Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Cornelius Van Horne

Male 1745 - 1823  (77 years)


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  • Name Cornelius Van Horne 
    Born 10 May 1745  Upper Freehold Township, Monmouth, New Jersey, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 6 Feb 1823  near Millpoint, Montgomery, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Pruyn and Faulkner Cemetery, Glen, Montgomery, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I2146  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Family Eva Frederick,   b. 8 Aug 1756, Warrensbush (now Florida), Albany (now Montgomery), New York, United States. Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1 Nov 1830, Glen Township, Montgomery, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 74 years) 
    Married 25 Feb 1774  Schenectady, Schenectady, New York, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F1282  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES;
      1. From my visit to the Montgomery County, NY, Archives Sep 2007, the following typescript was in the Van Horne Family file, author and date unknown, pp. 44-51:
      "Children of Matthias and Nellie (Crum) Van Horne, b. in New Jersey:
      a. Cornelius, b. 10 May 1745, d. 6 Feb 1823, Montgomery Co., NY.; md. Eve Fredericks, b. 1750, d. 1830, dau. of Philip Fredericks. He and his brother, Thomas, left NJ, and settled before the Revolution in Tryon Co., and both served in the Battle of Oriskany in that war, etc. See 'DAR Rolls, 106:217; 115:300.' His gravestone is in the Van Horne cem. near Mill Point, NY, which states he was aged 77 at death, his wife, Eve, aged 74. This grave is decorated by the DAR (Ms. at NY State Library, DAR Graves A124,161; 10:35.) children (Van Horne), b. Montgomery Co., NY, (1) Sophia; (2) Nellie; (3) Hannah; (4) Elizabeth; (5) Philip; (6) Abram; (7) Cornelius C.; (8) Maria.
      b. Thomas, b. Hunterdon Co., NJ, abt 1747, m. Maria Fredericks, sister of Eve (Fredericks) Van Horne, his eldest brother's wife.
      c. William, b. abt 1750 Hunterdon Co., NJ; md. Margaret Thomasse and settled in Canada. [Children listed.]
      d. Nellie, b. Hunterdon Co., NJ; md. Martin Cline and res. on Schoharie Creek, near Mill Point, Montgomery Co. The 1888 booklet lists her issue.
      e. Anna; b. Hunterdon Co., NJ; md. Abram Carhart and remained in NJ in Hunterdon Co., only child said to have stayed in NJ.
      f. Henry; b. Hunterdon Co., NJ; m. Sophia Fernacook, or Fernicook. [Children listed.] Henry served in the War.
      g. John, b. Hunterdon Co., NJ; md. Sarah Everett. Served seven years in the Revolution and was a the surrender of Burgoyne and Cornwallis. He and his brothers Cornelius, Thomas and Henry all took part in the Battle of Oriskany. See 1888 booklet.
      h. Rulif, b. Hunterdon Co., NJ; unmd., bur. Van Hornesville. His gravestone extant in 1882. The 1929 genealogy gives his name as 'Ruby'. He has also been called 'Phillip.' He d. 10 May 1838, aged 80, bur. Van Horne Cem., Mill Point, near Amsterdam, NY."

