Arthur Van Wye (Jr.) 1772-1827 biographical notes and questions

There is much conflicting information about Arthur Van Wye, as is not surprising for someone who lived so long ago. Below I discuss the information we have and what I see as unanswered questions. Information sources I refer to can be found through links on Arthur’s and his brothers’ Ancestry profiles on the Kelts-Van Wye-Cecil-Austin Family Tree (Gail Van Wye’s comments can be found on the Ancestry message boards). I welcome all feedback (contact me at jvkelts@earthlink.net) – Julie Kelts, December 30, 2014

Birthplace: According to the Biographical History of Northeastern Ohio⁽¹⁾, Arthur “was a native of New Jersey, of Holland Dutch descent.” According to his grandson Enoch Wright Van Wye, who wrote a “history of the Van Wye people” in 1902 shortly before he died⁽²⁾, Arthur “was born near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 25, 1772,” one of five children born to Arthur Van Wye [Sr.] and his third wife. New Jersey and Pennsylvania share a border, so the disagreement may not be more than a matter of a few miles. On the 1850 census⁽³⁾, Arthur’s brothers Charles and Isaac (or whoever provided the information about them to the census taker) reported being born in Pennsylvania. But Charles was baptized in a New Jersey church in 1771⁽⁴⁾.

Birthdate: As to when Arthur was born, Enoch says 1772 but on the 1800 census⁽⁵⁾, Arthur’s household, of which he was the head (and only named person), reported one free white male between the age of 16 and 25, and if that is correct, he would have been born in 1775 or later. Again, perhaps a small difference. (Because the age calculated from the grave stone–see below–agrees exactly to Enoch’s information, I’m guessing that in this case, Enoch was right.)

Military service and moves westward: From Enoch Van Wye [as edited including correction for wrong dates of Whiskey Rebellion and move to Ohio and reorganized to provide logical chronology]: “[M]y grandfather…came from the eastern counties of Pennsylvania as a soldier in the Whiskey Rebellion^[6] which occurred in [1794].  [He was] mustered out of the service of the United States…in Washington County Pennsylvania and having some relatives in that county [he] stayed there with his relatives.  [He] was…married to Mary James…of this marriage were born fourteen children, ten sons and four daughters all of whom lived to the age of maturity and married, except one (Benjamin).” Arthur’s first children were born in Pennsylvania.

Arthur’s brother Charles also served in the militia that put down the Whiskey Rebellion and both brothers stayed in western Pennsylvania after their service, where they soon married. Gail Van Wye says both men were married in [1795] in Washington County, Pennsylvania⁽⁷⁾.

According to the Biographical History of Northeastern Ohio (1893), Arthur “was … a soldier in the War of 1812. Arthur came to Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1806…” Another source, the Arthur V. Crouch biography⁽⁸⁾, says Arthur Van Wye “was a pioneer in Weathersfield…about 1802.” Gail Van Wye says Charles and his children moved to Ohio along with Arthur.

In Enoch’s version, “He married and never returned to his old home but sometime about the year [Enoch states 1780 but it was probably much later] he moved with his family out to the wilderness and then frontier county of Trumbull, Ohio[.] [B]ut after living there eight or 9 years he moved back to Washington County where he lived as a farmer until his death which occured…in [Enoch’s history states 1872 but someone has corrected it to say 1827].”

Death: Arthur “died in middle life” according to the Biographical History, after which his widow moved to Indiana. There is a grave stone much replicated on Ancestry family trees⁽⁹⁾ that shows Arthur’s date of death as 1827, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; it does not state his birth date but that can be calculated from his age at death, which is noted on the grave stone. That is consistent with Enoch’s story including the exact birth date. (It seems possible to me that Enoch may have known about the grave stone and that it formed the basis for his statements about Arthur’s birth date and his date and place of death and I am not 100% convinced that this is the right grave stone, although I’m also using it on my Ancestry profile. The birth date conflicts with the census information as I have noted above. Also, I wonder why Arthur would have left his family in his later years to go back to Pennsylvania, especially Allegheny County where he had not lived before.)

