Jan Joosten VAN METER

                   [MY FAMILY HISTORY.FTW]
[chawkins.FTW]
The family settled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where Jan became a wealthy land owner and
horse breeder. "Kegley's Virginia Frontier in describing the earliest history of Virginia, says: 'The Van
Meters cross the Powtomack (Potomac River). John and Isaac Van Meter were traders who knew the
country about the Potomac and the Shenandoah as early as 1728. After 1721 Isaac lived in New Jersey,
but John had moved westward toward the southwest part of Maryland. In 1730 their petitions for
10,000 acres each in the forks of the Sherando River and 20,000 more for other families were granted.
This was not to interfere with the surveys of Carter and Page.' ...Jost Hite with Robert McKay began
acquiring land in the Shenandoah Valley in 1731. They with one hundred families were desirous of seating (settling) themselves on the back of the Great Mountains on land lying between the land of John Van Meter, Jacob Stover, John Fishback and others. ... Hite acquired the Van Meter grants in 1734 and
patents began to issue to his settlers, one thousand acres to each family ... joining the land of 'Jost
Heyd' and others.
Mrs. Sims' article (material provided by Mrs. Ruth Bruner Sims of Frankfort, Kentucky) says John
Van Meter and his brother Isaac, were granted 110,000 acres of land in the Shenandoah Valley by the
Royal Governor, William Gooch, which they later sold to their cousin, Jost Hite, after selecting choice
sites for themselves, while it was still a wilderness."
He died on 13 August 1745 at Apequon, Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia and his will was
probated there on 3 September 1745. "He drew up a lengthy will in which Jacob Van Meter was called
'my fourth and youngest son,' by which he inherited an equal share of 'all Staylen (stallions), geldings,
mares, colts.' He inherited land, but not the estate 'Opequen,' on which his father lived, since he was the
youngest."