      2. FHL book 974.761D2G "Early Families of Herkimer County New York, Descendants of the Burnetsfield Palatines," by William V.H. Barker, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1986, preface and p. 319: "Thomas Van Horne - - born Hunterdon Co., New Jersey 14 May 1748 (son of Mathias Van Horne and Nelly Crumm); died Springfield, NY 26 Feb 1841; m. Caughnawaga NY 21 Oct 1779 Maria Frederick dau. of Philip Frederick and Sophia Saltz. A Lt. in the Col. Frederick Fischer's 3rd Tryon Co. militia in the Revolution. Other Van Hornes in Fischer's unit included an Abram, Cornelius, Henry, and John. Thomas lived at Otsego Co. NY and his children were baptised at St. Paul's Luth. Church in Minden, NY. Had fourteen children, as given in Van Horne book, Mathias, Leah (bp. 1781, m. Robert Davis), Philip (b. 1784, m. Margaret Eckler), Sophia (b. 1786, M. John Eckler), Eleanora (b. 1788, m. George Shaul), Eve (b. 1789, m. Jacob I. Young), Anna (b. 1791, m. John G. Shaul), Cornelius (b. 1793, m. Catherine Shanhultz), Magdalena (b. 1795, m. John E. Eckler), Elizabeth (b. 1797, m. William Van Horne), Abram (b. 1799, m.1. Dorothy Shanhultz), Thomas (b. 1802, d.y.), Maria (b. 1804, m. John Wyckoff), and Francis (b. 1809, d.y.)"
      The book also gives some general local history per the following excerpts:
      "Herkimer County, in north central New York's Mohawk Valley, received its name in 1791 in memory of General Nicholas Herkimer, the Revolutionary War militia commander... There were probably in excess of 15,000 Indians in the region about the year 1700, but by the time of the American Revolution their population had eroded to about 10,000... due in part to lack of resistance to European deseases. Their numbers then fell sharply during and just after the Revolution as a result of migrations to Canada and points westward, the exodus being necessitated by the fact that most of the Iroquois, except for the Oneidas, took the British side during the War of Independence..."
      "As to the early Europeans, the Dutch traders of Fort Orange (now Albany) initiated commerce wtth the Mohawk Valley Indians in the early 1600s... The Dutch traded alcoholic beverages, firearms, tools, and fabrics in exchange for land and beaver hides. In 1664 the British took control of New York State and the Mohawk Valley area came under the jurisdiction of Albany County from that time until about 1774 when it became Tryon county (in 1784 the area was renamed as Montgomery county, the western portion of which was set off in 1791 as Herkimer County). In modern times, Herkimer County bounded by Oneida County on the west and by Montgomery and Fulton Counties on the east. Prior to 1760 there was only limited settlement by the Dutch or English to the west of Schenectady, since the Mohawk region was vulnerable to incursion of the French and their Indian allies from Canada..." [N.B. Tryon was changed to Montgomery because Tryon followed the Tory cause whereas Montgomery was a patriot.]
      "With the exception of a few families, such as the Fondas, Schuylers, and Van Slykes, the Dutch and English seem to have been little induced to settle the Mohawk Valley, and so the opportunity fell to a group of immigrant Germans from the Palatinate, or lower Rhineland area in central Europe. Several thousand of these Palatines had left their German homelands, being much reduced in circumstance after years of warfare with France, and had gone to England at Queen Anne's invitation in 1709... The English temporarily housed many of these people in tents outside London and early in 1710 about 2,000 were placed aboard ships for passage to the American colonies, being promised land in New York in exchange for work in Hudson River camps, to be set up for the production of pitch for use in sealing naval vessels. There were delays in embarking and the Palatines were crowded into undersized and ill provisioned ships so that the Atlantic Ocean crossing itself became a tragedy in which, by New York Gov. Hunter's account, some 466 of them perished. From 1710 to 1712 the German immigrants required government subsidy, and the payment records by Gov. Hunter to heads of households survive (as in Knittle) and are referred to throughout this book as the NY Palatine Subsistence List. The pitch operations having failed, the Germans had to fend for themselves, moving for a while to contested lands in the Schoharie Valley west of Albany."
