Contents:

1. John's identity and will.

2. John's wife and children.

3. Catherine Van Boskirk Van Valzah and her descendants.

4. Hannah Van Boskirk Andre and her descendants.

5. John Richard Van Boskirk and his descendants.

6. Benjamin Franklin Van Boskirk and his descendants.

7. John Van Boskirk (1820-1897), not John's son.

1. John's identity and will

John Van Boskirk, the middle son of Richard and Hannah (Kelly) Van Boskirk, was born October 11, 1797 and died August 1, 1836 at Mifflinburg, Union County, Pennsylvania. He is buried in the Mifflinburg Cemetery next to his parents.

Some researchers in our family have mistakenly identified John Van Boskirk of Mifflinburg with the John Van Buskirk (1796-1874) who lived at Winfield, Union Township in southeastern Union County. The latter was John(7)Aaron(6)Benjamin?(5)Andrew(4)Johannes(3)Andries(2) Van Buskirk, who migrated from Monroe (then Northampton) County to Union County just prior to 1820.

Since the wife of John Van Buskirk of Winfield, Pennsylvania was named Sarah, it was presumed that this was where Richard Van Boskirk's oldest son, Andrew, got the name for his second daughter (our ancestor, Sarah Van Boskirk Bissell) -- when, in actuality, she was named for her aunt, Sarah Inman (her mother Passa's sister).

Except for the case of Sarah, the names of the children of John Van Buskirk of Winfield -- Susanna, Aaron, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Maryann -- bear no identifiable relation to the Mifflinburg Van Boskirks. Except for the name Benjamin Franklin Van Boskirk, however, the names of the children of John Van Boskirk of Mifflinburg -- John Richard, Catherine, and Hannah -- clearly derive from Richard's Mifflinburg clan. (Benjamin Franklin Van Boskirk was named after John's wife Rachel Thompson's father.)

Another factor giving rise to the mistaken identity lies in the fact that there were two men named John Buskirk or Boskirk in the 1830 census of Union County -- one in Mifflinburg and one in Winfield. In 1840, however, there was only the John in Winfield, the one in Mifflinburg having been replaced as head of family by his widow Rachel Van Boskirk.

This is where the earlier researchers in our family made their mistake. Seeing that the only Van Boskirk in the 1840 census of Mifflinburg was named Rachel, and not realizing that the name Rachel was used elsewhere in our family -- viz., for Hannah Van Boskirk Lincoln's daughter Rachel Thompson Lincoln -- they opted to include John of Winfield in our family, whose wife had a name they were more comfortable with: Sarah.

However, the wills of Richard and John Van Boskirk, which mentioned Richard's granddaughter Rachel Thompson Lincoln and John's widow Rachel Thompson Van Boskirk, and the report to the Orphan's Court of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, which names the children of Richard Inman (see chapter 5), give conclusive support to our claim. John Van Buskirk of Winfield is not the son of Richard Van Boskirk and brother of Andrew Van Boskirk. (Mrs. Shoemaker, in Van Buskirk Legacy, also sees it this way.) Instead, the regrettably short-lived honor goes to John Van Boskirk (1797-1836) of Mifflinburg.

His 1836 will, dated June 15 and filed August 5, read as follows:

In the name of God Amen I John van Boskirk of the Bourrow of Mifflinburg Union County & State of Pennsylvania being weak in body but of sound mind memory and understanding and considering the certainty of death and the uncertainty of the time thereoff and to the end I may be the better prepared to leave the world when every it shal pleas god to call me heance. I do make and declare this my last will and testament in manner following that is to say first I commit my soul into the Hands of Almity God my creator My Body I commit to the earth. and as to such worldly astate wherewith it hath Pleased God to intrust me with I dispose of the same as follows, viz.

