Henry Voorhees was born on 26 Aug 1769, likely in the Hillsborough Township of Somerset County, New Jersey (137, Page 344). He was the first child born to Stephen Petrus Voorhees and his wife Margareta (Van Dyke) Voorhees. At Henry’s birth, Stephen Voorhees was 31 years old, and Margareta was about 25.

On 29 Nov 1792, Henry Voorhees and Margaret Nevius married in the Hillsborough Township of Somerset County, New Jersey (125; 137, Page 344; 302, Page 480). At their marriage, Henry was 23 years old, and Margaret was 24. Margaret Nevius was born on 16 Mar 1768 at Somerville in Somerset County, New Jersey (106; 302, Page 480). She was a daughter of Jacobus Nevius and Pieternellite (Cornell) Nevius.

On 5 Mar 1796, John Richardson and his wife Hannah, of the Town of Scipio in Onondaga County, New York conveyed 100 acres of land, a part of Lot 98 on Owasco Lake, in the Town of Aurelius, in Onondaga County of New York to Henry Voorhees, of the Town of Aurelius (1761). Henry Voorhees paid £120 lawful money off New York. The indenture conveying the land was recorded in Onondaga County, New York on 6 Jun 1797.

A daughter, Ellen Voorhees, was born to Henry and Margaret Voorhees on 24 Jun 1796 in Somerset County, New Jersey (302, Page 480; 1348). Ellen Voorhees was also known as Elen Voorhees, Nelly Voorhees, and Sarah Voorhees. A second daughter Margaret was born on 6 Jul 1798, likely also in Somerset County (163, Page 480).

Henry Voorhees appears on 1795, 1796, and 1797 tax lists for the West Precinct of Somerset County, New Jersey (331, 337, 344).

Before 5 Mar 1796, the families of Henry Voorhees and his brother, John Steven Voorhees migrated to Onondaga County, New York (300, Page 143; 502). On that date, John Richardson and his wife Hannah of the Town of Scipio in Onondaga County conveyed 100 acres of land, a part of Lot 98 on Owasco Lake, in the Town of Aurelius in Onondaga County to Henry Voorhees of the Town of Aurelius (1761). Henry Voorhees paid £120 lawful money of New York. The indenture conveying the land was recorded on 6 Jun 1797.

Henry Voorhees appears on a 1797 tax list for the West Precinct in Somerset County, New Jersey (331).

On 1 Jul 1799, Joshua Kickoff and Nancy his wife conveyed 160 acres of land in Lot 88 of the Ovid Township of Cayuga County, New York to Henry Voorhees for $785 lawful money of New York (1762). Garritt Wickoff and Stephen Bishop witnessed the indenture that was recorded on 7 Oct 1799.

On 11 Jun 1800, Henry Voorhees and his wife Peggy (Margaret Nevius) of the Town of Ovid in Cayuga County, New York conveyed 100 acres of land to Jacob Van Arsdale of the Town of Aurelius in Cayuga County, New York (1870). The land was in Lot 98 on the west bank of Owasco Lake and the line dividing Lots 91 and 98. Joshua Wickoff and David Brokaw witnessed the indenture that was recorded on 20 Jun 1800.

A daughter Anna Voorhees was born to Henry and Margaret Voorhees on 23 Jul 1800 (302, Page 480).

The 4 Aug 1800 federal census of the Ovid Township of Cayuga County, New York enumerates the Henry Voorhis household (1317). Henry Voorhees was 26–44 years old. A 26–44 year-old female living in the household was very likely Margaret (Nevius) Voorhees. Three females less than 10 years old were very likely Ellen Voorhees, Margaret Voorhees, and Annie Voorhees.

Henry Voorhees appears on an 1803 tax list for the Ovid Township of Cayuga County, New York (1320). A daughter, Mary Jane Voorhees, was born to Henry and Margaret Voorhees on 1 Feb 1803, probably in the Ovid Township of Cayuga County, New York (302, Page 480). A son, Stephen Voorhees, was born on 3 Sep 1804 in the Ovid Township of then Seneca County, New York (302, Page 480).

