Isaac, son of Isaac Voorhees and Alida Williamson

Isaac, son of Isaac Voorhees and Alida Williamson

Isaac⁷ Voorhees (Isaac⁶, Albert⁵, Coert⁴, Albert³, Coert², Steven¹), son of Alida Williamson, did not marry a woman named Maria as previously thought.[1]  That Isaac was only 34 in 1850.[2]  He is the Isaac Voorhees who married Helen (Lena) Ditmars[3] and whose parentage was previously unknown.  His brother, William, held land in Bridgewater, Somerset Co., NJ when he died in 1819, which was sold on 7 Mar 1821 by his brothers and sisters (heirs at law of William) to Gysbert Vroom.[4]  They were: Albert Voorhees and Elizabeth his wife, Isaac Voorhees and Lena his wife, Peter Voorhees and Lamechie his wife, Joseph Voorhees and Dinah his wife, Garret Quick [note: son of Joachim Quick and Catherine Snedeker] and Gitty his wife, and George Sebring and Catherine his wife.  The will of his sister, Gertrude Quick,[5] dated 21 Apr 1836 and written in Hillsborough township, states Isaac is deceased and mentions his children, though it does not named them.  Isaac was alive when his father wrote his will in Hillsborough, NJ, in 1814, but he received no land in the will so it is unclear where he was living at the time.  His sister, Mary, was born in 1772, but probably died young as she is not named in her father’s will, so Isaac could have been born as early as 1773.

Though their eldest child was baptized at the Readington Reformed Church in 1796, Isaac is not listed in the Hunterdon County Militia in 1792,[6] so he probably moved there from somewhere else as he would have been 21 at the time, probably Hillsborough, Somerset Co., NJ.   His wife, Helen, was probably the daughter of Abraham Ditmars and Catherine Williamson, baptized on 27 Nov 1774 at the Reformed Church of Hillsborough,[7] in the township where Isaac, Sr. wrote his will.  Isaac and Helen named children Abraham and Catherine after their maternal grandparents.  Their son, Isaac, was possibly named after his paternal grandfather.  The inventory of Isaac Quick’s sister, Gertrude Quick,[8] lists a note given 1 May 1834 to Isaac Voorhees, Catherine Voorhees, William Voorhees and Ellen Voorhees for $300.  Isaac, Catherine and William are known children of Isaac and Helen.  Their son, Abraham, died in 1833, so would not have been listed.  Ellen is a previously unknown daughter, likely named after her mother. 

Descendants of Isaac Voorhees 

Generation No. 7 

1.  ISAAC⁷ VOORHEES (ISAAC⁶, ALBERT⁵, COERT⁴, ALBERT COERTS³ VAN VOORHEES, COERT STEVENSE², STEVEN COERTSE¹) was born Jun 1773 in NJ, and died 15 Apr 1833 in Somerset Co., NJ.  He married HELEN DITMARS, daughter of ABRAHAM DITMARS and CATHERINE WILLIAMSON.  She was born Bef. 22 Nov 1774 near Hillsborough, NJ, and died 1846 in Somerset Co., NJ. 

Children of ISAAC VOORHEES and HELEN DITMARS are:

                   i.    CATHERINE⁸ VOORHEES, b. 21 Aug 1796, near Readington, NJ; d. 15 Mar 1856, Somerset Co., NJ.

2.               ii.    ISAAC VOORHEES, b. Bef. 03 Feb 1799, near Readington, NJ; d. 21 Jan 1865, Norwood, Lucas Co., OH.

                 iii.    WILLIAM VOORHEES, b. circa 1803, NJ.  He was the executor of his sister, Catherine’s estate.

                  iv.    ELLEN VOORHEES, b. circa 1805, NJ.  She is mentioned in the inventory of the estate of her aunt, Gertrude Quick, but died before 1847 since she in not mentioned in the will of her mother.

                   v.    ABRAHAM VOORHEES, b. circa 1811, NJ; d. 15 Apr 1833, Somerset Co., NJ. 

Generation No. 2 

2.  ISAAC⁸ VOORHEES (ISAAC⁷, ISAAC⁶, ALBERT⁵, COERT⁴, ALBERT COERTS³ VAN VOORHEES, COERT STEVENSE², STEVEN COERTSE¹) was born Bef. 03 Feb 1799 in near Readington, NJ, and died 21 Jan 1865 in Norwood, Lucas Co., OH.  He married (1) MARY ELIZABETH MCPHERSON 15 Mar 1828 in Flemington, Hunterdon, NJ.  She died circa 1841.  He married (2) JULIA ANN KING 16 Feb 1847 in Athens, OH.  

Children of ISAAC VOORHEES and MARY MCPHERSON are:

                   i.    JACOB RUTSEN SCHENCK⁹ VOORHEES, b. 31 Mar 1829, Somerset Co., NJ.

                  ii.    ABRAHAM VOORHEES, b. 26 Dec 1830, Somerset Co., NJ.

                 iii.    MARY E. VOORHEES, b. 02 Feb 1833, Somerset Co., NJ.

                  iv.    SAMUEL VOORHEES, b. Jul 1837, NJ.

                   v.    WILLIAM HENRY VOORHEES, b. 13 Mar 1841, Hunterdon Co., NJ.       

Children of ISAAC VOORHEES and JULIA KING are:

                  vi.    ELIZABETH JANE⁹ VOORHEES, b. Feb 1850, Athens, OH.

                 vii.    ISAAC EPHRAIM VOORHEES, b. 01 Sep 1856, Springfield, Sangamon Co., IL.

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[1] Van Voorhees Family in America (VVFA), 1^st 6 Generations, Florence Christoph, p. 412

[2] VVFA, 7^th & 8^th Generations, Florence Christoph, p. 76.

[3] VVFA, 7^th & 8^th Generations, p. 1257

[4] Somerset County, New Jersey, Deeds, Vol. K, p. 82.

[5] Somerset County, NJ Wills, Vol E, p. 123.

[6] The Hunterdon County New Jersey Militia, 1792, by Hiram Edmund Deats.

[7] Somerset County Historical Quarterly, Vol 7, p. 207.

[8] Somerset County, New Jersey Inventories, Vol E, p. 202.