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.
**********************************************

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.



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

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.

CHRONICLES OF THE SCOTCH-IRISH SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA

Valentine Felty Vanhooser, Senior arrived in Rowan County sometime after 1750. By the time of the American Revolution he had moved his family to Virginia. By 1795, his son Valentine Felty Vanhooser purchased 100 acres of land on Cobbs Creek in then Washington County, now Carter County Tennessee.

I am not sure of the exact location of Valentine Felty Vanhooser's land in Virginia.

The best recorded description is the "North Fork of the Clinch River near Flat Lick". (Lyman Chalkley's Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement of Virginia, which in turn comes from the Superior Court records found in Augusta County, Virginia.)

The North Fork of the Clinch River runs through Powell Mountain, a 60 mile mountain which ranges from Norton, Virginia to Tazewell, Tennessee. Travelers made the route through  Powell Mountain at Kanes Gap. This was part of the Wilderness Trail that was blazed by Daniel Boone. Boone's Trail crosses Big Stony Creek, then out to Hunter's Valley through Rye Cove to Sunbright, near Duffield, and across Kane's Gap onto Wallen Creek. At Little Flat Lick all three traces became one before entering Kane's Gap, and thence down Powell Valley to Cumberland Gap. (Highway 23 on the map.)

See The Boone Trail and The History of the Daniel Boone Trail.

This is a summary of the pertinent portions of the CHRONICLES OF THE SCOTCH-IRISH SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA; Vol 2, pp 220 - 229 by Lyman Chalkley that relate to the Vanhoosers.

West half of Virginia by Digital Topol Maps

A little background history is in order.

Dunmore's War

In 1774 Dunmore's War took place between the Colony of Virginia and the Shawnee and Mingo American Indian nations. Although the war ended soon after the Battle of Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774, it did not end troubles with the Cherokee tribes who also claimed the land settlers were moving into.

In 1776, Fincastle County ceased to exist and was divided into three new counties — Montgomery County, Washington County, and Kentucky County (which later became the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  Augusta County, which also appears in many early records is located to the north and along the western border. Note also that these three counties were later reorganized into many other smaller counties. For instance, Tazewell County, which contains the area where Valentine settled, was not orgnized until 1799. By then Valentine Junior had moved into eastern Tennessee while other relatives continued to live in the area or migrated to other states. In searching for Vanhooser in Virginia, it is necessary to also use the spelling "Vanhouser".

During the Revolution, loyalties were divided. For example, Charles Cocke, who lived in the Cripple Creek area during the first half of the revolution. On 13 Sep 1777, he took the oath of loyalty in Montgomery County. According to his Pension Application, he served in the Company of Captain Henry Francis. This Company was composed of men from along Cripple Creek. Valentine Felty Vanhooser, on the contrary, remained loyal to the British side.

Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement of Virginia

The Chronicles concerns a land lawsuit whose records are found in Augusta County, Virginia. I have not discovered the exact nature of the lawsuit, but it is most likely a question of disputed possession that arose in the year 1811, the date of the suit. The case was before the Superior court.

Starting at the top of page 227:

McKenney vs. Preston--O. S. 308; N. S. 110--John Montgomery of
Russel County, aged 47 years, deposes, 11th March, 1811, in 1778 Andrew
Cowan and Thos. Osborn went down to improve a piece of land on a creek
they called Black Water at the Flat Lick, and on their return they came by
Kooser's (Hoovers) cabin. Black Water is a north Branch of Clynch.

Note. This is most likely a reference to Valentine Vanhooser. There are then several references by witnesses deposed who acknowledge the Vanhoosers living in the area. Other reference are to Indian troubles which drove many settlers from their claims.

March, 1814, John Hooser, aged 67, deposes, came with
his father Felty and brother Abraham to this country 37 years ago. John
has a brother Jacob who was never out in this country...

Charles Carter deposes, in Lee County, remembers that Titus and John
Benton were killed by Indians in Rye Cove in spring of 1777. He remembers 
the family Hooser or Van Hooser, as they were called, who settled on
North Fork of Clinch near Flat Lick in 1775. The oldest Van Hooser
(deponent understood from his father) made the upper improvement, and
the old man's son John was the next oldest man and made an improvement
near the old man. Deponent remembers two other members of the family,
Abram and Isaac. Deponent lived with his father in the Rye Cove at the
time those improvements were made. Never heard of Jacob Hooser.

26th February, 1812, Doswell Rogers deposes, in Lee County, he settled on
North Fork Clinch the same year that the Hoosers settled. The settlement
was broken up by Indians for several years. 

29th May, 1811, Peter Fulkerson deposes, in Lee County, the country was 
unsettled and dangerous in 1785 on account of Indians.

