W/Zx///"^'^^^-^^^^"^ 



J-I^'-P^LM^ L/Cl^l^ 



VALENTINE VAN WOEMER. 



Valentine Van Wormer was born in Charleston, Schoharie Co., 

 N. Y., Oct. 22, 1812. His paternal ancestors came from Hol- 

 land. He is the eleventh child in a family of thirteen children of 

 Lawrence and Anna (Staley) Van Wormer, both natives of New 

 Jersey. His Grandfather Van Wormer migrated from New 

 Jersey, first settled on the Hudson River during the Revolution- 

 ary war, and subsequently settled in Montgomery Co., N. Y. 



His father was a farmer in Montgomery County for twenty 

 years, and traded his farm there for some eighteen hundred 

 acres of land in the Conhocton valley, near the village of Lib- 

 erty, on the Robert L. Bound's tract, and in 1816 settled in the 

 town of Cohocton, where he purchased two hundred and fifty 

 acres more. Some six hundred acres of this land he is said to 

 have cleared and made ready for cultivation. 



He assisted in the erection of the first Methodist church 

 here, and prior to that time the quarterly meetings of that de- 

 nomination were often held in his barn for want of a more 

 commodious building. He was one of the pioneers of the town 

 and contributed largely to its early local enterprises. Although 

 a man of very little book knowledge, he possessed much native 

 talent and ability, was well informed, and had strong reasoning 

 faculties. 



Prior to settling in this county he held various ofiicial posi- 

 tions in Montgomery County, was a member of the Democratic 

 party, and ranked as lieutenant in the old militia, with commis- 

 sion signed by Governor Tompkins. He was a man of great 

 perseverance, and known for his correct habits and strict integ- 

 rity. For many years both he and his wife were consistent 

 members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died August, 

 1852, aged eighty-four. His wife died January, 1853, aged 

 seventy-nine. 



Of their six sons and eight daughters, thirteen reached man- 



hood and womanhood, and five sons and one daughter are now 

 living. Mr. Valentine Van Wormer was only four years of 

 age when the family settled in the town of Cohocton. He spent 

 his minority at home, receiving a good education at the common 

 school and at Lima Seminary. For five terms he was a teacher 

 after reaching his majority, and Nov. 22, 1838, he married 

 Anna, daughter of Judge E. W. Cleveland, of Naples, Ontario 

 Co. Her father was prominently identified with the local in- 

 terests of that county, and held the various offices of supervisor, 

 justice of the peace, and associate judge for many years. He 

 was a volunteer in the war of 1812, lived to be sixtv-seven • 

 years of age, and died in 1860. Mrs. Van Wormer was bom 

 Dec. 4, 1817. 



Their children are Mrs. Wm. Henry Mattison, of Ionia, 

 Mich. ; Mrs. Dr. E. M. White, of Liberty ; Fayette M., soldier 

 of the late Rebellion, died Feb. 7, 1865, aged twenty-one ; 

 Emory L., of Avoca ; Mrs. C. W. Stanton, of Liberty ; Eugene, 

 a farmer, of Cohocton ; and Eugenia, a teacher. 



After his marriage Mr. Van Wormer carried on the farm 

 for nine years settled by his father, and purchased a farm of 

 Constant Cook, contiguous to the village, upon which he has re- 

 sided since 1847. 



He was a Democrat until the formation of the Republican 

 party, of which he has since been a somewhat active member. 

 He was school commissioner for two terms, and also school in- 

 spector for two terms under the old law, and has been once the 

 candidate of his party for the Assembly, but was unsuccessful^ 

 his party being in the minority. He has ever been interested 

 in the temperance reform since its first organization, yet never 

 a member of any secret societies, and from their youth both he 

 and his wife have been members of the Methodist Episcopal 

 Church. 



