The story of the descendants of Juriaen Westfall from New York to New Jersey and (West) Virginia
The story of the descendants of Juriaen Westfall from New York to New Jersey and (West) Virginia |
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The Story of Juriaen van Bestvael/Westfall And Our West Virginia WestfallsThe Dutch Colony in America |
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The Dutch Colony in AmericaDutch customs at this early time were that children bear the given name of the father with the suffix "sen" attached. An example is Juriaen's children were Juriaensen, or child of Juriaen. Marretje Hansen was the daughter of Hans (or Johannes) Hansen, the son of Hans. When a woman married she retained her "maiden" name, thus Marretje Hansen was never called Marretje Westvall. Female first names were given the suffixes tje, tie, or ti. A man did not reach his majority until the age of 26 when he could enter into contracts and marry. Women usually did not marry until the were at least twenty-one. These traditions lasted with our Westfall ancestors until they settled in Virginia when it became necessary to deal with the English legal system. The spelling of names was often fluid (Maritje, Marretje; Bestval, Westval, Westfael; Hansen, Jansen; etc.)On September 12, 1609 the Dutch explorer Henry Hudson, for whom the Hudson River was named, was the first European to discover Manhattan and the upper reaches of the river. The area was not colonized for another twelve years until the Dutch West India Company was formed in 1621. Three years later, and four years after the Pilgrims arrived in New England, the first permanent settlement was made by Dutch and Walloon families at Fort Orange on the Hudson River. The colony was named New Netherland and encompassed the lower eastern part of New York State. The colony was controlled by the Dutch trading company and managed in Amsterdam by a board of directors. The chief concern of the Dutch West India Company was conquest and trade with the Indians, not colonization and agriculture. The welfare of the people living in the colony was of secondary importance. At first the province was a series of trading posts on the Hudson at Fort Orange (Albany), Esopus (Kingston) and Manhattan. These posts engaged mainly in fur trade with the Native Americans. |
 The Netherlands
showing the approximate location of Leiderdorp. |
Among the stockholders of the Dutch West India Company was Kilian van Rensselaer, a wealthy jeweler in Amsterdam. He became one of the directors early in the history of the company. Van Rensselaer was convinced that the reliance on hunting and trading alone would cause loss and damage to the company. He advocated restricting the fur trade and setting up agricultural communities to help colonize the province. New Amsterdam would then become a valuable supply station for ships going to the West Indies.Van Rensselaer and other supporters of this plan drew up an agreement defining the kind of farming colonies they wished to create in New Netherland. Those participating in the venture had to be stockholders and were called patroons. In 1630 and 1631 Van Rensselaer bought land from the local Native Americans on the east bank of the Hudson River, from near Albany south about 22 miles. The farming colony he established was named Rensselaerswyck. Today the name and the boundaries of the colony still survive as the county of Rensselaer in up-state New York.RensselaerswyckIn Rensselaerswyck Kiliaen van Rensselaer cultivated some of the land for himself through servant farmers. Other parts he leased to both servant farmers and freemen. Van Rensselaer sent farm implements, livestock, building supplies, workers, farmers and merchants to New Netherland at his own expense. By 1646, when Kiliaen died, there was a population of about one hundred people from all over Europe at Rensselaerswyck. In the Netherland, because of its strong economy and tolerance of foreigners, it became the melting pot of Europe. More than a dozen different languages were spoken in Rensselaer's colony. Van Rensselaer never visited New Netherlands and conducted the affairs of the colony through letters from Amsterdam. These were always long, rambling and were confusing and often contradictory. This distant management resulted in many disputes with his officials and servant farmers, one of whom was Juriaen Westfall.An amazing amount of information is known about Juriaen because his name is found in numerous documents related to New Netherland. He arrived in Rensselaerswyck in 1642 aboard the ship De Houttuyn commanded by Adriaen Dircksen Houttuyn. Kiliaen van Rensselaer sent the Rev. Johannes Megapolensis to be the pastor of the Dutch church in Rensselaerswyck. The Reverend carried a letter from Rensselaer to the skipper about the payment for the passengers on the De Houttuyn. Kiliaen van Rensselaer to Domine Johannes Megapolensis His reverence will please look after my people and goods who in the name of God now go over in the ship "den Houttuyn". The persons who sail are the following: Domine Johannes Megapolensis, It is to be remembered that the said Hendrick Albertsen for his three, The ship De Houttuyn departed Holland on June 6, sailed up the Hudson from Manhattan and arrived in Rensselaerswyck on August 11, 1642. Of the twenty-three persons aboard, all except the minister and three "freemen" and their families, were servants or employees of van Rensselaer, including "Juriaen Westvael van Luijderdorp." Members of the Dutch colony were from many parts of Europe, including England, Scandinavia, Germanic Europe, France and Spain. Once in America, all were expected, even forced to join the Dutch Reformed Church and speak Dutch in business and legal transaction. By the second generation the descendants of the original settlers were thoroughly Dutch in language, religion and customs. Although, as with all "melting pots," we can assume that many retained at least some customs of their former homelands. |
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Although Juriaen was listed as from Leiderdorp that does not necessarily mean he as a native of Holland. Westfall researchers Virginia Carpenter Jansen and Stephen Westfall have found evidence that Juriaen was born in Stettin. A parish register was found for Jeurgen Westfall, son of Joachim Westfall and Elizabeth Utecht baptized on March 12, 1621 in the St. Jacobi Church in Stettin, Pomerania, (today part of western Poland on the border with Germany). Evert Pels and Jochem Kettelheym were from Stettin and Grimmen near Stettin. Both men were aboard the De Houttuyn with Juriaen. Their names are found in several documents of the colony, often along with his. If the baptism in Stettin was that of our ancestor, he was twenty-one years of age when he arrived in America. Unfortunately, to my knowledge no one has found any documentation to factually link the Jeurgen of Stettin to our Juriaen from Liederdorp, beyond the similarity of age and name. It is interesting, though, that the town of Utecht (his mother's last name) is not far from Leiderdorp. Shortly after Juriaen Bestval's arrival in the New World he and his companions were faced with a war with the Indians. The governor of New Netherland was resident Director General Wilhem Kieft, appointed by the Dutch West India Company. In 1641 Kieft started a four year war between the colonists and the Native Americans. The conflict decimated the province and many farms were destroyed along with badly needed crops. In 1645 peace was made with the Native American tribes on Long Island and along the Hudson River. On August 13, 1642, two days after his arrival in Rensselaerswyck, Juriaen began drawing wages from the colony. Although he is listed as a "servant" farmer he may not have been an indentured servant in the usual sense of the word. In July 1644 Juriaen Westfall is mentioned as a servant of Michael Jansz. In January 1646, Juriaen Bestval and Jochem Kettelheym took over the remaining term of the lease from Evert Pels of a farm on Papscanee Island in the Hudson. This would indicate that Juriaen was born between 1618-1619. Of course, rules, laws and traditions are often ignored or bent. The term of the lease was for seven years until May 1, 1653. Kiliaen van Rensselaer died in Amsterdam in 1646 and the title of patroon passed to his son, Johannes Baptist Rensselaer. Some years later Juriaen became a farmer in the service of Governor Peter Stuyvesant. Peter Stuyvesant was appointed as governor of New Netherland in 1647 and given charge of all Dutch possessions in America. Director General Kieft was relieved of his post because of his disastrous war with the natives. Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam on May 11, 1647. He quickly began a series of reforms. Some were beneficial to the colony, strengthening the Dutch foothold in America. However, he was heavy handed and dictatorial. His iron fist and difficult personality soon made him many enemies He forbid the sale of liquor to the natives. An important source of income for many settlers, his orders were usually disregarded. He punished those who would not conform to the Dutch Reformed church. He did not allow the people of the colony to have a share in the government. Instead, he named a council of nine men to advise him. He soon became a very unpopular ruler. Stuyvesant also insisted that the independent colony of Rensselaerswyck be placed under his jurisdiction. This led to conflicts with the West India Company and Jon Baptist van Rensselaer, son and heir of Kiliaen van Rensselaer. The court in Rensselaerswyck was a counsel of men appointed by the patroon. In December 1648, Evert Pels was summoned before the counsel of justice, "for having wounded Thomas Jansz, also because he or his servant took another man's cow without his consent; on account of having beaten Claes Tyssen; on account of his delivered grain which he received from Broer Cornelis for his labor and which was delivered to Evert Pels which he Pels admitted, on aforesaid date; on account of wages earned by Claes Tyssen and breaking of the pease [sic]; because of the abusive language used by his wife in addressing the director [Brandt van Schlictenhorst] for all which he must make answer on Thursday next being the 17th of this month." At his appearance before the counsel, Pels was ordered to pay the money he owed Claes Tyssen, plus expenses. A few days later Pels was summoned again before Director Schlictenhorst concerning wages Pels owed Claes Tyssen. Pels had given Tyssen two skins, which the Director stated was unacceptable. On December 21, Anthony DeHooges served notice to appear on Pels by tacking it on Pels' door. That same day Jochim Kettelheym and Juriaen Bestval, "servant of Evert Pels" were summoned to give testimony on the case against Pels. Although Evert Pels held a position with some authority in Rensselaerswyck, he was obviously a bit of a trouble maker. After he and others moved to Esopus (Kingston) some years later, he was responsible for touching off another conflict with his Native American neighbors by leading an attack on them due to a misunderstanding. In June, Thomas Jansz filed another complaint against Evert Pels for payment of a surgeon's fee for treating the wounds Pels had caused in the incident of the previous year. Evert Pels' defense was that he should not be required to pay because Thomas Jansz was just as guilty as he was. |
