BIOGRAPHIES INDEX
Van Horn Family
Christian Barentsen Van Hoorn or Van Horn |
Barent Christian Van Hoorn or Van Hornd |
Peter or Pieter Barentsen Van Hoorn or Van Horn
Gertje Charity Van Horn
THE VAN HORN FAMILY (Also spelled VAN HOORN)
By Steven R. Butler, Ph.D.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a work in progress. First posted January 22, 2025.
My Connection
I am a Van Horn family descendant by virtue of the marriage of my maternal great-great-grandfather, Thomas William Jenkins, to Louisa I. Williams, who was the daughter of John I. Williams and Delilah Coons, who was the daughter of Martin Coons, Jr. and Sarah Van Zandt, who was the daughter of John Van Zandt of Tennessee, who was the son of Isaiah Van Zandt, Jr., who was the son of Isaiah Van Zandt, Sr. and his wife, Charity Van Horn. Here is a link to my entire Van Horn family tree.
A Long and Interesting Story
The history of our Van Horn ancestors and relations in America is a long and interesting story, spanning nearly four centuries - from the early seventeenth century to the present-day. Originating in the Netherlands, our earliest Van Horn ancestors arrived in North America in 1657. They initially lived in New Amsterdam (now New York City), the capital of what was then known as Nieuw Nederlandt (New Netherland). About 1699, the family migrated to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where there was an intermarriage with the Van Zandt family, from whom we are also descended.
Luckily for me, by the time I started to investigate my Van Horn ancestors and relations, I discovered that some earlier Van Horn descendants had already done extensive research on this family, "blazing the trail," so to speak, leaving me and all our various cousins to reap the reward of their work. For this, I am very grateful. In all too many cases, regarding the other families from whom I'm descended, I have been the trail-blazer. Not so with the Van Horn family.
Christian Barentsen Van Hoorn or Van Horn
(d. 1658)
Christian Barentsen was a prominent resident of New Amsterdam before it became New York City in 1664.
Here is a brief biography of Christian Barentsen Van Hoorn or Van Horn, taken from: William W. H. Davis, History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania (New York & Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905), p.92-3.
"The pioneer ancestor of the family was Christian Barendtse [or Barentsen], that is Christian, son of Barendt, who it is said came from Hooren, a city of the Zuyder Zee, about twenty-five miles from Amsterdam The exact date of his arrival in America is not known. He was a carpenter by trade, and the records of New Amsterdam show that he and a fellow craftsman, Auke Jansen, were appointed, March 10, 1653, by the burgomasters and schepens of New Amsterdam to view a house, about the building of which there was some litigation. These records further show that he was frequently appointed a referee during the next four or five years. And he is shown to have contributed towards the strengthening of the city wall on October 15, 1655. He is also said to have been with the force sent out from New Amsterdam, September 5, 1655, against the Swedes and Finns on the south (now Delaware) river, at Fort Christina. On his return to New Amsterdam, he was appointed January 18, 1656, a fire warden, in place of Johan Paul Jacquet, who had resigned and "removed to the South River in New Netherlands." On April 17, 1657, he was admitted a "Small Burgher" of New Amsterdam, an honor which carried with it the freedom of trade and a right to membership in the respective guilds of the town, and conferred upon natives of the city, residents there one year and six weeks before the date of the charter, burgher's sons-in-law, city storekeepers, salaried servants of the company and all paying the sum of twenty-five guilders. On August 1, 1657, Christian Barentze, carpenter, was granted by Peter Stuyvesant, director general of New Netherland, a lot in New Amsterdam, by the Land Gate, (now at Broadway and Wall streets) for a house and garden. He also owned several other properties in the neighborhood, some of which are said to have covered a part of the present Trinity churchyard. Probably as a result of his trip to the South river. Christian Barentse and Joost Rugger and possibly others obtained a grant of land on the south side of None Such creek, a tributary of the Christiana. near the present site of Wilmington. Delaware, and began the erection thereon of a tide water mill. According to Amos C. Brinton, who has