Source notes:

(1) Biographical History of Northeastern Ohio Embracing the Counties of Ashtabula, Trumbull and Mahoning, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1893, available on-line (see link provided by Ken VanWye); includes two Van Wyes–Homer William Van Wye (1859-1919; a great grandson of the man being discussed here) on page 290 and Abram Van Wye (born 1845; another of Arthur’s great grandsons) on page 465-6

(2) History of the Van Wye people, Enoch Wright Van Wye, 1902 (as transcribed by Earnest Van Wye, then by Ken VanWye in order to put on-line) available at vanwye.net. Enoch (1830-1903) notes in paragraph no. 6 that he personally knew Charles Van Wye, his great uncle as well as the older brother of the subject of this discussion, and “from [Charles] I learned many of the facts stated herein.” (It might be worth noting that Charles died when Enoch was about 25 years old, and Enoch apparently wrote the history as an old man.)

(3) United States census, 1850, Weathersfield, Trumbull County, Ohio, Aug. 23, 1850 (accessed through Ancestry): Charles Vanwye, 78, M, Farmer, $5700 real estate owned, born Pa.; Jane Vanwye, 75, F, born NY; John Vanwye, 14, M, born O; and

United States census, 1850, Lordstown Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, Sept. 1850 (accessed through Ancestry): Isaac Van Wy, 65, M, farmer, born Pa.; Martha Vanwy, 65, F, born Pa.; note on same page Mary Van Wy, possibly 85 (first digit of age unreadable), in the Tait household

(4) There are two baptism records for Charles, and they don’t entirely agree. One record states that Charles was baptized in 1769 (U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records from Selected States, 1660-1926, accessed through Ancestry, hand-copied from an earlier record; see screen print on Charles’s Ancestry profile). The second, from the compiled Minisink Valley church records, gives a date of 1771 (Minisink Valley Reformed Dutch Church Records, 1716-1830, The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, printed for the Society, New York, 1913; available on-line at archive.org (quote is from pages x-xi)). Both records state that the baptism occurred in the Walpeck Dutch Reformed Church. Both records are transcriptions of the original document. It seems that at least one of them must be wrong, a misinterpretation. It is not a case of two babies named Charles, the first one dying, because in both records, the next entry is the baptism of Charles’s cousin Mary. Because Charles is reported as 78 years old on the 1850 census (see above), I believe the correct baptism date is 1771.   (1850 minus 78 is 1772, but 1771 is at least closer.)

(5) United States census, 1800, Pike Run, Washington County, Pennsylvania:

Arthur Vanwy [household]

one white male 16-25 [Arthur]

one white female 16-25 [Mary]

3 white males under 10 [Abram, John, James]

(6) in which President George Washington summoned an army of 13,000 from the militias of several states and sent them into southwestern Pennsylvania where whiskey distillers were refusing to pay their excise taxes and had tarred and feathered several U.S. revenue agents; the overwhelming force brought a quick end to the rebellion

(7) “Family of Charles Van Wye [b.1771] and Jane Cameron in Trumbull County – Part 1” posted by GailVanWye, 22 Aug 2003, Edited: 6 Jun 2005

(8) Found on an Ancestry family tree, the Robert Boyd Van Wye (Jr.) Family, owner petloverZ; source stated is History of Trumbull and Mahoning Counties. George Crouch married Mary Van Wye, one of Arthur’s daughters, and their children included Arthur V. Crouch.

(9) from Find A Grave, Peters Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; inscription reads:

“Memory of

ARTHUR VANWY

Who departed this life

April 10 AD 1827

aged 54 years, 3 Months

& 16 days.

——

The voyage of life is at an end.

The mortal affliction is past

The age that in heaven I spend

For ever & ever shall last.”