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BIOGRAPHIES

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Jacob L. Van Buskirk, Sheriff of Bergen county, is probably one of the most popular officials to be found in the state. He was born in Saddle River, N. J., in 1851, and worked at his trade of blacksmithing for nine years. In 1852 his father came to Hackensack, where he resided for forty-seven years. In 1890 he was elected a member of the Board of Freeholders, and re-elected in 1893. In 1892 he was elected director of the board and held that position three years, and in November 1898, was elected sheriff by a majority of 709 votes, he being the only successful Democrat on his ticket, which is proof sufficient that the people, not the party, elected him to the office.

Mr. Van Buskirk has always taken a lively interest in everything of a public nature, and is also prominent in social and fraternal organizations.

James Van Valen, History of Bergen County, New Jersey, 1900

The Vandelinda Family.

Pieter Linde was a native of Belle, a town on the road from Bruges to Ghent in Flanders. He was a physician, and came to America in 1639 with his wife, Elsie Barents. The shipping records show that, on April 18, 1639, he paid to David Pietersen de Vries and Frederick Pietersen de Vries 140 Carolus gelders ($56) for passage for himself and wife to New Amsterdam, where he settled and followed his profession until the death of his wife in 1643. On July 1, of the following year (1644), he entered into a marriage contract with Martha Chambers, or Ekomberts, of New Kerek, in Flanders. She was the widow of John Manje or Monnye. The marriage knot was tied July 10, 1644, at New Amsterdam. After this marriage Vandelinde removed to Brooklyn, where he became the owner of the patent of his wife's first husband. This he sold January 23, 1652, to Barent Joosten. He owned several other pieces of property, both at Brooklyn and New Amsterdam, and in 1655 was tobacco inspector of the latter city. After Linde's death his descendants assumed the name of Van der Linde.

His son, Joost Van der Linde, removed to Bergen, N. J., in the fall of 1670, where, on January 30, 1671, he bought about 90 acres of land of Pieter Jansen Slote between Constable's Hook and Bergen Point. Here he resided until his death. His children of the third generation were John (died in 1696), Roelof, Jannetie (married Peter Laurens Van Buskirk), Hendricke (married Laurens Laurens Van Buskirk), and Machtelt (married Albert Zabriskie). All of these except John removed to Bergen County. Roelof resided with his father at Bergen, where, on October 2, 1682, he married Susanna Hendricks Brinkerhoff. He removed to Hackensack in 1686, where he helped to organize and became a member of the Dutch church. He became joint owner with his brothers-in-law, Laurence and Peter Van Buskirk, in the New Hackensack patented lands, and also bought of the New Jersey proprietors large tracts of wild land west of the Pascack River in Washington and Mildland Townships in Bergen County. His first wife having died in 1700, he married (2) Rachel Cresson, widow of John Peters Durie, who survived him, but by whom he had no issue. He was a man of wealth, and died in New York City early in 1709, leaving a will dated September 6, 1708, proved February 13, 1709. His issue of the fourth generation were Peter, Henry, Olassie [Classie?], Maritie, Sophia, and Geesie.

Peter, by the will of his father, received his father's plantation of New Hackensack, and Henry all the lands on the Pascack and Saddle Rivers, in the northern part of the county. Hendrick resided at Polidy, below Hackensack. The numerous descendants of Peter and Henry (4) have become scattered over a large area of territory, including Berge and Hudson Counties.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, page 172-173.

JAMES M. VAN VALEN.

Among the lineal descendants of David Van Valen, who came to America from Holland in 1652, followed by his father Johannes Van Valen five years later, is James M. Van Valen, ex-Judge of Bergen County, whom the writer of this sketch knows from personal contact with the people to be regarded as one of the most useful and important citizens of the county.

