Van Hoesen House

Go to the site for the Van Hoesen House in New York.

Jan Van Husum and the Patron Rensselaer

I bore no grudge against the patroon, indeed, I owed a great deal to the Rensselaer family: ship's passage from Amsterdam to the colony for myself and my wife, a lot on which to garden and build a house, a new life in exchange for four years work. The patroon needed colonists for a Dutch Colony. I never met the patroon, though I saw his painting hanging in the office of his agent at the Dutch West India Company. My problems with the patroon did not occur until much later, after I had worked off my debt to him and his company. By trading for furs with the Mohicans, I slowly acquired wealth. It was then that I took up the notion of acquiring land as he done, and having done so, our legal battle would begin.
A Fictional Autobiography of Jan Franz Van Husum

Renssalaerwyck

The story of the Rensselaerwyck Colony in America is well known.*

For millennia, the Mahican (Mohicans, Mohawks) lived in the Hudson River Valley.

Then, in 1630, the Dutch West India Company deeded (there will forever be a debate as to what right they had to take land belonging to the Indians and formally and legally acquire it) to to Kiliaen van Rensselaer, a wealthy Dutch merchant and one of the company's original directors. Rensselaerwyck was like a broad sandwich, extending for miles at the confluence of the Mohawk River and the Hudson including present-day Albany.

Rensselaerwyck saw the colony as a business oportunity and engaged hundreds of Dutch settlers to sail to Renssalaerwyck to be his tenants. Usually, for a period of four years in exchange for free passage. Jan Fransse Van Husum was among them.

The Dutch West India Company required Rennsalaer to appease the original Indian land and to transport "fifty souls upwards of the age of 15, one-forth to be sent during the first year, and the remainder before the expiration of the fourth year."

To this end, Rensselaer's agent, Sebastiaen Jansen Crol, an officer in charge of Fort Orange, in a series of purchases from 1630 to 1639, purchased (again, one can dispute the legal niceties of the word) all the land on the west side of the Hudson from Albany 12 miles south to Smack's Island, at the mouth of the Mohawk River stretching two days' journey inland," and the land east of the river, north and south, at a similar distance.

See the original map of Rennsselaerwyck from Wikipedia.

Coming to America, Jan Fransse Van Husum 

In 1634, a flood of biblical proportions struck the western coast of the Jutland peninsula and the town of Husum, Jan called home, and the island of Nordstrand where his wife to be lived. The couple made their way to Amsterdam and married in May of 1639, shortly before setting sail aboard the ship Den Harlink to join other settlers in Renssalaerwyck. They arrived at Fort Orange in July and started a new life. Outside the fort, a community called Beverwyck was established. Relations with the Mohawks was by all accounts friendly. Jan reportedly worked for the colony as a clerk.

Four years passed and more.

In 1653 on the 25th of October, the Dutch government of the New Netherlands records a land patent giving Jan Fransse Van Hoesen Van Hoesen a lot with a garden in Beverwyck.

Then, on June 5, 1662, it is recorded that Jan purchased from the Mohicans several hundred acres of the Claverack land to the north of Rensselaerwyck. The purchase price was 500 guilders in beaver skins. Jan's purchase included the present day city of Hudson and part of Greenport. It extended along the Hudson Riveron the north from Stockport Creek to the mouth of Keshna's Kill on the south, which empties into the South Bay near Mount Merino, and on the east of Claverack Creek. At this point, where it met the boundary of Rennsalaerwyck.

Van Hoesen vs. Van Renssalaer

Rennselaer contested Jan's land patent. Jan and his former patroon would meet in a court of law. After Jan's death, the case would be decided in his favor. One interesting fact, papers related to the lawsuit are in the Library of Congress, files of Alexander Hamilton, but I find them too hard to read.

Notes:

There are two principal sources for the article:
Van Rensselaer Family,
New Netherlands and Jan Van Husum.

Of course, one also should always consult Joyce Lindstrom's book,
Vanhoose, Van Hooser, Van Huss Family in America.

Den Harinck

I Jan Franz Van Husum came from Husum, part of the Duchy of Schleswig, though in reality we thought of ourselves as Dutch from North Friesland. War with Sweden devastated the country side. The stormn and flood of 1634 finished the job of annihilating the island of Nord Strand and the city of Husum. In July of 1637, I boarded den Herinck (the Hering) with my new wife, Volkjie, arriving in New Amsterdam in September.
The Autobiography of Jan Franz Van Husum

Jan Frans Van Husum and Volkje Juriens wed in the Nieuw Kirk in Amsterdam on May 15, 1639. Shortly thereafter, they set sail on the ship "den Harlinck," arriving in New Amsterdam on July 7, 1639. (Elsewhere spelled den Harinck). Jan and his wife Volkje made their way up the Hudson River to the new colony of Fort Orange. Eight children were born in Fort Orange or in the nearby settlement of Rennselaerwyck. The first child, Franz was born in 1640 and the last of the eight children, Volkert, in 1658.