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In the spring of 1649, Evert Pels sub-leased his farm to Juriaen Bestvaal. In December that year, Juriaen and Jochim Kettelheym were summoned by the Director for default on their lease payment. A year later, in December 1650, Director Schlictenhorst attached money in the hands of "Jeuriaen Bestval," which Juriaen owed Kettelheym. The money was for a claim against Kettelheym by the Director, probably for the lease payment for that year. Sometime during the year 1650, Maritje (Mary) Hansen was bound out to a tavern keeper in Rensselaerswyck by her father Hans Hansen. Marretje Hansen was to wed Juriaen Westfael about 1654, when Juriaen was at least twenty-six years of age and Marretje likely at least twenty-one. In January 1651 the Director again attached money in the hands of Juriaen in the case against Kettelheym. This was probably the same default from the previous December.16 For several years Juriaen, Kettelheym and Evert Pels are cited several times by the Director as in default of their lease payments. All land in Rensselaerswyck was owned by the patroon. Freemen and servant alike were required to lease their farms from the patroon. Many simply refused to pay and without an adequate way to enforce their will, there was not much that the authorities could do about it. This seems evident from a letter from Governor Stuyvesant to the Rensselaerswyck patroon in September 1651. "From Director Peter Stuyvesant to Rensselaer: [Some lines destroyed] ... greetings, [I] cannot obtain money for restitution so that we are compelled to ask you for right and justice in the matter. In case of further refusal, be pleased first to ask him in a friendly way in my name and that of Juriaen Westval what he [Rensselaer?] may have advanced or paid for it and it will be restored to him by me or Juriaen Westval. For the present nothing else but our hearty greetings. Commending you to God's care and protection, I remain, Honorable, Prudent, and Very Discreet Sir, Your affectionate friend, P. Stuyvesant." Through the rest of 1651, several citations were issued by the director of Rensselaerswyck against Juriaen Bestval, Evert Pels, Jochim Kettelheym and others and their properties were attached for unpaid leases. In February 1651 the son of Killiaen van Rensselaer, Jon Baptist van Rensselaer, as patroon of Rensselaerswyck, ordered an inventory of animals in the colony. On the list are Thomas Chambers, Juriaen Bestval and Evert Pels. Chambers was a wealthy English carpenter who seems to have been a neighbor of Juriaen's in both Rensselaerswyck and later at Esopus (Kingston) until Juriaen's death about 1667. The inventory of the farm of Juriaen Bestval consisted of the following: "Animals found on the farm of Jeuriaen Bestval, the 14th day of February 1651" HORSES and ages - CATTLE and ages - Dissatisfied with obligations to the patroon and the inability to actually own the land he farmed, Thomas Chambers purchased land below Rensselaerswyck from two members the Esopus tribe in June 1652. Thomas Chambers was "a person well-fitted to initiate a movement to unencumbered land ownership in the Esopus." |
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Rensselaerswyck extended down the Hudson on the east side where today's Rensselaer County is. Kingston was the location of the original Esopus settlement. Esopus was renamed Wyltwick (Wildwood) and finally to Kingston after the English took control of the colony. Today, its original name and the Native American tribe it was named for is preserved in the name of the village of Esopus just south of Kingston. The village of Hurley was founded by the Dutch settlers not long after Kingston. It retains its original name. The Esopus SettlementIn September 1654 Juriaen was granted a patent for 32 ½ morgens (65 acres) of land at Esopus. The text of a land grant at Esopus dated March 27, 1657 to the widow of Johan de Hulter describes her land as adjacent to land of Juriaen Westfall. For the next several years the settlement at Esopus was plagued with raids by angry Native Americans. The Esopus settlers were ordered to leave their farms in 1656 for protection at larger settlements. On May 1, 1658 a group of Esopus tribal members gathered at Roundout Creek to celebrate a victory in a ball game. The celebration included a ten gallon keg of brandy, sold to them by their Dutch neighbors. By dusk, they were roaring drunk. One of them fired a musket and accidentally killed Harmen Jacobsen who was standing on a yacht moored on the river. During the night they set fire to the house of Jacob Adrijensen who fled with his family to the safety of the same yacht. Violence and drunkenness because of a victorious college ball game, where have I heard that before? The next day, Chambers set a letter to Governor Stuyvesant requesting troops be sent for protection. Subsequently, a nasty full scale war broke out between the Esopus tribe and their Dutch neighbors. The natives had many grievances with the white settlers. Members of their tribe had been kidnapped and sold as slaves. Indian workers on Dutch farms were often beaten because they were considered lazy. Some whites refused to make payments promised for land they were granted by members of the tribe. As these grievances accumulated, violence erupted. As a result, Governor Stuyvesant ordered the settlers to build fortifications and the sixty or seventy men, women and children move their homes closer together within a single palisaded area. |
 Map of modern New York showing the locations of the original Dutch settlements. The Dutch colony name carries on in Rensselaer County, NY |
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Stuyvesant personally staked out a site for a fort at Esopus. The circular fortification erected was six hundred thirty feet in circumference and contained a guardhouse. Stuyvesant left two-dozen soldiers at the settlement for protection. Juriaen and others returned to their farms. After visiting the Esopus settlement, Stuyvesant decided to establish a farm of his own at the location. In September 1658 Sergeant Andrew Lowrensen sent a report of conditions in Esopus to Governor Stuyvesant. He wrote, "As to Jurryen Westfalen, he thinks he will come down by the first opportunity and see whether he can agree with your Excellency about the rent of the farm here. But, the oxen would be of no service to him at present. He will speak about it more in detail with your Excellency." The next spring in May 1659, the sergeant sent another report to Stuyvesant, "George Westphal does his best to plow the land and fence it. I have lent him 69 pounds of bacon, as he needed provisions. The oats are in the ground, all which your Honor has sent, the spring wheat came too late and the land is fenced nearly all the way round, the plowing continues since your Honor has sent the oxen. The oxen, in which your Honor is privately interested, draw well. He has sold his cows by order of your Honor. I have delivered the iron and ropes, which your Honor has sent. No more at present, except to commend your Honor to the protection of the Almighty God." Problems with their Esopus tribal neighbors arose again in September 1659. At the end of the corn husking, Thomas Chambers rewarded his Native American hired hands with a bottle of brandy. During the celebration, one of the Indians fired a harmless powder charge. Ensign Dirck Smitt, the officer in charge of the soldiers at Esopus, sent a patrol to investigate. When they returned they reported that it was only "heathen frolic" at Chamber's farm. Smitt had orders not to inflame hostilities with the natives and decided not to interfere. Unfortunately, some of the Esopus settlers, led by Evert Pels and another man, had different ideas. The group of disgruntled settlers started towards Chamber's plantation yelling, "We'll slap their mouths." Armed with axes, muskets, and cutlasses they attacked the celebrating Indians, killing and wounding several. Ensign Smitt was thoroughly disgusted with the behavior of the people he was trying to protect. Governor Stuyvesant had authorized Smitt to withdraw his soldiers if the Esopus settlers caused more trouble with the natives. Thomas Chambers and others pleaded with him to stay. Unsure of what to do, he sent a man down the river to New Amsterdam to inform Governor Stuyvesant of crisis and ask for his orders. Veteran soldier Harman Rosecrans and a group of several others escorted the messenger to his canoe. Coming back to the stockade at the settlement, they escorts ran into an Indian ambush. Four men escaped, but Rosecrans and twelve others, and Sergeant Andrew Lowrensen, who Ensign Smitt had sent to lead the group, surrendered without firing a shot and were captured. Several of the captives were forced to run the gauntlet and then tortured to slow death by fire. Seven of the prisoners were held for ransom. The lucky son of Evert Pels caught the eye of one of the Indian women and was adopted into her tribe. Rosecrans somehow managed to escape. On April 9, 1660 Ensign Smitt wrote from Esopus to Stuyvesant's secretary Van Ruyven with details of the skirmish with the Indians and the disposition of certain farm products. He wrote, "I beg to inform your Honor, that I have received from Mathias Roeloff's wife here 20 schepels of wheat for your Honor and from Skipper Vlodder or out of his yacht 145 schepels of spring wheat, of which Jurryen Westphalen, your Honor's farmer, has received 50 schepels." The following month Ensign Smitt reported, "I have to inform your Honor in regard to the spring-corn, which we sowed, that Thomas Chambers has 100 schepels of barley and peas in the ground and Jurryaen Westphalen your Honor's farmer, has in the ground 100 schepels of spring-wheat and barley, as well as peas and oats." On August 17, 1659, Juriaen Westfall and twelve others at Esopus sent a petition to Governor Stuyvesant and the Council of New Netherlands asking for a Dutch church to be established in Esopus. They requested that the Reverend Harmanus Bloem, recently arrived from Holland, be appointed the pastor. Juriaen and eight others signed the petition with their mark. Juriaen's mark is a unique three-pronged fork or trident that is easily distinguished in all the documents he signed. In response to the petition the church was established and Reverend Bloem was appointed the first regular pastor. Among those who pledged to support the new minister was Juriaen Westfall and Thomas Chambers. Chambers was an important figure in Esopus. Although they were of a