Valentine Worley and Lucinda Campbell Van Huss

What moves us?

Our reasons for moving are many. A sense of adventure, fleeing the law, a divorce, a marriage, the hope of a new beginning, our ancestors reasons for moving are varied.

In tracking the Van Huss family tree, I have discovered that the progenitor, Jan Franz Van Husum and his wife Volkje left North Friesland because of  the terrible flood of 1632, a flood that killed tens of thousands, and destroyed the island of Nordstrand where Volkjie lived with her sister and parents. Jan was a sea-going man who lived in the nearby port of Husum.

Eventually, the two made their way to Amsterdam, and in 1642, sailed on a ship to New Holland, and up the Hudson to the area that would one day encompass the city of Albany. Generations lived in New York, then made their way to Pennsylvania, lured by the promise of land, and from there to North Carolina and Virginia, again lured by the promise of new land.

One Valentine Felty Van Huss crossed the Appalachian Mountains and settled in Carter County, Tennessee, though at the time, it was still part of Virginia. Valentine had a son similarly named, and he had a son named Mattias. And he had a son named Valentine Worley Van Huss, raised by a much loved step mother, Lavinia Dugger.

It was this Van Huss who crossed the wide prairie with his sons and came to Kansas to eventually settle Butler County.

This post is a loose end.

Valentine Worley Van Huss

Valentine Worley Van Huss was the only child of Mathias Van Huss and Elizabeth Worley, who died giving birth. Mathias remarried and had several children with his new wife Lavina Dugger. This family lived in Elizabethton, Tennessee.

In the 1880's Valentine Worley Van Huss, his wife Lucinda and several children Tennessee for Kansas. Valentine and Lucinda and his wife Lucinda first lived near Stilwell in Johnson County, Kansas. Lucinda died there as she is buried in the Aubrey cemetery. (On Highway 69 south of Overland Park, take the 191st street exit, go east a short distance.)

 VanHuss, Lucinda R,
 15 Apr 1818 - 20 Oct 1870
 Wife of V W VanHuss,
  Old Sec, Row 12

 Aubrey Cemetery.

Valentine Worley Van Huss moved on to Butler County along with his sons. He died there in 1909 and is buried in Little Walnut Glencoe Cemetery next to his son Isaac.

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

Van Hoesen vs. Becker

The court meetings of Fort Orange and Beverwyck reveal an ongoing feud with Jan Van Hoesem and his wife Volkje on one side, and their neighbors, Jochem Becker (a baker) and his wife Gertrude on the other. It might have rivaled the later feud of the Hatfields and McCoys, if Jan and Volkje had not wisely purchased land in 1662 at Claverack and moved on.

This feud took up much of the court's time during the years 1652 and 1653. Fists were thrown,  slanders spoken, tempers frayed as the two couples went at each other. Certainly one of the most annoying acts by the Becker's had to be the construction of a pigsty adjacent to the entrance of the Van Hoesem lot. Becker would counter that Van Hoesem and his wife  threw hot embers against clapboard of his house in an attempt to burn it down.

The court attempted to keep the peace, but to little avail as the ongoing court meetings reveal.

I am going through the court meeting now. I find them an interesting insight into early life in Beverwyck and highly recommend them.

Then I stumbled across a map of Rennsalaerwick Manor dated 1762 which surrounded the independent city of  the Beverwyck. And, though it is one hundred years later, one can find a Milburn Van Hoesen living on a lot adjacent to Andries Becker and Albartus Becker.

Could it be?

detail map of 1767 of Beverwyck (Albany)

Above is a portion of the map. The settlements on lots numbered as 131, 132, and 133 belong to Albartus Becker, Areanlie Becker, and Milburn Van Hoesen. As the Hudson River flows from the north to the south, the map should be rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise to get a true perspective. The highlighted property is south of the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers, and on the west side.

Beverwyck, later Albany, was a settlement outside of Fort Orange which thrived on trade with the Indians for beaver pelt. It was established independent of the larger colony of Rennsalaerwyck. In 1652, the Dutch authorities, recognizing the need to administer Beverwyck established a court system and minutes were kept documenting the day to day lives of the citizens of Beverwyck. In 1664, Dutch rule ended when four British frigates sailed into the port of New Amsterdam unopposed.

Court Meetings of Beverwyck and Fort Orange 1652 -1656.