(Genealogy of Volkje Juriens, Compare, the genealogy of  Tebbets - Courtney - Jerigan which records nine children, recording a daughter Catharina, born 1635 in Fort Orange. This is unlikely. Joyce Lindstrom records that the will of Jan Franz Van Husum lists nine children with Catharina born in 1653, which is more likely.)

Den Harinck/den Harlinck

Joyce Lindstrom reports that Jan and Volkje sailed aboard the ship den Harlinck. The name has been translated elsewhere as "herring," although I have not been able to find this translation anywhere.

Castelo Plan

The image is of the Castelo Plan (Wikipedia) and illustrates what the Dutch city of Nieuw Amsterdam appeared like at about the time Jan and Volkje Van Husum arrived.


Den Harinck

The ship den Harinck is included in a list of ships transporting early pilgrims to America. See Packrat. The list only includes passengers on an earlier voyage in 1637.

An updated list by the OliveTreeGenealogy for den Harinck May 1639, still does not include the name Van Husum.

Rennselaerwyck Settlers aboard the den Harinck 

A book by Arnold Johan Ferdinand Van Laer, entitled Settlers of Rensselaerswyck, 1630-1658, lists some settlers and the ships that they arrived on. Unfortunately, it does not include Jan and Volkje. Interestingly, it does record Willem Juriaensz, who arrived nine months earlier, and later in the history of Fort Orange had dealings with Jan Van Husum.

Settlers of Rensselaerwyck, 1630-1658 is available on Google Books. This source lists the voyage of den Harinck sailing 1637, arriving 1638.

The site lists other settlers (including Sander Leendertsz Glen, Andries and Marten Hendricksz, and Barent Pietersz Koijemans (Coeymans) sailing aboard den Harinck, from Texel in May 1639; arrived at New Amsterdam. July 7, 1639. The list may only include individuals working specifically for Rennselaerwyck.

The Journey aboard den Harinck

The ship set sail from Texel, an island off of the Dutch coast near Amsterdam. Texel was a common point of embarkation and hundreds of ships might lie at anchor at any one time.

Nothing is recorded of the voyage aboard den Harinck, but we do know that the voyage was quick, a journey of two months during the summer of 1639. We can therefore assume the journey was uneventful. By contrast is the voyage of den Harinck in September of 1637, which did not arrive until March of 1638, a journey of six months indicating that a winter's voyage was to be avoided. Settlers of Rensselaerwyck, 1630-1658, page 16.

Husum - Die Stadt

Husum

The best descriptions of Husum and North Friesland can be found in the writings of Theodor Sturm, 1817 - 1888. Sturm was a native of Husum and his many stories, poems, and novellas take place in North Friesland. He writes of the greyness of the weather, the austere beauty of its expansive mudflats, barren pastures, and treeless plains, and finally the menacing sea which is always a threat to existence.

The World of Theodor Storm is an excellent resource for his life and works, as well as a good description of Husum and the North Friesland coast. Die Stadt by Storm describes his feelings to the town of Husum where he grew up.

Die Stadt

Am grauen Strand, am grauen Meer
Und seitab liegt die Stadt;
Der Nebel drückt die Dächer schwer,
Und durch die Stille braust das Meer
Eintönig um die Stadt.

By the grey Shore, on the grey Sea
At the seaside lies the Town;
The Fog presses upon the roofs heavily,
And through the quiet roars the Sea
Its steady beat upon the Town.

Es rauscht kein Wald, es schlägt im Mai
Kein Vogel ohn Unterlaß;
Die Wandergans mit hartem Schrei
Nur fliegt in Herbstesnacht vorbei,
Am Strande weht das Gras.

No forest stirs, in May
Each bird chatters incessantly
The wandering goose with its harsh Cry
Flies off only in the autumn night,
While on Shore the blades of grass wave goodby.

Doch hängt mein ganzes Herz an dir,
Du graue Stadt am Meer;
Der Jugend Zauber für und für
Ruht lächelnd doch auf dir, auf dir,
Du graue Stadt am Meer.

On that and you all my heart doth lie,
The grey Town on the Sea;
Of the Magic of Youth by and by
Rests smiling yet, on you, on you,
The grey Town by the Sea.

My translation of Theodor Storm's The Town.

Elizabeth and Catherine Worley

I was always struck by the fact that father and son, Valentine Vanhooser, Jr. and Mathias Van Huss married women with the last name of Worley. Was it coincidence?