For a brief period of time the ancestors of this family in Bergen County lived in New York City, then removed to Harlem where Johannes became one of the original patentees of the Harlem Grants, and the last survivor of them. In course of time his descendants removed to Bergen County, N. J., where they became extensive land owners. Deeds bearing date of 1701 record the purchase of 2600 acres of land by Johannes, Bernardus, Gideon and Rynier Van Valen, from Lancaster Syms, comprising all the Palisade lands from the Jay Line, extending from the Hudson on the east to Overpeck on the west. Bernardus Van Valen was the great-grandfather of James M. He was a member of the militia serving as militiaman, in the Revolutionary War, when he was taken prisoner and confined in the Old Sugar House in New York City. A stone house built by him is still standing near the railroad depot at Closter. He lived to the age of eighty years and died in 1820, leaving five children, James, Andrew, Cornelius, Isaac and Jane. James, the grandfather of James M., was for a time a farmer at Closter, but removed to Clarkstown. Rockland County, N. Y., where he died in August, 1786, at the age of twenty-six years. He left three children, Barney; Sarah, who became the wife of Henry Westervelt; and Cornelius. Cornelius was born at Clarkstown May 21, 1786. He married first Elizabeth Blackledge, and lived for some years in New York City. In 1832 he bought a farm at Englewood, then Hackensack Township, where he lived seven years, when he sold that farm and purchased another at Teaneck, where his wife died soon after.

Caroline, wife of David Lamberson, and Cornelius were children of this marriage. His second wife was Jane, daughter of Abram Zabriskie of Paramus. Of this marriage there were three children, Eliza, wife of Edward Barr, who died in 1867; James M. and Sarah A., wife of Cornelius D. Schor, of Leonia.

James M. Van Valen was born at Teaneck, July 21st, 1842. When the War of the Rebellion broke out he left school to enlist in Company I, of the Twenty-second Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers, and served ten months in the Army of the Potomac. Upon his return he engaged in the book trade in New York City until 1868, when he began teaching in Bergen county, continuing in that profession for five years. He taught, among other places, at Paramus Church, New Bridge and Hackensack. Subsequently he entered the law office of Garret Ackerson, and, under his direction, pursued a course of study, being admitted as attorney in 1875, and as a counsellor in 1878. Immediately after his admission to the bar he formed a partnership with Mr. Ackerson. which continued for eleven years, terminating with the death of Mr. Ackerson in December, 1886. In 1887, Governor Robert S. Green appointed Mr. Van Valen Presiding Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Bergen county. At the close of this term he was reappointed for a like term by Governor Werts, his term expiring in April, 1898.

In 1872, Judge Van Valen, having become interested in the National Guard, organized Company C, Second New Jersey Regiment, and became first lieutenant. He was afterwards made quartermaster of the battalion. Soon after this he was made Inspector of Rifle Practice, with rank of captain, and subsequently was appointed Assistant Inspector General of the State of New Jersey, with the rank of colonel. At his own request he was retired on July 5, 1893, with rank of Brevet Brigadier General, and still holds that commission.

Judge Van Valen, always interested in educational matters, was chairman of the Board of Education of Hackensack for a period of eighteen years, declining a re-election on account of pressure of business. He is first Vice President of the Bergen County Bar Association, and is Vice President of the Holland Society of New York, of which he has been a member since its organization. He is also a prominent Mason, member of Pioneer Lodge, No. 70, and has been Master of that Order. Judge Van Valen has been signally successful in the various lines in which he has been engaged. As soldier, teacher, lawyer and judge, he has made an enviable reputation, and, as a jurist, his opinions have stood without reversal, except in two cases. Socially, Judge Van Valen stands without a peer.

He was married in 1874 to Miss Anna Augusta Smith, daughter of Theodore Smith. They have nine children, seven boys and two girls.

James Van Valen, History of Bergen County, New Jersey, 1900

Voorhees, John J.

