John VAN METER

Bef 1683 - 1745  (> 61 years)

• Name	John VAN METER
  Birth	Bef 14 Oct 1683	Marbletown, Ulster County, NY
  Christening	14 Oct 1683	Reformed Dutch Church, Kingston, Ulster County, NY
  Gender	Male
  AFN	19F2-SD
  Name	Jan VAN METRE
  Name	John VAN METRE
  Name	John VANMETER
  Death	13 Aug 1745	Frederick County, VA
  Probate	3 Sep 1745	Frederick County, VA
  Notes	(1) Source: Linda Newhouse . (2) Smyth, Samuel Gordon, The Origin and Descent of an American Van Metre Family, Lancaster, PA: Lancaster Press, 1923, pp. 27-37: While still a resident of Somerset County, N. J., John Van Metre, Jr., met and married Sarah Bodine. The Bodines were a family lately settled on the Raritan, having come there from Staten Island, and belonged to a group of French Huguenots that had been established on the island many years before. They were descendants of Jean Bodin, the celebrated French economist, of Medis, France. A younger Jean, or John, of that line married in France, Esther Bridow, emigrated to America, and settled on Staten Island. Among his sons was Francis Boden, or Bodyne, from whom the Somerset County stock derived descent. Circumstances seem to indicate that either Pieter Bodeyn, who was connected with "the Rebellion in the Raritans," in 1723, or Isaac Bodin, from the vicinity of Basking Ridge, was the father of Sara Bodine; she was also the sister of John Bodine, of Raritan Landing; he also had been a trader and probably an associate of John Van Metre, Sr., in his Indian adventures. John and Sarah [Bodine] Van Metre had three children born in Somerset County. The records show that they were baptised in the Reformed Dutch Church on the Raritan, in the following order: Sarah, baptised October 30, 1706; Johannes, baptised April 28, 1708; and Marie, baptised April 26, 1709. John Van Metre's wife, Sarah Bodine, died about this time, for he afterward married Margaret [sup. Molenaur, Mulinar or Miller, the name is synonymous] and then have removed to Salem County, where the Mulinar family had preceded them. John, in his will, dated 1745, expressly states that his son Abraham, is the son of his "said wife Margaret." Johannes, the only son of his first wife, Sarah, having predeceased his father, Abraham became the heir-at-law and executor of his father's will. The children of John and Margaret Van Metre, who were probably born in Salem County, were Abraham, Rebecca, Isaac, Elizabeth, Henry, Rachael and Maudlina. A further evidence of John's second marriage is found - that on the 13th of September, 1712, John bought of James Sherron and Mary, his wife, of Monmouth County, N. J., 250 acres of land, lying on the Burlington Road at the head of Salem Creek, and called "Virgin Spring"; and a further conveyance from Nicholas Winter, of Salem, of 100 acres was made "by John Van Metre, of the precinct of Alloways creek, in the county of Salem, in the western division of the province of West Jersey," "Gent."; and "with the consent, good liking and approbation of Margaret," his wife, they convey this tract of 250 acres to Herman Richman, of Middletown, Monmouth County, in consideration of £150 current money of New York, etc. The title passed on the 19th of June, 1719. Further search among the deeds in the State Department at Trenton discloses another transfer which evidences the desire of John Van Metre to release his holdings in Somerset County and put the proceeds in Salem County investments. Following along, in chronological sequence, the course of John Van Metre's career, it reveals his penchant for land speculation, for his adventures were frequent and progressive in extent. John Van Metre had inherited from his father, Jooste Jans [John Van Metre, Sr.], a thirty-seven-acre tract of land on the west side of the Raritan River, on its south branch; it was a part of tract No. 1 of the 835 acres that the Governor granted to his grandfather, Jan Joosten, in 1700. This tract, John and wife Margaret conveyed to Henry Miller [Hendrix Mulinaer], of Somerset County, on the 16th of November, 1719. The deed is signed by "John Vanmetre" and "Margot Metere." Hendrix Mulinaer died shortly after and his widow Cathrin is presumed to have married Isaac Van Metre. Isaac Bodine, who was named in Miller's will as executor, renounced in favor of Isaac, who administered on the estate, with his brothers, John and Henry Van Metre, becoming his bondsmen. A particular instance which involves quite a group of the Van Metre family is found in "An Indenture dated June 19, 1714, between Col. Daniel Coxe, of Burlington, of the one part, and Jacob du Bois, of the county of Ulster, N. Y., and Sarah du Bois of the county of Salem, and John Van Metre and Isaac Van Metre, of the same county and division aforesaid, of the other part," recites that Daniel Coxe purchased Thomas William's land in Salem County - 7,000 acres - in consideration of "£750 lawful money of New York, at eight shillings the ounce," and the said Coxe conveys unto the said Jacob du Bois, Sara du Bois, John Van Metre and Isaac Van Metre, 3,000 acres beginning on a branch of the Maurice River, and being part of the 7,000 acres taken up upon the right of the three property