Individual Details

Abraham was born 1698/99. He was baptized 15 Jan 1698/9 at the Dutch Reformed Church, Brooklyn, Kings Co, NY. sponsors were Nicholas Brouwer and Jannetje Brouwer.


From Database online no longer available:
"Abraham Van Horne"
Abraham's father bought land in Middleton Township, Monmouth Co. New Jersey and deeded one half of the Middleton land to each of his two sons.
In 1722 Abraham sold his half of the property and purchased 490 acres of land in Readington Township, Hunterdon Co., New Jersey through which ran Rockaway Creek. This land was in 490 acres of “L” shape. Here he developed a grist mill and saw mill on the banks of the creek. About 1750 Abraham Van Horne built the first tavern in the area. It was on the road from Clinton to Somerville where it crossed Rockaway Creek (now route 22). Because the building had white plastered walls it became known as the "White House". The name also was given to the village which sprang up around the tavern. It's location on this early trail immediately led to it's being a favorite stopping place for travelers and later for stage coaches of the Easton-New Brunswick Turnpike. By the time of the Revolution it's popularity had been well established. The homestead built about 1757 by Abraham Van Horne is about one hundred yards farther down Rockaway Creek from the site of the tavern and is still occupied (March 1976).
After conducting Antjie Van Horne's funeral service, Rev. Muhlenberg made this note: "17 Dec 1759. Had to bury the deceased wife of Abraham Van Horne, who himself died only recently. Both died of a contagious kind of pox. The youngest son, his wife, and his negroes are still sick with the pox. I preached at the home in English on Psalm 90:12 and read the customary prayers in English at the grave. I also prayed for the sick in the home."
Abraham Van Horne Jr. operated the tavern after his father's death, probably through 1776. His "petition to keep a tavern" dated May 1776 with it's long list of witnesses required by law to prove a properly run establishment, is preserved in the New Jersey Archives in Trenton. Colonial Tavern Keepers: NLSR Vol 1 Pages 21 and 22

Abraham VanHorne and Daniel Coxe were voted on for the General Assembly in Hunterdon County in 1738. GENEALOGIES OF NJ FAMILIES mentions the following who appeared to by neighbors and friends of Abraham/Abram: John Christian Harshall/Hassell and Andreas/Andrew Rederick/Redrick, both freeholders of Readington, are recorded as haviing voted for VanHorne and Cose.

Harshall bought property from Daniel Coxe in November of 1731 - his first record is as a witness for a baptism at the Reformed Dutch Church in New York. As Christian Hassell he was naturalized in New Jersey 8 Jul 1730. He married a daughter of Rederick.

Abraham's will was probated Dec. 5, 1759.


The Van Horns of White House, p.83-84
Lequear’s articles were originally published 1869-70

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. Note: since they were Dutch and had formerly used patronyms and Abraham's father was Mattias, I suspect Tyson is a corruption of "Tias" for his father.

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.

Descendants of Abraham are eligible for the lineage society "Flagon & Trenchers" because of his ownership of the White House Tavern. There exists the Hunterdon County Tavern Application, Vol. 8:1069, in which Cornelius Tunison petitions the court for a license stating that he has rented the white house for a term of three years at the heavy rental of 25 lbs per year and that it is well known that it has been kept as a publick house for 40 years past. (This proves that it was started as a public house in 1744, since the application for license was dated April 16, 1784.)

Find A Grave Memorial# 11798252
Memorial Park Cemetery, Whitehouse, Hunterdon, New Jersey
Memorial:
Abraham Van Horne
1699-1758
Migrated from New York Province
to the Povince of New Jersey at
the Beginning of the 18th Century
Builder of the White House 1752"
[DAR emblem - should be for the son and grandson - not this Abrahm who died in 1758.]
There is a duplicate listing for Abraham at Rural Hill Cemetery, White House. His son of the same is also listed both places.

Birth	1698	Brooklyn, Kings County, Long Island, New York
Christen	15 Jan 1699	Dutch Reform Church, Brooklyn, Kings County, Long Island, New York
Marriage	Abt 1719	Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey - ANNETJE Couwenhoven
Death	Nov 1759	Whitehouse, Hunterdon County, New Jersey

Spouse	ANNETJE Couwenhoven (1703 - 1759)
Child	Mattias Van Horne ( - )
Child	Margaretta Van Horne ( - 1790)
Child	Cornelius Van Horne (1724 - 1784)
Child	SOPHIA "Phidia" Van Horne (1726 - 1764)
Child	Anetje Van Horne ( - )
Child	Elizabeth Van Horne (1730 - )
Child	Abraham Van Horne ( - 1731)
Child	Catherine Van Horne (1732 - )
Child	Neeltje "Eleanor" Van Horne (1734 - 1819)
Child	Abraham Van Horne (1739 - 1817)

Father	Matthys Cornelissen ( - )
Mother	Sophia Fytie Brouwer (1655 - )
Sibling	Cornelius Van Horne (1695 - 1744)