      "The Palatines remained a displaced people without land entitlement until September 1721 when the Albany City council endorsed their petition to purchase Mohawk Valley land, not closer to Albany then 40 miles west of Ft. Hunter. Then on October 16, 1721, New York Governor William Burnet, presumably wishing ot see buffer settlements of a friendly population in the central Mohawk area, granted the appropriate license, which allowed the Palatines, in 1722, to purchase land form the Indians in the vicinity of where the West Canada creek flows into the Mohawk River. Upon completion of the survey of these lands in 1723, and in resposne to the request of Palatine leaders Joseph Petrie and Conrad Richaert, the deeds were prepared under the designation of the Brunetsfield Patent. At about the same time, other Palatines received land grants at Stone Arabia and elsewhere in the Mohawk Valley... the Burnetsfield Patentees... were wholly within the present county of Herkimer [as opposed to other area Palentines in other parts of the Valley]..."
      "From 1723 onwards, until the French and Indian Wars commenced, [the area] was generally at peace and the residents prospered to the extent that some writers have termed the community almost utopian. Wheat grew abundantly in the fertile soil and the accumulation of livestock and goods was extensive..."
      "At 3 a.m. on Nov. 12, 1757, disaster struck German Flats [as Herkimer was then known] in the form of a surprise raid by a French and Indian war party... 40 killed, 150 prisoners, and much booty taken... After the 1757 devastation there were periods of relief such as the negotiated return of some prisoners in 1758 and the building, in that same year, of Ft. Stanwix as a protective outpost about 35 miles west of German Flats. With the French surrender to english forces at Montreal in 1760, relative peace was restored to the Mohawk Valley, although occasional difficulties with the Indians required that the settlers mantain a more viglant militia than had been required in earlier years..."
      "Of particular note to the modern-day researcher is the fact that many of the early... families both moved and visited up and down the Mohawk Valley, thereby necessitatiing the search of church records over a wide geographic area for the presence of relevant marriage and baptism entires. Of note also is the information value of the baptismal sponsors, as those individuals were usually of the same generation (except when a grandparent would be sponsor for a grandchild of the same given name) and most often were brothers or sisters of the parents."
      "The second devastation to fall upon.. the surrounding... area came formalignments brought about by the American War of Independence. The British enrolled most of the area Indians, plus several Mohawk Valley settlers as well, to the Tory cause, and in August 1777 the bloody battle of Oriskany pitted former neighbor against neighbor... Oriskany turned the British back to Canada momentarily, but a year later they were back in a more nefarious form of military tactic, that of the hit and run assault on isolated settlements. From 1778 through 1782, the British waged a war of attrition in the Mohawk Valley, with members of raiding parties paid eight dollars for each scalp taken, regardless of the victim's combative status, sex, or age... Sometimes the settlers had to scramble quickly into the forts..."
      "By the end of the American Revolution, the... region was severely depleted in manpower and resources and a new phase of rebuilding began with the expansion westward of New Englanders, who were lured by the open lands of northern New York which had become available with the departure of the Indians. The resultant shift in population base was evident in the 1790 census when about a third of the... area people appear to be new arrivals of English extraction..."