different social class, Chambers' name is often found with that of Juriaen Westfall and his family. Before many years passed the settlement at Esopus was renamed Wiltwyck. In 1662, a survey was made of the village and the names of property owners entered into the public record. Thomas Chambers and Juriaen Westfall are listed as proprietors of lots in Wiltwyck. Thomas Chambers came to New Netherland as a carpenter. Early on he leased land for a farm from Kiliaen van Rensselaer where the city of Troy now stands near Albany. Chambers later became an influential and prosperous citizen of Kingston and eventually New York Governor Lovelace rewarded him with a "manor" for his services to the colony. His estate was named the Manor of Fox Hall. In 1663 a series of fierce attacks by Native Americans rocked the settlement. Continued attacks and Stuyvesant's severe inflexibility greatly weakened the colony. When war broke out between the Dutch and the British, the people of New Amsterdam were ready to welcome British rule. A stone fort and twenty cannons defended the city of New Amsterdam, but when British warships appeared in the harbor in 1664, the Dutch people refused to resist the invaders. Stuyvesant was forced to surrender without firing a shot, and New Amsterdam became New York. There was a brief period during the war between England and the Netherlands when the colony was again under Dutch control, but control soon returned to the English. The British recognized Rensselaerswyck as a Dutch colony with authority invested in the patroon. It remained so until 1849, the longest continued patroonship in America. In December 1666 the new English authorities of the colony listed Juriaen Westfall as a grantee of land in Ulster County, New York (where Kingston is located). It was at this time the English renamed Wiltwyck as Kingston. The Dutch maintained their customs and religion for many years to come. In 1667, during the "Mutiny at Esopus" the Kingston settlers, mostly Dutch, rebelled against atrocities committed by English soldiers. Juriaen was among the citizens of Kingston who petitioned British Governor Nicolls for protection and restitution. On October 25, 1667 Marretie Hansen, widow of Juriaen Westfall, was sued by Henry Pawlings and George Hall for debts owed by her husband. Some have claimed the Juriaen was killed in an ambush while leading English soldiers to an Indian village. There is no evidence to support that claim. By 1670 Marretie remarried to Jacob Jansen Stoutenborch, a longtime resident of the colony and neighbor of the Westfalls. We know of six children of Juriaen Westfall and Mary Hansen. The oldest child was daughter Rymerick who married Thomas Quick in 1672 and her closest younger brother was Nicholas born probably around 1657. Son Johannes was probably the third child born about 1660. Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of Kingston records the baptisms of son Able, baptized on September 25, 1661, followed by Simon who was baptized on September 30, 1663. The youngest was daughter Elajen who was Baptized on June 27, 1665. Dutch children in the colony were baptized shortly after they were born, usually within a few days. There are no surviving church records for the baptisms of Rymerick, Nicholas, or Johannes. That they were children of Juriaen and Mary is evident in the records of the colony. |
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From New York and New Jersey to Virginia |
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In the decades after Juriaen’s death his children and grandchildren pushed south and west from Kingston and the Hudson River along what was known as the Old Mine Road to the Delaware River. In August, 1686, Governor Thomas Dongan of New York issued an order allowing Capt. Clause Westfall with a party of 25 men to hunt, trade with the Indians, and explore the woods and valley to the southwest. In 1696, Johannes Westfall "of Fox Hall", his widowed sister Rymerick Quick, and his brothers Nicholas and Simon purchased land in the Machackemech and Minisink from the Minisink tribe. Their names are documented in the New York deed from the Indians. The area near present day Port Jervis, in Deerpark Township, New York was known as Machackemech, the Indian name meaning "pumpkin field." Three years later In 1699 Johannes and his family moved from Kingston to Machackemech. He apparently died in present day Deerpark Township, Orange County, New York in about 1725. Soon after Johannes Westfall and his family removed from Kingston to Machackemech, many Dutch families settled in the where the borders of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania come together. A few miles south in what today is Sussex County, New Jersey, was an area called the Minisink after the Minsee Indians who headquartered on Minisink Island. The Minisink, meaning land of the Minsee, were a band of Minsee (or Munsee) Indians who were relatives of the Lenni Lanape and Esopus tribes. The English labeled all of these groups the Delaware Indians but each had distinct cultures. The first settler on Minisink Island was Johannes' son Juriaen. Evidence indicates that he was there soon after the birth of his first son Johannes in 1711. In 1725 Cornelius Low made a survey for the Dutch settlers in the Minisink area. His survey shows that Juriaen Westfall, Mathew Kuykendall (Juriaen's brother-in-law, husband of Jannet Westfall), Jacob Kuykendall (husband of Juriaen's sister Sarah), and Jan Kortreght owned plots of between 55 and 25 acres on the Big Minisink Island. These men also owned town lots of five acre as each in the village of Minisink located on the New Jersey shore across from the island. At the time the village had a store, a blacksmith shop and a hotel which survived there for several years. Juriaen and his family were on friendly terms with their Minsi neighbors. His sons grew up playing, hunting and fishing with their Indian peers. Unfortunately, this peaceful coexistence would last only one generation.The Westfalls and the other Dutch settlers in Machackemech and Minisink spoke Dutch and church services were in Dutch. The English, who came to the area, if they did not speak Dutch, spoke to the Dutch settlers in the Indian tongue of the tribes along the Delaware River. In time three Dutch Reformed churches were organized in this area, one at Machackemech in the vicinity of Port Jervis, one in the Minisink settlement, and the other further down at Walpek. These churches recorded the baptisms of many Westfall children. Among the early settlers in the Minisink soon after Juriaen were Abel, Cornelius and Jacob Westfall, grandsons of Juriaen and Mary. By 1750 the Westfall clan accounted for a sizable share of the Dutch population in the area. This family must have been a closely-knit one. That fact was demonstrated when several of the Westfalls removed to Virginia. Second and third cousins settled close to each other even when they came to Virginia from New York and New Jersey many years apart. |
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Border FeudNot long after the Westfalls settled in Minisink they were involved in the “border war” between New York and New Jersey. Details of those events are found in petitions, legal actions and lawsuits filed in New York and New Jersey by the Westfalls and their antagonists. Without a doubt the originators of these documents deliberately portrayed themselves as blameless victims and their enemies as cruel villains. As always is the case, the truth lay somewhere in-between. We should be thankful for these records, however, because they preserve for us a picture of the Westfalls during their time in the Minisink. The original survey of the line dividing New York and New Jersey was both inaccurate and incomplete. Some settlers in this area occupied lands granted to them by New York and others by New Jersey resulting in overlapping claims. Neighbors living close together believed they were residents of New York or New Jersey depending on what was most beneficial to them. New Jersey drew its border ten miles north of where it is today, which put Machackemech in New Jersey. A majority of the Westfalls claimed their land was in New Jersey and their neighbors, the Swartwouts and Westbrooks, claimed to be in New York. Violence erupted when these families harvested grain from land the others believed was theirs. The feud further escalated when the authorities from one province or the other sent constables to arrest citizens who felt the constables lacked the authority to do so. In 1720 this dispute between the Westfalls and the Swartwouts was brought to the attention of the governments of New York and New Jersey. For awhile it appeared that the dispute was settled through compromise but it erupted again in 1743, apparently because, after more than twenty years, the boundary dispute between New York and New Jersey was still unsettled. |
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In 1743 Solomon Davis, a New Jersey Justice of the Peace was arrested on a warrant out of Orange County, New York. He was accused of acting illegally as a Justice within the jurisdiction of New York. To gain his freedom he paid a fine of forty pounds and was forced to give his bond (paid bail). This incident was triggered by a warrant issued by Davis for the arrest of a man who claimed to be a resident of New York. Not long after the first incident, New Jersey Justice of the Peace Abraham Vanaken, husband of Margaret Westfall, issued a warrant for the arrest of Johannes Westbrook and another man for breaking into a house at night. The Constable of Morris County and his deputies executed the warrant and arrested the vandals. The two were jailed in New Jersey but were soon released when a deal was made between the New Jersey Attorney General and an official from New York. The agreement was for people of the Minisink area to sign statements declaring that they lived in either New Jersey or New York. These people would then be subject only to the authorities in province of their choice. However, not long after, the Deputy Sheriff of Orange County apprehended Justice Vanaken because Westbrook was suing him for false arrest. Vanaken was taken to a jail in New York where he was kept for nearly a month. The Constable and his assistants, including Juriaen Westfall, were also arrested because of Westbrook’s suit and forced to pay a settlement. In a related instance another New Jersey constable had his horse shot out from under him by a New York posse. He was stripped of his belongings and hauled off to a New York Jail where he was confined for a considerable amount of time. After these incidents, the Governor of New Jersey ordered an investigation of the boundary disputes. This apparently came to nothing. Ten years later the same problem arose again. In August of 1754 Samuel Finch, one of the Constables of the precinct of Minisink in Orange County, New York was working in his shop. Cornelius Westfall, Solomon Cartwright, Peter