purchases of Thomas Williams by Daniel Coxe. Shourds, the Salem County historian, states that "these parties divided their lands by the compass, the du Bois taking theirs on the north side of a line and the Van Metres on the south side. The Van Metres continued to purchase until they owned a very large portion of the land reaching from the Overshot Mill on Upper Alloways Creek, near Daretown, southeasterly to Fork Bridge, about 6,000 acres in all." The grantees thereof were Sara du Bois, wife, or widow, of the elder John Van Metre; her two sons, John and Isaac Van Metre; and her brother, Jacob du Bois. Here Sarah established her son Isaac permanently, as she thought, as by a deed dated 27 May, 1726, reciting "for and in consideration of the love, good will and affection I have and do bear toward my loving and dutiful son Isaac Van Metre of the province aforesaid," the mother transfers to him 302 acres of land lying at Pile's Grove between Nickomus Run and Salem Creek. Possession of this property was taken over by Isaac on the 26th of May, 1726, in the presence of Cornelius Elting, Jr. On the 26th of May, two years after he had obtained the larger grant from Col. Daniel Coxe, John Van Metre purchased of John Powell, 600 acres of land on Alloways Creek, and with this and the other accretions, he became one of the largest freeholders in Salem County. This was the last conveyance of which he was the grantee, as far as we have record. A hiatus of several years occurs between that date and the scene of John Van Metre's next change of base. This may be explained by stating that the general drift of emigration southward into Maryland was becoming more rapid under inducements offered by Charles, Lord Baltimore; which were very tempting. An official proclamation inviting settlers to seat upon his lands was not issued until 1732, and then only after a little settlement had been made on the Monocacy Creek, and Hite's colonization scheme had opened up the Virginia lands. Calvert's purpose was to divert some of the pilgrims of the new Canaan to his own province. The first intimation we have of John Van Metre's decision to leave New Jersey is found in the record of a deed dated 25 March, 1730, by which "John Van Metre of Prince George's Co., Md., yeoman, conveys to Cornelius Newkirk, of Salem, N. J., 200 acres of land, being part of the original grant of 3,000 acres made by Col. Coxe to the du Bois and Van Metres in 1714; and out of which 400 acres was set apart as John's dividend, the other moiety of 200 acres having been previously sold to Elisha Bassett. To this deed the witnesses were Cathrine Van Metre, John Miller and William Burkitt. Again, on the 23d of March, 1734, John Van Metre conveys to his brother Isaac a certain tract of land of undetermined quantity, out of which 110 acres had previously been sold to John Tyler. The actual date of John Van Metre's settlement in Maryland can only be conjectured; but it has been ascertained that he made a deal for 300 acres of land in Frederick County, Maryland, on the 8th of November, 1726, of a tract called "Metre" that lay at the mouth of a stream called "Metre's Run" falling into the Monacacy River. At that time this purchase lay in Prince George's County, but by the subsequent erection of Frederick County out of it, the property fell within the bounds of the latter; and, it is asserted that it was upon this ground that a part of the battle of Monacacy Junction was fought during the Civil War. Van Metre acquired other properties in Maryland, some of which lay upon Antietam Creek, in what is now Washington County, and it was while he was living here that he looked beyond the Potomac and cast wistful eyes upon the virgin meadows of the Valley of Virginia, where he was destined to realize larger conquests later. Lord Baltimore's palatinate was indebted for much of its pioneer settlers to the stream of immigration that set in from Pennsylvania and New York, and although it acquired many accessions in this way, a large part of it was diverted to the western portion of the province, and on into Virginia, because of the border controversy along the lower Susquehanna. The Dutch element came in as early as 1725 via the Monocacy trail, a path most direct and popular, which led from the German settlements in Lancaster and York counties, in Pennsylvania. It was evolved from an Indian trail leading southward from the Codorus Creek in York County, and down its valley to Fort Conococheague, thence to Fort Frederick near the Potomac. Coming from New Jersey the immigrants had only the Delaware to cross - to reach Christina on the Brandywine, or to New Amstel [New Castle], and by a familiar route pass overland and strike the head of Elk River; then along its waters reach the Chesapeake Bay, and by its tributaries attain their destinations in Western Maryland, or travel on into Virginia. The halt on the Monocacy was among relatives and friends from the Kingston region - for here were found the Eltings, Croms, Hites and other family groups who had preceded the Van Metres. We now come to the period, the most romantic in the maturer years of John Van Metre's career, the culmination of