Valentine Felty Vanhooser, Jr. (born 1768) married Catherine Abagail Worley (born 1768). Valentine would move to Tennessee in 1795. According to only one record, Catherine died in 1796 at the age of 28, and was buried in Wythe, Virginia. Catherine Worley. If so, Catherine died after giving birth to a son and a year after giving birth to her fifth child, Mathias Van Huss (Mathias is listed as the fourth child in some records).

Valentine remarried in 1799 to Juliana Spraker and sometime after 1812 to Matilda Venable.

* Search for the VanHoose(r)(n) Descendants Compiled 31 March 2011 by Robert S. Duggan, Jr.

Mathias Van Huss (born 1795) married Elizabeth Worley (born 1798). Mathias served with Capt. Solomon Hendrix's Company in the Tennessee Militia during the War of 1812. In 1817 he married Elizabeth in Wythe, Virginia. They had one child Valentine Worley Van Huss. Elizabeth died in 1820 and Mathias remarried to Lovina Dugger.

See Rutledge Family Genealogy.

The parents of  Catherine Worley were Michael Worley (born 1733) and Anna Reighert (born 1735). Barbara Craddock Schultz.

The parents of  Elizabeth Worley were Valentine Worley and Anna Spraker. The parents of Valentine Worley were the same Michael Worley, Sr. and Anna Reigher who gave birth to Catherine Worley.. Re: James A. Burchett

I hope I got this right.

.

***********************************************************

* Note on Mathias - Mathias Van Huss, son of Valentine Felty Van Huss, Jr., born 1795 in Wythe County, Virginia, died in 1856 in Johnson, Carter County, Tennessee. He had 11 children by a second wife Lovina Dugger. Descendants of Daniel Dugger. Lovina raised Valentine Worley and in her will referred to him as her child.

* Note to self. Valentine Worley, Jr., b. October 13, 1801, Cripple Creek, Wythe Co., Va., d. June 05, 1893, Wabaunsee Co., Kansas..

Why Volkje Juriens and Jan Fransse Van Husum came to America.

...
The back bone's connected to the neck bone,
The neck bone's connected to the head bone,
Now shake dem skeleton bones!

The Sailing

We know that in May of 1639, Jan and Volkje were married in Amsterdam Nieukirke. And that they set sail soon thereafter aboard the ship den Harinck. The two months crossing put them in New Amsterdam (New York) on July of 1639. Then they sailed up the Hudson River to the colony of Rensselaerswyck to start a new life.

Why leave

The simple answer to the question of why Jan Franz Van Husum and his bride Volkje Jurians Nordstrand came to America is because of a flood. The Great Flood of 1634 to be exact. AKA, the Burchardi flood or the second Grote Mandrenke (Great Man Flooding). It was a flood of biblical proportions, arriving on the night of 11 October and continuing until the next morning. It struck the along the Holland coast and the western coast of the Jutland peninsula, loosely called North Frisia. Over ten thousand lives were lost, including Volkje's parents. Nordstrand Island, where Volkje lived with her parents and sister Annetje was devastated, villages and churches completely destroyed. Husum, then a seaport, was likewise devastated by the flood.

It was time to start a new life.

Jan and Volkje soon made their way to Amsterdam. Jan was 21, Volkje 16. They took up residence on the same street in Corte Tuiinstraat, between the two canals, the Lijnbaansgracht and the Prinsengracht. Whether they came together or separately is not known. How they met and when is not known. What they did in Amsterdam is not known.

Opportunity

Little is known. What is known is that they heard of the colonial estate of the Dutch patroon Kiliaen van Rensselaer, who was providing free passage to the New World. IN exchange the colonist would farm and provide services to the patroon, swearing the following oath:

I, ______ , promise and swear that I shall be true and faithful to the noble Patroon and Co-directors, or those Commissioners and Council, subjecting myself to the good and faithful inhabitant or Burgher, without exciting any opposition, tumult, or noise; but on the contrary, as a loyal inhabitant, to maintain and support offensively and of the Colonie. And with reverence and fear of the Lord, and uplifting of both the first fingers of the right hand, I say — SO TRULY HELP ME GOD ALMIGHTY. 



It was an opportunity.
 

Notes on the Great Flood

The people who lived along the Jutland coast waged a constant battle against the sea. Nature  represented by the Great Flood of 1634 won the battle and altered history.

 The Great Flood of 1634

 

Cor Snabel

Imagine my surprise when I came across Cor Snabel's site detailing the Great Flood of 1634. As a bit of pre-history, Cor Snabel explains that a similar flood occurred in 1362. And at that time, contemporary chronicles claim that whole parishes were wiped off the map and 100,000 souls perished. Another storm stuck in 1625, dividing the island of Strand in two. 

But man persists.

See Historic Storms of the North Seas.

Read also the German Wiki account of the Buchardiflut.

Lord Dunmore's War

Just a few strands of thought.