given much attention to the ancient mill sites of Delaware Barentse and Rugger, he began the erection of this mill in 1656. From the dates previously given, however, as well as from other records, it would appear that the date of Christian Barentse. removal to the Delaware was sometime in the year 1657. Contemporary records also refer to the mill as a "horse mill," the truth of the matter being most probably that the horse mill was set up to serve until the tide water mill was completed. The low marshy nature of the land and the turning up of the mud to the sun caused an epidemic from which Barentse died July 26, 1658. A letter written by Vice- Director Jacob Alricks, from New Anistel, (New Castle) to Stuyvesant, under date of September 5, 1658, and published in documents relating to The Colonial History of New York, vol. xii, p. 224, relates entirely to the affairs of the widow and children of Christian Barentse. It states that the widow had requested within three days of his burial that she desired to return to New Amsterdam, and that the property which he left be sold and that though he consents thereto he "advised and proposed to her that it woulld be for her best to remain in possession, she should be assisted in completing the mill, with income whereof, which through the grists she would be able to diminish the expenses and live decently and abundantly with her children on the surplus, besides that she had yet three or four cows with sheep and hogs, which also could help her to maintain her family, she and her children should have remained on and in her and the father's estate, which was in good condition here, wherein the widow with the children could have continued reputably and in position to much advantage; but she would not listen to advice, * * * that she was to be restricted in her inclinations and wellbeing, which I shall never think of, much less do." The wife of Christian Barentse was Jannetje Jans, and it is probable that they were married before coming to America, as the baptism of their eldest child is not recorded in the New York church. On December 12, 1658, Jannetje Jans, widow and executrix of Christian Barents, presented an inventory of his goods and chattels to the court at New Amsterdam, and requested that Vice-Director Alricks, "Director of the City's Colony on the South River, where her husband died, be written to in order that the chattels which are there may be sent from the South river to this place." The widow married on September 12, 1658, Laurens Andriessen Van Boskerk, who was born in Holstein, Denmark. He was a member of Bergen court in 1667, its president in 1682, a member of the governor's council for many years. He died in 1693 and Jannetje on July 13, 1694. They were the parents of four children, Andries, Lourens, Peter, and Thomas, the two latter, according to the Dutch custom, being known as Lourensons, appear later to have become known by the name of Lawrence. Peter joined his half-brother, Barant Christian Van Horn, in his purchase of land in Bucks county in 1703. His youngest son John married Alee Van Horn, granddaughter of Christian Barents, and his daughter Jannetje, married Cornelius Corson, of Staten Island, and became the ancestress of the Bucks county Corsons."
Together, Christian Barentsen and Jannetje Jans had the following named children:
- Barendt Christian Van Horn, born in Holland, married Geertje Dircks; died in Bergen county. New Jersey, in 1726.
- Cornelius Van Horn, baptized August 3, 1653, married Margaret Van de Berg, died in Bergen county in 1729.
- Jan Van Horn, baptized March 18, 1657, married Lena Boone, died in Bergen county.
Map of New Amsterdam (now New York City), showing the location, near Broadway and Wall Street, where Christian Barentsen owned two pieces of property.
What the Dutch wall looked like; from Augustine E. Costello, Our Firemen: A History of the New York Fire Departments, (1887)
Here is the original record, in Dutch, of Christian Barentsen being appointed a fire warden in New Amsterdam, beside an English translation of the same.
Here is a map showing the location of present-day New Castle, Delaware, where Christian Barentsen spent the last years of his life in partnership with Joost Rugger, operating a tidal mill, and where he died in 1658. Courtesy Library of Congress
Barent Christian Van Hoorn or Van Horn
(d.1726)
Here is a brief biography taken from: William W. H. Davis, History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania (New York & Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905), p.93-4.