Westfall, Jacobus Westfall and Juriaen Westfall came to arrest him under a warrant issued by a New Jersey Justice of the Peace. When Finch refused to go, the men dragged him from his shop a quarter mile through bushes and swamps, seriously injuring him. Another man who was a Justice of the Peace in Orange County somehow rescued Finch before he was jailed in Sussex County, New Jersey. Samuel Finch subsequently filed a suit in New York against the Westfalls and Cartwright. The following year, after the death of Cornelius, the Westfalls and others attempted to reclaim the land of Philip Swartwout, son of Jacob Swartwout also deceased. Jacob Swartwout was one of the original men involved in the dispute more than thirty years before. Petrus Smoke, the Sheriff of Sussex County, New Jersey and eleven other men including Juriaen, Simon and Jacob Westfall came to Philip Swartwout and evicted him and his family from their home. Swartwout claimed that the men turned out his cattle, household furniture and everything else belonging to him. The family was allowed to live in a small kitchen on the property. To avoid the jail in Sussex County, Philip was forced to sign a lease for a portion of his property. Payment was to be a share of crops harvested in the lower section of the plantation. This situation continued for the next four years. In 1759 Swartwout and others petitioned the President of the King’s Council of New York for relief. The President ordered the Sheriff of Orange County, New York to raise a posse to arrest the Westfalls and their allies and bring them to the New York City jail until the case could be heard in a New York court. On November 11, 1759 the Sheriff put Philip Swartwout back in possession of his house and land. He found no opposition and no one there except for an unidentified woman and five children whom he evicted. The feud did not end there. In February 1761 Nathaniel Westfall and three other men again arrested the beleaguered Philip and took him to the jail in Sussex County, New Jersey. He was forced to post a bond of sixteen hundred pounds to ensure that he appeared in the next session of the Sussex County court. The reason for this action was a lawsuit filed by Jacob Westfall, Simon Westfall and Deborah Davis. I suspect these three were heirs of the deceased Cornelius. This act by the Westfalls caused Cadwallader Colden, President of the King’s Council in New York to write to Governor Boone of New Jersey demanding that action be taken against the New Jersey men. This is the last of the events described in the Archives of the State of New Jersey that I have found so we do not know how the dispute ended. The border between New York and New Jersey was finally settled in 1772. Westfall land in Machackemech ended up in Orange County, New York but those in Minisink remained in Sussex County, New Jersey. |
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The French and Indian WarOnce friendly to each other, the Dutch families living in the Minisink came to live in fear of their Minsee Indian neighbors. When the Dutch first settled the Minisink area they built their log cabins on the edge of the Indian villages. Their sons hunted, fished and wrestled with their Indian peers. That began to change after 1737. In that year Thomas Penn and his brother John, the heirs of William Penn, resorted to trickery to deprive the Minsee Indians of their favorite hunting ground in the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania. The Penn's knew that the Indians did not want to part with the lands north of the Lehigh, but their land agents sold the land to the Dutchmen (including the Westfalls) of the Minisink area anyway. Soon there were enough white settlers living on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware for them to attempt to extinguish the Indian title to the land. The Penn's’ “Walking Purchase” of land from the Indians was to extend back into the woods as far as a man could travel on foot in a day and a half. From the point where the walk ended, a line was to be drawn to the Delaware, thus establishing the northern boundary. But, instead of running east to the Delaware and striking it at the nearest point in the vicinity of present day Easton, Pennsylvania as the Indians expected, the surveyors ran the line north and met the Delaware at the mouth of the Lackawaxan. In the north, the Delaware River forms the borders of Pennsylvania and New York. When it reaches the corner of Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey it turns sharply south to form the border of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Running the line north to the New York border was a devious trick and the settlers in the Minisink eventually paid for it in years of terror and bloodshed. The Minsee tried to protest this action and reclaim their lands. They attended a council of the Iroquois Six Nations in Philadelphia. But the Iroquois council publicly insulted the Minsee and their allies. Primed with gifts received from the Penn's, the Six Nations ordered the Minsee to evacuate the lands. This drove them and their friends west to the Ohio River where the French received them with open arms. The French promised to restore their lands providing they would join them in an attack on the English. The first attacks on the Minisink settlement probably came in the spring of 1756. The April 1, 1756 edition of The Pennsylvania Journal made this report, “About two weeks ago, the barn of one Westfall at Minisink, was burnt by the Indians, with 24 cows, 9 horses and about 400 bushels of wheat.” In August 1756 Abraham Vanaken, husband of Margaret Westfall and the Justice of the Peace involved in the border disputes, was driving a team and wagon loaded with grain. An Indian concealed in the cellar of an old house on Abraham’s property shot him through the left arm and the musket ball blew off one of his fingers. His daughter, who was helping her father, was on top of the load. Abraham called to her to jump off and run for her life. The girl leaped down and fell. The Indian was on her and raised his tomahawk to kill her. Abraham, wounded as he was, ran toward the Indian with his pitchfork and saved his daughter’s life. At about the same time Abraham’s son ran towards them with a gun and the Indian fled. When the Indian reached the end of the field two others joined him and they disappeared into the woods. The next day in New York, a few miles from Vanaken’s place, Gerardus Swartwout, Samuel Finch and Peter Westfall were found murdered and striped naked. A company of men from the Minisink settlement crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania to search for the raiders. When they reached the Indian village they discovered that the Indians had abandoned it. The Dutchmen set fire to the houses, some of which were reported to be very good ones. Small parties of Indians made frequent incursions into the area through the spring of 1757 destroying a vast amount of property and taking many lives. At this time the settlement is said to have contained thirty families. In 1758 the Governor of New Jersey, Francis Bernard, described in a letter attacks by Indians in his province in June. A band of Indians were sighted crossing the Delaware River into New Jersey from Pennsylvania. Several New Jersey soldiers and settlers went to look for them. When they could not find the Indians they split into two groups. One group of five men walked into an ambush set by seventeen Indians. Both sides immediately began firing their muskets. Two settlers died instantly and one was wounded. Hearing the gunfire, the other party of men rushed to help. After the fight was over one Indian was dead and at least three others wounded. |
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A week later a party of twenty Indians attacked the house of Abraham Cortrecht and killed two people. The next day a band of thirty Indians attacked the house of Juriaen Westfall. Inside were fifteen men, most of them New York soldiers. Seven people were killed and four children were taken. The survivors took refuge in the cellar of the house and finally drove off the raiders. During the attack, one Indian charged toward a boy with a gun. The boy held his fire until the last minute, then shot the Indian and ran away. Later, when the boy told his story a group of men with dogs went to look for the Indian. They found him buried under a pile of stones. The dead man was recognized as being a famous Delaware Indian leader named John Armstrong. In one of these raids the Indians kidnapped three-year-old Peter, son of Juriaen Westfall. The Indians reared Peter as one of their own and he married an Indian girl. After the Revolutionary War Peter was found among the Indians. He was enticed to return to his birthplace to claim his share of his father's estate. when he came back to his childhood home his mother recognized him and pleaded with him to stay. But, he refused and returned to his Indian wife and his tribe. It is said that he became a well known leader in his tribe. |
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VirginiaOne of the first of the Westfall clan to remove from the Minisink to Virginia were Abel, his wife Ann Bogard, and nephew Jacob with his wife Judith Hornbeck. Our ancestor Abel Westfall was in Virginia by 1747. He appears in various records under the aliases of Abram and Abraham. In the baptismal records in Dutch churches of Kingston, Machackemech, and Minisink for his children, his name is listed as Abel except for his daughter Elizabeth when it is given as Abraham. Abel was granted 400 acres in the Northern Neck of Virginia on the Great South Branch of the Potomac on October 6, 1748 by Lord Fairfax. The estate was located about eleven miles south of present day Moorefield in Hardy County, West Virginia. Jacob Westfall received a similar grant a few days later, also for four hundred acres. The following is an extract of the deed from Lord Fairfax of Virginia to Abel Westfall, dated October 6, 1748. "The Right Honorable Thomas Lord Fairfax ... proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia ... in consideration of [compensation] to me paid and for the annual rent hereafter reserved I have given, granted ... unto Abel Westfall - of the County of Augusta - [a tract of land] upon the South Fork of the Wapacome or Great South Branch of Potomac River and bounded by a survey made by McJames Genn as follows ... [description of survey] containing four hundred acres together with all rights ... to him the said Abel Westfall - his heirs and assigns forever ... paying to me, my heirs or assigns ... Proprietors of the said Northern Neck yearly and every year on the Feast Day of St. Michael the Archangel the Fee Rent of one shilling Sterling Money for every fifty acres of land hereby granted ... Provided that if the said Abel Westfall ... [does not pay the annual rent for two whole years, it will be lawful for me or my heirs, etc.] to re-enter and hold the [land] as if