William, NJ to WV, ca. 1745
I am not researching this family, just entering information from one of my books, "The Histor of Hardy County" WV:
William Millar, a Jerseyman of Dutch ancestry, bought 400 acres on teh South Branch two miles above the Trough.He said that the land 'was first settled and taken up by Solomon Hedges in 1744' and 'conveyed to me in 1745 for 35 postiles.' (A pistole was a foreign gold coin that circulated freely at a value a little less than a British pound.)Millar sold the land in 1758."
"Millar and the VanMeters found other settlers had taken the best land before they arrived.William Millar and the VanMeters came from Pilesgrove Township in Salen County, New Jersey.William Millar, Isaac VanMeter and Henry VanMeter were among those who signed the covenant of a Presbyterian Church at Pilesgrove in 1741.Most of the signers had their roots in the Esopus settlement and were of Dutch or French Huguenot ancestry, but they called the Reverend David Evans, a native Welshman, as their pastor.William Millar and Henry VanMeter had married sisters.In 1743 Millar married Catherine Hopewell, a widow with two children, at the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.She was a daughter of Isaac DuBois, a substantial landowner and real estate developer in Skippack Townchip in Philadelphia (now Montgomery) County, Pennsylvania. Henry VanMeter married her sister Rebeccaabout the same time."
"Henry VanMeter and William Millar acquired their lands above th Trough by 1745.Abraham Hite, son of Yost Hite, was their neighbor and brother-in-law by 1751.He married Isaac VanMeter's daughter Rebecca.Millar also had an extended family.His Hopewell stepchildren and James Millar, son of his dead brother George who had been a blacksmith in Pilesgrove, came with him."
I am related to the families of VanMeter, Hedges, and DuBois.My ancestor John VanMeter was said to be the first white man in that area.In 1725, while living in Ulster Co., NY, he traveled the Potomac with Indians with whom he traded. He decided that one day his sons would own land in the South Branch area.
To explain the area called the Trough: "Van Meter's enthusiasm is easy to understand.For much of his journey upstream, the South Branch wound through mountain ridges.After the narrow path the river has cut for itself at the Trough, the valley opens up into broad level and gently rolling country streching four miles across and upriver as far as the eye can see."
There is a scenic train which leaves Romney, WV, and goes down through the Trough.There is room between the ridges for only the river and the train tracks.
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Re: William, NJ to WV, ca. 1745
Dawn Tabacsko 11/11/07