Note. The real danger of the Indians raids on settlers is revealed in many historical records. One instance is, "John Carter was a brother to Dale Carter who was killed by Indians at Blackmore's Fort in 1774. John Carter settled on a farm down river from Fort Blackmore about 1772. In 1785, the Indians attacked his home, killed his wife and five children and set fire to his house burning the bodies of his slain family."

From THE FIRST MILITIA ROSTER OF THE CLINCH RIVER AREA OF RUSSELL COUNTY.

Continuing with the Chronicles:

Elisha Wallen, aged 27, of Lee County, deposes, 11th March, 1811, Samuel
Gullrie, aged 36, deposes, 11th March, 1811, Wm. Wallin, aged 50, deposes,
knew the land in 1778, names of Hoosers (Hoovers) were Felty, Jacob,
John.

...about 1774 or 5. Andrew Cowan came to the
western country and settled in now Russell County, when danger from
Indians was great.

Jacob Hoozer deposes, aged 64, at house of Roger Oats in
Wayne County, Ky., about 1775 or 6 his father, his brothers, John and
Abraham Hoozer, went to North Fork of Clinch to improve land and all
made improvements except himself. Deponent was not there until about
15 years after, was administrator of his father then. Abraham was about
18 or 19 years old.

There is no reference to the son Valentine Vanhooser. Presumably he would have accompanied his father. By 1795 the younger Valentine Felty Vanhooser had left for Tennessee.

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.

Valentine Felty Vanhooser on the Clinch River, Virginia

This is just a draft that needs editing.

Valentine Velty Vanhooser and his wife Maria Barbara Zerwe arrived in western North Carolina somewhere between 1747 and 1754, settling in the Yadkin Valley close to the Virginia border. The area of their land holdings, in what is now Surry County, was originally called Anson county. Later, about 1753, Rowan County was formed from the western section of Anson County with a county seat at Salisbury. Still later, about 1771, Surry County was formed. For this reason, all of these counties will occasionally be referenced in records about the Vanhoosers.

Valentine and his wife lived for 20 years in North Carolina, producing thirteen children by some records, the last of whom, Valentine Felty Vanhooser, Jr., was born 1768 in Rowan County. This Valentine is Bob's ancestor. He would later migrate to Tennessee in 1795.

Valentine's oldest son John will be the subject of the deposition found in the Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Augusta Co., Va by Chalkey, Vol.2, pp. 227-8. In a deposition in 1814, John who was then 67 years old, testified that he and his family came to Virginia in 1777, as he recalled. Another deponent, Charles Carter remembered the family Vanhooser arriving in 1775 and settling along the North Fork of Clinch River near Flat Lick. By the time of this deposition, the elder Valentine had died, and his younger son Valentine Jr. had left Virginia for Tennessee, settling near Fort Watauga.

Valentine senior and his family prospered in North Carolina, as evidenced by the several land transactions in which he bought and sold land at a considerable profit. But, sometime around 1771, Valentine moved from North Carolina across the border to Virginia, first near Fincastle for several years, then to the North Fork of the Clinch River in what is now Tazewell County.

The North Fork of the Clinch River cuts across Powell Mountain on the extreme western edge of Virginia and crosses into Tennessee. Powell Mountain is crossed by U.S. Route 58, the "Daniel Boone Trail Highway", the Wilderness Road crossing the mountain nearby, at Kanes Gap. This is the route that Daniel Boone and a large party would take in September 1779, leaving the Yadkin Valley and crossing first to the area near Fort Watauga, in what is now eastern Tennessee, then to Kentucky.

Vanentine Vanhooser's reasons for leaving North Carolina after so many years are unknown. But many were fleeing the violence of North Carolina. These include the struggle between the so-called "Regulators" and the
taxing authorities. Indian troubles continued on occasion as Cherokees raided western settlements in North Carolina from time to time. The coming American Revolution also stirred up rival passions between those seeking independence and Tories who remained loyal to the British. One who left on this trek later recalled that the road out of North Carolina was so clogged with Tories leaving that a traveler "could hardly get along the road for them."

See Boone, a Biography by Robert Morgan, page 288.

In 1771, Lord Dunmore became governor of Virginia. He and others, including George Washington, were interested in land speculation west of the Alleghenies. His policy was to encourage settlement in the Shawnee Indians’ ancestral hunting grounds south of the Ohio River in what is today Kentucky and West Virginia. This led to what is known as "Dunmore’s War". In the summer of 1774, Lord Dunmore along with a militia from Augusta, Fincastle, and Botetourt Counties defeated the Shawnees at the Battle of Point Pleasant.  British and colonial success was overtaken by events at Lexington and Concord. The outbreak of the American Revolution divided loyalties between Tories and those seeking independence. Lord Dunmore would command the loyalists in Virginia during the war.

