HEADER
HIRAM VANDYKE
HIRAM VANDYKE is one of the largest landowners of South Buffalo
Township, Armstrong County, where he lives on the old homestead on which he
was born March 20, 1836. He has passed all but a few years of his life there.Mr. Vandyke is descended from Thomas Vandyke of Amsterdam, Holland, who
came to Long Island, New York in 1652, with his three sons, Hendrick Friscal,
Jan Thomassen and Franz Claessen. It is not stated that they settled there,
and Hiram Vandyke has been informed that his ancestors settled in Virginia
thence coming North. He traces his descent through Jan Thomassen, and Nicholas
Van Dyke, the first governor of the state of Delaware, was of this line, as
also Dr. Henry van Dyke, of Princeton University. Up to the present time the
preachers in the family have reached the number of about fifty, and Rev. E.H.
Van Dyke, himself a missionary to Japan, knew of five foreign missionaries by
this name. The Vandykes were formerly Dutch Reformed and Presbyterian, but are
now found in almost all the denominations.George Vandyke, grandfather of Hiram Vandyke, was possibly a son of the
William Vandyke who according to family tradition moved West with his family
from Delaware over one hundred years ago, the great-grandfather’s name being
William, from the best information Hiram Vandyke has. George Vandyke was the
first of the name to locate in Armstrong County, Pa., coming hither from
Westmoreland County in the early part of the last century. He was then
unmarried. Settling at McVill, he obtained land from the government and became
a farmer, being engaged as such until his death, in 1830, in his forty-eighth
year. He married Elizabeth Sipes, of Armstrong County, daughter of Charles
Sipes, a pioneer here, and they had the following children: William, Mary,
Francis, George, Margaret, Elizabeth, Susanna and John. Most of this family
lived in South Buffalo Township.An old Allegheny River captain, James Murphy, told Mr. Hiram Vandyke some
thirty years ago or more (and he was one of the oldest men in South Buffalo
Township), in speaking of the Vandykes, that they had settled in Virginia and
then came north to Westmoreland County. Hiram Vandyke remembers hearing the
older members of the family speak of two uncles, Jacob and Michael, that
remained there, and their descendants are there yet. He looked one of them up
four or five years ago in Irwin, Pa., a member of the third generation, but
found out nothing more concerning the family. R.L. Vandyke has been attempting
for several years to compile a genealogy of the family.William Vandyke, son of George, was born in 1810 at McVill, in South
Buffalo Township, and was educated in the common schools. He lived with his
parents until they died, on the place where his son Hiram now resides. In 1835
he married Elizabeth Wolf, of Logansport, Pa., both of her parents being of
Armstrong County and of German stock; they died at Logansport. Her father,
George Wolf, a farmer, was married three times, the maiden name of his first
wife being Willard. They had children: Jacob, George, Lydia, Elizabeth,
Christina, Mrs. Jack, Mrs. Karns, Mary and Eveline. By his second wife, whose
maiden name was Williams, he had: Harriet, Rachel, Diana and Townsend. His
third marriage was to a Mrs. Wagley.After his marriage William Vandyke continued to make his home on the farm
where his son Hiram now lives, in South Buffalo Township, putting up a one and
a half story log cabin and a log barn. The land was all wild, but he cleared a
good farm, owning over one hundred acres. He was a prominent man in his day,
holding many township offices, was a Democrat in his political views and a
member of the Lutheran Church. He died in 1847, his wife in 1853. They had the
following children: Hiram; William H., a farmer of South Buffalo Township;
Emily A., who died unmarried in 1863; Peninnah Jane, who married Henry
Gardner, now living in Butler, Pa.: and Nathan Lee, deceased in 1902, who
married Elizabeth Hill (also deceased), and lived in Freeport.Hiram Vandyke attended the home schools and later high school under
Professor Murphy. For several years he taught school. He remained at home with
his parents until they died, and shortly afterward, in 1855, entered as a
clerk, the employ of a Mr. Weaver, who owned a general store where the �Central
Hotel� no is in Freeport, remaining with him until 1857. In 1858 he was at
Cameron, Ill., where he was employed in a store, but with these exceptions he
has remained on the old homestead, following farming. He has met with unusual
success in agriculture, and has been able to add to his holdings until they
now comprise about five hundred acres of valuable land, having one if the best
farms in South Buffalo Township all under a fine state cultivation. He has
been somewhat active in public affairs, holding several township offices, is a
Republican in politics, and in religious connection is a Lutheran.In June, 1863, Mr. Vandyke married Priscilla Sloan, a native of South
Buffalo Township, daughter of James and Margaret (Rea) Sloan, of Armstrong
County; he was a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Sloan had these children: Isabelle
married John M. Hill and lives in South Buffalo Township; Nancy Ann died
unmarried; William (deceased) lived in South Buffalo Township; Priscilla was
the wife of Hiram Vandyke; John E. (deceased), was a farmer in South Buffalo
Township; Emily married W.H. Vandyke, of South Buffalo Township.Mrs. Vandyke died Jan. 11, 1897. She was the mother of seven children:
Edith E., who lives at home; Luella M.; L.G., a farmer in South Buffalo
Township; George, a farmer in South Buffalo Township; Fred and Roy on the home
farm in South Buffalo Township; and Vida V. who married H.M. Armstrong, of
Grand Junction, Colorado.Source: Pages 369-370, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and
Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed March 2002 by Helen B. Miller for the Armstrong County Beers
Project
Contributed for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)Armstrong County Genealogy Project Notice:
These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format, for any presentation, without prior written permission.Return to the Beers Project
Â
Return to the
Armstrong County Genealogy ProjectÂ
Return to the
Armstrong County Genealogy Project
Return to the
Armstrong County Genealogy Project
(c) Armstrong County
Genealogy Project
About Author