Steven Coerts (or Koerts, as he wrote it), the common ancestor of the Voorhees family in Bergen and Hudson Counties, emigrated to this country in April, 1660, coming over on the ship "Spotted Cow," with his wife and seven children. They came from Ruinen, in the Province of Drenthe, Holland, and from in front of the little hamlet of Hlees, near that locality. Hence, the name was a first Van Voorhees, "Van" meaning "from," "Voor," meaning "near," and "Hees" (the hamlet name) "from near" or, "over from Hees." Steven was not the first of the family to emigrate. In February, 1659, Harman Koerts had preceded him on the ship "Faith," with his wife and five children. Steven settled at Flatlands, L. K., where many other Dutch emigrants had already located. He must have been born about 1600. Who his first wife was does not appear, but she died in about 1675, and he married (2), in 1677, Wellempie Roeloffse Lenhering. He died about February, 1684. He bought, November 29, 1660, of Cornelis Dircksen Hoogland, eighteen acres of corn land, fourteen acres of woodland, twenty acres of plainland, and ten acres of sale meadow-in all, sixty-two acres-for $3,000; and also the house and lot lying in the village of Amersfoort, with the brewery and all the brewing apparatus, kettle-house, and casks, with the appurtenances, which shows that he must have been a brewer as well as a farmer. He was assessed at Flatlands in 1675, and was manager of taxes there in 1683. His name appears as one of the patentees there in 1664 and 1667. He died about February 16, 1684. His children were Henricke, Mergen, Coert, Luens, John, Albert, Aeltje, Jannetje, Hendricke (2), and Abraham. His son, Albert Stevens Voorhees, and his wife, Jelletie Rynieres Wisselpennick, went to Hackensack in 1686, joined the Dutch church there, and bought an extensive tract of land from Major John Berry between the Hackensack and Saddle Rivers.

John J. Voorhees is a lineal descendant of the sixth generation of Steven Coerts Van Voorhees, the emigrant. His father, Peter Voorhees, was born on the old farm at Flatlands, L. I., where Steven first settled in 1660.

Mr. Voorhees was educated in the public schools of New Utrecht, L. I., and in 1863 accepted a clerkship in a country store, where he remained five years. After filling similar positions he obtained a position as assistant bookkeeper for the New Jersey Car Spring and Rubber Company, and at the end of one year was promoted to head bookkeeper. Not long afterward he was made Secretary of the company and held that position until 1885, when he was elected Treasurer of the corporation. In 1888 he was made General Manager, and at the present time is President of the Voorhees Rubber Manufacturing Company, of Jersey City, which is one of the largest and most successful concerns of the kind in the country, having an extensive business and employing a large number of hands.

In 1885 Mr. Voorhees was appointed a member of the Board of Education of Jersey City and served for three terms, during five successive years of which he was President of the board, being annually re-elected without opposition. As a member of the Condemnation Commission on the County Roads in 1892 he rendered most efficient services to the community at large, and displayed that eminent ability and superior judgment which have characterized his entire business career. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a member of the Jersey City Board of Trade, of which he was President in 1892. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Commercial Trust Company of New Jersey, of the Board of Trustees of the Free Public Library of Jersey City, and of the Palma Club, the Carteret Club, and the Holland Society of New York City.

Mr. Voorhees was married October 14, 1874, to Annie M. Collier, of Brooklyn, N. Y. They have had three children, and reside at 57 Duncan Avenue, Jersey City.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, page 83-84.

CHARLES E. VOORHIS is a descendant in the eighth generation from Steven Coerts Van Voorhees, the first American ancestor of the family in America, whose pedigree has been written in the sketch on page 83 [John J. Voorhees]. One of Steven's children, Albert Stevens Voorhees (2), emigrated with his father to America in 1660, and located with the rest of his family at Flatlands, L. I., where he married (1) Barentie Williamse, (2) Tjelletje Wizzelpenning, and (3) Elina Vander Scheur. He was living at Flatlands as late as 1683, as the assessment roll then shows. He removed with his family, in 1686, to Hackensack, where he purchased from Captain John Berry a large farm extending from the Hackensack to the Saddle River. He joined the church in 1686, and subsequently became an officer in it. His children of the third generation were Cornelia, Stephen, Stephen, Jannetje, Margrietie, Lucas, Rachel, Feumietje, Albert, William, Peter, Isaac, Willempie, John, and James.