Later, the Virginia legislature, in 1779, passed a law that settlers who had taken up land in the western reaches of Virginia prior to January 1, 1778, might obtain 400 acres at a nominal price and preemption rights to another thousand acres at the usual price of forty pounds per hundred acres.

It is not known whether Valentine Vanhooser participated in Dunemore's campaigns. He had however moved to Virginia at about the time of the outbreak of hostilities. His move to the mountains of western Virginia would have traded troubles with the Cherokees for Dunmore's campaign against the Pawnees. And, Valentine Vanhooser's known Tory sympathies make his move to Virginia away from North Carolina more logical.The question of family loyalties during the Revolution was not always clear. Even a loyal patriot like Daniel Boone had members of his wife's family who had Tory sympathies during the war.

References and source:


Valentine Felty Vanhooser

About 1771 Valentine sold his land in Surry Co., NC and moved to Virginia, settling just across the border in what was then Fincastle (now Carroll) Co., Va. He lived there for about four years before moving north and west to the North Fork of the Clinch River in what is now Tazewell Co., Va. According to Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Augusta Co., Va by Chalkey, Vol.11, pp. 227-8, Valentine and his oldest son, John took up land in that area, but only lived there two years before they were driven out by Indian uprisings. They returned to their former piece of land which was located along New River and Little Reed Island which was then in Montgomery Co., which became Wythe Co. in 1789/90 and Grayson Co. in 1792 and finally Carroll Co. in 1842.

Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Augusta Co., Va by Chalkey, Vol.2, pp. 227-8

March 1814 John Hooser, aged 67, deposes, came with
his father Felty and brother Abraham to this country 37 years ago. John
has a brother Jacob who was never out in this country. 

March, 1811, Elisha Wallen, aged 27, deposes. Caveat, 12th August, 1799, by John
Mackenny and Elisha Adams against John Donnell, assignee of Andrew
Cowan and John Campbell, Jr., for 400 acres in Lee County on North
Fork Clinch. Donnell and Campbell were granted a certificate by the 
Commissioners 8th August, 1781. Caveators claim under an entry made by
James Dugless, 1780, and sold by him to John Balfour, who has sold to
caveators. Thos. Beelor was an early settler on the land. 29th May, 1811, 

Charles Carter deposes, in Lee County, remembers that Titus and John
Benton were killed by Indians in Rye Cove in spring of 1777. He remembers 
the family Hooser or Van Hooser, as they were called, who settled on
North Fork of Clinch near Flat Lick in 1775. The oldest Van Hooser
(deponent understood from his father) made the upper improvement, and
the old man's son John was the next oldest man and made an improvement
near the old man. Deponent remembers two other members of the family,
Abram and Isaac. Deponent lived with his father in the Rye Cove at the
time those improvements were made. Never heard of Jacob Hooser. 
Deponent's statement is founded on hearsay. 

14th May, 1814, James Dugless
deposes, at dwelling house of John Smith in Madison County, Ohio, shortly
after 1780 deponent moved from Washington County, Va., to Kentucky.
26th February, 1812, Doswell Rogers deposes, in Lee County, he settled on
North Fork Clinch the same year that the Hoosers settled. The settlement
was broken up by Indians for several years. The Wallens, Bentons, Wm.
Roberts and others named these streams as they went through hunting
lands. The Bentons were killed 35 or 36 years ago in April next. 

29th May, 1811, Peter Fulkerson deposes, in Lee County, the country was 
unsettled and dangerous in 1785 on account of Indians. Deed, 30th May,

page 227








1803, by William McCutchen of Carter County, Tenn., John McKinny
of Lee County, land in Lee County. Corner Nathaniel Taylors, 16,000
acres survey. Corner George Goff, 200 acres bought from Nathaniel 
Taylor. Recorded in Lee County, August, 1803. Deed, 31st May, 1803, by
Nathaniel Taylor of Carter County, Tenn., to John McKinney of Lee... 

See The Daniel Boone Trail for a discussion of the route that Daniel Boone took passing by Valentine Felty Vanhooser's holdings on the Clinch River.

The Gwinns, for a discussion of Augusta County, Virginia and Dunemore's War.

Buying Land in Kansas

On May 22nd, 1868, J. W. Van Hoesen purchased, for the sum of $1,000, from Adam and Rosamanda Hageman the following land: "southwest quarter of Section 28, township 24, Range 6". The deed is recorded with the Register of Deed in the El Dorado County Courthouse.

This record has me puzzled. Originally I assumed a direct connection to Valentine Worley Van Huss because of both the name and the location of the land. Now I believe that J. W. Van Hoesen was from a branch of the family that had settled in Ohio for a while. I will now have to go back to El Dorado to sort out the land transfers.

Additionally, there are the purchases of land by all five sons of Valentine Worley Van Huss over an extended period.