his thought and ambition; and that restless spirit, inherited from the father with his vision and early advice, inspired the two Van Metre brothers to launch the scheme to colonize their relatives and friends in the Valley of Virginia. Between them they obtained from the Governor and Council of Virginia, on the 30th of June, 1730, a grant of 40,000 acres of land, unappropriated and unsurveyed, in Spottsylvania County, in the Northern Neck of Virginia, "where white men," it was said, "had never trod." This is an error, of course, for the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe" had preceded them. "At a council held at the capital the 17th. day of June, 1730. Present. - The Governor. Robert Carter, James Blair, William Byrd, John Robinson, John Carter, Rd. Fitzwilliam, John Grymes, Wm. Dandridge, John Curtis, - Esquires. Several petitions being this day offered to the Board for leave to take up land on the River Sherando on the Northwest side of the Great Mountains, Robert Carter, Esq. Agent for the Proprietors of the Northern Neck moved that it might be entered that he on behalf of the sd Proprietors claimed the land on the sd River Sherando as belonging to the sd Proprietors & within the limits of their Grants it belonged sole to the Proprietors to grant the sd lands wch moven at his request is entered and then the Board proceded to the hearing of the sd Petitions. On reading at this Board the Petition of John Van Metre setting forth that he is desirous to take up a Tract of land in this Colony on the West side of the Great Mountains for the settlement of himself & eleven children & also that divers of his Relations and friends living in the Government of New York are also desirous to move with their families & effects and Settle in the same place if a Sufficient Quantity of land may be assigned them for that purpose & praying that ten thousand acres of the land lying in the forks of the Sherando River including the places called by the name of Cedar Litch & Stoney Lick and running up between the branches of the said river to complete that quantity & twenty thousand acres not already taken up by Robert Carter & Mann Page, Esqrs., or any other, - lying in the fork between the sd River Sherando and the River Cohongaluta and extending thence to Opekon and up the South Branch thereof may be assigned for the Habitation of himself his family and friends. The Governor, with the advice of his Council is pleased to give leave to the sd John Van Metre to take up the sd first mentioned tract of ten thousand acres for the Set'lem't of himself and his family, and that as soon as the Petitioner shall bring on the last mentioned Tract twenty families to Inhabit on that this Board is satisfied so many are to remove thither leave be & it is hereby granted him for surveying the last mentioned Tract of twenty thousand acres within the limits above described in so many several dividens as the pet'r & his sd partners shall think fit. And it is further ordered that no person is permitted to enter for or take up any part of the afsd Lands in the meantime provided the sd Van Metre & his family & the twenty other families of his Relations and friends do settle thereon within the space of two years according to his proposal." A similar paragraph in the Minutes of Council provides for the seating of Isaac Van Metre, brother of John above, of the province of West Jersey and his family and twenty other families upon a ten thousand acre tract lying near "The Trough" on the Opequon River, and to be settled upon the same conditions as the obligations of his brother John Van Metre. All these lands lay in Spottsylvania County, Virginia. Within the two years allowed in the grants, the Van Metres had negotiated a transfer of all their rights therein to Jost Hite, their relative from New York, also a Hollander, but more recently of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. The transfer, or assignment, was made to Hite on August 5, 1731, and in that year Hite and his partners, with several families, no doubt the same people who had agreed to move thence with John Van Metre, began to settle on the Hite lands. The Van Metres, however, under some mutual arrangement with the Hite Company, retained options on certain choice spots in the Valley in the area originally granted them by the Governor, William Gooch. One of these parcels - there are two - contained 1,786 acres and the other 885 acres, and both were located on the west side of the Sherando River, in a new county soon to be called Orange. Patents for these tracts were issued on October 3, 1734, the year Orange County was erected and established. The Northern Neck territory is briefly described in one of the papers in Lord Fairfax's office in Winchester, Va. It was unrecorded and accompanied the original survey documents. "The boundaries of the patent beginning at the Chesapeake Bay, lies between the Potomac and the Rappahannock Rivers, crossing the Blue Ridge, or, rather passing through the gap at Harpers Ferry, then with the Cohongaluta [Potomac] to its source in the Alleghanies, then by a straight line crosses the great Northern Mountain and Blue Ridge to