Jan, bapt. October 14, 1683, sponsors Jan Joosten and Macyken Hendricksen. Jan, or John Van Metre, as he afterward wrote his name, son of Jooste Jan and Sara du Bois Van Meteren, became a noted Indian trader and was a roving disposition, and spent much of his time from home in trading with friendly Indians. On one occasion he went in command of a band of Cong Indians on a trading expedition to Virginia and on this excursion he explored the country then almost unknown to white people, the valley of the South Branch of the Potomac, known then by the Indian name, Wapatoma. When he returned home he urged his sons to lose no time in possessing that land, declaring that it was most beautiful and fertile.
"John Van Meter, Sr., a Dutchman from the Hudson, was an Indian trader and pioneer explorer of the Shenandoah Valley, who spied out the land about the time of Governor Spottswood's expedition in 1716. He equipped a band of Delaware Indians at his own expense and traveled far southward over unknown lands. On his return he advised his sons to take up lands in the Wappatomaka Valley, on the South Branch River above "the Trough" as it was the finest land he had ever discovered. Subsequently his sons John and Isaac took his advice and petitioned Gov. Gooch in 1731 for 40,000 acres, which they later transferred to Joist Hite, whose wife, Anna Maria du Bois, a near relative of Louis du Bois."
While still a resident of Somerset County, N. J., John Van Metre, Jr., met and married Sarah Bodine. The Bodines were a family lately settled on the Raritan, having come there from Staten Island, and belonged to a group of French Huguenots that had been established on the island many years before...
John and Sarah [Bodine] Van Metre had three children born in Somerset County. The records show that they were baptised in the Reformed Dutch Church on the Raritan, in the following order: Sarah, baptised October 30, 1706; Johannes, baptised April 28, 1708; and Marie, baptised April 26, 1709. John Van Metre's wife, Sarah Bodine, died about this time, for he afterward married Margaret [sup. Molenaur, Mulinar or Miller, the name is synonymous] and then have removed to Salem County, where the Mulinar family had preceded them. John, in his will, dated 1745, expressly states that his son Abraham is the son of his "said wife Margaret." Johannes, the only son of his first wife, Sarah, having predeceased his father, Abraham became the heir-at-law and executor of his father's will.
John Van Meter (Metre), Morgan Morgan and Morgan Bryan appraised the estate of Robert Worthington in Orange County on 07 August 1736. John Van Meter, Morgan Morgan and Richard Beeson (Presson) took inventory of the estate of Thomas Curtiss on 23 July 1741, John Van Meter, Richard Beeson and William Johnson inventoried the estate of Mary Curtiss on 24 February 1741/2. Mary Curtiss was a daughter of Morgan and Martha Bryan.
The next information was submitted by J. Ray Franklin from Mission Oaks Genealogical Club in Carmichael, California. The web address, as of September 1998, was "http://www.2xtreme.net/mogc/missuv.htm". This information has been used to update the files on Jan Van Metre* and Sarah Bodine. Some previous information on Sarah came from a paper by Theodore A. Bodine. That information differed quite a bit from this. Theodore Bodine's data is included here below for comparison:
Information from Theodore Bodine said that Jan Van Metern was born on April 17, 1678 in Ulster County, New York. He was baptised October 14, 1683 at the Kingston Dutch Reformed Church in Ulster County. And he supposedly died in 1709.
His information also said that Sarah was born in 1687 in Richmond County, New York. She died in 1709 in Somerset County, New Jersey.
