Isaac VAN METER
Birth:
Abt 1692
New Paltz, Ulster Co, New York
Death:
1757
Old Fields, Hardy Co, Virginia
Burial:
Old Fields, Hardy Co, Virginia
Marriage:
1721
Ulster co, Ny, Usa
Father:
Mother:
Notes:
or 1702 1 PURC
2 DATE 17 JUN 1730
2 PLAC 10,000 acres, beyond the Blue Ridge, Virginia
2 NOTE Built Fort Pleasant at Old Fields
1 CAUS Scalped by Indians
Relation to mother, Sara DuBois, shown by deed from Sarah DuBois to Isaac VanMetre, dated 27 May 1726, recorded Liber D, page 203, Salem Deeds, which recites consideration as "love, good will and affection I have and do bear toward my loving and dutiful son Isaac VanMetre . . . "
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.
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 Shenando 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.
Isaac Van Meter first settled in this area in 1740 and in 1744 built a home and fort that he named Fort Pleasant. The house and fort were built on a gentle rise overlooking wide open fields stretching south down the valley of the South Branch of the Potomac River. Later, the Van Meter lands were passed on to his son, Garrett.
1754 Heirs
Information about Isaac Van Metre, So. Branch of Potomack County of Frederick, VA.
Married to Hannah. Will Feb 15 1754
Children:
Henry
Jacob
Garrett
Sarah Richman
Catherine
Rebecca Hite
Clita
Names of wife and children as shown in will, dated 15 Feb. 1754, proven 14 Dec. 1757, Hampshire County, Virginia (now Hardy County, West Virginia): wife Annah, children, Henry, Jacob, Garrett, Sarah Rickman, Catherine, Rebecca Hite, Hellita.
=======================================================================================
In the beginning it was the fatherland religion, but was admitted to the Presbytery of Philadelphia; which, consultation to those records will show. This accounts for the change to Presbyterianism of Isaac and his family. In 1714 Daniel Cox, of New Jersey sold 3000 acres of land to Jacob du Bois of Ulster Co., NY. , (a brother of Sarah du Bois, the wife of Jan Joost Van Meteren) Sarah du Bois, John Van Meter and Isaac Van Meter, (the mother and two sons.) This was subsequently divided among them of which John individually acquired 400 acres and Isaac 430 acres. Isaac bought many other tracts in Salem Co., also and passed a very active life there as did his brother John and Henry. The most important probably to his descendant, being the prominent part he took in the founding of the Pittsgrove (Pilesgrove) Presbyterian Church of Salem Co., NJ. The covenant of which was signed 13th April 1741. This he is designated in signing as number 1: his wife Hannah (norn annetje), 2; their son Henry, 3; and their daughter Sarah, 4.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Scotch-Irish or The Scot in North Britain, North Ireland, and North America, Volume 2
ÊChapter III
ÊÊThe Seaboard Colonies
ÊÊÊVirginia
The settlements in the Valley of Virginia were originated principally by the labors of four individuals -- John and Isaac Vanmeter in Frederick county , William Beverley in Augusta , and Benjamin Borden in Rockbridge . To them Governor William Gooch made extensive grants of land beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains , on condition that they should be colonized within a reasonable time. These grants were all of a later date than the so-called Fairfax grant, which was made by Charles II. in the twenty-first year of his reign, and conveyed to a number of noblemen a tract known as the Northern Neck of land in Virginia , "rounded within the head of the Rivers Rappahannock and Quiriough or Patomack rivers , the courses of said rivers, . . . and Chesapeak Bay ." At a later date, title to all this tract became vested in Thomas , Lord Culpeper , one of the original grantees. Culpeper 's daughter and heiress married Thomas , Lord Fairfax , "Baron of Cameron , in that part of Great Britain called Scotland ," and the estates passed to Lord Fairfax . This grant gave to that nobleman, with the exception of certain reservations, nearly all the land in what are now the counties of Page, Shenandoah , Warren , Clarke , Frederick , Lancaster , Northumberland , Richmond , Westmoreland , Stafford , King George , Prince William , Fairfax , Alexandria , Loudoun , Fauquier , Culpeper , and Madison , in Virginia , and Berkeley , Jefferson , Morgan , and Hardy , in West Virginia . Lord Fairfax visited his Virginia estates in 1739 , and returned again about 1747 , ultimately settling at Greenway Court, in Clarke county , within a few miles of Winchester , where he remained until his death in 1782 . While living in Westmoreland county , he had become acquainted with the Washington family, and particularly with the young George , then a youth of fifteen, who had been a boyhood companion of the children of Fairfax 's cousin, William Fairfax , of Belvoir , an estate near Mount Vernon . Accordingly, the nobleman proposed that one of the sons of his cousin together with George Washington should visit his lands on the frontier, for the purpose of exploring, surveying, and making maps of them. They accepted the proposition, and started on their journey over the mountains March 11, 1748 . A record of their surveys is preserved in Washington 's Journal of the expedition.