the headwaters of the Rappahannock, wherever that may be." The Van Metres, after selecting and reserving sufficient land for their immediate families, assigned the remainder of their grants to their relative Jost Hite, who associated with him another Pennsylvanian named McKay. Together they petitioned the Governor and Council of Virginia for - and were granted - an additional 100,000 acres contiguous upon that assigned them by the Van Metres, and upon which, within the next two years, they had seated 54 families. Isaac Van Metre returned to New Jersey, but eventually came back to Virginia, settled in "The Trough," and was finally killed by the Indians, about 1757. John Van Metre immediately removed from Maryland and settled permanently on Opecquon Creek in Frederick County, Va. [now Berkeley County]. "Referring to the Hite grants of 1734 and the lands conveyed by him to purchasers in the vicinity of Shepherdstown, W. Va. - they were all based on the original John Van Metre grant, and are so recited in the deeds of conveyance which proves," concludes Cartmell, that there "Van Metre located part of his patent and is entitled to the credit of being the first white man who stood on the south side of the Potomac west of the Blue Ridge." Among other pursuits in which John Van Metre was engaged, beside that of an ambition to be a landed proprietor, was in stock breeding, especially horses, of which he raised a large number in the fine limestone valley that was peculiarly adapted for such a purpose. The raising of blooded stock, grazing and farming, was almost a passion in this family, and it was pursued with religious fidelity by generation after generation. As the time approached when John Van Metre realized that he had not much longer to live, he executed a deed of gift, dated September 17, 1744, in which for "love and affection" he distributes, equally, among his then surviving children, and the heirs of those deceased, all his "stalyons, geldings, mares, and colts," and names the sons in the order of their birth. Considering that Johannes, the eldest son, was then deceased, he continues, "to Isaac, my eldest son; Henry second son; Abraham my third son; Jacob my fourth and youngest son; Maudlina, wife of Robert Pewsey, my youngest daughter; Solomon Hedges, Esq.; Thomas Shepherd; James Davis and Robert Jones, sons-in-law; grandsons Johannes, son of my son Johannes, dec'd; and John Lessige, son of my daughter Rachael, dec'd." John Van Metre was evidently possessed of several separate parcels of land, located, principally, "on drains" [small runs] emptying into the Opequon, in the South Branch valley, and into the lower section of the Potomac above its confluence with the Shenandoah. He died on one of his larger Opequon farms, between the 13th of August, 1745, and the 3d of September, 1745; the two dates being the date of executing and probate date of his will respectively. His will is a verbose document of several pages and very carefully drawn. An analysis of it shows how the testator disposes of about 3,350 acres, of which 235 acres were in the homestead; it was improved, and contained the orchards, arable and grazing fields; each child, and the heirs of his two deceased children, receiving varying apportionment of the land. The aggregate included a tract of land lying at the mouth of the Antietam Creek, in Maryland, which he called "Pelmel." It also discloses the fact that his son Isaac owned considerable land at Monocacy; and that his grandson Johannes' legacy, was conditioned upon Johannes selling his Monocacy property and dividing the proceeds equally with his sister Joanna, in lieu of a bequest from the testator. Maudlena, who was then single, was to have 20 shillings in her devise; and the grandson John Lessige had added to his other legacy "2 Brood mares." The present purpose is to confine this sketch of the will to that portion which concerns the son Abraham, who received "the lion's share," about 775 acres: "In the name of God Amen, the thirteenth day of August one thousand seven hundred and forty-five, I, John Van Metre in Frederick County in the Colony of Virginia being sick in body but of sound mind and Memory praise be given to God for the same and calling to mind the uncertainty of the Transitory Life, and willing through Divine Assistance to settle and Dispose of those Temporal blessings which it hath pleased God beyond my Deserts to bestow upon me and therefore making this my Last Will and Testament Disannuling all other wills and Testaments heretofore made by me &c. &c. Imprimis - I commend my Soul into the hands of God that gave it, hoping thro the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ it will be accepted and my body to be Interred with Deacency at the Discretion of my executors hereafter named. I also will that all my Just Debts and Demands Whatsoever in Right of Conscience is Due to Any to be Discharged and paid (as also funeral expenses) By my executors and as to my Real and Personal Estate, I Will, Dispose, Devise, Give and Bequeath it in the manner following - that is to say. First my will is that my beloved wife Margaret Van Metre Have the third part of my moveable