Person:Isaac Van Camp (1)

Isaac lived on Ten Mile creek, Washington county, Pennsylvania, near the town of Amity until about 1785, when he moved to land near Morgantown (now West Virginia).^[9] An 1881 history says Isaac "occupied five hundred acres of land near Morgantown by virtue of a tomahawk right." ^[10]

! Will- 29 May 1820, Monongalia Co, WV, Book 1, page 71. Isaac VanCamp Bible record found at Colson Hall. Morgantown, WV. Monongalia Co., WV Deeds. Washington Co., PA Tax Lists 1784.

Implausible parentage: Isaac Van Campen and Madalena Rosenkrans

Some people have listed Isaac Van Camp's parents as Isaac Van Campen and Madalena Roosekrans, with him having been born in the Walpack, New Jersey area where that couple lived. At present no evidence supporting this is known (other than the fact that Isaac and Madalena had a son named Isaac Van Campen).

A main piece of evidence against the idea of this parentage is found in Isaac Van Campen's will.^[11] The will was written in Walpack, N.J. in September 1801, and the testator died soon thereafter as the will was proven in December 1801. In it, he first says:

Son, Isaac, a horse, saddle, and bridle as his birthright; also my silver watch and various pieces of furniture, and he is to have the use of the room wherein I now live, during his life and £30 yearly, during his life.

This provision indicates that this Isaac is not self-supporting, presumably because of some kind of handicap. In contrast, the only other son or daughter mentioned in the will, Abraham, is bequeathed real estate and farm and blacksmithing tools. A later provision in the will says:

Should son Isaac have heirs, then ½ of my real estate shall desend to his heirs, and the other half to heirs of son Abraham.

This indicates that his son Isaac has no children in 1801.

We known that Isaac Van Camp and Mary Worthington had 11 living children in 1801. This Isaac supported himself and family and so had no need for perpetual use of a room in N.J. and a yearly allowance, and lived hundreds of miles away over the Appalachian mountains. All of this indicates that the Walpack Isaac Van Campen who died in 1801 was not the father of the Isaac Van Camp of Monongalia.

Some of the issues surrounding Isaac's parentage are discussed in more detail in a posting by Marshall Lowe.^[12]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Sara McAnally. Knox.ged.

   Date of Import: Feb 3, 2000

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Sara McAnally. Knox.ged.

   Date of Import: Feb 4, 2000

3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 Brøderbund Software, Inc. World Family Tree Vol. 3, Ed. 1. (Release date: February 9, 1996)
   Tree #5579.

   Date of Import: Jan 30, 2000

4.   June B. Knox, Denton, Texas, 1999.
5. ↑ Brøderbund Software, Inc. World Family Tree Vol. 9, Ed. 1. (Release date: March 31, 1997)
   Tree #3719.

   Date of Import: Jan 30, 2000

6.   Sara McAnally, N. Las Vegas, Nevada, 1999.
7. ↑ ^7.0 7.1 Ancestral File.
8. ↑ International Genealogical Index. ( The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint, 1999-2008).
9. ↑ N. N. Hill, Jr. History of Licking County, O: Its past and present
   p222.
10. ↑ N. N. Hill, Jr. History of Licking County, O: Its past and present
    p461.
11. ↑ Will of Isaac Van Campen, 1801.

    Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Administrations, Etc: volume X, 1801-1805, page 460.

12. ↑ Rootsweb Van Campen message board posting.

    http://boards.rootsweb.com/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=85&p=surnames.van-20-campen