I have included this because I believe that Valentine Felty Vanhooser participated in Lord Dunmore's War. I just need to do a little more research and polish up the writing.

Lord Dunmore's War

Lord Dunmore's War was a conflict in 1774 between the Colonists of Virginia and the Shawnee and Mingo Indians living in the lands west of the Alleghenies and south of the Ohio River. Liord Dunmore was the Colonial Govenor of Virginia. He called up a militia to pacify the Indian tribes who were attacking settlers in the disputed area. The war ended in October of 1774 with a colonial victory at the Battle of Point Pleasant. Following the battle, the Shawnees ceded all land south of the Ohio to the colony of Virginia.

Mary Kegley in Early Adventures on the Western Waters, Vol. 1. The New River of Virginia in Pioneer Days, 1745-1800, lists the members of Willima Herbert's Comany (1772) and includes the name of Valentine Vanhooser.

To William Herbert's Company of 1772, Mary B. Kegley lists Valentine Vanhooser. Valentine Felty Vanhooser is also reported as the overseer of the Carolina Road from Poplar Camp Creek to the Pottsylvania line. This route was used by settlers migrating from Rowan County, North Carolina to Kentucky.

One needs to reconcile the differing accounts of the Biographies of the Men in William Herbert's Company in Lord Dunmore's War (1774) and

Also

Location south and east of Wytheville on modern Highway 77.

Modern day Jackson's Ferry and the Shot Tower are located along the New River in the eastern section of Wythe County along Highway 52 in southwest Virginia.. SHOT TOWER HISTORICAL STATE PARK AND JACKSON'S FERRY. Herbert's Ferry was responsible for transporting settlers who were coming up from North Carolina on the Carolina Road and moving into Kentucky.

Google Directions.

Dutch or Deutsch

This article should be revised over time.

In her history of  the VAN HOOSE VAN HOOSER VAN HUSS FAMILY IN AMERICA, Joyce Lindstrom states:

Jan Frantz Van Husum wasn't Dutch as many people have supposed. Neither was he German. He was a Schleswigan subjected to Danish rule. He spoke low German, probably with a Frisian or Danish dialect. However, after three generations of living among the Dutch settlers in New Netherlands, his descendants gradually became Dutch by association. There were also more emigrants in New Netherlands who were Danish, Frisian and Schleswigan than Dutch.

At a gut level, I have doubted this thought primarily because the strong Dutch characteristics prominent in any of the paintings by Rembrandt, Hals, or Vermeer, are also visible in the facial features of my wife's father and the other ancient images of Van Husses, Vanhoosers, and Van Hoesens that have been saved over the years.These features include the angular nose, the sharp chin, the brown eyes and hair, and, over time, the silver hair that comes with age. To walk among the paintings of the great Dutch masters in the Rijksmuseum, one sees the merry and sometimes somber faces of the Van Huss men and women. Rijksmuseum.

Then as now, populations were constantly on the move and the peninsula now called Jutland, where the province of Schleswig and the town of Husum are located, was no exception to the forces of history and events. As pointed out in Cor Snabel's story of the Nordstrand flood of 1634, the area was ravaged by the bubonic plague in 1603, then thrown into the turmoil of the Thirty Years War in 1613, and, worst of all, subjected to a catastrophic flood in 1634 that forever altered the landscape and the lives of the Jan Van Husum and his bride to be Volkje Juriens.

Frisia from Wikipedia

A broad historical overview of the area give us the impression that the people who lived in the area were like the tides of the ocean subject to the forces of nature. The Romans called the tribes who inhabited the area Jutes, hence the name Jutland. The area's geographical significance was in the fact that the peninsula was a conduit for the transfer of goods between the Baltic and Russia to the east with the Rhine River valley and the Atlantic to the west. During the Middle Ages, the Danes established Viking control of the area. And even today, the northern part of Jutland remains Danish territory.

But, as Joyce Lindstrom observes there was one other group that figured predominantly in the region, the Frisians. Roman history records that the Frisii began settling the area along the northern coast of present day Netherlands and northwestern Germany around 400 B.C.. Ethnically, they were a Germanic people who spoke Frisian, a language related to the English. Like those who live in the area today, the Frisians struggled with the North Sea, constructing their homes on terps, man-made hills. They gained their living both from the sea, but also from the small farms they built where they kept their cattle and sheep.

There is a good discussion of  the Frisian language, still spoken by a few people on North Frisian Language,Wikipedia.

The Netherlands and the people we call the Dutch includes a much larger area than that indicated on the map. Instead, today's Netherlands are what was known as the United Provinces who rose in revolt against their Spanish overlords during the Eighty Years War.

Joyce Lindstrom is likely correct that Jan and his wife Volkje spoke a form of German. But, the distinction between German and Dutch is more one of dialect than distinct linguistic differences. In any event, the people who lived and worked along the North Frisian islands that included Nordstrand and the town of Husum, likely thought of themselves more as Dutch than German.