      3. Censuses:
      1790 US: http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyherkim/census/mohawk1790.html; 1790 Census, Montgomery County, MohawkTown:
      1st No.-Free white males over 16 years 2nd No.-Free white males under 16 years 3rd No.-Free white females 4th No.-All other free persons 5th No.-Slaves
      *illegible
      Brittain, Abraham - 1-2-5-0-0 [Abraham Brinton?] Frederick, Francis - 1-3-3-0-0 Frederick, Peter - 1-3-5-0-0 Frederick, Philip - 1-0-1-0-2
      Marlet, Michael - 1-1-4-0-0 Mower, Hendrick - 1-1-1-0-0
      VanHorn, Cornelius - 2-2-5-0-0 VanHorn, Thomas - 1-1-5-0-*

      4. The book "Compendium of Mohawk Valley Families," by Marily Penrose, pp. 840 and 841: Tryon County Militia:
      Abraham Van Horn
      Cornelius Van Horn
      Henry Van Horn
      John Van Horn
      Thomas Van Horn

      5. The book "Our Van Horne Kindred," by Elsie O. Hallenback, 1958, copy in the Montgomery County NY Archives:
      "Cornelius Van Horne, oldest child of Mathias Van Horne and Nelly Crumm, was born in Upper Freehold, NJ on March 10, 1745. When a young man he came to Warrensbush, Tryon Co., NY where he worked for Philip Frederick who had a grist mill and saw mill at Mill Point, along the Schoharie Creek. Philip Frederick was the son of Peter Frederick, a Palatine who had been driven out of south-west Germany during a religious persecution, and emigrated to Mill Point where he settled and raised his family. Accoriding to the records of the old Dutch Reformed Church of Schoharie, NY, he and Sophia Saltz, daughter of Francis Saltz, were registered for marriage on Nov. 11, 1752.
      Francis Saltz was another early settler along the Schoharie Creek, about five miles above its entrance into the Mohawk River. In heh History of Montgomery County, it states 'that one Francis Saltz and Cornelius (Boss) Putman purchased the Shucksburg Patent of 1200 acres of land along the Schoharie Creek, Mr. Saltz taking the half farthest up the creek, and Mr. Putman the lower half. Mr. Saltz later on sold part of this land to his son-in-law by the name of McCreavy; another part to his son-in-law named Young; another part to Philip Frederick, a fourth part to Michael Marlett and the remaining 200 acres he deeded to Peter Crush [Grosch] if he would marry his crippled daughter who had never been able to walk. Mr. Crush accepted this offer, and after building a home on the land, carried his wife to it on his back.'
      There is another story regarding Francis Saltz in which he purchased a millstone from Sir William Johnson for a song. The only saw and grist mill at that time was owned by Sir William, and it was on the north side of the Mohawk River which was a long ways for farmers to carry their grain. Mr. Saltz heard that Sir William had a used millstone on hand and purchased it on two years credit. When the two years were up, he journeyed to the home of Sir William in Fort Johnson, NY and there 'found him entertaining some grand company.' Sir William knew that Mr. Saltz was a good singer, so asked him to sing for his guests, but Mr. Saltz was rather diffident about doing it until Sir William told him that if his singing suited him, he would cancel his debt for the millstone. He sang several songs but Sir William was silent about his bargain, so finally Mr. Saltz brought out his wallet and sang 'Money bag, money bag, yu must come out, as the man he will be paid.' All the guests immediately burst into laughter and so did Sir William, so Mr. Saltz was able to return to his home with all his money intact.
      Mr. Saltz was a very kind-hearted man and when Mr. and Mrs. Coss, the parents of a neighboring family both died suddenly, he took the children into his home until they grew up. When he was about ninety years old, he married one of these orphaned girls and invited the whole neighborhood to the wedding. About a year later, his bride eloped with his hired man, taking all his silver money which he had hidden in a small hair trunk, This trunk is still in possession of his family.
      Cornelius Van Horne married Eve Frederick, the fifth child of Philip Frederick and Sophia Saltz, and they built a home on the opposite side of the Schoharie Creek from that of her parents. There is an old lease in existence dated May 6, 1792 for this land which was in the very north-east section of the Corry Patent and in the Town of Glen, Montgomery County. It was given to Cornelius Van Horne by Silvanus Wilcox, and the witnesses where Thomas B. Vinman and Abraham Vootsik.
      During the Revolutionary War, Cornelius served as a private in the Third Regiment of the Tryon County Militia and his name is inscribed on the monument at Oriskany where a battle was fought which was one of the turning points in the war.
      Cornielius died on Feb. 6, 1823 leaving a will dated Jan. 9, 1818 (Wills of Montgomery County). Eve Frederick, his wife, who was born Aug. 8, 1756 died on Nov. 1, 1830, and they are both buried in the van Horne Family Cemetery on his farm. [Children:]
      A. Sophia Brouwer, b. 9 Dec 1776; m. Abram Northrup.
      B. Nelly, b. 16 Apr 1780; m. William Cline.
      C. Hannah, b. 25 Oct 1782; m. Peter Hall.
      D. Elizabeth, 25 Aug 1784; m. Henry Pruyne.
      E. Philip, b. 25 Jul 1787; m. (1) Eve Britton, (2) Nelly Hall, (3) Margaret Peck.
      F. Abram, b. 25 Oct, 1789; m. Margaret Barbero.
      G. Cornelius Covenhoven, b. 15 Jan 1794; m. Hannah VanHorne.
      H. Maria, b. 5 May 1796; m. William Baird."
      Note that this same book also details Cornelius' parents and siblings. Apparently Cornelius was the first of the Van Hornes to come from New Jersey to Mill Point, NY. His mother and most of the siblings eventually join him there. His brothers joined him in the militia during the Rev. War.