estate, also one room which she likes best, to Dwell in, in my Dwelling House, and one third part of the Orchard next the Run with the keeping of one Riding horse and two Milch cows, Linnen and wolling yarn to be wove her bed and bedding the said Room and Liberties to be by her possessed during her Life, without controle hinderence or molestation of any person whatever. Item second - I Will Devise bequeath unto my son Abraham and His Heirs Lawfully Begotten, a certain Parcel Tract of Land Bought by me of Francis Prichard on Opequon River against the Land formally Bequeathed to him, said Tract begins at Elm Tree being the East corner of the said Tract between a Line tree Hickory Saplin and aforesaid Elm Saplin By Opeckon Run side thence down the same to the Beginning Tree aforesaid Prichards Tract, thence South fiftyfive degrees West One Hundred and Ten Poles, to the aforesaid Beginning Elm Tree. Containing By Estimation One Hundred acres of land be it more or less. Provided there should be no Heirs male or female of my said son or sons (hereafter named) Live to arrive to the age of Twenty one Years, that then after the decease of my said son or sons afsd, or their heirs, that then their part of land to be equally divided amongst the rest of my surviving devisees hereinafter mentioned. Furthermore I also give unto my sd son Abraham Van Metre one Certain Tract of land being and Situate on Opequon Run in the county afsd and to his Heirs Lawfully Begotten being part of four hundred and Seventy five acres of land Bought of Jost Hite, Beginning at or about two yards below a pine tree on a high Bank on Opekon Run called the Allan Hill, and running thence by a Division Line North sixty-five degrees East sixty Poles to a small Hickory thence Twenty degrees West twenty-eight Poles to a Black Oak thence North Twenty degrees West sixteen Poles thence North Fifteen degrees East two hundred and nine to a Spannish oak another corner of the Original survey thence North Twenty degrees West sixteen Poles to the first Beginning head of the survey of the Original Tract by Opequon Run side near a white Oak marked IVM, then up Opeckon Run to the Beginning Pine, Containing by Estimation Two Hundred and thirty seven of land be it more or less. . . . Also I Give Devise unto my son Abraham 'a son of my wife afsd s thirds of my moveable estate and Legacies are paid' an equal proportioned child's part therefrom as well as lands. "I also Will Devise Bequeath unto my son Abraham Van Metre and his lawful heirs the Southermost part and half-moiety of Four Hundred acres of land for me and in my name to survey for him his Heirs afsd which land I have Jos Hite's Bond for procuring a Patent, which if he shall not obtain the said Patent he is to have the Bond for Recovering so much as will amount to his share or Proportion according to his dividend of sd Tract and the same land to be held and enjoyed by him under the same Restriction and Limitation as the above mentioned Land Namely the Land bought of Francis Prichard &c. &c." The will, which is a very lengthy one, was witnessed by Edward Morgan, Andrew Corn and Joseph Carroll. It was probated at Winchester, Va., September 3, 1745. The executors were a son-in-law, Thomas Shepherd, and sons Abraham and Jacob. (3) Tracey, Grace L. & Dern, John P., Pioneers of Old Monocacy: The Early Settlement of Frederick County, Maryland, 1721-1743, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1987, pp. 69-75: The second person to settle on Frederick County [Maryland] land which he himself owned did so where the city of Frederick stands today. His survey was dated April 21, 1724, only two months after Arthur Nelson's survey at Point of Rocks on thePotomac. But it was a full twenty-one years or more before the site of this second settlement saw the beginning of today's city of Frederick. John van Metre (1683-1745) was a trader of Dutch descent, who lived originally in New York and New Jersey. His parents, Joost Jansen van Meeteren and Sarah Dubois lived in the Kingston area along the Hudson River. By 1714 John, together with his mother and his younger brother Isaac, were in Salem County, New Jersey, where they obtained from Colonel Daniel Cox 3,000 acres on Alloway Creek. Two years later this land was divided between them. Isaac stayed on in New Jersey and in 1734 John deeded him his remaining holdings of New Jersey land. Meanwhile John van Metre had journeyed through Maryland to Virginia. Along the way he discovered land to his liking and by a survey dated April 21, 1724 he acquired some 300 acres in Maryland. This he called "Metre." It was the sixth parcel to be surveyed within the area of present-day Frederick County. Then, a year and a half later on November 18, 1725, John van Metre had another Maryland parcel surveyed and this he called "Meadow." Here he and his family lived until about 1735. Together with its subsequent Resurvey, his land extended along Carroll Creek. It is now the southeastern part of the city of Frederick, stretching from today's intersection of South Market and South Streets eastward through a portion of the Fair Grounds. On it he built what was subsequently described as a "Dutch frame house 18 x 14 feet, clay and white-washed outside with a stone chimney, a log house 20 x 16 feet, a frame house covered with shingles, a house raised four feet from the ground 18 x 14 feet covered with boards." On February 20, 1725 John Rolfe and Ranier Snowden, Quakers from the town of Salion, Maryland, declared that Adam Strangler was indebted to them. John van Metre stood "pledge and security" for Strangler. After a hearing before the Prince George's County Court of June 1727, Snowden was fined 622 pounds of tobacco for bringing "false clamor" against Strangler. Subsequently, in the June Court of 1728, John van Metre paid a five pound debt of his own to his Lordship. The Courts of 1729, 1731, 1732 and 1734 appointed John van Metre Constable of Monocacy Hundred, which at the time extended from the mouth of the Monocacy River northward to Pennsylvania, eastward to include a part of today's Carroll County and westward to encompass all the lands of western Maryland as we know them today. It was a vast area and in 1729 the Constable of "Monocoughsin" Hundred reported to the Court that he had received many "abuses in the execution of his office insomuch that he is afraid to comply with the order of the Court and humbly prays for protection." In answer, the Court ordered Joseph Mounts and John Gratharm to join in authority with van Metre. On June 17, 1730 John van Metre and his brother Isaac each secured from the Governor and Council of Virginia grants of 10,000 acres of Virginia land located in the Shenandoah Valley. An additional 20,000 acres would be granted if twenty families were settled within two years. In the following year on August 5th, the van Metres transfered title, along with the conditions, to Just Hite, a German who had come to New York in the year 1710. Hans Justus Heyd was born in Bonfeld in the Kraichgau area of Germany in the year 1685, and there in 1704 he married Anna Maria Merckle. With their first-born child, they joined the huge German exodus of 1709, migrating to London and on to New York in the following year. A significant portion of these German settlers moved into Pennsylvania where they were joined by the succeeding waves of German immigrants who followed them throughout the next two decades. In 1730 Hite was living in the Perkiomen region, near today's Schwenksville in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, an area heavily populated by recent German immigrants. With his partner Robert McKay from Cecil County, Maryland, Hite sought an additional 100,000 acres in Virginia and set to work inducing the Germans to move to the backwoods there. He himself left Pennsylvania in 1731 and after him followed the great trek by other Germans traveling via the German Monocacy Road through the Monocacy region, then over South Mountain, across the Potomac from today's Washington County and into Opequon and Shenandoah Valleys. Quite obviously settlers found the enticements offered from Virginia much more advantageous than those from Maryland where, as we have seen, land investors and speculators had acquired so great a control over the available land. In 1735 John van Metre also joined the move to Virginia. He sold his farm animals and removed himself and his family into Virginia where he died ten years later. On July 18, 1745, just before his death, John Vanmetree of Frederick County, Virginia, appointed his "well-beloved friend Baltis Foutt of Prince George's County" as attorney to effect the sale of "Meadow" to Michael Raymer. Although he had lived in Maryland for only a little over a decade, he left an indelible imprint on the Frederick County area: it was he who had begun actual settlement in this area and, at least indirectly, it was he who had been responsible for the area's discovery by the German element passing through from the north. John van Metre's children also played important roles in the early settlement of both Maryland and Virginia. His five sons and six daughters were named John Jr., Isaac, Henry, Abraham, Jacob, Magdalena, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Sarah, Rachel and Mary. . . . On November 9, 1739 John "Vanmatre of Orange County, Virginia" entered into an agreement to transfer title to his first survey, "Metere," on the Menockecy River to Joseph and Thomas Palmer, who also came from Westchester County, New York to live in the area of the van Metre settlement. (4) O'Dell, Cecil, Pioneers of Old Frederick County, Virginia, Marceline, MO: Walsworth Publishing Company, 1995, pp. 44-48: VANMETER John Vanmeter (b. 1683), with Isaac Vanmeter, Sarah Dubois of Salem County in the Western Division of New Jersey and Jacob Dubois of Ulster County, New York, purchased 3,000 acres of land on a branch of Prince Maurices River and the head of the main branch of Cohanzy in the County of Salem (Cumberland) from Daniel Coxe for 750 pounds on 19 June 1714. Isaac Vanmeter of Salem County, New Jersey purchased 50 acres of land on 20 March 1720 and 370 acres of land on 10 July 1721 in Salem County, New Jersey. On 27 May 1726, Isaac's mother Sara Dubois gave Isaac Vanmeter a tract of land, "by grant of gift," containing 205 acres on Salem