We know this for many reasons. First, name spellings of Jan and Volkje are common Dutch spellings and not German. The German spelling is typically Johann, but sometimes Jan or even Hans. Moreover, Jan Fransse Van Husum is the Dutch spelling. Even more telling is the name Volkje, which in Dutch means folk or common people. The German spelling is "volk" as in Volkswagen. Volkje family name Juriens, sometimes spelled "Juriaens", is often found in Holland, less so among Germans.

Other evidence of the Dutch association comes from the excellent historical article of the Flood of 1634 by
Cor Snabel, mentioned above. The flood of which Cor Snabel speaks must rank as one of the most catastrophic of that century. More than 15,000 people lost their lives, and on the island of Norstrand, where Volkje lived with her parents and sister, more than 6,000 died. Whole cities were washed away, the island of Norstrand was inundated and broken up into three smaller islands. Farm lands, which were covered by sea water, were ruined, with the result that many farmers packed up and left.

map of Nordstrand by Johannes Blaeu 1652

What Cor Snabel tells us is that four years prior to the flood, the German prince then ruling (he replaced a Danish ruler in 1627 during the Thirty Years War), hired a Dutch overseer, Jan Adriaansz Leegwater, who lived in the town of  Dagebull, a few miles north of Husum. His recounting of the terrible details of the flood and the names of the victims indicates that most if not all of the victims were Dutch in ancestry.

On the day before All Saint’s in the year 1634, when I was working as an engineer and a surveyor in the Bottschloter project, a big southwesterly storm came from the sea. At seven or eight in the evening, I visited the house of master carpenter Pieter Jansz, who was from Friesland, and who worked on a big new sluice in the project I was supervising.

Leeghwater continues, describing the aftermath of the flood.

Next morning, we saw and heard that all 37 houses of the workers were washed away, including all the people therein. Dikes, which had held up for more than 100 years, were destroyed. That day I took a boat and sailed to the village Dagebüll. The priest told me that the water had reached the level of almost five feet within the church, where people had found shelter. The house of master carpenter Pieter Jansz and the house of Pauwels Harmensz, where I had been before the storm, were vanished. Pieter Jansz and his wife and children had drowned, as had Pauwels Harmensz and his servant, who had accompanied me to my house. And there is more: early in the morning, my house was washed from the dike. The mansion was severely damaged, the cellar was like a ruin, and all the wine and beer had washed away. Big sea ships were stranded on high dikes, as I have seen myself. Several ships were stranded in the higher streets of Husum. I’ve been on the beaches, where I have seen horrible things. Countless dead bodies of people and animals, along with beams of houses, smashed wagons and lots of wood, straw and rubbish.

Aside from these few facts, we know that after the flood Volke was taken to the city of Husum. She met Jan, they moved to Tuinstraat in the city of Amsterdam.  The word "corte" is Spanish for court or section - not unusual since the Spanish had ruled the area for years. Tuijnstraat or Tuinstraat, as it is now spelled, is still to be found in Amsterdam, close to Anne Frank's House.

In 1639 Jan and Volkje embarked on a voyage to the New World. Whether Jan Fransse Van Husum was Dutch or Deutsch by birth, he certainly became Dutch by association, and to anyone who knows Bob Van Huss, it is the Dutch in him that we see.

Disaster - the Flood of 1634

If you are looking for the event that brought Jan Fransse Van Husum and Volkje Juriens together than it is surely the flood of October 11, 1634. This flood was one for the history books. It struck the island of Nordstrand and the neighboring coastal town of Husum on the night. Thousands of lives were lost.

Hardest hit were the North Frisian Islands off the western coast of Schleswig. Among these was the island of Nordstrand where Volkje lived with her parents and sister Annetje. Jan live in the neighboring port city of Husum.

Much has been written by Joyce Lindstrom and others as to whether Jan and Volkje were Frisians, Dutch, German, or even Danish. I doubt there is a simple answer. Originally, the area was settled by the ancient Frisians who were know as far back as Roman times. Then again, by 1634, the area had been settled by numerous Dutch immigrants who were in the process of reclaiming land from the sea with the use of dykes and windmills. After the flood of 1634, hundreds, if not thousands, of survivors made their way to Amsterdam. A number of these emigrated to America.

The storm was intense. Dikes, which had held up for more than 100 years, were destroyed. Over 6,000 people died, dozens of towns were washed away. The island of Nordstand, where 16 year old Volkje lived with her parents and sister, was inundated and broken up into several smaller islands.The town of Husum, just to the east of Nordstrand, was likewise devastated. Farms were rendered useless by the salt water that covered the fields and saturated the ground.