Of these Lucas Allerts Voorhis (3) married, September 2, 1726, Ann Kipp. They resided at Hackensack. Their children of the fourth generation were Ann, Henry, Lena, Elizabeth, Margrietie, Nicholas, Catharine, Isaac, and Jacob. Of these, Nicholas (4) married Jannetje Ackerman and had issue Albert N., Ann, Lucas, Henry, and Jannetje.

Albert N. Voorhis (5) was born in 1767. He was a farmer and resided at Schraalenburgh. He married, December 10, 1791, Grietie Demarest, who died in 18654, leaving several children of the sixth generation.

Of these children of the sixth generation Henry A. L. Voorhis (6), who was born September 26, 1792, married Levina Blawvelt, born September 14, 1792, and died July 15, 1872. He was a farmer and resided near Demarest, N. J., on part of the farm formerly belonging to John Peack. Among his children of the seventh generation were Elizabeth, Maria, Margaret, Henry D., David H., Nicholas H., and John.

Nicholas H. Voorhis (7) married Caroline, daughter of Peter B. Westervelt, of Cresskill, N. J. He resided at Cresskill until his death.

Charles E. Voorhis (8), son of Nicholas H. and the subject of this sketch, was born at Cresskill, Bergen County, N. J., September 11, 1856, and was educated in the public schools of his native town. He left school when seventeen years of age and began his business career in the grocery trade, in which he remained for ten years. At the end of that time he engaged with the firm of Peter Henderson & Company, the famous New York City firm of seedsmen and florists. He has continued with this house to the present time. He is a member of the Dutch Reformed Church.

Mr. Voorhis married Ruth Richardson and has four children: Edward, aged thirteen; Henry, aged eleven; Raymond, aged nine; and Clarence, aged seven.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, page 84.

JAMES B. VREDENBURGH is of Holland descent, the respectability of which has been strengthened by intermarriage with the Coles, Schuremans, Van Dorns, Brinckerhoffs, and other of the most prominent Holland families.

Isaac Van Vredenburgh (1), a well-to-do citizen, resident, and burgher of the City of Hague, in Holland, had a son who bore the somewhat elongated name of William Isaacsen Van Vredenburgh (2), who, while yet a very young man, enlisted as a soldier in the service of the Dutch West India Company and came to America in May, 1658, on board the good ship "Gilded Beaver." He seems to have done military duty in and about New Amsterdam for several years, during which time, on October 19, 1664, he married Apollonia Barents, a daughter of Barent Jacobsen Cole (Kool), a prominent officer of the West India Company, of Amsterdam, Holland. He continued in the military service after his marriage, being stationed and residing with his family, part of the time, at Fort William Hendrick, and part of the time in the new fortification at New Orange. In 1677 he must have left the military service, as he then, and as late as 1680, was living with his family at Esopus, N. Y. His children were eight in number, the eldest of whom was Isaac Van Vredenburgh (3), baptized in New York, October 4, 1665, and who married March 7, 1694, Janneken Joosten, a daughter of Joost Carelszen, by whom he had six children. William (4), the second of these six, baptized in New York, October 4, 1696, died February 4, 1773, married April 22, 1717, Catharina, daughter of Patrick Schott or Scott, of Kingston, N. Y. William's children were nine, the fourth of whom, Petrus Benedit Vredenburgh (5), born July 30, 1721, died July 26, 1810, married (1) Margarita, daughter of Jacobus Schureman, and (2) Elizabeth Fisher. His children by his two wives were eleven in number. He removed to New Brunswich, N. J., in 1742. One of his sons, Petrus (6), baptized in New Brunswich, N. J., August 4, 1745, died August 24, 1823, married December 17, 1772, Margarita, daughter of John Schureman. This Peter was for many years a prominent merchant at New Brunswick, where he became one of the most influential men in Middlesex County. He was County Collector of that county for forty-one years (from 1782 to 1823) and a member of the New Jersey Assembly from 1790 to 1795. He also held many local offices, including that of Justice of the Peace. Of his two children Petrus (7) born in New Brunswick, October 5, 1778, removed to Somerville, N. J., where he became one of the most prominent physicians of the State, and where he died September 15, 1848. He married December 20, 1804, Maria, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Vanderbilt) Van Dorn, who was born April 7, 1783, and died April 2, 1855. Petrus (7) left a large family of children, one of whom, Peter Vredenburgh, Jr., (8) born at Somerville, N. J., October 31, 1805, entered Rutgers College and was graduated therefrom in 1821. He read law at Somerville and was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1829. Soon afterward he removed to Freehold, N. J., where he commenced the practice of his profession. In due time he was appointed Prosecutor of the Pleas for Monmouth County, and soon after was elected to the State Legislature as a member of the Council. Subsequently he was made an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New jersey, which position he held for fourteen years from 1854. Many of the opinions which he rendered were beautifully expressed and are continually quoted as precedents. He married April 19, 1836, Eleanor, daughter of Abraham and Catherine (Remsen) Brinckerhoff, born July 1, 1815, died March 29, 1884. Judge Vredenburgh died at Freehold, N. J., March 24, 1873. His children were Peter, William H., and James B. (9). Of these the eldest was Major of the Fourteenth Regiment of New Jersey Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion. He served as Inspector-General of the Third Army Corps, on the staff of General William H. French, and was present and took part in all the battles in which his regiment was engaged. At the battle of Oppequan Creek, near Winchester, on September 19, 1864, while in command of his regiment, he was killed while bravely leading it in a charge.

