Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs: Van Vorst

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Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs:
Van Vorst

[This information is from Vol. III, p. 1345 of Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs, edited by Cuyler Reynolds (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1911). It is in the Reference collection of the Schenectady County Public Library at R 929.1 R45. Some of the formatting of the original, especially in lists of descendants, may have been altered slightly for ease of reading.]

Jacobus Gerritse Van Vorst was in Albany in 1681.

(II) Gillis, son of Jacobus Gerritse Van Vorst, removed to Schenectady about 1700. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Jan Baptist Van Eps, and widow of Teunis Viele, July 16, 1699.

(III) Jacobus, son of Gillis and Elizabeth Van Vorst, was baptized December 12, 1703. He married (first) Anna Beck; (second) Sarah Fonda.

(IV) Johannes, son of Jacobus and Anna (Beck) Van Vorst, was born January 19, baptized February 8, 1741. He enlisted in the Second Regiment, Albany county militia (land bounty rights), Major Gillis Fonda commanding. He received a grant of land in the town of Glenville on which he resided as did his descendants for many years. He married, September 11, 1762, Sarah, daughter of Joachim Kittel. Johannes died in Glenville, May 23, 1844, in his one hundred and third year. His wife died February 1, 1834, in her ninetieth year. Children:

Jacobus, born May 23, 1763, died August 9, 1751;
Joachim (Gershom), July 28, 1765;
Annatjie, February 13, 1768, married Joseph Shurtleff;
Caleb, October 24, 1770;
Adam, September 11, 1773;
Jillis (Gillis), January 12, 1777;
Johannes, November 12, 1780, died March 15, 1844.

(V) Joachim (Major Gershom), son of Johannes and Sarah (Kittel) Van Vorst, married, January 12, 1789, Neeltje, daughter of Albert Veeder. He lived near the easterly bounds of the city on the Troy and Schenectady turnpike. He was sheriff of Schenectady county, and died July 13, 1849, in his eighty-fifth year. His wife died May 30, 1826, in her fifty-ninth year. Children:

Johannes, born April 11, 1790;
Esther, January 24, 1792;
John, November 14, 1794;
Albert, see forward.
Jacobus, November 4, 1800, died at Ephratah, September 21, 1869.

(VI) Albert, son of Major Gershom (Joachim) and Neeltje (Veeder) Van Vorst, was born December 16, 1797, died August 26, 1869. He was born, lived and died on the Glenville homestead. He was a farmer and a member of the Dutch Reformed church, as were his ancestors. He married, in Glenville, May (Polly) Swan, born in Glenville of English parentage, died in 1885, aged eighty-three years. She was an Episcopalian, as were her parents. Children:

James, died on the farm in Glenville, aged thirty-four years; married Eliza Rainbow; children:
1. Mary,
2. Albert,
3. Alice, married Christopher Hawley and has two children, Maude and Abraham.
William, died at the Glenville farm; married Julia Weaver, who survives him and is a resident of Scotia.
John, see forward.

(VII) John, son of Albert and May (Polly) (Swan) Van Vorst, was born in Glenville, October 9, 1834, died in 1865. He was a farmer and a carpenter. He was a member of the Reformed church, and a Democrat. He married, in Glenville, Betsey Adams, born in England, December 25, 1835, daughter of Robert Adams, born in Lincolnshire, England, who married a second wife and came to the United States. He settled in Glenville, 1848. Betsey (Adams) Van Vorst survives her husband and is a resident of Scotia. All their children died in childhood except George Adams.

(VIII) George Adams, only son of John and Betsey (Adams) Van Vorst, was born in Glenville, Schenectady county, New York, October 12, 1854. He was educated in the public schools. His father died when he was a young boy, and he went to live with his grandfather, who died in a very short time thereafter. This early threw the lad on his own resources. He first took up carpentering, but in 1869 relinquished that for a position on the railroad. Until 1890 he followed railroading in various parts of the United States, filling every position in the operating force except that of engineer. He has had a wide and most interesting experience. He retired from the road in 1903, and is now associated with his son in the hardware business in Scotia. He is an adherent of the Democratic party. He married, in Scotia, Harriet E. Skinkle, born in the city of Hudson, New York, November 26, 1855. Children:

George Earl, born December 3, 1879; now engaged in the hardware business in Scotia, and active in village affairs; he is a Democrat in politics; he married Nellie Tobey, of Charlton, Saratoga county, New York, and has one daughter, Marion E., born February, 1903.
Bessie, born August 21, 1888; she is a bookkeeper and an assistant to her brother George Earl; she is unmarried.
John, born July 22, 1891.

Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs:Van Vorst

Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs:
Van Vorst