Volkje parents did not survive the storm. Afterwards, she was taken to the neighboring town of Husum. There she met Jan Fransse Van Husum.

The map, dated 1652, to the left is by Johannes Blaeu. The large island of Nordstrand was submerged and broken up into several smaller islands. Blaeu's map shows the majority of the island still underwater in 1652. Those who survived went back to the ancient custom of building houses on a hillock as a defense against the floods.

A chilling eye-witness account of the storm exists. Cor Snabel's story of the Nordstrand flood of 1634.

There was nothing left in Husum and Nordstrand for Jan and Volkje. Later records would reveal that land reclaimed by the sea not recovered by owners reverted to the state. Other settlers were brought in in order to reclaim former lands.

At some point, Jan and Volkje would move to Corte Tuijnstraat in Amsterdam. The word "corte" is Spanish for court or section, and the street (straat) Tuijnstraat still can be found in Amsterdam. The street is just around the corner from the Anne Frank House. It is a little further to the house of  Rembrandt van Rijn, who was then an up and coming painter. Rembrandt married his bride Saskia in the same year as the flood.And in 1639, bride and groom purchased a house on the Jodenbreestraat. Unhappily, Saskia would die two years later.

Jan and Volkje's marriage fared better. In 1639, they would marry in the Nieuwe Kirk of the Dutch Reformed Church. Within months, Jan and Volkje were on their way to New Amsterdam, then to Upstate New York.

There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people living in the United States who owe their lives to the flood of 1634. My father in law and wife are among the group. Interestingly, Gary Boyd Roberts in Ancestors of American Presidents, p. 13, 269, lists Jan Fransse Van Husum as the sixth great-grandfather of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., 26th President of the United States of America.

The Beginning - Holland and Husum

How much can be learned about Jan Fransse Van Husum, the first Van Huss in America?

Four centuries have erased any images, personal letters, and artifacts that might give us an insight into Jan's life. Still, a few historical records have survived since 1639 when Jan and his new wife Volkje Juriens sailed from Amsterdam in the Old World for New Amsterdam in the New.

One, we do know that on March 28, 1639, Jan and six others signed on with Killiaen VanRenssalear to serve with the West India Company in New Amsterdam for four years.

Van Hooze History and Court Records Page

Holland

The Amsterdam that Jan and Volkje lived in before departing for the New World was a commercial hub. The United Provinces of which Amsterdam was the principal city, was engaged in a decades long struggle with Spain for political control. In 1639, a Dutch fleet convincingly defeated a larger Spanish fleet at the Battle of the Downs and ended Spanish interference in Dutch political affairs.

For a brief time Holland and the Provinces bloomed. Its commercial success was undoubtedly the result of many factors including its tolerance of differing religious views, its openness to immigrants, and the free-spirit of its capitalism. Success can be measured in many ways. Amsterdam transformed from a city of 50,000 in 1600 to 200,000 in 1700. Its harbor contained thousands of ships. And these ships sailed to the four corners of the earth, establishing commercial ventures and new colonies everywhere. The East Indies Company was perhaps the most successful of these ventures, but lesser known was the West Indies Company with which Jan signed up.

It is tempting to set sail for the New World with Jan and Volkje. But we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. From Joyce Lindstrom's History detailing the marriage record of Jan and Volkje:

The church banns of April 30, 1639 are translated thus: "Appeared as before, Jan Franz from Housum, sailor, age 30 years, living in the Corte Tuijnstraat, having no parents but assisted by his cousin, Anna Jans, and Volckje Juriaens (daughter?) from Noorstrant, age about 21 years , of the same (street), having no parents, but assisted by her acquaintance, Isaack Pietersen. " They were married in the Dutch Reformed Church at Nieuwe Kerk at Amsterdam, Holland on May 15, 1639.

Tuijnstraat still exists on the map of the city of Amsterdam and can be found intersecting with the canal Prinsengracht, near the Anne Frank House. Tuinstraat, as it is spelled now, is still a residential area where an apartment can be found for 1750 euros a month.

Likewise, the Dutch Reformed Church at Nieuwe Kerk can still be found a short distance away at 17 Gravenstraat, next to the Royal Palace. Today, the church is no longer used as a church, but is now an exhibition space. Learn more about the Nieuwe Kerk.



Husum

Husum North Sea by Anne VanHoozer Burke

Jan had a father named Frances or Franz, or Fransse, depending on the language one uses. He was born about 1582, probably in Husum, Schleswig-Holstein, now part of Germany.

Husum is a seaport as far north in Germany as one can go. The city is described as the "Grey City" which is accurate as a description of any city on the North Sea in winter. A stiff breeze blows often making the area a center of wind power. The buildings are often pained in gay colors to offset the greyness of the sky.

http://www.deutschland-reise.de/stadt/husum/

I have not been there, but Anne VanHoozer Burke has.Click on her web page above and you will see several images of the city in winter.