this grant had never passed. Given in my office in the County of Fairfax within my said Proprietary under my hand and seal, dated this the sixth day of October ... A.D. One thousand seven hundred and forty eight." George Washington, at the age of sixteen, kept a journal for surveyor James Genn as the team of men laid out the boundaries of Fairfax's grants. One of Washington's journal entries concerned a night his tent blew down. He was perhaps in a less than congenial mood when he entered in his diary the next day that the locals behaved worse than a pack of wild Indians. They could not speak English, and the men, women and children crowded around him laughing, giggling and getting in his line of sight, causing him delays in completing his work. These comments by Washington are very interesting because they show that when the Westfalls and their relatives first came to Virginia, they were still very much Dutch. These settlers from Machackemeck and Minisink continued to speak Dutch among themselves for many years. Abel purchased more land adjoining his original property in 1755. He was added to the Augusta County tax lists on August 28, 1750. The will of John Bogard, the brother of Abel’s wife Ann, was recorded in Augusta County on September 4, 1746; the executor was Abel Westfall and Abel's daughter Lea served as a witness. Jacob Westfall purchased property in 1761 which he subsequently conveyed to Peter Reeve of Philadelphia on December 5, 1764. This property of 190 acres was on Diamond Lick of Looney's Creek in Hampshire County. These landmarks have since been renamed, but the land was near the South Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River. The 1764 deed of release is from "Jacob Westfall & his wife Judith" to Peter Reeve. This document seems to positively identify this Jacob as the Westfall who married Judith Hornbeck who was the son of Juriaen Westfall, grandson of Johannes Westfall and great grandson of our immigrant ancestor. On August 26, 1766 in Augusta County court, Jacob and Hannah Conrad requested that John Westfall give an account of the estate of John Bogard. Abel had died while administering Bogard’s estate and his son John had taken over as the administrator. When this situation arose it was common for the heirs of the decease's estate to request a legal accounting of the estate. An inventory was recorded February 14, 1758 and the sale bill was recorded November 15, 1759. Evidence of Able's death is court testimony in the case of Jacob Westfall vs. John Singleton saying Abel died in 1755 making a deathbed oral will leaving a portion of his estate to his son John who had helped him secure the settlement. However, a high court ruling in 1793 declared that since Abel died without a will his eldest son Cornelius was the legal heir. There seems to be some confusion among Westfall researchers about the meaning of the ruling on an appeal, part of the law suit brought by Jacob Westfall against John Singleton. Jacob was an attempting to recover land his uncle John Westfall had sold to Singleton's father. Jacob's brothers Isaac and Zachariah deeded their share of the inheritance to Jacob. Subsequently, a younger Jacob who was probably a cousin, purchased land from Jacob. The two are identified as Jacob Sen'r and Jacob Jun'r. At that time Senior and Junior attached to names only meant that one was older than the other and not that they were father and son. The ruling of the court is as follows: Jacob Westfall vs. John Singleton, Appeal from the High Court of Chancery (Part of 12CC270-271, page 227). "Sometime in the year of 1749, Lord Fairfax by a public advertisement invited settlers to that part of the northern neck where the land in question was, promising to make rights to such as would settle there. A man of the name of Vanderpool, having previously made a settlement upon the tract in dispute, he about this time sold the same to Abel Westfall who took possession and continued to hold it until the year of 1755 when he died intestate, leaving two sons, Cornelius, his eldest, and John. Lord Fairfax having granted a very large tract of country (including within it the land in question) to Bryant Martin, received a re-conveyance of it and laid off the whole as a Manor. "In the year of 1770 upon the application of the settlers, he, by a writing under his hand, agreed to convey to them their respective settlements for their lives, renewable forever, reserving an annual rent, which agreement was proved and recorded. Cornelius Westfall who at the time of his father's death and long after lived in the state of New Jersey, removed to this Commonwealth and took possession of the land in question about the year of 1773, and continued to hold it until his death in 1782, having by his will devised it to his two sons, Isaac and Zachariah, who afterwards conveyed the same to Jacob Westfall, the Plaintiff. Cornelius paid rent for this land for some years, though Lord Fairfax had refused to convey it to him.
"The defendant [John Singleton] who claimed under
a purchase from John Westfall, the younger son of Abel Westfall,
by the defendant's father, and a deed in consequence thereof
from Lord Fairfax in the year of 1773 and the defendant states
in his answer that it was customary in that part of the country,
for persons having made settlement rights to transfer the
same by deathbed donation which were always considered valid.
That Abel Westfall made such a disposition of this land in
question to his son, John, who had shared with him his toil
and danger of making this settlement; that the defendant and
his father held possession until 1774 when Cornelius Westfall
took possession. There is some evidence proving a custom similar
to that mentioned in the answer. The defendant having recovered
the land in ejectment, this bill was filed, praying for an
injunction and conveyance. This Chancellor dismissed the bill
being of the opinion that the equity therein stated was neither
admitted by the answer nor established by the evidence. If
Lord Fairfax had not originally invited settlement on his
lands on the South Branch by a promise of making them titles,
he was nevertheless bound by his advertisement of the 5th
of August 1749 to grant title to all persons settled thereon.
That Abel Westfall being at that time settled on the land
in disputation, was a purchaser from Vanderpool, the original
settler, was entitled to a grant thereof from Lord Fairfax
in the usual terms of granting his lands; and Abel Westfall
dying as untitled in the year of 1755 without making a will
or other disposition of it, his equitable interest therein
descended to Cornelius Westfall, his eldest son and heir at
law (in possession of the land)." This document makes it clear that Abel’s son Cornelius Westfall, our ancestor, did not move to Virginia for another nineteen years after the death of his father. In 1761 he leased the 400-acre Northern Neck plantation to his brother John. Cornelius' youngest child was baptized in one of the Dutch churches in the Minisink area in February 1769. In 1774 Cornelius took possession of his father's land after John had transferred at least a portion of the Northern Neck land to the Singleton family. After Cornelius died litigation resulted when Cornelius' oldest son Jacob (our ancestor) was the first to sue John Singleton for land sold to the Singleton family by his brother John, which Jacob claimed was left to him and his brothers by their father Cornelius. It appears that Cornelius' son sold the land to another Jacob before the suit ended in 1793 with the ruling from the Virginia High Court of Chancery on an appeal (of an earlier ruling). The court declared that since Abel left no written will, Cornelius was the rightful heir to the estate. This seems to imply that John Westfall had no right to sell Singleton the land. The high court ruling did not directly address the issue of ownership, it mainly ruled on Cornelius' legal status as Abel's heir. Cornelius made his will in Hampshire County, Virginia in February 1781 but it was not probated until March, 1783. It is believed he died about November in 1782. His will names his sons Jacob, Isaac, Zachariah, John and Cornelius. The will seems to indicate that John and Cornelius are no longer living in Hampshire County. Cornelius names his wife "Magdalene" but the probate record gives her name as Eleanor, thus we can assume her name was probably Eleanor Magdalene. Cornelius only mentions one daughter, Mary. We know from baptismal records that Cornelius and Elizabeth had at least two other daughters, Anna and Margaret. They may have died before 1781. The following is the text of Cornelius' will and the subsequent probate document. WILL
OF CORNELIUS WESTFALL, HAMPSHIRE COUNTY, VA., Dated Feb. 8, 1781;
probated, Hampshire Co., Va., March 11, 1783 - |
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The Indian Wars in VirginiaDuring the French and Indian War, settlements in Virginia west of the Alleghenies were frequently attacked and broken up by Indian tribes resisting the relentless push west by white settlers. In 1753 Robert Files and his family, along with David Tygart, built cabins within three miles of one another, near where the town of Beverly, West Virginia now stands. Unfortunately for them their cabins lay along the Seneca War Trail. It was not long before the Indians attacked and killed the entire Files family. Tygart left his name on the valley but took everything else of value back to the South Branch of the Potomac. Today Tygarts Valley is part of Randolph County, West Virginia. Settlements did not resume there until after 1763. Jacob Westfall is usually credited with finding and burying the bones of the Files family twenty years after their tragedy. This Jacob may have been the son of the early settlers Jacob and Judith Hornbeck Westfall as was James and Joel Westfall who also settled in Tygarts Valley. After the treaty of Paris ending the French and Indian war, it was illegal for whites to settle anywhere west of the Alleghenies. Dutch and German settlers, unable to read English (or claiming they could not do so) ignored the treaty. So did the Scotch-Irish, probably because of the example set by their Dutch neighbors, or maybe because of their contempt for the English. These settlers secured Tomahawk Rights to the land they claimed. They blazed trees with an ax for boundary markers and then built cabins and settled on the land. The Indians continued their attacks on these settlers after the French and Indian war. In 1768 the Iroquois ceded all land between the Alleghenies and the Ohio River with the treaty of Fort Stanwix. After that settlers came in droves. By 1775 the population of Virginia west of the Allegheny Mountains reached 30,000. The settlements followed streams and Indian trails. By the end of 1772 white settlers had claimed all of the land in Tygarts Valley. In 1774 Dunmore’s War erupted. This hostility was named for John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, Royal Governor