30 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



were: Lendrum L., born October 4, 

 1832; Elizabeth R., who married J. Paul 

 Knight; Harriet P., who married George 

 Shoemaker; and Charles R., who mar- 

 ried Carrie Saurman. The only child of 

 the second marriage was Dr. Benjamin 

 Vansant. 



5. Nicholas L., born September 7, 

 1807; married Margaret Vandegrift, and 

 had two children, Mahlon and Marj^ Ann. 



The children of Nathaniel and Alice 

 (Vanartsdalen) Vansant, were: 



1. Mary Amanda, born March 26, 1824, 

 married Anderson Leedom, and had 

 three children: Thomas, deceased; Alice, 

 wife of John Tomlinson; and Nathaniel, 

 who married Martha Comly. 



2. Casper R., born April 3, 1826, died 

 June 26, 1881, married Ellen Field, and 



had two children: Nathaniel, born Oc- 

 tober 12, 1859; see forward; and Levi, 

 who married Ida Sickle. 



3. Nicholas B., born January 28, 1828, 

 went to California, where he probably 

 died. 



4. Hiram R., born January 12, 1831, 

 •died September 19, 1888. 



5. Jacob W., born March 7. 1833: mar- 

 ried Esther Buckman, and had five chil- 

 dren: Alice, who married William Brad- 

 field; Watson, who married a VanReif; 

 Howard, who married Lydia Stout; 

 Leonard, who married Sarah Yerkes; and 

 Mary who married Horace Blaker. 



6. Howard S., born February 13. 

 1835; married Elizabeth Fetter. He died 

 July 9, 1866. 



7. MARTIN VAN BUREN VAN- 

 SANT, born on the old homestead in 

 Southampton, February 4, 1839. He was 

 reared on the old homestead and edu- 

 cated at the public schools. He learned 

 the trade of a miller, and was engaged in 

 the milling business at Churchville for a 

 number of years. At his father's death 

 in 1883 he purchased the old homestead 

 in Southampton, and subsequently sold 

 it to Dr. Benjamin Baer, of Philadelphia. 

 Mr. Vansant was never married. In pol- 

 itics he is a Democrat. He never held 

 other than local offices, having filled 

 that of assessor, which office, by the way, 

 was held by his great-great-grandfather 

 under Colonial authority, the original 

 commission being in possession of the 

 Bucks County Historical Society. 



NATHANIEL VANSANT, son of 

 Casper (4) and Ellen (Field) Vansant. 

 was born at Somerton. Philadelphia 

 county. October 12,. 1859, but was reared 

 in Southampton township, Bucks county, 

 and educated at the local schools. His 

 father purchased a farm in Southamp- 

 ton in 1870, which he conveyed to Na- 

 thaniel in 1888, and he has always fol- 

 lowed the life of a farmer. In politics 

 he is a Democrat. He has filled the of- 

 fice of school director for several years. 

 He was married in September, 1888. to 



Wilhelmina Depew, and they are the 

 parents of two children: Blanche, born 

 March 10, 1890; and Viola E., born Oc- 

 tober 8, 1892. 



THE VANDEGRIFT FAMILY is of 

 Holland descent, their progenitor being 

 Jacob Lendertsen Van der Grift (that is, 

 son of Lenerd) who with his brother 

 Paulus Lenertsen Van der Grifc, came 

 from Amsterdam about 1644 and settled 

 in New Amsterdam. Both of the Van 

 der Grift brothers were in the employ of 

 the West India Company. Paulus was 

 skipper of the ship "Neptune" in 1645, 

 and of the "Great Gerrit"' in 1646. He 

 was a large landholder in New Amster- 

 dam as early as 1644. He was a member 

 of council, 1647-1648; burgomaster 1657- 

 1658, and 1661-1664; orphan master 1656- 

 1660; member of convention, 1653 and 

 1663. On February 21, 1664. Paulus 

 Leendersen and Allard Anthony were 

 spoken of as "co-patroons of the new 

 settlement of Noortwyck, on the North 

 River." He had five children baptized ai 

 the Dutch Reformed church, and he and 

 his wife were witnesses to the baptism of 

 five of the eight children of his brother 

 Jacob. Paulus Leendertsen Van der 

 Grift sold his property in New Amster- 

 dam in 1671, and returned with his fam- 

 ily to Europe. 



Jacob Lendertsen Van die Grifte, bot- 

 tler, of New Amsterdam, in the service 

 of the West India Company, on Septem- 

 ber II, 1648, granted a power of Attor- 

 ney to Marten IMartense Schoenmaker, of 

 Amsterdam, Holland, to collect from the 

 West India Company such amounts of 

 money as he (Van die Grift) had earned 

 at Curocoa, on the ship "Swol". em- 

 ployed by that company to ply between 

 the island of Curocoa and New Nether- 

 lands. The early records of New Am- 

 sterdam give a considerable account of 

 this ship "Swol." It carried twenty-two 

 guns and seventy-six men. In 1644 it 

 was directed to proceed to New Amster- 

 dam, and on arriving, "being old." it 

 was directed to be sold. Another boat 

 was', however, given the same name, be- 

 ing sometimes mentioned as the "New 

 Swol." 



On July 19, 1648. Jacob Lendertsen 

 Van der Grist was married at New Am- 

 sterdam to Rebecca Fredericks, daugh- 

 ter, of Frederick Lubbertsen. On March 

 7. 1652, he sold as attorney for his 

 father-in-law, fifty morgens and fifty-two 

 rods of land on East river. On Febru- 

 ary 19, 1657, Jacob Leendersen V.nn die 

 Grift was commissioned by the burgo- 

 masters and schepens of New Amster- 

 dam as a measurer of grain. To this ap- 

 pointment was affixed instructions "that 

 from now nobody shall be allowed to 

 measure for himself or have measured 

 by anybody else than the sworn meas- 

 urers, any grain, lime or other goods 