On his mother's side James R. Vredenburgh is descended from an old New Jersey family, the founder of whom was Joris Dircksen Brinckerhoff, who came to America from Drenthe in the United Provinces in 1638, settling on Staten Island and subsequently in what is now Brooklyn. His sons subsequently settled in Bergen and Hudson Counties.

James B. Vredenburgh, the subject of this sketch, is of the seventh generation from William Isaacsen Van Vredenburgh, and was born at Freehold, N. J., October 1, 1844. He received his early education in Freehold, was graduated from Princeton University in 1863, read law with Aaron R. Throckmorton, of Freehold, and was admitted to the bar of New Jersey as an attorney in June, 1866, and as a counselor in June, 1869. Upon his admission he located in Jersey City and soon came into prominence as a lawyer of ability, industry, and perseverance. In 1872, when the late Isaac W. Scudder was elected to Congress, Mr. Vredenburgh formed a partnership with that eminent man and thus acquired an equal share in an extensive and lucrative practice. This partnership continued until the death of Hon. Isaac W. Scudder in 1881. In 1883 Mr. Vredenburgh associated himself with Judge Abram Q. Garretson, and the two have ever since carried on a large and successful business, practicing in all the State and United States courts, the firm name being Vredenburgh & Garretson. Mr. Vredenburgh succeeded his former partner, Judge Scudder, as counsel for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and still holds that position. He has appeared in all the important cases affecting the interests of that company and in many others of note. He served on the staff of Governor Joseph D. Bedle with the rank of Colonel, has always taken an active interest in public affairs, and is a member of the American Bar Association.

He has never sought political preferment, yet he has discharged the duties of the citizen with characteristic energy and is widely known as a man of commanding influence. He has maintained the high reputation, not only of his father, but of his ancestors, and has displayed those sterling attributes and high legal qualifications which have distinguished the family for generations.

Mr. Vredenburgh married Miss Emily H. Van Vorst, a descendant of the well known Van Vorst family, the founder of which was Cornelis Van Voorst, who came to this country from Holland as early as 1636. Their children are Peter, James, John, William, Eugene, and Eleanor.

Source: Genealogical History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor, Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing Company, 1900, page 103-105.