Drummer Boy
Isaiah Van Horn Revolutionary War Veteran and Pioneer of Indiana County Pennsylvania
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"Forget the past; do not dwell on it. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not see it?I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:18-19 This scripture may indeed be a strange way to begin a book of family history. The book you are holding in your hand is more than a book of family history. It is a remarkable story of a people stepping out on faith to follow their God figuratively, on their way through the desert and up the streams in the wasteland. Isaiah was chosen by his father to be the drummer for his company of militia drawn from the good men of Bucks County who saw a new thing springing up, The United States of America. A land free from the tyranny of oppressive taxation and unbridled and arbitrary rules of the King of England. Isaiah's father gave his life for the cause leaving a young family to make way for themselves. From this I have drawn the title of the book Drummer Boy. I wish that I had writings to validate the struggles of the family as this new country was emerging. However, we do not have anything but snipits of information from which we can imagine and formulate in our own minds the progression of the family. Clearly they did not dwell on the past. Isaiah married, started a family and moved to Western Pennsylvania. Not exactly a desert but at the time of his migration, a dangerous and unknown wilderness ripe for home steading and expansion of this new nation. What we do know is that Isaiah followed in the pathway of the Lord. He is listed as the 6th Elder of Gilgal Church, a congregation of the United Presbyterian Church, established in a remote and untamed area of the United States of America in the early 1800s. In fact if you go there today it is still in a very remote part of the country. I was fortunate enough to be in the area on Sunday and attended this church with a group of Christians that were representative of the salt of the earth. In the1790 Census, there is an Isaiah Van Horn in Hopewell, Newton, Tyborn, and West Pennsboro, Cumberland, Pennsylvania with 1-2-1 listing. Most likely Isaiah was in Cumberland, PA in 1790 as Cumberland was one of 8 counties in PA and included what is now Indiana County, PA. West Pennsboro Township of the existing Cumberland County is nearly half way from Bucks County to Indiana County. In 1796 or 97 Isaiah and family moved to what is now Wheatfield Township, Indiana Cnty, PA. In 1804, he owned a farm in East Mahoning Township, about one mile east of Georgeville. It is said that he planted the orchard that is so productive on this farm. Since I am dedicating this book to my maternal grandmother I have added the ancestors of her mother to this book. I hope that you enjoy the many snipits of history of the ancestors and descendents of Isaiah. This is the story of a Revolutionary War Drummer Boy, a true Patriot, and his ancestors and descendents. J. Derald Morgan, PhD, PE, FIEE, FNAFE, CESB Forensic Eng.
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About the Book
This is a book about the ancestors and descendants of Isaiah Van Horn a Pioneer of Indiana County and Drummer Boy in his father’s Bucks County, Pennsylvania Malitia. The book delineates all of the descendants that the author could locate and includes information about the family that he could gather from various sources and individuals.
The Van Horn family began in the United States of America with the migration of Barent Christianson Van Horn to New Amsterdam with the early Dutch Settlers. Barent was the first Fire Marshal of New Amsterdam. He was a burger and owned an acre at the Land Gate of the Walled Street. That location is Broadway at Wall Street in New York today.
The book includes some information about how later families were duped into believing that they still owned this property and that all would receive a portion of the riches from the settlement of this claim to this valuable location.
The earliest ancestor in this work is Dick Clausen, born in 1616. There are over 6200 individuals included in the book covering 15 generations of Van Horn descendants. Over 1300 surnames are linked with the Van Horns in this book with over 1900 marriages delineated. It is interesting to note that the average life span from 1600 to date is 60 years and 7 months. Some indication of the longevity of the Van Horn stock.
Other surnames of note are Work, Stewart, Steele, Shaffer, Mock, McElhoes, McCausland, McAFoos, Lydick, Lambing, Hutzler, Hutchison, Hummel, Gearhart, Dilts, Coon, Condron, Burket, Aul and Ashcom as well as over 1300 other surnames.
About the Author
Dr. J. Derald Morgan is an accomplished author, genealogist, family historian and expert witness.
Dr. Morgan was a University Professor and Administrator for 46 years. He served as Vice President and Executive Director of the UAH Foundation at The University of Alabama in Huntsville, was Dean at New Mexico State University, and was Department Head and the ALCOA and Emerson Electric Chaired Professors at University of Missouri-Rolla now Missouri Science and Technology during his academic career.
Dr. Morgan is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical Engineers and the National Academy of Forensic Engineers and Associate Editor of the Power Systems Research Journal. In addition to being a successful researcher, professor and university administrator, he is a forensic engineer with an active practice.
Dr. Morgan has been an adult Boy Scout Leader for over 48 years, a leader in the United Methodist Church and a member of numerous professional and civic organizations.
The father of four children and grandfather to 9 he has been an avid family historian for over 40 years. He believes that knowing your roots is essential to developing a perspective on who you are and what your role is in society. Knowing your roots gives a foundation for a successful and fulfilling life.
As a member of the Sons of the American Revolution Dr. Morgan also believes that every American needs more knowledge about their family and its contribution to the development of this great nation. Out of this knowledge grows an appreciation for the freedoms we have and a commitment to sustaining a free society.