It is likely that the landscape of the coast of Schleswig has not changed much in the intervening years since Jan lived in Husum. A description of Holland's north coast by one of Louis XIV's ambassador's in 1699 would probably fit the coastline of Schleswig as well. It is "...taken up on the seaward side with barren sand-dunes, subject ... to frequent flooding, and fit only for the grazing which is the country's sole wealth..."

View a 360 degree panorama of Nordstrand.

map of Johannes Blaeu, 1652

The flooding came from the cruel North Sea.

In 1634 a terrific gale hit Nordstrand, an island just off the coast where Husum is located. The sea swallowed more than half of the island, breaking it up into three smaller islands. More than 6,000 people drowned, over a thousand farms and houses were washed away, as were 28 windmills and 6 clock towers.

Among the dead were Volkje's parents. After the storm Volkje and her sister moved to Husum, where no doubt Volkje met Jan. The flood devastated the entire area. The salt from the sea covered the fields, rendering them useless. No doubt, this was the reason why Jan and Volkje moved to Amsterdam.

"The Van Hoose, Van Hooser, Van Huss Family in the United States", by Joyce Lindstrom

Valentine Worley Van Huss and sons

This article needs revision.

In 1845, Valentine Worley Van Huss married Lucinda Campbell. They lived in Carter County, near Elizabethton, In 1820, Elizabeth died giving birth to Valentine. Mathias then married married Lavina Dugger. They had many children.

Valentine Worley and his several children, James, Isaac, Daniel, and Robert, left Tennessee for Kansas in the 1870's and 80's.

The Registrar of Deeds Office in El Dorado, Kansas contains several deeds to father and sons.

Lowers Addition, El Dorado, Kansas

In February of 1880, Valentine Worley Van Huss bought lot 32 on Merchant Street of Lowers Addition, El Dorado, Kansas for the sum of $50. (Book U on page 452.) In 1881, James M. Van Huss sold the property to R. E. Van Huss. (There should be an intervening transfer, but I haven't found it. See Book Y 373.)

Valentine Worley Van Huss died in 1908 and is buried in Little Walnut Glencoe Cemetery beside his son Isaac.

son Isaac and father Valentine Worley Van Huss, Little Walnut Glencoe Cemetery

Image from an 1880 plat book for Butler County, Kansas.


In 1882, John Finley Van Huss (born about 1859), bought 160 acres of property immediately north of Beaumont, Kansas for $200.

Note. I need to find the other land purchases.

Mathias Van Huss and wives

Mathias Van Huss

Mathias was the fifth child of Valentine Felty Vanhooser Jr. (1768-1856) and Elizabeth Worley (1798-1818).

Mathias was born in Wythe County, Virginia on October 5th, 1795, twins along with brother Justine. Like Daniel Boone and others before them, the family crossed the Smokey Mountains, settling in what was then Washington County, Virginia.  Mathias appears to be the first one to spell the family name "Van Huss". He died in 1856 in Johnson, Carter County, Tennessee.

Mathias married Catherine Worley, and they had a child in 1795 named Valentine Worley Van Huss. Catherine died in 1798, and Mathias remarried to Lovinia Dugger, and they had 11 children.

See number 13., Re: James A. Burchett married Amanda Venable 1864.

Coming to Tennessee - Valentine Vanhooser

It was Mathias' father, Valentine Felty Vanhooser, who first settled in Tennessee. He arrived in 1795, the year of Mathias' birth, with a deed for 100 acres of land at the head of Cobbs Creek, close to Fort Watauga, and the town of Elizabethton.

Valentine's deed, using the name "Valentine Vanhooser" came from the state of North Carolina, reflecting the fact that, before Tennessee was a state, it belonged to North Carolina. Furthermore, the county where Valentine settled and Mathias grew up was then called Washington County, before the name was changed to Carter County.  Valentine purchased the property for 50 shillings an acre. The deed is on record in Carter County Courthouse in Elizabethton.

Many Van Huss family members still live in Carter County.
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Note about money. I have not yet found a value for a shilling, but I have found other references of land sales by the state of North Carolina at 12 and one half cents an acre. But land values varied considerably.

See page 7, Congressional edition, Volume 6504.  Consider, the British Pound was 20 shillings or 240 pence. One shilling was 12 pence.



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Virginia

Valentine Felty Vanhoser lived in Virginia before Tennessee. He had arrived in Virginia from North Carolina, and the family had come there from Pennsylvania, and before that, from upstate New York, and, finally before that, from the city of Husum on the North Sea in the province of Schleswig, now a part of Germany, but then an independent duchy. The original Van Huss, Jan Van Husum and his wife Volckje Juriens came to America in 1639.

