Stille Nacht

I often remind myself that though we are different in many ways, we are one family sharing a belief in a greater goodness.

Johannes Van Husum and his wife Volkie, spoke either Dutch or German. They came from the Cimbrian Peninsula, now called Jutland, an area inhabited by the ancient tribes of Cimbri and Jutes. Johannes lived in the coastal town of Husum. It is for this reason, that the name Van Huss and Van Hoesen and all the other variations owes its existance. Volkie Van Nordstrand grew up on the adjacent island of Nordstrand.

Tragedies are both devastating and uplifting. They define the human spirit, for no matter how deep and difficult the loss, it is the human spirit to rise above difficulties and persevere. So it was on the night of October 11, 1634, when a devastating flood swept over the island of Nordstrand and much of the coast, killing thousands and rendering many thousands more homeless as winter approached.

The story of  the flood and its aftermath is best told by Cor Snabel.

But what Cor Snabel doesn't tell us is that a young Volkie and her sister survived the storm, even though they lost their parents. Volkie and Jan would meet, move to Amsterdam. They fell in love, married and set sail to the New World two years later.

The German language and its Dutch variation lingered on in America for well over two centuries. And it is known that many of the descendants of Jan and Volkie spoke German in their homes. This was true at least until the lives of  Valentine Van Huss and his son Mathias, who lived in Tennessee. This became known when a modern descendent discovered hidden in a barn two religious books written in German.

It is to Valentine and Mathias, to Jan and Volkie and to all those who have suffered tragedy in life that I dedicated this beautiful rendition of Silent Night in the original German.

May you know the peace of God's mercy.

 

Two times two and fifty exquisite Biblical Stories from the Old and New Testaments, for youth prepared to the best of his ability by Johann Hübnern,

Two times two and fifty exquisite Biblical Stories from the Old and New Testaments, for youth prepared to the best of his ability by Johann Hübner. Image by William (Bill) Meyers.

Johan Hubner, Two times two and fifty Biblical Stories

The Page reads in German:

Zweimal zwei und fünfzig auserlesene Biblische Historien aus dem Alten und Neuen Testamente,
der Jugend zum Besten abgefass von Johann Hübnern,
Rector des Johannei zu Hamburg. Nebst einer B[V]orrede E. Hoch=ehrwürdigen Ministerei der Stadt Hamburg. Aufs neue revidirt, von M. Joh. Gottfr. Fletch., Past. in Stürmthal
_______________________________________
Mit Kaiserlichen, wie auch konigl. Sachsischen allergnadigsten
Privilegiis
________________________________________
Leipzig, Johann Friedrich Gleditsch, 1814


The English translation reads:

Two times two and fifty (104) exquisite Biblical Stories from the Old and New Testaments for youth prepared to the best of his ability by Johann Hübner,
Rector (Master) of St. John's, Hamburg. In addition, Preface by the most-reverend Minister of  the city of Hamburg. Revised, by John M. Gottfr. Fletch., Pastor at Stürmthal (Störmthal)

____________________________________

With Imperial, as well royal permission of Saxony graciously given

Privileges (Copyright)

____________________________________

Leipzig, Johann Friedrich Gleditsch, 1814

Notes.  These Biblical stories were a popular source of instruction of youth within the German Lutheran communities both in Europe and the United States. In the early 1700's, there was a wave of German immigrants to America from the Palatinate Region, southwest Germany. This immigration was a result of the Thirty Years War and the religious intoleration that still existed in Germany.

Jan Franz Van Husum's grandson, Johannes Vanhooser married one of these immigrants, Elizabeth Christina Laux (Lauck). Their son Valentine Felty Vanhooser would marry Maria Barbara Zerbe. Her family had likewise emigrated from the Palatinate and arrived in America in 1710. German was spoken in many of the early communities.

A later edition of Hubner's stories was published in St. Louis in 1869. Allexperts.com. The notes from this source point out that "Johannei" (Johanneum in Latin, in English, we would think of it as St. John's Preparatory School) is the oldest academic secondary (pre-university) school in Hamburg, founded in 1529 by Johannes Burgenhagen. Burgenhagen was a spiritual emissary of Martin Luther. See also, Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums.

Johann Hübner, 1668 - 1731, (the modern day spelling drops the last "n" from the name Hubnern), was a German teacher, poet, historical author, as well as author of school books, and Protestant religious theorist during the Reformation. Johann Hübner, German Wikipedia. He originally published his Two times fifty-two Biblical stories in 1714.