of Virginia. Lord Dunmore led a series of raids on Indian villages in western Virginia. Some writers believe the Indian trouble was instigated by Murray to distract the attention of the settlers of Virginia from the growing Revolutionary spirit in the colony. Some considered the campaign the first battle of the American Revolution, though it is hard to understand why. In reality the war was a result of a coalition of American Indians attempting to check the westward expansion of white settlers. Dunmore’s War ended the same year it started with the battle of Point Pleasant near the junction of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. But, scattered Indian attacks continued in western Virginia for another twenty years. Our ancestor, Jacob Westfall (Cornelius<-Abel<-Johannes<-Juriaen) remained in his home near Morefield, Hardy County, Virginia until 1793 . On January 28 that year he, his brother Cornelius Westfall and his brother-in-law Hezekiah Rosecrons posted a bond for Jacob's appointment as county clerk of Randolph County. Hezekiah Rosecrons was the husband of Margaret, Jacob's sister. "Know all men by those presents that we, Jacob Westfall of the county of Hardy, and Hezekiah Rosenkrons & Cornelius Westfall, of the county of Randolph, and commonwealth of Virginia, are held and firmly bound unto his Excellency Henry Lee, Esq., Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and to his successors, in the just and full sum of one thousand pounds current money, for which payment well and truly to be made and done, we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators Jointly everally and firmly by these presents. In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals this 28th day of January, 1793. The condition of the above obligation is, that whereas the above Bound Jacob Westfall hath this day by the court of the said county of Randolph, been appointed clerk of the Court for the said County. If, therefore, the said Jacob Westfall doth duly and faithfully execute his office, and doth not, at any time, remove or carry, or suffer to be removed or carried out of the said county, the Records and papers of the Court whereof he is clerk, or any part thereof, except in cases allowed by law, then this obligation to be void, otherwise to remain in full force and virtue in law. Signed, sealed, and acknowledged in open Court. JACOB WESTFALL [seal] HEZEKIAH ROSEKRONS [seal] CORN'L WESTFALL [seal] Teste: ROBERT MAXWELL, Sen'r Magistrate." Sometime after Jacob was appointed county clerk he died. Two of his sons were living with their uncle Hezekiah Rosecrons in the Tygart Valley when in February, 1795 when the Randolph County commissioners ordered that the two orphan sons of Jacob Westfall Jonathan and Joseph/Josiah be bound (apprenticed) to Hezekiah until they were 21. The order was immediately rescinded for Josiah because he was at or near 21 years of age. In July 1800 Josiah's uncle Zachariah made a bound to take care of him and prevent him from becoming a burden on the county because he was deemed insane. Two years later Josiah made his will and died shortly after. Having "fits" would have been considered insanity in the early 19th century. If he was insane in the modern sense of the word he could not have Since he was able to make a will with the clause, "being weak in body but of perfect mind and memory" indicates that his insanity was probably epilepsy or something similar. Josiah's will mentions his brother Cornelius, our ancestor, living in Harrison County. At the time Harrison County bordered Randolph County on the west. Lewis county was formed out of the eastern part of Harrison and in 1851 Upshur County was taken from Lewis County. Cornelius lived in the portion of Harrison that eventually became Upshur County. The sons of Jacob and Judith Hornbeck Westfall, Jacob, Joel, and James came to Tygarts Valley in 1772 from their homes along the South Branch of the Potomac in present day Hampshire or Hardy Counties. At the time Virginia was offering 400 acres in the valley, exempt from taxes for fifteen years. If a settler built a cabin and raised a crop of corn he could claim another 1000 acres. Jacob Westfall was a justice of the peace and a member of the court appointed by the Governor in the organization of Randolph County. He was elected sheriff by his associate justices of the peace, and was the first sheriff of the county. In 1790 Jacob was one of the trustees of the town of Beverly. The first court house of Randolph County was designated on May 29, 1787 in the residence of James Westfall in Beverly. Cornelius Westfall (who was probably the son of John and grandson of Abel) was appointed the second sheriff of Randolph in 1789. |
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Jacob Westfall built a fort a quarter mile south of Beverly, Randolph County. The spot is in the modern day town of Beverly. It consisted of a large two-story house enclosed in a stockade. He built the fort in 1774 at the start of Lord Dunmore's War. During that time the settlers in Randolph County lived and farmed near stockades located along the Tygart Valley river. At the first sign of a threat from the Indians a rider alerted all the families in the area. They gathered what provisions and clothing they could and seek refuge in the fort. The next day a party of armed men would go out and gather household valuables and bring those to the fort. The Indians often burned the homes of the settlers and they could lose everything they owned. These events occurred many times for several years after the Revolution. It must have been an experience that the Westfalls were very familiar with. In 1892 E. K. Westfall of Bushnell, Illinois wrote a letter to his cousin Frank Mills. Elnathan K. Westfall was the grandson of Jacob and Mary King Westfall. In the letter he describes what he was told by his father about the early days in Randolph County, Virginia. "An interesting item connected with the early history of the Westfalls in the country is the fact of their living on the extreme edge of civilization, in Tygarts Valley, Randolph Co., Virginia, now West Virginia. A chain of Forts four or five miles apart, for the protection of the citizens was built along the valley. In these Forts the whole population lived during the spring and summer months. The farms were worked by parties who were constantly guarded by armed parties." |
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"Thus they went from one to another until all was done. In winter they removed to their farms, the Indians not venturing to come across the mountains when snow was on the ground as the settlers could track them back and punish them for their trepidations. Grandfather [Jacob Westfall] was Captain of the Fort where the town of Beverly now stands. I think father [Cornelius] was born in that stockade..." Jacob and Mary King Westfall left Randolph County, Virginia for Kentucky in 1792. They settled first in Nelson County, Kentucky and then in Hardin County, Kentucky where some of their children were married. In 1808 Jacob and Mary followed their son Cornelius to Miami County, Ohio and settled near where Dayton is today. In 1827 the couple moved to Clinton Township, Putnam County, Indiana where Jacob filed for a Rev. War pension. After Jacob died in Putnam County in 1835, Mary applied for a widow's pension before she also died in Putnam County, Indiana. Many of the facts of their lives are documented in the pension applications. In 1909, Jacob's grandson Jacob Mills wrote to his brother Frank Mills, "Grandfather Westfall (Jacob) moved to Kentucky sometime in the latter end of the 18th century. Came down the Ohio, out of Monongahela in pirogues, with quite a number of followers. They went up the Kentucky river, then Salt river, where they settled. He was made a Justice of the Peace there and held the office long enough to be High Sheriff by virtue of being the oldest justice. He had held the same office in Virginia for the same reason. Must have lived in Kentucky about 20 years - perhaps more. Mother [Janet Westfall Mills] was born in Kentucky. I think they moved from there to Miami Co., Ohio about 1810. Uncle Cornelius had preceded them there. I think he went as a surveyor." |
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The American RevolutionAbraham Westfall from the Minisink settlement of Machackemeck, now Deer Park Township in Orange County, New York. His father was the Minisink pioneer Peter Westfall killed by Indians in August 1756 at the outbreak of the French and Indian War. After Peter’s death Abraham's mother took him to live at the home of her parents in Tysebag, across the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. The next year in August 1757 she married John Lyde who was also from the Minisink settlement. Twenty years later Abraham joined the New York militia and rose to the rank of Captain. As the war was ending, Abraham returned to Deer Park to marry young Blandina van Etten, daughter of Anthony van Etten and Anna Decker. Abraham and his wife moved to Washington County, Pennsylvania in May 1797. He was the ancestor of Frank Allen Hales of Lakewood, Ohio. Mr. Hales was one of the first Westfall researchers I ran across and he seemed to have thoroughly researched the Westfall family history. He compiled his findings in the manuscript Westfall Family Lineage that he completed about 1945. Several Westfalls from Virginia joined the American cause. Two sons of John Westfall of Hardy County distinguished themselves in service in the 8th Virginia Regiment commanded first by Colonel Peter Muhlenberg and later under Colonel Abraham Bowman from 1776 until 1778. Abel and Cornelius helped to recruit a company of men in Hampshire County in 1776 including Jacob Westfall, son of Cornelius. The regiment marched to Charleston, South Carolina and was at the Battle of Sullivan's Island on 28 June 1776, but saw no action. On March 22, 1777, the 8th Virginia Regiment received orders to join George Washington's main army and the unit marched north. Abraham Bowman was promoted to colonel and assumed command of the 8th from Peter Muhlenberg. Abel was commissioned Captain of his company on May 18th, 1777. His first muster roll for May lists Sergeant Jacob Westfall, our ancestor, as sick in Carolina. He must have been to ill to march north with his company. Cornelius is on his brother's muster roll as a sergeant. The company's June muster roll shows Sergeant Jacob Westfall sick in Philadelphia. Several other enlisted men are also on the sick roll. Capt. Abel Westfall's company muster roll for May and June show Cornelius Westfall has been commissioned as ensign and Sergeant Jacob Westfall is present. In August and September, 1777, Captain Abel Westfall and Ensign Cornelius Westfall are away recruiting. This roll says that Jacob Westfall and the four other non-coms enlisted for a period of two years. At the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777, Washington's army and men of the 