The Scotch-Irish or The Scot in North Britain, North Ireland, and North America, Volume 2
ÊChapter III
ÊÊThe Seaboard Colonies
ÊÊÊVirginia
John and Isaac Vanmeter , of Pennsylvania , obtained a grant of forty thousand acres from Governor Gooch in 1730 , to be located in the lower Shenandoah Valley , within the present counties of Frederick , Clarke , and Jefferson . This warrant was sold by the grantees in 1731 to Joist Hite , a Hollander, who removed from Pennsylvania in 1732 with his own and fifteen other families, most of them Scotch-Irish. They settled along Opequon, Cedar , and Crooked creeks , in what is now Frederick county .
Ancestry.com. Scotch-Irish: The Scot in North Britain, North Ireland and North America [database online] Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2002. Original data: Hanna, Charles A. The Scotch-Irish or the Scot in North Britain, North Ireland and North America, Vol. 2. New York, NY: Putnam, 1902.
===========================================================================================
http://www.uh.edu/~jbutler/gean/wildernessroad.html
His son Isaac Van Meter with his wife and four children settled at historic Fort Pleasant in what is now Hardy County, West Virginia, in 1744.
"Isaac Van Meter, brother of Jacob, was killed and scalped by the Indians near his fort in 1757. One of his sons was Colonel Garret Van Meter who was born in New York in February 1732, and was a boy of twelve when the family located at Fort Pleasant. In 1756 he married Mrs. Ann Markee Sibley, and after the death of his father, inherited Mount Pleasant and a large tract of surrounding land. He was a colonel of a regiment of militia in General Washington's army in the Revolution. After the war he and his wife lived at old Fort Pleasant, where they died full of years. Only two of their sons grew to mature years, Isaac, born in 1757 and Jacob, born May 18, 1764. These brothers married sisters, Bettie and Tabitha Inskeep, whose mother was Hannah McCulock (McCulloch), a daughter of the most famous Indian fighter and scout of his day. (Travelers through present Wheeling may note a marker at the site of McCulloch's leap, over a bluff to escape from the savages.)
===========================================================================================
http://www.sonic.net/~prouty/prouty/b315.htm#P907
Isaac VAN METEREN766,879 was born before 1692 in USA, New York, Ulster Co.. He was baptized about 1692 in USA, New York, Ulster Co..763 He signed a will on 15 Feb 1754 in USA, Virginia, Frederick Co.,.880 Isaac's will states he was "of the South Branch of Potowmach in the country of Frederick, Virginia" when it was made. It was presented in court in Hampshire Co., Virginia December 14, 1757 by his sons Henry and Garret. The will provides for his "dear wife Hannah, as long asshe shall live," and mentions children: Henry, Jacob, Garret, Sarah (the wife of John Richman), Catherine Van Metre, Rebecca Hite ( the wife of Abraham Hite) and Helita Van Metre. The lands in New Jersey are to remain under their current leases until their expiration when they are to be sold at public venue to the highest bidder; devises lands in Virginia, slaves and money. The children are to have the privilege of selling their land, but must first offer it to their siblings so that they may keep it amongst them. He died after Feb 1754 in USA, Virginia, Frederick Co.. Isaac Van Maitre was a landowner in Bridgewater Township, Somerset Co., New Jersey, in 1714. In 1718/19 Isaac Van Metere of Salem, NJ was appointed executor of the will of Hendrix Mullinar. Fellow bondsmen were John and Henry Van Metre, also of Salem.
Isaac had a family of eight children, some of which emigrated with their parents to the Valley of the South Branch of the Potomac prior to 1745.
Isaac's grant of land obtained in 1730 (the same time as his brother Jan) was for a 10,000 acre tract lying near "The Trough" on the Opequon River. All of these lands were in what was then known as Orange Co., later became Berkeley Co and was near the present town of Martinsburg, West Virginia. Fort Pleasant was built on the land owned by Isaac.
In 1757 both Isaac and his second wife were killed and scalped by the Indians outside Fort Pleasant.