The Biblical stories were actively published from 1714 until either 1870 or 1902. The book that Bill Meyers has was published in Leipzig, Germany in 1814. During its active life, the book underwent 40 publications and 19 revisions, which included translations into six European languages, and also appeared in the USA. Johan Hubner.

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.

.

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* 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..

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.

The War of 1812

Mathias Van Huss

Mathias' widow Lavina Dugger applied for a war pension after her husband's death.  War of 1812 Widow's application #16562 and cert #9010, stating that Mathias served under Cpt. Solomon Hendrix's Company of the Tennessee Militia. Descendants of Daniel Dugger.

The War of 1812 began in 1812 and ended in 1815. Thus, Mathias was 17 years of age at the war's start and 20 by the time it ended. Andrew Jackson was the most famous Tennessean during the war. As a general in the Tennessee state militia he defeated the Creek Indians in 1814 near Tallapoosa, Alabama; and defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Captain Solomon Hendrix's company, in which Mathias served, was part of the 4th Regiment of East Tennessee Militia commanded by Colonel Samuel Bayless.This regiment was formed in November 1814 and was responsible for guarding the area near Mobile, Alabama.

Valentine Felty Van Huss

When the War of 1812 began, Valentine Felty Vanhooser, Jr. was living in eastern Tennessee near Fort Watauga.

He farmed 100 acres of land next to Cobbs Creek near Fort Watauga, in what was formerly Wahington County, North Carolina, and later Carter County, Tennessee. Valentine left the eastern side of the Appalachians and crossed to the Tennessee side in 1795, recording his deed 2 years later in the county courthouse at nearby Elizabethton. Joining Valentine in this new territory was his wife Catherine Worley. This Valentine was the thirteenth child of Valentine Felty Vanhooser Senior and his wife Maria Barbara Zerwe.

The rest of the article that follows is about young Valentine's older brother, and Mathias' uncle, Isaac.

Tennessee's participation in the war for the most part meant battling the Cherokees, Shawnees and other Indians the British had armed.

Another Tennessean, Andrew Jackson would form a militia of volunteers from Tennessee. In March of 1814 Jackson and the Tennessee Volunteers made their way into Alabama. Allied with the Cherokee and friendly Creeks, Jackson engaged in several conflicts with the warring Creeks of the region known as the Red Sticks. Finally, on the banks of the Tallapoosa River at Horseshoe Bend, Jackson and his forces would decisively defeat the hostile Creeks, opening up settlement of Alabama to later settlers. Later, in January of 1815, at New Orleans Jackson would again make history by defeating the British.

The is no record of Valentine's service during the War of 1812, but reference is made to his brother Isaac, who was four years senior. As Valentine was born in 1768, this would make Isaac 48 in 1812. As a note, there is not much to be made of the short period of enlistment by Isaac. Most enlistments in the Tennessee Militias were only for the short duration of three months. General Jackson, bu his oratory and demeanor, would often have to suggest that the troops re-up to finish a campaign.

Isaac served in the War of 1812 as a drummer.
The only complete muster roll found of 1812 was that of Capt. Asabel [Asahel] Rains. This company was a part of the Second Regiment, West Tennessee Militia, commanded by Col. Alexander Lowrey and Lieut. Col. Leroy Hammonds. Captain Rains, company was, with his regiment, mustered into service at Fayetteville, Tennessee on September 20, 1814 and served until December 31, of the same year.

Isaac Vanhooser 

Consulting the records of the Tennessee Militia, one finds the service record for the Second Regiment.

BRIEF HISTORY:
Part of General Nathaniel Taylor's brigade, this regiment was scattered throughout the Creek territory and the vicinity of Mobile to man the various forts in the region: Forts Jackson, Montgomery, Claiborne, and Pierce. 

Some of the companies participated in the taking of Pensacola (7 November 1814) from Spanish authorities that were accused by Jackson of supporting British troops there.

Loury resigned on 20 November 1814 and Lieutenant Colonel Leroy Hammonds took over as commander. The regiment was plagued by disease during its tenure in the Mississippi Territory. For example, a morning report of Captain Asahel Rains on 6 January 1815 shows twenty-seven on the sick list and twenty-seven additional men required to take care of the sick (totaling half the company).

Regimental Histories of the Second Regiment during the War of 1812.

First in Ternnessee

Valentine Felty Vanhooser Jr.

The first Van Huss to come to Tennessee was Valentine Vanhooser Jr. His father Valentine Felty Sr. was originally from New York and Pennsylvania but moved to Rowan County, North Carolina around 1750, and later to Virginia prior to the outbreak of the American Revolution.