8th Virginia Regiment were outnumbered by 8,000 to 4,000 men. The Americans were forced to retreat. The muster rolls for September and October lists Sgt. Jacob Westfall was sick at Trenton, New Jersey. The 8th Virginia Regiment was at the Battle of Germantown, Pennsylvania on October 4, 1777. In November Ensign Cornelius Westfall was on furlough and Sgt. Jacob Westfall was still sick in New Jersey. Abel Westfall resigned his commission on November 22rd when his period of enlistment was up. In mid December General Washington sent his army to winter camp at Valley Forge. The 8th Regiment and Captain Abel Westfall's company were with them, but not Abel. From January through March 1778 Ensign Cornelius Westfall is in command of the company. Sgt. Jacob Westfall does not appear on the roll. Ensign Cornelius Westfall resigned his commission when his enlistment was up on April 21, 1778. More that a year later John Westfall of Hampshire County, Virginia enlisted in 1780 as a private in Captain Wallace’s Company under Major Ridley’s, 7th Virginia Regiment. John marched to Winchester, Virginia with prisoners from British General Burgoyne’s army. From there he and his unit went on to Hillsboro, North Carolina. He missed the pivotal Battle of Guilford Court House because of illness. His commanding officer was killed in that battle. John was discharged at Salisbury, North Carolina after serving eighteen months. He made his declaration for a pension in 1820 from Clarksburg, Virginia when he was sixty years old. His pension was first allowed for eight dollars a month. He died destitute at age sixty-four in 1824 after losing his pension. He was the unfortunate victim of an overzealous commissioner appointed to review pensions in Harrison County due to fraud committed by Justice of The Peace Jonathan Wamsley approving unqualified pensioners. Another son of Cornelius and Elizabeth, Cornelius Westfall may have also served, although the records of his service no longer exist. Cornelius Westfall applied for a pension on May 30, 1818 from Knox County, Indiana. His declaration was made in 1821 while he was living in Green County, Indiana. Abraham (Abel) Westfall’s widow Massey Harbin Westfall applied for a pension from Knox County, Indiana in April 1843. Michael Thorn attested to her affidavit that he had known all three Westfall brothers on the South Branch of the Potomac, a year before the Battle of Monmouth. Which brothers he meant is unclear. Jacob Westfall of Randolph County (husband of Mary King and mentioned above) also served during the War. He was the son of Jacob and Judith Hornbeck Westfall who was the grand nephew of Abel Westfall who settled on the South Branch of the Potomac. His declaration for a pension is preserved in the book, The Border Settlers of Northwestern Virginia, as well as in government archives. Lieutenant Jacob Westfall entered the service of the United States under Commander in Chief, General George Rodgers Clark in the regiment of Virginia volunteers commanded by Colonel Zachariah Morgan. Jacob left home in Tygarts Valley on June 20, 1781 and volunteered at Morgantown, Virginia for a term of six months. Jacob’s regiment marched from Morgantown up the Monongahela a short distance to what was known as the New Store settlement. There his regiment joined Colonel Crocket’s regiment of regular troops. General Clark informed the men that their mission was to march to Detroit and take it from the British. The two regiments obtained boats, took water on board and descended the river to four miles below Fort Pitt. They remained there for several days collecting provisions then sailed down the Ohio to an island below the mouth of the Little Kanawha, near present day Wheeling, West Virginia. There they awaited the arrival of Colonel Laughery with reinforcements of two hundred men. During the days that followed several men deserted. General Clark and his officers held a council and abandoned the idea of marching to Detroit. They felt the remaining force of men was insufficient to capture the British stronghold. General Clark decided to continue down the Ohio to Kentucky, raise an additional force of Kentucky militia, and march out against some of the Indian towns. An officer was left with a few men to guard some boats of provisions until Colonel Laughery arrived. In the mean time Colonel Laughery was descending the Ohio River. About fifteen miles below the mouth of the Miami Indians caught Laughery with his boats between an island and the mainland and the entire detachment was killed or taken prisoner. General Clark’s force continued down the river to the Falls of the Ohio. Clark held a council with the Kentucky Militia officers and concluded that it was too late in the year to raise an army, sufficient for a campaign against the Indian towns and allow the Virginia volunteers to return home before winter set in. The volunteers were released and Jacob Westfall returned to Virginia without firing his musket in battle. Jacob made his declaration for a pension in September 1833 in Montgomery County, Indiana. At that time he was a resident of Putnam County, Indiana. He died on March 5, 1835 a few months before his eightieth birthday. His widow, Mary King Westfall, applied for a widow’s pension in November 1838 when she was eighty years old. Mary died in 1841 in Putnam County, Indiana. | |
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During the Revolutionary War many of the Indian tribes allied themselves with the British and caused considerable trouble on the Virginia frontier. Isolated Indian raids occurred for several years after the war but there were no major battles. Soon after the first settlement was made in Tygarts Valley and surrounding areas, small teams of scouts or militias were set up. An officer was appointed to command each company. Each company was required to serve for a period of time and then alternate with another company. Their duty was to spy on the Indians and report their movements to the settlement. It is likely Cornelius (our ancestor) served in one of the militias organized during those years for protection against the Indians. He applied for a pension from Lewis County as a soldier of the Revolutionary War in 1834. Judge Jacob Jackson gave government agent William Singleton the details of a conversation he had with Cornelius. Agent Singleton’s report, dated July 1834, is preserved today in the National Archives. This is the text of that affidavit titled “Cornelius Westfall of Lewis County an applicant for a pension, declaration made in the spring of 1834.” “Jacob J. Jackson of Lewis County a Gentleman of character and substance says that some short time past Westfall being at his house and having previously heard that he had applied for a pension and that subject being introduced in conversation, he Jackson told Westfall that in swearing he had been a soldier in the Revolutionary War he had sworn to a lie.” Westfall replied, “You don’t know as much as you think you do.” Jackson then read and explained the pension law to Westfall. After which Westfall said he had been [mislead] by “them fellows” that he had been made to believe that he was entitled to a pension for services in the Indian wars that were carried on after the War of the Revolution had terminated. Westfall then told Jackson that Jonathan Wamsley had “done him disservice.” Wamsley was a scoundrel who was paid by the number of applicants he signed up for pensions. Singleton was sent to Lewis County to investigate Wamsley's crimes. |
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The Civil WarDuring the Civil War the Westfalls served in both the Union and Confederate armies and the tragedy of brother against brother and cousin against cousin was literally true. That struggle not only tore the nation apart but families as well. The question of slavery was only one issue that inflamed the passions of the war hawks in the North and South. I don’t know how much an issue slavery was for the Westfalls, but John Westfall of Hardy County owned slaves until his death a few years after the Revolutionary War. He is listed on the tax rolls of Hardy County between the years 1782 through 1787 with three. He made his will on February 9, 1789. In it he bequeaths to his wife, Sarah, “My Negro, Jack, and my wench Megigen.” And to his son Isaac, “my Negro, Tom he paying to each of his brothers one sixth part of the valuation of said Negro.” Most of John Westfall’s children migrated to Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. It is unlikely that they owned slaves much beyond their father's lifetime. I can find no record of any other Westfalls owning slaves. Unlike eastern Virginia and other southern states, the western part of Virginia was unsuited for large cotton plantations and slavery was less of an economic factor. The burden of the Civil War for the Westfalls seems to have fallen especially heavy on those of Braxton County. Two sons of Jacob W. and Margaret Brown Westfall, Joseph B. and John Westfall served on the Union side; their uncle, James H. served on the Confederate side. Joseph joined Company F, 10th Regiment of West Virginia Infantry and was wounded at Opequon Creek in the Battle of Winchester, Virginia on September 19, 1864. In that engagement Union troops under General Philip Sheridan defeated Confederate forces commanded by General Jubal Early. Joseph’s younger brother John enlisted in May 1863 and served in Company D, M Regiment, 1st West Virginia Infantry. He was wounded in the thigh and captured by the Confederates at Piedmont, West Virginia in June 1864. His unit listed him as missing in action in September that year. John was first hospitalized in Stauton, Virginia. Then, on October 27, 1864 he was admitted to the hospital in the infamous Andersonville, Georgia Confederate prison. More than 12,000 captured Union soldiers died from mistreatment, disease and hunger at Andersonville during the Civil War years. John was fortunate. He was released from Andersonville in November 1864 when he and other soldiers were exchanged for Confederate prisoners held by the Union Army. Shortly after his release from prison he was mustered out of the army at Wheeling, West Virginia. He was only nineteen when he was discharged. The uncle of Joseph and John, James H. Westfall and three of their cousins, Hiram, George and Jacob enlisted in Company B, 19th Virginia Cavalry. The cousins were the sons of Wilson and Elizabeth Westfall. These Westfall families, as are we, were descendants of Cornelius and Elizabeth Westfall who settled in the Northern Neck of Virginia in 1774. In Gilmer County Adam Simpson Westfall enlisted in the Union Army in 1862 and fought with Company G, 10th West Virginia Infantry. He was the son of William L. and Elizabeth Ware Westfall of Lewis and Gilmer counties. John H. Westfall, our ancestor, did not serve or die in the Civil War as my grandmother believed. He was fifty-five years old at the beginning of the Civil War, rather long in the tooth to be a soldier. He died in Upshur County on May 1, 1870, five years after the war ended. Peter Westfall, son of John H. and Elizabeth Allman Westfall and my grandmother's uncle served in the Union Army in Company C, 10th Virginia Infantry. A list of Civil War soldiers and instructions for obtaining their records (usually the muster rolls of their companies) is available at the National Park Services Civil War website. |
