| From pages 83-84 THE VAN HORNS OF WHITE HOUSE The Van Horn Family, now very numerous in our State, were originally from Holland, as the name indicates. Abraham Van Horn came from Monmouth to White House, in this county, about 1749. Tradition says that he was from Holland, and that the name was Tyson, being changed to Van Horn for some political reason. The family is numerous in Bucks County, Pa., and they give evidence of their Dutch origin. It was nothing new in those days for people to load up a wagon, and with their oxen journey several miles through the wilderness. In this way the pioneers of our State journeyed, the family and household goods occupying the wagons, and the men going in advance to cut their way. We can imagine a stout, good-looking man, rather red-faced, with a pointed hat, long shad-bellied coat with big pockets, breeches and long stockings, with an axe in one hand and an ox-goad in the other, a brace of pistols and a hunting knife in his belt; a rifle slung over his back, two span of oxen�one harnessed to the �dissel boom��probably a sapling cut from the woods, and the others on the lead�by means of yoke and �trek tow��a cable of thongs of raw-hide twisted together; a flaxen haired woman, rather stout, with rosy cheeks and blue eyes, and perhaps two or three little children with same colored cheeks, hair and eyes, seated in a wagon covered with homespun tow-cloth, made by the good vrouw�s own hand. If we draw upon our fancies for a picture something like this, we can form some idea how old Abraham Van Horn and his family first made their appearance in Hunterdon and halted by the side of the Rockaway, where one of the descendants of that honored branch still lives. If we suppose no houses built, they must have camped in the wagon the first night. It is probable that a temporary hut was constructed till the �new house,� the admiration of the settlement, was erected. The spinning wheel and the cat, the two indispensable articles that went to make up the wealth of the new household, accompanied them. Abraham took up 400 acres of land, prudently selecting that which had the stream running through it, upon which he afterwards built a mill. But before his was built he was compelled to go to Middlebrook to mill. The road to Flemington was then an Indian path. It was afterwards laid out as a public road, and was, for many years, the only road to the settlement. After the mill, a tavern and store were built. WHITE HOUSE NAMED FOR TAVERN Casper Burger, a mason by trade, who sold himself to pay his passage to this country, worked out his freedom in building the tavern. It was plastered on the outside, and when dry the mortar became white�and so it was called the �white house,� a name retained by the village to this day. The glaring eyes of wolves, at night round the doorway, elicited not so much surprise as did the light from the bull�s eye of the locomotive when it thundered up the track for the first time. The �White House� stood close by the bridge on the turnpike. Abraham Van Horn�s land extended south of the railroad and on both sides of the creek, along what is now the Eaton & New Brunswick turnpike. He had three sons, Cornelius, Abraham and Matthew, and several daughters. One of these married Baltis Pickel, one Tunis Melick, and one married a Schenck, and afterwards Tobias Ten Eycke. The Wycoffs settled north of the turnpike. Cornelius Wycoff had several sons who became prominent men. These were Cornelius, George, Simon and Dennis Wycoff, Esq.. Abraham Van Horn, a son of the first Abraham, married a Wycoff. He lived where Simon Wycoff Van Horn now lives. ABRAHAM VAN HORN AIDED WASHINGTON�S ARMY The kitchen at the east end of the Van Horn house at Whitehouse was standing long before the Revolution. When Washington�s army lay at Morristown, Abraham was appointed forage master. He bought grain, &c., and hauled to the army. As the Wycoffs had good teams (a liking for which seems to have fallen to their descendants) they were employed to haul grain to Morristown. This continued till the proximity of the British made it dangerous, when they were about to retire to their homes. All got safely away but Simon, before the quartermaster had any suspicion of their leaving. Simon was told that he must remain. He privately made up his mind, however, that the British should not have his fine team, so he put whip to his horses, and out-ran the cavalry who started in pursuit, escaping with the loss of his tailboard. When the Hessian prisoners were marched from Trenton into Pennsylvania a portion of them were brought this way and lodged in Abraham Van Horn�s barn. They were taken to the kitchen, where a large washtub full of provisions was brought out, and the contents distributed among them. The barn was used as a depot for forage during the war. It was afterwards used for a meeting house, Mr. Demarest preaching there. Lequear�s articles were originally published 1869-70. |