763. Smyth, Samuel Gordon, A genealogy of the Duke-Shepherd-Van Metre family : from civil, military, church, and family records and documents (Lancaster, Pa.: New Era Print Co., 1909, 480 pgs.), p. 14.
766. A genealogy of the Duke-Shepherd-Van Metre family : from civil, military, church, and family records and documents, p. 16.
879. Unknown., A Story of a Van Matre Family. p. 6, 8.
880. Anonymous, Biographical, genealogical and descriptive history of the First Congressional District of New Jersey (New York: Lewis Publishing Co., 1900, 1368 pgs. ), p. 36.
Annetje WYNKOOP
Birth:
1698
Death:
1757
Old Fields, Hardy co, Va, Usa
Father:
Mother:
Notes:
Scalped by Indians 1 CAUS Scalped by Indians
Children
Marriage
1
Birth:
Jan 1720
Salem Co, New Jersey
Death:
Abt May 1778
Hampshire Co, Virginia
Notes:
=========================================================================================
memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(mgw1b481))
George WashingtonÕs Diary - March 1748 - age 16
Sunday 27th. Travell'd over to the South Branch (attended with the Esqr.) to Henry Vanmetriss in order to go about Intended Work of Lots.
The Van Meter family was among the earliest settlers in the Shenandoah Valley. John Van Meter, a New York state Indian trader who carried on an extensive trade among the Delaware Indians, visited Virginia about 1725. With his encouragement his sons Isaac and John obtained extensive grants of land on the South Branch of the Potomac and in the lower Shenandoah Valley in 1730 and brought in a number of settlers. It was their sale of a portion of their lands to Jost Hite in 1731 which precipitated the latter's legal entanglements with Lord Fairfax. Henry Van Meter, who died about 1759, was a son of Isaac and a nephew of John. He received a deed for 405 acres on the South Branch on 7 June 1749 (Northern Neck Deeds and Grants, Book G, 187, Vi Microfilm). For an account of the Van Meter family, see W. Va. Hist. Mag., 2, no. 2 (April 1902), 5--18.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 1748
Wednesday 6th. Last Night was so Intolerably smoaky that we were obliged all hands to leave the Tent to the Mercy of the Wind and Fire this day was attended by our aforesd. Company untill about 12 oClock when we finish'd we travell'd down the Branch to Henry Vanmetris's. On our Journey was catch'd in a very heavy Rain. We got under a Straw House untill the Worst of it was over & then continued our Journy.
Thursday 7th. Rain'd Successively all Last Night. This Morning one of our men Killed a Wild Turky that weight 20 Pounds. We went & Surveyd 15 Hundred Acres of Land & Returnd to Vanmetris's about 1 oClock. About two I heard that Mr. Fairfax was come up & at 1 Peter Casseys about 2 Miles of in the same Old Field. I then took my Horse & went up to see him. We eat our Dinners & Walked down to Vanmetris's. We stayed about two Hours & Walked back again and slept in Casseys House which was the first Night I had slept in a House since I came to the Branch.
Peter Casey acquired 356 acres of land on the South Branch on 14 Aug. 1749 (Northern Neck Deeds and Grants, Book G, 271, Vi Microfilm).
Fryday 8th. We breakfasted at Casseys & Rode down to Vanmetris's to get all our Company together which when we had accomplished we Rode down below the Trough in order to Lay of Lots there. We laid of one this day. The Trough is couple of Ledges of Mountain Impassable running side & side together for above 7 or 8 Miles & the River down between them. You must Ride Round the back of the Mountain for to get below them. We Camped this Night in the Woods near a Wild Meadow where was a Large Stack of Hay. After we had Pitched our Tent & made a very Large Fire we pull'd out our Knapsack in order to Recruit ourselves. Every[one] was his own Cook. Our Spits was Forked Sticks our Plates was a Large Chip as for Dishes we had none.
==========================================================================================
George Washington, in "My Journey over the Mountains," states that:
"Henry Van Metres is on ye branch and was living on Ôye Trough,Õ Old Fields. Ye Trough is a couple of ledges of mountains impassable running side by side together for eight miles and ye river down between them, ye must ride round ye back of ye mountain for to get below them."
Visit was two days in April 1747 or 1748
Sometimes confused with uncle, Henry Vanmetre, who probably remained in Salem County, New Jersey. As noted by Gregory V. Cox, "A VanMeter Chapter in the American Story" (2001), sometime reported birth date of May 12, 1728 is inconsistent with marriage in 1741.
Will dated February 16, 1778, probated May 11, 1778, Hampshire County, Virginia: wife Rebecca; sons, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Solomon, Abraham.