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From Then Until NowJohn H. (Helmick?) Westfall was born in 1806 in Harrison County, Virginia to Cornelius Westfall and Elizabeth Helmick. He married Elizabeth Allman in 1825. He appears on page 260 of the 1830 census of Lewis County, Virginia with four males and three females in the home. On page 140 of the 1840 census in Lewis County with four males and four females in the household. Also listed on this page are his father Cornelius and brother Walter M. Westfall. On the 1850 Lewis County census John H. Westfall, his wife Elizabeth and their family appear on Page 37, dwelling number 500. This is the first census to list individual members of a household. The children ranging in age from eighteen to one years are from the oldest to the youngest, Samuel, Lorenzo Dow, George, Rhuhama, Peter, Harrison, Nancy Jane, Albert and Virginia. My grandmother was fond of her uncles Dow and Peter. Living near by was John’s brother Walter. John last appears on the Virginia census in Randolph County in 1860. In the household are his second wife Lydia and several children, some of whom were his Smith stepchildren. John died in Upshur County, West Virginia on May 1, 1870. |
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Lydia Wilson was first married to Solomon T. Smith and had two sons. On the 1850 census of Lewis County, Virginia, Lydia Smith, age 27 and her children David M. and Solomon E. Smith are listed in the household of Joel and Mary Goodwin. This would indicate that Mr. Smith died about 1850, probably in Lewis County. There is a Lewis County marriage record for Lydia Smith and John H. Westfall recorded on April 19, 1851. The 1860 census confirms the identity of this family. My grandmother was the child of Nathaniel J. Westfall, the son of John H. and Lydia, Margaret Luvenia Trowbridge, daughter James McGrew Trowbridge. On November 7, 1978 my grandmother, Osa Westfall Corbett, wrote me the following letter. Grandpa Westfall was killed in the Civil War. His wife and my Grandmother was Lydia. She had several children: Jane, who married a man named Laurence, I don’t know his first name; Ann married Frank Markley; sons Sam, Dow, Peter and Nathaniel. Sam and Dow lived in Pikens, W. Va. Jane lived in a little place near Buckhannon named Lawrence. Peter lived at a little place Edmondson four miles from our farm and Ann lived on Laurel Creek about three or four miles from us. Grandma married a man named Smith who had several children. The only Smiths I knew was Thomas who had several children and McKinley Smith, we called him Uncle Kin. He had several children also. Both bought forty acres off each side of Papa’s farm. He had homesteaded 160 acres so we had forty acres in-between the Smiths. There were several families of Westfalls in Buckhannon but no relation to us. We went to Buckhannon in the winter to go to school and to the farm west of Weston through the summer when school was on vacation, as the one room school there [near the farm] was not much of a school and over one mile from the farm. Before I was born two oil and two gas wells were drilled on our farm. We lived two miles from Copley and the oil field was called the Copley oil field including ours. It was in an Irish settlement. I never knew many of my relatives, so can not say for sure much about them. I knew Uncle Pete’s family best.” [Peter was the son of John H. and Elizabeth Allman Westfall]. |
On November 29, 1979 I received another letter from Grandma. She said, “Papa and Momma were married near Jackson Mills on horse back and all the attendants were on horses. Papa and Momma went fourteen miles west of Weston and homesteaded a section of land. Later on they sold forty acres to Tom and forty to McKinley or Kin as we called him. The homestead was on Cove Lick Creek. Later on Standard Oil Company put Copley oil field in there and that is where all of us kids were born. In 1912 they sold their farm and we moved to Akron.” No one alive today knows much about Nathaniel. My grandmother never talked about him to me. Whether or not her parents were married on horseback at Jackson Mills may be simply a family legend. They also gave some of their children a letter of the alphabet instead of a middle name and when the children were old enough, told them to pick a middle name starting with that letter. Osa B. never chose a middle name and so for her entire life had only an initial. Her youngest brother was an exception. He was named Theodore Roosevelt Westfall in honor of the President. Grandma told me several stories about her family. My grandparents, Arthur E. Corbett and Osa B. Westfall were married in 1919 in Cumberland, Maryland. They could not get married in Ohio because grandfather was yet not 21 and his parents, Arthur and Clara (Fridinger) Corbett would not give their permission, so they eloped. During her final years of life, Clara lived with and was cared for by Arthur and Osa. She died in Akron in October 1930. On the night after her death my grandparents were in bed talking. A light suddenly appeared at the bedroom door. They could both clearly see it was Grandfather's mother Clara. The apparition approached the bed and tossed a bouquet of roses at Osa and vanished. The odor of roses filled the room. Grandma always felt that it was her way of saying she forgave them for eloping. Did this really happen to Grandpa and Grandma Corbett? I don’t know, perhaps it was a vision brought on by grief. This was only one of several similar stories that my grandmother told me when I was living with them as a teenager. The one I liked the best was about an Irish wake. As she said in her letter above, they lived near Copley, West Virginia, largely populated by Irish oil field workers. When my grandmother was young, one of the Irish clan died, and a wake was held. In those days the dead were not embalmed and the bodies had to be buried quickly. The wake was held the evening before the burial. I don’t know if Grandma was there or heard this from her father, but Westfalls were in attendance. True to form much whiskey was passed around and very late at night most of those at the wake were feeling little pain. Suddenly the body sat up in the coffin and let out a loud “Hummph!” Irishmen, and I suppose Westfalls, jumped out of windows and doors to put as much distance as possible between them and the corpse. Of course, this was not a case of the dead returning to haunt the living, or to collect his share of the liquor. It was merely the natural process of decomposition as gas collected in the abdominal cavity and dead muscle tissue contracted. But, had I been there, I probably would have quickly followed or led everyone to the nearest exit. Osa B. Westfall was born on March 13, 1897 in Lewis County, West Virginia. In 1912, at the age of fifteen her family moved to Akron, Ohio. Her father worked in the rubber factories of Akron and died there in 1915 of tuberculosis. We have no first person records of Nathaniel’s life, such as letters or photographs. The records we do have are his marriage, death, some census records and the memory of him by his daughter. Nathaniel J. Westfall is buried in the lower part of Harrison Grove Cemetery near near to his step-brother Peter Westfall and his family. The last time my daughter I visited the cemetery was in bad shape from overgrowth, fallen trees and vandalized headstones. Osa and Arthur had six children. My mother, Clara Luvenia Corbett, was the oldest born in 1921 in Copley, Ohio and died in an auto accident in Arizona on November 26, 1990. She was named for both her Corbett and Westfall Grandmothers. The other children born in Akron were Dorothy Eileen, born in 1923; Elinor Lucille born in 1929; James Arthur, born in 1934; Gerald Lee, born in 1936. The youngest, Wayne Corbett was born in Copley in 1939, but died at the age of two. Before World War II my grandmother worked at the Goodyear dirigible hanger in Akron sewing canvas sections that covered the huge dirigible “Akron.” The immense hangar the ship was built in was still there years after I left Ohio. Grandma told me that the hanger was so large that clouds would form in top of the hanger and at times rain would actually fall from these clouds. I have since read the same thing in aviation sources. The dirigible "Akron" was destroyed in a storm shortly before World War II with the loss of the crew. In a separate accident Her sister ship, The "Macon", was also destroyed. Those accidents after the destruction of the German zeppelin Hindenburg at Lakehurst, New Jersey in 1937 brought the era of rigid lighter than air ships to a tragic end. My grandparents moved from Copley, Ohio to Arkansas in 1943. Grandmother suffered from reoccurring episodes of pneumonia and her doctor recommended they move to a warmer climate. During World War II while my father was in North Africa my mother took my younger brother Arthur and me to live with them in Ozone, Arkansas. I have brief, but vivid memories of that place, even though I was very, very young. Sunday school classes were conducted in this house for our neighbors since there was no church near to where we lived. Once, my Uncle Gerry, who was probably about seven or eight at the time, were up stairs over the class. There was a knothole in the floor planking and we could peer through it and see the people below. This part of the upstairs was not used and there was dust on the floor. We tried to make little piles of dust and slowly push it through the hole. No one seemed to notice. Perhaps the Sunday school class thought a little wind was blowing dust around. Gerry wanted to find something more effective. Marbles! That would do the trick. It worked. I don’t remember what the punishment was but we certainly got a reaction. Grandma told me years later that the whole class broke up laughing when the marbles hit the floor and interrupted the class. This house was destroyed by a tornado probably not long after the Sunday school incident. My grandfather had returned to Ohio to take care of some business. That evening, grandmother said she felt uneasy. She asked a neighbor to spend the night, but still she could not sleep. A fierce thunderstorm blew up suddenly. Grandma woke everyone and told them to run to the storm cellar, which was a little distance from the house. The family barely made it to the shelter when the tornado destroyed the hay shed, barn and house. I am a direct descendant of Westfall ancestors and I am proud of my Westfall heritage. | |
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Ronald N. WallModified: 3 December 2019 |