On 18 Feb 1806, Henry Voorhees made a will in the Ovid Township of Seneca County, New York (1367). Henry was 36 years old. He bequeathed to his wife Peggy Voorhees property that she deemed proper to keep for the use of herself and family and for the improvement of the farm. Henry Voorhees bequeathed all real estate or land to five children in equal shares: Nelly, Peggy, Annie, and Wally Voorhees, but to son Stephen Voorhees two shares to that of the girls one. Hendrick Venlien, Oliver Miller, and David Bird witnessed the will.

Henry Voorhees died on 20 Feb 1806 in the Ovid Township of Seneca County, New York (137, Page 344). At his death, Henry Voorhees was 36 years old. His wife Margaret was 37 years old, and his oldest daughter Ellen was nine years old. Henry Voorhees is buried in the McNeal Cemetery in Seneca County (1381). The Will of Henry Voorhees was proved on 10 Mar 1806.

The father of Henry and John Voorhees, Stephen Petrus Voorhees, also migrated from Somerset County, New Jersey to Seneca County, New York in about 1810 (137, Page 340).

Notes and Comments

Henry Voorhees is not readily apparent in the 1790 U.S. Federal Census. In 1790, he was about 21 years old and likely still living in the Hillsborough Township of Somerset County, New Jersey with his father, Stephen Petrus Voorhees.

Beginning in about 1785, a number of Dutch families living in Somerset County, New Jersey migrated to the lake country of central New York (502). Many traveled along the Susquehanna valley to Binghamton and Owego and then north towards the head of Cayuga Lake and west of the lake into Onondaga County. Most of the early migrants settled in the Ovid Township of then County, between the Seneca and Cayuga lakes.

Assuming that the Henry Voorhees family migrated from Somerset County, New Jersey to the Lodi Township of Cayuga County, New York along this approximate route, they may have traveled through Northampton or Wayne counties of Pennsylvania, possibly encountering Countryman families living in that area of Pennsylvania.

Henry Voorhees made a will in Seneca County, New York on 18 Feb 1806 (1367) and died on 20 Feb 1806 (1366). In his will, Henry bequeathed his estate to his wife Peggy, and to five children: Nelly, Peggy, Annie, Wally, and Stephen Voorhees. The oldest child Nelly Voorhees was nine years old. Nelly Voorhees was almost certainly Ellen Voorhees, and Peggy Voorhees was almost certainly her mother Margaret Voorhees, born on 6 Jul 1798. Wally Voorhees was likely Henry’s daughter Mary Jane Voorhees.

A Henry Voorhees appears on a June 1806 tax list for the Franklin Township of Somerset County, New Jersey. Since Henry Voorhees died on 20 Feb 1806 in the Ovid Township of Seneca County, New York, a listing for him on a 1806 New Jersey tax list may be for property of his estate.

County Boundaries

Onondaga County, New York was created on 5 Mar 1794 from parts of Herkimer and Tioga counties.

Cayuga County, New York was created on 8 Mar 1799 from parts of Onondaga County. The town of Aurelius was formed on 27 Jan 1789.

Seneca County was created from parts of Cayuga County, New York on 24 Mar 1804.

Sources

106. Gravestone, Margaret (Nevius) Voorhees, McNeal Cemetery, Ovid, Seneca County, New York, 25 Jan 1852. Find A Grave Memorial 63749086. (Images: Find A Grave. Image on file.)

125. Marriage of Henry Voorhees and Margaret Nevius, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560–1900. Yates Publishing. (Database: Ancestry.com)

137. Elias W. Van Voorhees, ed. A Genealogy of the Van Voorhees Family in America. New York City, New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, The Knickerbocker Press, 1888.

163. A. Van Doren Honeyman. Joannes Nevius and His Descendants, A.D. 1627–1900. Part 1. Plainfield, New Jersey: Honeyman & Company, 1900. (Images: Ancestry.com. PDF file on file.)

