and cher- ished family, and doubtless has many years of use- fulness before him ..

JAMES TEN EYCK.º

James Ten Eyck was the fifth in line of deseent from Coenradt Ten Eyck, who emigrated from .Am- sterdam, Holland, to this country in the year 1650 and located in New York City, where he owned what is

James Tum Eik

now called Coentics Slip. A portion of this traet is still owned by a descendant, Mrs. Susan T. Williamson, of Elizabeth, N. J. Coenradt Ten Eyck was a farmer by occupation, and passed his days in tilling the soil and conquering for the uses of agriculture the virgin forests of the New Workl. He died in New York City, and his remains are supposed to be interred be- neath the "old post-office." He married Maria Boele, who came with him from Holland and hore him eleven children, of whom six were born in America.

Mattys was the youngest of these children, and was born in New York City on May 18, 1658, At an early age he removed to Old Hurley, Ulster Co., N. Y., where he engaged in agricultural pursuits, and, to some extent, in the transportation business on the Hudson River. The " Documentary History of the

State of New York" mentions him in the list of free- holders of Hurley in 1728, and a namesake, Matthew, who died June 11, 1809, aged eighty years, was one of the one hundred and sixty-eight proprietors among whom the common lands of that town were divided by net of the Legislature of New York passed April 4, 1806. In 1751 the latter was one of three millers of Hurley who recorded their brand-marks. Mattys Ten Eyek was a man of influence and prominence, was assessor of the town in 1722, supervisor in 1725, and filled an important place in the community. He was one of the founders of the Reformed Church of Hurley. He died in 1741, and a humble stone in the burying-ground at Hurley village marks his resting- place. He married Jannekin, a daughter of Aldert Roosa, another pioneer settler of Hurley, on Oct. 22, 1679, and had children,-Albert, Andries, Coenradt, Jacob, Abraham, Wyntie (wife of Jan Hendricks), Marietie (wife of Tjerek Van Keuren), Grietie (wife of William Burhans), Sarah (wife of Lawrence Cort- right), and Ragell (wife of Cornelius Newkirk).

Jacob, son of Mattys, was born in Hurley in 1693. On Oct. 20, 1725, he received by deed from his father, for the consideration of five hundred pounds current money, five hundred acres of land on the northerly side of the North Branch of the Raritan River, which the latter had purchased of John Johnson on Nov. 12, 1700, and Jan. 7, 1702. Jacob early took up his residence on the traet and added more to it. He erected a one-and-a-half-story house on the site of the present residence of Miss Isabella Ten Eyek. This structure was of Low Dutch style, and the upper part was used for a granary, in which were stored the pro- duets of the field. Jacob Ten Eyek married Jemima Van Nest, daughter of Jerome Van Nest, of Somer- ville, N. J., and the fruits of the union were Jacob2, Matthew, Coonrod, Peter, Cattrin, Jaen, and Han- nah. He was a farmer by occupation, and died in 1753, willing his property to his son Jacob. His wife died in 1792, aged ninety-two.

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History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 187

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170