Creek in Salem County, New Jersey. This grant was witnessed by Barent Dubois and Cornelius Eltinge. John Vanmeter and his wife Margaret leased land on the "Raraton (Raritan) River," adjacent to other land Vanmeter owned, to Henry Miller for a period of 10 years on 16 November 1709. John, Margaret and Henry were all of the County of Somerset in the Eastern Division of New Jersey. John Vanmeter of Prince George County, Maryland sold 200 acres (of his 400-acre part of the 3,000 acres) on 25 March 1730 to Cornelius Newkirk, wheelwright, of Salem County, New Jersey for 80 pounds (witnessed by Catherine Vanmeter). John Vanmeter assigned to Isaac Vanmeter "all that land within mentioned" (assignment is covered in Secretary's Office at Burlington, Book "DD", p. 59) except for 110 acres sold to John Tyler for "200 pounds, also for divers good causes him thereunto moveing" on 28 March 1734. John was in Prince George County, Maryland by 1724 on the Monocacy River when he had 300 acres surveyed called "Metre." On 10 April 1734, he had surveyed a 885-acre tract of land on the east side of Opequon Creek and received a patent from the Colony for it on 3 October 1734.. . . This land is located east of present-day Martinsburg, West Virginia, just south of West Virginia Highway 45, then south encompassing Blairton, West Virginia, across the Warm Springs Road (Berkeley County Highway 36). One day before the 885-acre survey on 9 April 1734, Robert Brooke surveyed 700 acres for John about half a mile south and also on the east side of Opequon Creek. . . . This tract is crossed on the north end by present-day West Virginia Highway 9. The patent was issued on 3 October 1734 to Jost Hite who, with his wife Mary, sold to Vanmeter 475 acres of the 700 acres "where John Lilbourn now dwell for a division between John Vanmeter and John Lilbourn" on 23 March 1736/37. . . . On 18 November 1736, John purchased 100 acres from Frances Pincher and his wife Sarah (Frances' 12 November 1735 patent land) across the Opequon Creek on the west side of Vanmeter's 475-acre purchase from Hite. . . . . Vanmeter also had 400 acres of land surveyed (and in his possession) by James Wood on 7 February 1735, acreage being ¾ mile east of the 475-acre tract . . . at present-day Veteran's Hospital on West Virginia Highway 9. John Vanmeter's home place was about 2½ miles east of his Opequon Creek properties, located on 1,786 acres of 3 October 1734 patent land on Vanmeter Marsh (Jones Mill Run), present-day Rockymarsh Run and Berkeley/Jefferson County line, 1¼ miles south of Scrabble, West Virginia. On 23 August 1738, he enlarged this tract when he purchased Richard Morgan's 290-acre patent land for 100 pounds. In the last will of John Vanmeter on 13 August 1745 (proved 3 September 1745) he left one room, "which she likes best in my dwelling house" and ? of the "movable" estate to his wife Margaret. On 17 September 1744, he gave instructions for the disposal of his many horses, to be "appropriated" to their use "under the care and conduct of my Executors mentioned in my Will and Testament," recorded 12 October 1744. John Vanmeter's children were: sons Johannes/John, Isaac, Henry, Abraham and Jacob; daughters Rachel, Sarah, Mary, Rebecca, Elizabeth and Magdalena. The will was witnessed by Edward Morgan, Andrew Corn and Joseph Carroll. The executors were Thomas Shepherd, Abraham Vanmeter and Jacob Vanmeter. Son John was deceased by 17 September 1744, leaving a son John who was willed 238 acres of land (part of 475 acres purchased from Jost Hite) by his grandfather . . . and a daughter Johanna (married William Burns). On 3 November 1747, Jonas Hedges was appointed their guardian by the Frederick County Court. Son Isaac was willed 243 acres ("where his Father now dwells") of the 1,786-acre patent land, located northwest of brother Jacob's land. Isaac owned land at the time of will in Maryland on Monocacy (River). Isaac was deceased by 13 April 1749 when Van Swearingen, Thomas Caton and Edward Teague appraised his estate and Alice Vanmeter was named his Administratrix. Son Henry (b. 1710 c.) received, by will, 400 acres ("where he dwells") being the south part of his father's 885-acre patent land. . . . Henry lived in a large stone house which burned in 1905, located just south of the Warm Springs Road. He died in 1793, leaving his wife Elizabeth ? of the estate, including the home. Henry's son Joseph preceded him in death, having died in Kentucky by 1790. The other children were: sons Nathan and Joshua; daughters Hannah, Ruth and Hester. Son Abraham married Ruth Hedges (daughter of Joseph Hedges) and held land in the present-day Wheeling, West Virginia area, but spent most of his life in Berkeley County at his plantation of 237 acres, willed by his father, being part of 475 acres bought from Jost Hite on the east side of Opequon Creek. . . . Abraham also received by will the south half of his father's 400-acre survey land bought from Jost Hite (Vanmeter had a bond from Hite on this land, . . . ), and a 100-acre part of Frances Pincher's 150-acre patent land. . . . Abraham's will was written on 21 December 1780 (proved 18 November 1783) leaving the home plantation