HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



119 



the provincial conference in May, 1775, 

 and was again a delegate to the confer- 

 ence that drafted the first constitution 

 in 1776. He was the leading member of 

 the committee of safety in Bucks, and 

 the county's first representative in the 

 congress of the United States, which 

 assembled in New York on March 4. 

 1789. He died in 1816. after a long car- 

 eer of unexampled usefulness in public 

 life.. 



Gerrit Wynkoop, second son of Ger- 

 rit and Lilletje (Folkert) Wynkoop, 

 was born in New York, about 1700, and 

 came to Bucks county with his father 

 in 1717, and died in Northampton town- 

 ship, May 12, 1769, on the 260-acre farm 

 conveyed to him by his father in 1738. 

 He and his wife, Susanna Vliet, were 

 members of -the Dutch Reformed church 

 of Northampton and Southampton. 

 They were the parents of several chil- 

 dren, only two of whom survived him, 

 Geri-rdus and Adrian. The latter was 

 baptized at Southampton, October 4, 



1/43- 



Gerardus, eldest son of Gerrit and Su- 

 sannah, M^as born in Northampton, and 

 was joint heir with his brother Adrian 

 of the paternal homestead, which he pur- 

 chased entire in 1770, and spent his en- 

 tire life thereon. He was first lieuten- 

 ant of the Northampton County Asso- 

 ciators in 1775. He was elected a mem- 

 ber of assembly in 1774, and served con- 

 tinuously in that body until 1794, and 

 was for several years speaker. He died 

 in June, 1812. His wife, whom he mar- 

 ried December 7, 1758, was Elizabeth, 

 daughter of Isaac- Bennett. They were 

 the parents of eight children — six sons: 

 Isaac, John, Garret, Mathew, David, and 

 William; and twc^ daughters, Susannah, 

 wife of David Wylie, and Elizabeth, 

 wife of Stephen Rose. 



William, youngest son of Gerardus 

 and Elizabeth, inherited one hundred 

 and twenty-eight acres of the old home- 

 stead in Northampton, and spent his 

 life thereon. He married April 13, 1801, 

 Mary Longstreth. and died in 1833. His 

 widow iMary survived him several years. 

 Their children were: Thomas L., Ger- 

 ardus, Christopher: Elizabeth, wife of 

 Charles McNair; Catharine, wife of Dr. 

 James McNair; Susannah, Margaret. 

 Anna Maria, Susan, Mary Frances and 

 Caroline. 



Thomas L. Wynkoop married Eliza- 

 beth Torbert, daughter of James and 

 Margaret (McNair) Torbert, of Scotch- 

 Irish ancestry, a descendant of Samuel 

 Torbert, who came to Newtown. Bucks 

 countv. from Carrickfergus, Ireland, in 

 1726. 'Thomas and Elizabeth (Torbert) 

 Wynkoop were the parents of five chil- 

 dren, viz. : James. Catharine. William, 

 Samuel, and Thomas Henry. The lat- 

 ter was a member of General W. 

 W. H. Davis' 104th Pennsylvania Regi- 

 ment, and was killed in action in June, 



1862. Thomas L. Wynkoop, the father 

 of the above named children, died in. 

 1879, and devised the old homestead 

 where he had lived all his life to his 

 son William, the subject of this sketch, 

 who still owns it. 



The subject of this sketch has lived 

 an eventful life. He served three years 

 during the war of the rebellion in the 

 First New Jersey Cavalry, enlisting as 

 a private and was promoted successively 

 - to sergeant, second lieutenant, first lieu- 

 tenant and captain, rie served on the 

 staff of Brigadier General Davis, in 

 Gregg's, Cavalry Division, as provost- 

 marshal, ordnance office and assistant 

 adjutant general; was three times 

 wound and received an honorable testi- 

 monial for meritorious services. 



Soon after the war Captain Wynkoop 

 removed to Newtown, where he has 

 since resided. He was engaged in the 

 real estate business for nearly twenty 

 years, and transacted a large amount of 

 public business as assignee, executor, 

 administrator, and agent. He served in 

 the office of justice of the peace for fif- 

 teen years; was three years chief .bur- 

 gess of Newtown borough, and borough 

 treasurer for several years. He has been 

 president of the school board for the 

 past ten years, and is an active member 

 of the school directors' association of 

 Bucks county, which he has served as 

 president. He was one of the assign- 

 ees of the Newtown Banking Company 

 on its failure in May, 1878, and was an 

 important factor in winding up its com- 

 plicated affairs. 



Captain Wynkoop' comes of good old 

 Presbyterian stock, his ancestors for 

 eight generations having been officers 

 of the Presbyterian or Reformed 

 churches in the localities where they re- 

 sided. He has served as ruling elder of 

 the Newtown Presbyterian church since 

 1872. during which period he has acted 

 as clerk of. the session. In the same year 

 he was chosen superintendent of the 

 Sabbath school connected with the 

 church, and was re-elected to that posi- 

 tion for twenty-eight consecutive years, 

 then declining a re-election. In 1879 he 

 was elected president of the Bucks Coun- 

 ty Sabbath School Association and served 

 in that position for eight years. He has 

 been identified with the Bucks County 

 Historical Society for many years, and 

 has prepared a number of valuable his- 

 torical papers for its sessions. , He is 

 now one of the board of trustees of the 

 Society. He is an nctive member of the 

 G. A. R., and commander of T. H. Wyn- 

 koop Post. No. .427. at Newtown. This 

 Post was named in honor of his brother, 

 who died in the service of his country, 

 having enlisted in Colonel Davis' 104th 

 Regiment, when twenty years of age. 

 and was killed in action nine months 

 later. Captain Wynkoop served as aide- 

 de-camp, to Ge'neral John L. Black, 