Valentine Jr. was born in Rowan County, Virginia in 1768 and arrived in Tennessee in 1795 at the age of 27. He was, at this time, settling on 100 acres of land in Carter County, Tennessee. Keep in mind, that at this time North Carolina and Tennessee were still one political unit. Carter County was at the time called Washington County. At the same time as Valentine was settling on his new farm, a son Mathias was born. By all accounts, he remained behind with his mother Catherine Worley in Wythe County Virginia.

Deed recorded in the Register of Deeds Office, Carter County relates: "On the 4th day of November, 1795, Richard Dobbs Straight, governor and commander in chief of the state of North Carolina" issues a warranty deed for the purchase by Valentine Vanhooser of 100 acres from the state of North Carolina.

The deed continues to describe the property by metes and bounds, that is the property began at Cobbs Creek.The land was in Washington County at the head of Cobbs Creek. The purchase price was the princely sum of 50 shillings an acre. At the time one North Carolina shilling equaled 9 British pence, or a little more than fifty cents, giving us an approximation of 25 dollars an acre.

The property description is:

a tract of land containing one hundred acres lying & being in our county of Washington on a branch of Cobbs Creek, beginning at a Linwood at the head of a spring, running north seventy one degrees, West one hundred & twelve poles to a black oak, thence North thirteen degrees, West sixty two poles to a white oak, thence North thirty five degrees, west fifty seven poles to a black oak on the side of a hill, thence North eighty six poles to a stake, thence South fifty nine degrees, East one hundred seventy five poles to a white oak, Corner to mofes (?). Running thence South one hundred and sixteen poles to a stake by the creek, thence East twenty five poles to a white oak, thence South thirty one poles to the beginning.

The deed was not recorded until August 23rd, 1797, which technically put it in violation of the grant which required recording the deed within 12 months, but no one has apparently ever raised the issue.

We don't know what the homestead of James Vanhooser looked like. Perhaps, it looked something like this. The property can be seen in the Cherokee National Forest, east and north of Elizabethton, near Lake Watauba. Look for Cobbs Creek Road.

Check the following ******************************************************************

To follow the genealogy of Valentine Vanhooser, go to genforum - Valentine VAN HUSS was born 14 FEB 1768 in Rowan Co., North Carolina, and died 1 MAR 1858 in Johnson Co., Tennessee. He was the son of 24. Valentine VAN HOOSER and 25. Maria Barbara ZERWE.

The following doesn't make sense...It  needs review...

The children of Valentine and his wife Catherine Worley are:

i. Michael VAN HUSS was born 6 JAN 1789 in Wythe Co., Virginia, and died 21 FEB 1875 in Lee Co., Virginia. He married Elizabeth ROSENBAUM 11 JUL 1809 in Wythe Co., Virginia, daughter of Anthonius Conradus ROSENBAUM and Elizabeth WORLEY. She was born ABT 1791 in Wythe Co., Virginia, and died 30 MAY 1874 in Lee Co., Virginia.

ii. Valentine VAN HUSS , Jr. was born ABT 1790. He married Elizabeth RAINBOLT. She was born ABT 1791 in Carter Co., Tennessee, and died 19 OCT 1826.

iii. Jacob VAN HUSS was born 21 OCT 1791 in Wythe Co., Virginia.

iv. Elizabeth VAN HUSS was born 17 SEP 1793 in Wythe Co., Virginia, and died 29 OCT 1826. She married John B. RAINBOLT JAN 1812 in Carter Co., Tennessee, son of Adam R. RAINBOLT and Hannah Jane POTTER. He was born 11 NOV 1788 in Washington Co. Tennessee (Now Carter Co.), and died 11 APR 1873 in Orange, Lawrence Co., Indiana.

v. Matthias VAN HUSS was born 27 OCT 1795 in Wythe Co., Virginia, and died 21 SEP 1856 in Carter Co., Tennessee. He married Elizabeth WORLEY 4 DEC 1817 in Wythe Co., Virginia, daughter of Valentine WORLEY and Maria Barbara SPRECHER. She was born 1798 in Wythe Co., Virginia, and died 1818 in Wythe Co., Virginia. He married Lavinia DUGGER 14 APR 1821 in Carter Co., Tennessee, daughter of William DUGGER and Nancy MILLARD. She was born 22 JUN 1795 in Carter Co., Tennessee, and died 28 MAR 1882 in Carter Co., Tennessee.

vi. Christopher VAN HUSS was born 1796.