      6. From the book "Van Horne Family in America, 1634-1888," by Abram L. Van Horne, copy in the Montgomery County NY Archives, p. 24:
      "Cornelius Van Horne, b. 10 May 1745, son of Matthew, when of age 21 emigrated to Montgomery Co., New York. He was the fourth son Matthew. He giered out to Philip Frederick who owned a grist and sawmill on Schoharie Creek, about five miles above its entrance into the Mohawk River, and the next year married his daughter Eve, and located on the opposite side of thecreek, in the town of Glen, where after few years his mother, who was Nelly Crum, and six of her children came and grew up and married. His mother spent her remaining days with thim and they were buried in the Van Horne burial grounds, having large stone for himself, his sife, hismother and his brother Ruluf. Their dates well be given in the record accompanying htis history. His children are named here:
      A. Sophia, b. 9 Dec 1776; m. Abram Northrup; res. Montgomery Co., NY.
      B. Nelly, b. 16 Apr 1780; m. William Cline; res. Onondaga Co., NY.
      C. Hannah, b. 25 Oct 1782; m. Peter Hall; res. Montgomery Co., NY.
      D. Elizabeth, 25 Aug 1785; m.Abram Pruyne; res. Montgomery Co., NY.
      E. Philip, b. 25 Jul 1787; m. (1) Eve Britton, (2) Nelly Hall, (3) Margaret Peck; res. Jackson, Mich.
      F. Abram, b. 25 Oct, 1789; m. Margaret Barbero; res. West Batavia, NY.
      G. Cornelius C., b. 15 Jan 1794; m. Hannah Van Horne; res. on the old homestead.
      H. Maria, b. 5 May 1796; m. William Baird; res. Sank Co. Wis."

      7. The book "History of Montgomery and Fulton Counties, N.Y.," reprinted 2002 (originally printed in the 1880s):
      "Cornelius Van Horne came from New Jersey, and after working a while for Philip Frederick, married his daughter, Eve, and took up the farm on the Glen side of the falls in the Schoharie, clearing the land and builiding on it. Ths farm was the northeast corner lot of Corry's patent. He and his brother, Henry, were patriot soldiers in the Revolution. they fought at Oriskany and Cornelius was one of eight who carried Peter Conover from the battlefield, where he had a leg shot off; four of them carried him for a time, when they were relieved by the others...
      The Cornelius Van Horne farm is now leased by C.C. Van Horne, a son of Cornelius, who has always lived here...
      These last years he [Francis Saltz] spent with his grand-daughter, Mrs. Cornelius Van Horne. At his death, she, according to the custom of the day, baked for all his friends - some two hundred - who were expected to attend the funeral, but the creek was so high that only the pall bearers, in two canoes, crossed it; they buried the aged man on his homestead, of which he had never obtained any title."

      MARRIAGE:
      1. Listed as parents per "Records of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Caughnawaga: now the Reformed Church of Fonda, in the village of Fonda, Montgomery County, N.Y.," New York, 1917, 748 pp.: Elizabeth, b. 21 Apr, offspring of Cornelius Van Hoorn and Eva Fredrick, baptized 6 Jun 1785 with sponsors John Carl and Sophia Cary [Kerry's note: this may be John Cain and Sophia Frederick - the spelling is hard to read.]

      DEATH:
      1. The book "Compendium of Mohawk Valley Families," by Marily Penrose, pp. 840 and 841: "Probate abstract. Cornelius Van Horne, (of Charleston), will dated 1/9/1818; probated 3/12/1823. Legatees: wife (not named); youngest son, Cornelius C.; my other children. Executors: son, Cornelius C.; Cornelius H. Putman, Peter Hall/Hale(?). Witnesses: Howland Fish, David Eacker, Daniel S. Bell. (Wills Montgomery County 57:176)."

      BURIAL:
      1. Typescript from Montgomery Co., NY, Archives: "Montgomery County Cemetery Records," copied by Mrs. Frank Becker, and published in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Quarterlies - Vol. LIX (July 1928): Van Horne Graveyard, in vicinity of Mill Point, near Amsterdam (Montgomery County), NY, among many names:
      Nellie Crum, wife of Mathew Van Horne, d. 5/3/1803 ae abt. 80 yrs. [Cornelius's mother.]
      Eve Frederic Van Horne, wife of Cornelius Van Horne, d. 11/1/1830, in 75th yr.
      Cornelius Van Horne, d. 2/6/1823, in 78th yr.

      2. Findagrave lists the cemetery name as Pruyn & Faulkner Cemetery in Glen, Montgomery, New York, and includes a photo. Cornelius is shown as a Revolutionary War soldier.

      SOURCES_MISC:
      1. Henry Z. Jones is the author of three series of books on the Palatines: "The Palatine Families of New York: A Study of the German Immigrants Who arrived in New York in 1710," (1985); "More Palatine Families," (1991); and "Even More Palatine Families, 18th Century Immigrants to the American Colonies and their German, Swiss and Austrian Origins," 2002. I have reviewed all three and there is nothing on this individual.