32 



HISTORY Of BUCKS COUNTY. 



ried December 22, 1715, Cornelius King. 

 Ail of the above children of Leonard 

 Vandegrift removed to New Lastle 

 count}', Delaware, prior to the dealh of 

 their father, except Abraham, to whom 

 they conveyed the real estate in Bensa- 

 leni in 1743. The above named heirs of 

 Abraham conveyed the same to Leonard, 

 eldest son of Abraham, in 1761. 



5. Nicholas Vandegrift, baptised May 

 5, 1658, married at New Utrecht, Long 

 Island, August 24, 1684, Barentje Ver- 

 kirk, daughter of John Verkerk. They 

 settled at New Utrecht, where he took 

 the oath of allegiance to James II in 

 1687, and where he purchased land in 

 . 1691. He removed to Bucks county with 

 his brothers and bothers-in-law in 1697, 

 conveying his Long Island land after his 

 removal. On July i, 1697, Joseph Grow- 

 don conveyed to him 214 acres in Ben- 

 salem. He joined the Bensalem church 

 in 1710, and became a junior deacon. The 

 records of the Dutch Reformed church 

 show the baptism of three children, viz.: 

 Rebecca, baptised July 26, 1685, mar- 

 ried II mo. 7, 1707, Jacobus Van Sandt; 

 Jan, baptised January i, 1691, married 

 ]\Iay 5, 1721, at Abington Presbyterian 

 church, Anna (or Hannah) Backer; and 

 Deborah, baptised April l, 1695, mar- 

 ried Laurent Jansen,* or Johnson. Nich- 

 olas Van de Grift removed to Sussex 

 county, Delaware, conveying his land in 

 1713 to Jacob Kollock, whose .w'idow 

 Mary in 1722 conveyed it to Folert, son 

 of John Vandegrift. 



6. Frederick Vandegrift, baptised Au- 

 gust 20, 1661. purchased of Joseph 

 Growdon on July i, 1697, 106 acres ad- 

 joining that of his brothers in Bensalem 

 township, Bucks county, a part of which 

 he conveyed a year later to Leonard 

 Vandegrift. If ever a resident of Bucks 

 count}', he probably remained but a 

 short time. 



7. Rachel Vandegrift. youngest daugh- 

 ter of Jacob, was baptised at New York, 

 August 20. 1664, and. married, in 1689. 

 Barent Verkerk, son of Jan, and brother 

 to his brother Nicholas's wife. Barent 

 Verkerk purchased in 1697 a tract of 

 land in Bensalem adjoining his brothers- 

 in-law, all the deeds being from Joseph 

 Growdon. and bearing the same date, 

 July I. 1697. He died in 1739, leaving 

 children: Jacob: John; Mary, married 

 Niels Boon; Constantina. married James 

 fitchet; Dinah, married James Keirll; 

 and another daughter, who married an 

 Underwood. 



8. Johannes Vandegrift, youngest son 

 of Jacob Lendertsen and Rebecca Fred- 

 erics Van der Grift, was baptised at New 

 York. June 26. 1667, and died in Ben- 



*Laurent Jansen, or Lawrence Johnson, was doubt- 

 less son of Clans Jansen. who purchased several 

 tracts of land in Bensalem some years earlier than 

 the Vandegrifts. He died in 1723. 'devising his lands 

 to his sons Lawrence, John and Richard. The fami- 

 lies later intermarried. • 



salem township, Bucks county, Pennsyl- 

 vania, in 1745- He married, September 

 23, 1694, Nealkie Volkers, widow of Cor- 

 nelius Cortelyou, who was living at date 

 of his will in 1732, but died before 1740. 

 He married (second) July i, 1741, Eliza- 

 beth Snowden, a widow. He purchased 

 196 acres in Bensalem of Joseph Grow- 

 don, adjoining the tracts of his brothers 

 and brothers-in-law, the deed bearing 

 date July i, 1697. He was an elder of 

 the "Sammeny" church, having joined it 

 at its organization in 1710. His will 

 dated March 16, 1732, proved March 28, 

 1745, devises to son Abraham the farm 

 he lives on, for life, and if he die with- 

 out issue it is to go to his surviving 

 brothers and sisters. Some years later 

 the children of Johannes entered into an 

 agreement by which the land was to 

 vest in the heirs of those deceased, even 

 though they did not survive Abraham, 

 and inasmuch as Abraham died without 

 issue in 1781, the subsequent conveyances 

 of the land throw light on the family 

 connections. In 1786 the representatives 

 of Jacob, Rebecca, Christana, and Hel- 

 ena conveyed the land, 160 acres, to Jacob 

 Jackson and later a partition thereof 

 was had between Jackson and Abraham 

 Harman and Cornelius, sons of Fulkert. 

 The children of Johannes and Nealke 

 (Volkers) Vandegrift were: i. Fulkert, 

 born 1695, died 1775; married May 6, 

 1719, Elizabeth Vansandt. and (second) 

 August 10, 174^, Marytje Hufte. He was 

 a considerable landholder in Bensalem. 

 He had five sons: Folkhart, Harman, 

 Abraham, Cornelius and John; and three 

 daughters: Alice LaRue, Elizabeth 

 Krusen and Elinor, most of whom have 

 left descendants in Bucks county. 2. 

 Jacob, baptised at New York, October 

 14, 1696, died in Bensalem in 1771, mar- 

 ried Choyes Toulej^ October 23, 1716. 

 3. Abraham, born 1698, died 1781, mar- 

 ried, but had no issue. 4. Rebecca, mar- 

 ried John Van Horn, died 1786. 5. Chris- 

 tiana, married November 8. 1722, Joseph 

 Foster. 6. Lenah, married a Fulton. 7. 

 Esther, baptized in Bucks count}'. May 

 10. 1710. 



Most of the Vandegrifts of Bucks 

 county are descendants of Johannes and 

 Nealke (Volkers) Vandegrift. Leonard, 

 grandson of Leonard, remained in Ben- 

 salem, and the land originally settled by 

 his grandfather descended to his son. 

 Captain Josiah Vandegrift. John, son of 

 Nicholas, became a large landholder in 

 Bensalem; he died in 1765, leaving sons: 

 Nicholas. Jacob, John. Joseph, for many 

 years an innkeeper in Bensalem; and 

 daughters: Catharine Sands; Esther, who 

 married John Houten; and Rebecca 

 Vansciver. Of the sons, John married' 

 Ann Walton, May 28. 1761. and had chil- 

 dren: Joshua. Joseph, John, Jonathan, 

 and ]\Iary. The father died in 1777. and 

 the widow Ann married Charles Fetters 

 a jear later. 