300. History of Seneca County, New York 1786–1876. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Everts, Ensign & Everts, 1876.

302. A. Van Doren Honeyman. Joannes Nevius and His Descendants, A.D. 1627–1900. Part 2. Plainfield, New Jersey: Honeyman & Company, 1900. (Images: Ancestry.com. PDF file on file.)

331. Henry Voorhees, West Precinct Tax List. Somerset County, New Jersey. 1797. New Jersey Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1643–1890. (Database: Ancestry.com.)

337. Henry Voorhees, August–September 1795 Tax List, Somerset County, New Jersey, 1795. (Database: Ancestry.com.)

344. Henry Voorhees. West Precinct June Tax List, Somerset County, New Jersey. 1796. (Database: Ancestry.com.)

502. Minor Swick. A Dutch Migration from the Raritan Valley to New York State in 1785 and Later. Somerset County Historical Quarterly, Volume 4. Somerset County Historical Society, Somerville, New Jersey. 1915. Pages 21–25. (PDF on file.)

513. Map of Cayuga and Seneca Counties, New York. A. R. Z. Dawson, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1859. (Image on file.)

1317. Henry Voorhis Household, 1800 U.S. Federal Census, Ovid, Cayuga County, New York, 2 Aug 1800. Series M32, Image 141, Page 556, Roll 28, Family History Library Film 193716. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. (Images: Ancestry.com. Image on file.)

1320. Henry Voorheese, Tax List, Ovid, Cayuga County, New York, 1803. Tax Assessment Rolls of Real and Personal Estates, 1799–1804. Series B0950. New York State Archives, Albany, New York. (Images: Ancestry.com. Image on file.)

1348. Stephen Voorhees Household, 1870 U.S. Federal Census, Lodi Township, Seneca County, New York, 22 Jul 1870. Page 90B, Roll M593_1093, Family History Library Film 552592. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C. (Images: Ancestry.com. Image on file.)

1366. Probate of the Estate of Henry Voorhees. Seneca County, New York, 18 Mar 1806. General Index 1804–1914, Image 485, New York Probate Records, 1629–1971. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. (Images: FamilySearch. Image on file.)

1367. Will of Henry Voorhees and Probate of Estate. Ovid Township, Seneca County, New York, 18 Feb 1806. New York Probate Records, 1629–1971. Wills 1804–1838, Volume A, Image 41. Will Book A 1804–1838. (Images: FamilySearch. Image on file.)

1381. Grave of Henry Voorhees. Ovid Township, Seneca County, New York, 20 Feb 1806. Find A Grave Memorial 44924497. Find A Grave.

1761. Indenture, John Richardson and Henry Voorheese, 100 acres. Aurelius Township, Onondaga County, New York, 5 Mar 1796. Onondaga County Deed Book F, Pages 254–256. Family History Library Film 852077, Image Group 7167279. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. (Images: FamilySearch. Images on file.)

1762. Indenture, Joshua Kickoff Conveys 160 acres of Land to Henry Voorhees. Cayuga County, New York, 1 Jul 1799. Cayuga County Deed Book A, Pages 243–245. Family History Library Film 851930, Image Group 7167302. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. (Images: FamilySearch. Images on file.)

1813. Land Assessment, Henry Voorhees, Grantor to Samuel Forbes. Cayuga County, New York, Apr 1800. New York Land Records, 1630–1975. FamilySearch Film 7164162. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. (Images: FamilySearch. Images on file.)

1815. Land Assessment, John Richardson to Henry Voorhies. Cayuga County, New York, Feb 1797. New York Land Records, 1630–1975. Book O F Page 254. FamilySearch Film 7164171. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. (Images: FamilySearch. Images on file.)

1870. Indenture, Henry Voorhees and Wife Peggy to Jacob Van Arsdale, 100 acres. Town of Ovid, Cayuga County, New York, 11 Jun 1800. Cayuga County, New York Deed Book B. FamilySearch Library Film 851930, Image Group 7167302. FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. (Images: FamilySearch, Images on file.)

Revised 15 Jun 2023