Gregory V. Cox (who descends from this line) gives more information about children.
2
Birth:
1722
Ulster co, Ny, Usa
Death:
Nj, Usa
Notes:
Father's will gives name as Sarah Richman.
3
Birth:
1 Feb 1732
Kingston, Ulster co, Ny, Usa
Death:
Apr 1788
Old Fields, Hardy co, Va, Usa
Notes:
8 whites 16 blacks
This single grave is located in the large field in back of the Vanmeter house (in 1979) at Old Fields and in the area that is possibly the site of Fort Pleasant.
Born Died
Vanmeter, Col. Garrett 1732 1788
Contributed by Suzanne W. Whitson (suzanne.whitson@comcast.net)
April 5, 2005
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Garret Van Meter was a Colonel in the Revolutionary War and Commanded a Regiment of Milita in General George Washington's Army. Colonel Garret and his Wife Ann Markee were the first supporters of religion among the Pioneers of that day in that country . They lived and died In Fort Pleasent. They had other children, but they didnÕt live to be grown and their names are unknown.
Garrett amassed a fortune in cattle and horses and eventually built the house we now know as "Fort Pleasant". Isaac was buried on this land. We were able to go through the eighteen-room mansion. Nothing has been added to it since Garrett's death. The foundations and walls are of brick with rises above the cellar from a brick base. The show rooms are large with many-paned high windows. Fireplaces throughout the house have refined Federal mantels and openings large enough for logs. The rooms have no cornices but each had a chair rail. The floors are polished pine. In the front hall, a restrained and plain Federal staircase runs curving to the attic. On one of the walls was a picture of Isaac.
We are about to dedicate a Pennsylvania State Historical Marker to commemorate our town's rescue of a young fugitive slave, Anthony HOLLINGSWORTH, from slavecatchers.(actually his master, Garrett VAN METER (Senior's) brother-in-law William Streit CUNNINGHAM and Robert TILDEN who would be Hardy's Clerk of Court in the 1850's.) The Hollingsworth family still lives in Keyser.
We have never been able to locate the farm of Garrett Van Meter Senior but one will suggests that he owned some land along Patterson's Creek. I've seen Garrett Jr's house, but he was a cousin--a son of Jacob Van Meter. Garrett Jr. became Garrett Sr after Garrett Sr died--then Garrett's son Garrett became Garrett Jr. (Ha ha--sort that out.) Garrett Jr II, son of Garrett Sr. was Sally Cunningham's son. I believe that Sally must have died in childbirth because she died in 1836, the year Garrett Jr. was born. He was 14 in the 1850 census. Garrett Sr. married a woman named Ann D. for whom he erected a very nice flat top grave memorial with a Biblical verse. However, he is buried down the hill next to Sally and an infant. I am told that this Garrett was called One Eyed Garrett Van Meter. His father was Isaac Van Meter whose 1832 mansion still stands at Old Fields. There is a good chance that Anthony Hollingsworth was born in the quarters in back of that house that was razed or fell down in the 30's. There is a remaining photograph. We would like to know the location of Garrett Van Meter, Sr.'s house, can you help? E-mail: chriscat@ptdprolog.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1772 Note
I do hereby certify that Col. Garret Vanmeter hath this day purchased the within described land for the Sum of Four hundred and Seventy one Pounds current money of Virginia, and do consent that a Deed from the Proprietors Office may issue to him for the Same. Witness my hand this 11th day of May 1772.
Alex.White.
Test
John Higgins
I agree to receive the above mentioned sum of money with Int. from 11th Nov. 1779 and defreintion from that time to this day provided the same be paid at next May Court, 13th March 1781.
Alex White
Dates of birth and death taken from tombstone, Hardy County, WV.
Served as Colonel in Virginia Militia in American Revolution. DAR Patriot Index, p. 701 (1966). Wife's name as listed in DAR Patriot Index, and also will recorded in Hardy County, VA, July 7, 1788, lists wife Ann, and children Isaac, Jacob, and Ann Seymour.
VanMeter Family Bible lists Jacob VanMeter as son of Garret VanMeter.
Names and dates of birth of children from vol 59 Nat'l Genealogical Society Quarterly, p. 35.
Many sources indicate that Col. Garrett's place of birth was New York; my guess since his father and mother had moved to Salem New Jersey in the 1710s, that its more likely he was born in New Jersey than in New York, absent any other proof to the contrary.