One source suggests that Mathias was born in Tennessee, but most records including the later census records indicate that the family arrived after the birth. Mathias' father was born 14 Feb 1768 in Rowan County, North Carolina, the son of Valentine Felty Van Huss and Elizabeth Worley. The same last name Worley that belonged to mother and wife suggests a family connection.

I am trying to zero in on his father Valentine Felty Vanhooser's property in Virginia. (Keep in mind that there are two Valentine Felty Vanhoosers, father and son).

Valentine was connected to William Herbert, possibly during Lord Dunemore's War of 1774 between the Virginia colonists and the Shawnee and Mingo Indians. William Herbert had property along modern day Interstate 77, east and south of Wythe, Virginia, on state Highway 52. The location is at Poplar Camp Creek on the North River. Herbert operated a ferry there. Valentine Felty Vanhooser was his neighbor.

Resolve the above with the following:

Valentine Felty Vanhooser - Resided in Rowan Co NC in 1762-1764. He moved to Fincastle ( now Montgomery) Co Va. in 1774; moved to the North Fork of the Clinch River in 1775 but, after two years of fighting the indians, moved back to a more civilized area of Va that became Carroll Co, Va. in 1842. Prior to that it was Grayson Co; Va. which was created in 1792 from Wythe Co; which was created in 1789 from Montgomery Co.. Valentine Van Hooser was the first to change his name from Van Hoesen. He was known as Velten Van Hoesen. There is Valentine Van Hoosers through out the generations and they all have the nickname Felty.

  http://carolinagenealogy.org/all/pafg2506.htm

Google Maps location.

In  December of 1817, Mathias, age 22, marries Catherine Worley in Wythe County, Virginia. She dies the following year, giving birth to Valentine Worley Van Huss.

Tennessee

Father and son apparently had enough of Virginia, for by 1821 Mathias remarries in Carter County Tennessee to Lavinia Dugger. Valentine would be raised by his step mother and father, along with 11 half brothers and sisters. His father Valentine lives until 1857 and is buried in Johnson, Tennessee.


The following needs to be moved to a different article.


From the 1850 Census of Carter County, Tennessee:

Valentine Worley Van Huss marries Lucinda Campbell in 1845 and by 1850, they have three children.

Vanhuss Valentine 23 M W farming 100 VA REMARKS: Married Nov.18, 1845, 26 30 30 Vanhuss Lucinda H. 29 F W Tenn, 27 30 30 Vanhuss James M. 4 M W Tenn 28 30 30 Vanhuss Isaac S. K. 3 M W Tenn 29 30 30 Vanhuss Daniel S. 2 M W Tenn

See USArchives.

This family would later emigrate to  Kansas leaving Tennessee and the children of Lavina Dugger Van Huss.

Page 219   House/Family #   67/  67  - 9th Civil District Twp

VANHUSS MATHIAS       54 M W FARMER (m 1821)        800 VA                   1795/1796
VANHUSS LEVINA        55 F W                            TN                   1794/1795
VANHUSS THUMAN B      26 M W                            TN                   1823/1824
VANHUSS FINLEY E      20 M W                            TN                   1829/1830
VANHUSS ABIGAIL       19 F W                            TN                   1830/1831
VANHUSS JOSEPH P      17 M W                            TN                   1832/1833
VANHUSS DANIEL        15 M W                            TN                   1834/1835
VANHUSS RHODA         12 F W                            TN                   1837/1838

This is a part of http://www.martygrant.com/genealogy/smith/TN/smith-1850.htm

War of 1812

Lavina applied for pension after Mathias death. War of 1812 Widow's application #16562 and cert #9010 state that Mathias served under Capt. Solomon Hendrix's Company of TN Militia.

See Descendants of Daniel Dugger.

For a summary of Capt. Hendrix's duties see the following:

 COLONEL SAMUEL BAYLESS

• DESIGNATION: 4th Regiment of East Tennessee Militia
• DATES: November 1814 - May 1815
• MEN MOSTLY FROM: Washington, Jefferson, Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, and Sullivan Counties
• CAPTAINS: Joseph Bacon, John Brock, James Churchman, Joseph Goodson, Joseph Hale, Solomon Hendricks, Branch Jones, James Landen, Joseph Rich, Jonathan Waddle

BRIEF HISTORY:
This regiment, along with Colonel William Johnson's Third Regiment and Colonel Edwin Booth's Fifth Regiment, defended the lower section of the Mississippi Territory, particularly the vicinity of Mobile. They protected the region from possible Indian incursions and any British invasion. These regiments were under the command of Major General William Carroll. They manned the various forts that were located throughout the territory: Fort Claiborne, Fort Decatur, and Fort Montgomery, for example. Sickness was rampant in this regiment and the desertion rate was high. The regiment mustered in at Knoxville and was dismissed at Mobile.