"Barent Christian Van Horn, eldest son of Christian Barents and Jannetje Jans, as before stated was probably born in Holland, a theory which is borne out by the early date at which he acquired title to land. On March 26, 1667, Governor Philip Carteret granted to Barent Christian, of Menkaque, planter, fifty acres of land at Pembrepach and eighty-five acres on the bay called Kill Van Kull, both in Bergen county. On September 29, 1697, he obtained a grant from the proprietors of East Jersey, 160 acres on "Hackingsack River," joining that of his half-brother Thomas Lawrenson (Van Boskerk). On May 15, 1703, Barnard Christian and his half-brother, Peter Lawrence, purchased 1,000 acres of Robert Heaton, on Neshaminy creek, in Bucks county, which on September 18, 1707, they partitioned between them. Two days later, September 20, 1707, Barnard Christian conveyed his portion to his two sons, Peter and Christian Barnson, Peter receiving 257 acres and Christian 294 acres. On September 29, 1707, Barnard Christian purchased 550 acres in Bucks county, of Thomas Groom, 274 acres of which he conveyed to his son Barnard Barnson, June 17, 1714. He also acquired other land in Bucks county, and on June 2, 1722, conveyed to his son, Isaac Van Horn, 276 acres, and on May 6, 1722, 290 acres to his son, Abraham Van Horn. He thus owned in all 1381 acres of land in Bucks county, though he continued to live in Bergen county. New Jersey, and died there in 1726. He married, in 1679, at the Bergen Dutch Reformed church, Geertje Dircks. daughter of Dirck Classen, who was baptized in New York, March 5, 1662."
Left: Statue of New Netherland Director-General Peter Stuyvesant, commemorating the now no-longer-existent town of Bergen, New Jersey (now Jersey City), where Barent Christian Van Horn and his family resided. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Together, Barent Christian Van Horn and Geertje Dirckse were the parents of the following named children:
- Richard Barentsen Van Horn
- Nicholas Van Horn
- Peter or Pieter Van Horn
- Barent Barentsen Van Horn
- John Van Horn
- Abraham Van Horn
- Jane Van Horn
- Isaac Van Horn
- Jacob Van Horn
- Benjamin Van Horn
Vintage map showing location of Bergen, New Jersey, opposite Manhattan Island. Courtesy Library of Congress
This vintage map showing proximity of Bergen County, New Jersey, to Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Courtesy Library of Congress
Peter or Pieter Barentsen Van Hoorn or Van Horn
(1685-1745)
Here is a brief biography taken from: William W. H. Davis, History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania (New York & Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905), p.93-4.
"Peter or Pieter Barentsen Van Horn, born at Bergen, [New Jersey] 1686, died in Middletown township, Bucks county, [Pennsylvania] February 20, 1750 [was a son of Barendt Christian Van Horn and his wife, Geertje Dircks]. Peter married (first) Tryntje (Catharine) Van Dyck, and (second) Elizabeth Gabriels, on May 9, 1706. She was baptized at Albany, New York, May 12, 1689, and died November 3, 1759. She was a daughter of Gabriel Tomase Struddles. Peter settled on land conveyed to him by his father in Northampton in 1707 and 1715. and later purchased 425 acres in Middletown. According to the Rev. Samuel Streng. Peter Van Horn joined the Episcopal church, and was a vestryman of St. James Protestant Episcopal church at Bristol, 1734-7. His children, all with the possible exception of Barnard, his eldest son, being by the second wife Elizabeth, were as follows: Catharine, baptized June 4, 1710, died 1755, married Thomas Craven, of Warminster, Bucks county; Barnard, who "married Patience Hellings; Charity, who married, June 6, 1732, Isaiah Vansant (see Vansant family) Jane baptized October 16, 1715, married, August 10, 1732, Edmund Roberts; Gabriel, baptized March 3, 1716, died 1789, married Martha Brelsford; Elizabeth, who married April 21. 1737, Peter Praul; Peter, baptized August 25, 1719. married in 1746, Margaret Marshall; Mary, who married William Gosline of Bristol, Bucks county; Benjamin, who married, June S, 1749. Hannah Davis; Richard, born 1726, died unmarried, February i, 1756; John, twice married, second wife being Mary Collett, a widow; and Garret, who married Mary Neal. and died in 1801."
This vintage map shows Philadelphia, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and New York City with a portion of NJ. Courtesy Library of Congress
Gertje Charity Van Horn
(1713-1786)
Gertje Charity Van Horn, daughter of Peter or Pieter Barentsen Van Hoorn or Van Horn and his second wife, Elizabeth Gabriels, was born on April 7, 1709 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. On June 6, 1732, she married Isaiah Vansant (Van Zandt), member of another ethnically-Dutch family which had come to Bucks County from New York.
Van Horn Family
Christian Barentsen Van Hoorn or Van Horn |
Barent Christian Van Hoorn or Van Hornd |
Peter or Pieter Barentsen Van Hoorn or Van Horn
Gertje Charity Van Horn
BIOGRAPHIES INDEX
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