=============================================================================
Database: West Virginia History, Vol. 1
December 8, 2004
0:28 AM
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
East of the Alleghanies in what is now Hardy, Grant, and Pendleton counties, a tory plot came to a head when it was believed that Cornwallis would subdue Virginia and drive the patriot armies out. The center of the plot was near Petersburg in Grant county. It is said that a number of the tories implicated in the trouble lived twenty miles above there at Upper Tract, and that some came from Moonfield river, along the base of the Shenadoah mountains. The first intimation of rebellion appeared when they refused to pay their taxes or contribute to Hampshire's quota of men to be raised for the army. Colonel Van Meter with thirty militia was sent from Old Fields to enforce the payment of taxes. Fifty tories armed themselves and assembled at the house of John Brake, a German, and declared that they would resist the demands by force and arms. Colonel Van Meter, who knew most of the tories personally, marched his men to meet them, but instead of a fight there was a parley. The leader of the militia attempted to convince them by argument that they were in the wrong and must ultimately suffer for it, but they had the best of the argument, as it would seem, for the militia went home and left them in arms and defiant. The fact probably was, Colonel Van Meter saw that he was not strong enough to fight them successfully, and he retired to make better preparation.
They thought themselves victorious and became more insolent and defiant than before. They organized a company, elected John Claypole their captain, and prepared to march off and join Cornwallis as soon as he arrived within reach of them. They seemed to be fairly well posted on the movements of the British army which at that time was threatening lower Virginia. General Daniel Morgan of the Continental army happened to be at that time in Frederick county, some sixty miles distant. Learning that the tories had organized a military company he thought it time he took a hand. He collected 400 militia and did not open parley with the insurgents, but pressed them so closely that Claypole surrendered, and William Baker was shot when he refused to throw down his gun; but he was not killed. After one other had been shot, Brake surrendered, and the tory uprising was at an end. When the tories duly reflected upon what they had done they repented, and in order to make amends, they joined the American army and fought till the end of the war. A cavern is pointed out seven miles from Upper Tract which is still called Tory Cave, because of a tradition that some of the terrified men who escaped General Morgan's militia were hiding in it for some days.
More information on ClaypoolÕs Rebellion
http://www.wvculture.org/history/revwar/claypool01.html
http://www.wvculture.org/history/revwar/claypool02.html
and more
===========================================================================================
Fort Pleasant *** (added 1973 - Building - #73001903)
N of Moorefield, Moorefield
Historic Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering
Architect, builder, or engineer: Unknown
Architectural Style: Federal
Area of Significance: Architecture, Military
Period of Significance: 1800-1824
Owner: Private
Historic Function: Domestic
Historic Sub-function: Single Dwelling
Current Function: Domestic
Current Sub-function: Single Dwelling
======================================================
VanMeter, Garrett, House (added 2001 - Building - #01000264)
Off Reynolds Gap Rd., Old Fields
Historic Significance: Architecture/Engineering
Architectural Style: Greek Revival
Area of Significance: Architecture
Period of Significance: 1825-1849, 1850-1874, 1875-1899, 1900-1924, 1925-1949, 1950-1974
Owner: Private
Historic Function: Domestic
Historic Sub-function: Single Dwelling
Current Function: Domestic
Current Sub-function: Single Dwelling
4
Birth:
20 May 1734
Ulster co, Ny, Usa
Death:
30 May 1809
Jefferson co, Ky, Usa
5
Jacob VAN METER
Birth:
Abt 1735
Death:
Marr:
6
Catherine VAN METER
Birth:
Abt 1738
Death:
Marr:
7
Blocked
Birth:
Death:
Blocked
Marr:
FamilyCentral Network
Isaac Van Meter - Annetje Wynkoop
Isaac Van Meter
was born at New Paltz, Ulster Co, New York Abt 1692.
His parents were Joost Jans Van Meteren and Sarah Du Bois.
He married Annetje Wynkoop 1721 at Ulster co, Ny, Usa . Annetje Wynkoop was born at 1698 daughter of Gerrit Gerardus Wynkoop and Hilletje Gerritse Focken .
They were the parents of 7
children:
Henry Van Meter
born Jan 1720.
Sarah Van Meter
born 1722.
Garret Van Meter
born 1 Feb 1732.
Rebecca Van Meter
born 20 May 1734.
Jacob Van Meter
born Abt 1735.
Catherine Van Meter
born Abt 1738.
Blocked
Isaac Van Meter died 1757 at Old Fields, Hardy Co, Virginia .
Annetje Wynkoop died 1757 at Old Fields, Hardy co, Va, Usa .