The following information comes from the Mission Oaks web pages:
1. VAN METEREN, Diske See VAN METEREN, Johan Captain Submitter J. Ray Franklin
2. VAN METEREN, Hengrygk Wife: JANS, Anne Jans Born Mapelen, Dreuth, Holland. Died Mapelen, Dreuth, Holland. Submitter J. Ray Franklin
3. VAN METEREN, Johan Captain Born .. .ca 1555 Neimegen, Holland, Netherlands. Married, Neimegen, Holland, Netherlands. Died .. .ca 1621 Neimegen, Holland, Netherlands. Wife: VAN METEREN, Diske (1st Cousin). Submitter J. Ray Franklin
4. VAN METEREN, Melchior Married Meteren, Gelderland, Netherlands. Wife: ARIENCE, Anneken Born .. .ca 1600 Gelderland, Netherlands. Submitter J. Ray Franklin
5. VAN METEREN, Jan Joosten Born .. .ca 1626 Gelderland, Gelderland, Netherlands. Married .. .ca 1646 Nepelen, Dreuth, Holland. Died 13 Jun 1706 Lassa, Burlington, New Jersey. Father Melchoir Lord Meteren, Mother Anneken of Arience. Wife: HENDRICKSEN, Macyken Born .. .ca 1629 Mapelen Dreuth, Holland. Died Rural area of Burlington, New Jersey. Father Hengryck Laeckervelt Mother Ann Jans Jans. Submitter J. Ray Franklin
6. VAN METERAN, Joost Jans of Gelderland Born .. .ca 1656 Mapelen, Dreuth, Netherlands. Died .. .ca 1706 Kingston, Ulster, New York. Married 12 Dec 1682 Kingston, Ulster, New York. Father Jan Joosten. Wife: DUBOIS, Sarah Born 14 Sep 1662 New Pals, Ulster, New York. Died .. .ca 1726 Rural area of Salem, New Jersey. Father Louis DuBois Mother Catherine Blanshen. Submitter J. Ray Franklin
*7.VAN METRE, John (Jan Jansen) Born 14 Oct 1683 Marbletown, Ulster, New York. Married 1st .. ... 1704/5 Rural area of Rural Somerset, New Jersey. Married 2nd .. .ca 1710 Rural area of Rural Somerset, New Jersey. Died 13 Aug 1745 Rural Elizabethtown, Hardin, Kentucky. Father Joost J. Van Metere Mother Sarah DuBois. 1 st Wife: BODINE, Sara Born .. .ca 1687 Staten Island, Richmond, New York. Died .. .ca 1709 Somerset, New Jersey. Father Jan Bodine (Hugenot) Mother ??? 2 nd Wife: MOLLENAUER, Margrit Born .. .ca 1690 near Winchester, Frederick, Virginia. Died .. .ca 1744 near Winchester, Frederick, Virginia. Father Henderick Mollenauer Mother. Submitter J. Ray Franklin
8. VAN METRE, Jacob Sir Born 16 Mar 1723 Rural area of Somerset, New Jersey. Married 30 Aug 1741 Rural area of Frederick, Virginia. Died 16 Nov 1798 Rural Elizabethtown, Hardin, Kentucky. Father John Van Meter Mother Margrit Mollenauer. Wife: STROUD, Lititia. Born 30 Aug 1725 Rural area of Chester, Pennsylvania. Died 25 Dec 1799 Elizabethtown, Hardin, Kentucky. Father Edward Strode 3rd Mother Elinor ?? Submitter J. Ray Franklin
The following information was copied from a message on the Internet posted at www.rootsweb.com/roots-l/. Regarding the recent message submitted by Lynn Oliver concerning the Van
Smyth mentions the baptisms of Jan Jansen's first three children with Sara
I have not found a primary source which indicates that Jan Jansen was the
Smyth also reveals that Jan Jansen and Margaret conveyed a 37 acre parcel of
This wazzu Hendrix Mulinaer appears to be the same Hendrick Mollenauer that
The records of the First Reformed Church of Raritan are printed in Vol. 1 of
It appears, then, that Hendrix Mulinaer/Muelenaer was about the same age as
Now let's turn to an article written by Louise Hasbrouck Zimm "Lieutenant
Zimm provides information on four Mulinaer children: A fifth child, with his third wife is shown as Sara, bap. 18 Jun 1682, in
Owing to the sale of property by Jan Jansen Van Meter and his wife to Hendrix
In any event, there seems to be enough material about the good old Dutch
Dr. Richard M. Cochran, Dean of the Library
The following information came from somewhere on the Internet:
27. Sarah BODINE. Born in 1687. Sarah died in 1709; she was 22.
In 1705 when Sarah was 18, she married John VAN METER, son of Joost Jans VAN METEREN (ca 1656-19 Jun 1714) & Sarah DU BOIS (abt 14 Sep 1662-1726), in Somerset County, New Jersey. Born on 14 Oct 1683 in Kingston, Ulster County, New York. John died in Frederick County, VA in 1745; he was 61.
They had the following children: I found out that there is a town called "Meteren" in the Netherlands. It is a village south of Geldermalsen, which is a few kilometers north of 's-Hertogenbosch. An 1858 book about towns in the Netherlands has a little about it:
If we walk along the stream the "Linge," we first arrive at Geldermalsen, two and a half hours from Tiel; this village has a few very distinquised houses, among which is the beautiful Huis-Ravestein, a large Reformed Church with a wonderful tomb of the old noble family "van Borssele," who used to own this domain with the village Meteren, which too has a Church and a beautiful noble house "Huis-te-Meteren. It is surrounded by graceful gardens, canals and rich meadows.