to son Daniel. His other children were: sons John, Joseph, Jacob, Abraham and Isaac; daughters Ruth, Hannah, Mary and Rebecca (wife of John Spahar). John's youngest son Jacob received, by will, his father's house and orchard, a 233-acre part of the 1,786-acre patent land. . . . The 233-acre tract was located in present-day Jefferson County, West Virginia on West Virginia Highway 45, west of Heatherfield and Mechlenburg. Jacob later purchased from Lord Fairfax 236 acres east of his home. Jacob and his wife Lettis/Lettice (Strode) and his son Abraham and his wife Elizabeth (of Muddy Creek settlement, Clark County, south of Strode's Station near Winchester, Kentucky on the waters of the Ohio) sold the 232-acre home plantation (Lexington County, Kentucky area) to Van Swearingen on 18 October 1773. Daughter Rachel was deceased by September 1744, leaving a son John Laforge who received 200 acres from his grandfather's will. This land was the north half of John Vanmeter's 400-acre survey. . . . Daughter Sarah Vanmeter was a witness at the marriage of Thomas Mills (son of John) and Elizabeth Harrold (daughter of Mary Harrold, widow) held at Josiah Ballenger's house in "Manaqucy" on the 18th day, 4th month (June) 1730. Sometime afterward, she married James Davis. Sarah received 220 acres from her father's estate, located on both sides of present-day Rockymarsh Run, Berkeley/Jefferson County line and adjacent south of sister Rebeccah's inheritance. James Davis sold her 220-acre tract to brother-in-law Jacob Vanmeter for 60 pounds on 9 July 1754. Daughter Mary and her husband Robert Jones of Halifax County, Virginia, sold Mary's 350-acre inheritance, located west of John Welton's patent land . . . , part of the 1,786-acre patent land, to Edward Lucas on 9 November 1752. On the same date, John Jones of Halifax County, Virginia, (son and "Heir Apparent") signed off on the above sale for 70 pounds. On 8 October 1726, a Robert Jones and wife Mary sold 56 acres on Chicamacomico River (Creek) in Dorchester County, Maryland, on the east side of "Chisapike bay" for 3,000 pounds of tobacco. A Robert Jones was taxed in Marlborough Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, from 1715 to 1726. Daughter Rebecca married Soloman Hedges (son of Joseph) by 1740 and, at the death of her father in 1745, received the north 200 acres of the 1,786-acre patent land adjacent south to Richard Morgan's 290-acre patent land. . . . Daughter Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Shepherd, was willed the southeastern 300-acre part of the 1,786-acre patent land. She also was willed 160 acres in Maryland on the Potomac River adjacent to "Antedum Bottom." Magdalena, youngest daughter of John Vanmeter and wife of Robert Pewfey, received 250 acres of the 1,786-acre patent land, located southwest of brother Jacob's inheritance. Isaac Vanmeter, brother of John (b. 1683) was deceased by 14 December 1757 when his will (written 15 February 1754) was proved in Hampshire County, Virginia, present-day Hardy County, West Virginia. His will listed wife Annah and seven children: sons Henry, Jacob and Garrett; daughters Sarah Richman, Catherine, Rebecca (wife of Abraham Hite) and Hellita. Sons Garrett and Henry (called Col. Henry Vanmeter) received Fairfax grants from 1761 to 1765 on Patterson Creek and Flag Meadow of the South Branch of the Potomac River; some had been surveyed by 1750. Henry Vanmeter's will was written on 16 February 1778 (proved 11 May 1778) in Hampshire County, leaving wife Rebecca and five children: Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Soloman and Abraham. His brothers Garrett and Isaac Vanmeter served as witnesses. Isaac Vanmeter's (of Hardy County) will was written on 16 March 1837 (proved 1 January 1838) listing seven children: sons David, Garrett, John J. (Ohio land) and Jacob; daughters Sally Cunningham, Anna Gibson and Elizabeth Innskeep.
  Person ID	I25935	Frost, Gilchrist and Related Families
  Last Modified	17 Apr 2024

  
  

  Father	Joost Jansen VAN METRE,   b. Abt 1659, Gelderland, Netherlands d. 13 Jan 1706 (Age ~ 47 years)
  Mother	Sarah du BOIS,   b. Bef 14 Sep 1664, Ulster County, NY d. 13 Jan 1726, Salem, Salem County, NJ (Age > 61 years)
  Marriage	12 Dec 1682	Kingston, Ulster County, NY
  Family ID	F11321	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Sarah BODINE,   b. Abt 1687, Staten Island, Richmond County, NY d. 26 Apr 1709, Somerset County, NJ (Age ~ 22 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1705	Somerville, Somerset County, NJ
  Children	1. Sarah Jansen VAN METRE,   b. Bef 30 Oct 1706, Somerset County, NJ d. Aft 7 Dec 1756, Frederick County, VA (Age > 50 years)
  Family ID	F11326	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	17 Apr 2024

  
  

  Family 2	Margaret MOLENAAR,   b. Abt 1687, Somerset County, NJ d. Aft 3 Sep 1745 (Age ~ 58 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1710	Somerville, Somerset County, NJ
  Children	1. Abraham VAN METER,   b. Abt 1721, Somerset County, NJ d. Bef 18 Nov 1783, Berkeley County, VA [now WV] (Age ~ 62 years)
  Family ID	F4774	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	17 Apr 2024