The above information was supplied by Cor Snabel from the Dutch Colonies List at Rootsweb. I asked him this question since I had seen a small village in France called "Meteren." I began wondering if the Van Meteren's might have come from there. It doesn't look like it now. The French town of Meteren is between Bailleul and Bethune.
Here is a message I received: From: BobbyJW51 at aol.com Dave, Is this the same Jan Jansen Van Meter whose wife was Margaret Mollenauer? You don't show children Abraham (who I am decended from) and Rebecca. Info I have is from http://www.geocities.com/watsgw1155/hedges/pafg03.htm#8957 the Hedges PAF website.
Barbara
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 1996 22:43:39 -0400 (EDT)
From: Richard Cochran
Subject: MULLINER Van METER Families
Meter family, particularly the identity of the 2nd wife of Jan Jansen Van
Meter, b. 1683. I am not aware of the primary source of authority for the
marriage of Jan Jansen and Margaret MOLENAUR, but in THE ORIGIN AND DESCENT
OF AN AMERICAN VAN METRE FAMILY by Samuel Gordon Smyth (Lancaster, Pa., 1923)
something of this family is listed on pp. 27-29.
Bodine as recorded in the Reformed Dutch Church on the Raritan River in
Somerset County. He opines that the children of the second marriage (Margert
Molenaur) were born in Salem County.
son-in-law of a Hendrick/Henry Molenaur. But Smyth was able to ascertain
that Jan Jansen and Margaret had married by 1712 as they appear as husband
and wife in a deed dated 13 Sep 1712 when Jan Jansen bought 250 acres of land
in Monmouth County called "Virgin Spring" from James and Mary Sherron.
land inherited from his grandfather, Joost Janse Van Meter on the west side
of the Raritan River (part of an 835 acre tract conveyed by the Governor of
New Jersey to the elder Van Meter in 1700) -- to Hendrix Mulinaer (Henry
Miller) of Somerset County.
Lynn Oliver mentioned in her message. The same man who lived in Somerset
Co., NJ, wrote his will on 26 Jan 1712/3 (probated 4 Mar 1718/19), leaving a
wife Catherine, with children Yost (Joost?), Ariency, John, Mary
and Elizabeth.
the Somerset County Historical Society Quarterly (1911). Among the baptisms
of the family of Hendrick and Katleyn MUELENAER are Joost Adriaensen, bap.
30 Apr 1707 (sponsors Adriaen Muelenaer and wife) Maryken, bap. 26 Apr 1709;
and Lisabet, bap. 6 Aug 1712 (?).
Jan Jansen Van Meter and his wife, having children born at the same time as
Jan Jansen and his first wife, Sara Bodine.
Gysbert Crom of Esopus, New York (Was He a Step-Son of Joosten Van Meteren?)"
published in the October 1950 issue of the New York Genealogical and
Biographical Record (vol. 81), pp. 197-202. Zimm contends that this Hendrix
Mulinaer/Muelenaer of Somerset, NJ was a son of Joost Adriansen Molenaer, a
native of Pynacker, South Holland, who died in Bushwick "Boswyck" Long Island
about 1685. He was married three times--first to Femmetije Hendricks, , in
Kingston, NY on 20 Mar 1663, to Elisabet
Willemsen Krom, on 28 Oct 1668and to Marritje Heys on 9 Nov 1681.
Jannetie, bap. 5 Apr 1672
Adrian, born about 1675
Willem, bp. 13 Oct 1678
and Hendrick, bp. 24 Apr 1681
Kingston, NY.
Mulinaer/Muelenaer, I wonder if Margaret wasn't a sister of that Hendrix.
Mulinaer/Muelenaer family to explore in Somerset and Salem Co., NJ and in
and around Ulster County before we assume that Thomas Mullinor of
Elizabethtown is related to this clan!
Monmouth University, W. Long Branch, NJ 07764 Phone: (908) 571-4401
FAX: (908) 571-3636 E-Mail: rcochran@mondec.monmouth.edu
39 i. Mary (~1709->1796)
40 ii. Sarah (ca1706->1756)
41 iii. John (Johannes) J. (ca1708-ca1730)
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2004
Subject: Jan Jansen Van Meter