Item 1 it is my will that my loving wife Rachel shall have all the houshold furniture in the hous where I now live as long as she remains my widow, as much firewood as she needs from the Mill tract, the income of my Mill all[.] it is my wish that she raise all the children and chool them out of the above. She is to have the 5 acre lot adjoining the Rev. Fries's lot and widow Dreisbauch for Pasture and hay[.] after my wife's deces, it is my will that the Personnal Propperty be disposed of and proceds devided among my children share and share alike, with the exceptions below. it is my will that my Just debts be paid out of the bonds as fare as they reach. If not sufficient, it is my wish to sell the Lot adjoining the Methodist meeting hous containing 4 acres more or less and such other lots as will sell best or as my Executors think best[.] it is my will that the farm whare on Philip Foust now lives shall be Rented and Proceeds put on interest for the uce of my children[.] it is further my will that my son John shall have the sum of three hundred dollars to be his share in full to be paid when he arrives at the age of twenty-one. further it is my will that my son Richard have one thousand dollars less than the child that was left out of my Father's will, that is, my son Franklin, allso my Daughter Cathrine to have five hundred dollars less, allso my Daughter Hanna to have five hundred dollars less, amount of Legases left them by thare grandfather Richard Van Boskirk. After those deductions, it is my will my children have share and share alike as they come of age[.] it is further my will that my Executors sell the fifty Acres of wood land in the bottom adjoining my farm Purchased of David Shullenberger by my father Richard Van Boskirk[.] allso it is my will that the horse Scrabble tract be sold after my deceas and further I wish the hous and lot where Robert Forster now lives shall be sold and the lot where the old barn stands on and the adjoining lots I wish sold[.] I make and ordain J. G. Piper and Rob [Robert] G. H. Hayes Executors of this my last will and Testament hereby revoking all others in witness whereoff I the said John Van Boskirk to this last will and Testament contained on one sheet of Paper here set hand and seal declaring it to be my last will and testament, active the 15th day of June one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, Sighned and Sealed [John V. Boskirk (seal)] in the Preasant of us

Frederick Pontius
C. W. Cummings

From the above guidelines, it appears that John wanted to give his son Benjamin Franklin (left out of his grandfather Richard's 1828 because he was not born until 1832) enough more out of his estate that the four children's legacies would be "equalized" -- then to give the elder son John Richard $300 more than the other children, in honor of John Richard's being the eldest son. It must have seemed to John that the $500 gap his father's 1828 will set up between John Richard's legacy ($1000) and that of his sisters ($500) was excessive and unfair to the girls, especially since the gap between his brother Andrew's eldest and the next child was only $300 ($500 for son Richard, $200 for daughter Hannah).

Thus, John's 1836 will more or less put his children on the same footing that his brother's children were placed by their father Richard's 1828 will, with the eldest son being given a $300 honorarium. (Their sister Hannah Van Boskirk Lincoln's daughters, however, were even less equally treated. The son Richard Van Boskirk Lincoln received $1000, a daughter Hannah received $500, and the other daughter Catherine, born after her grandfather Richard's will was written, received nothing. One hopes that Hannah Lincoln passed along some of the $2000 that she and her husband received to their younger daughter.) 

2. John's wife and children

John married about 1820, probably at Mifflinburg, to Rachel Thompson. Rachel was born October 24, 1798 at Mifflinburg and died June 19, 1853 in New Berlin, Union County, Pennsylvania. She married second on May 7, 1844 to Jacob Mauck (1793-1869). Jacob and Rachel are buried together at New Berlin.

Rachel was a daughter of Benjamin and Nellie (Robinson) Thompson, who lived a mile east of Mifflinburg. Benjamin, a pioneer of Buffalo Valley, was born about 1765, and was probably a brother (or first cousin?) of the older Rachel Thompson (b. 1760), who married Mishael Lincoln and whose son John married John Van Boskirk's sister, Hannah. Neither Benjamin Thompson's nor Rachel Thompson Lincoln's father has been identified, though it is possible that they are one and the same man: James Thompson, a Revolutionary War veteran and early pioneer of Union County, Pennsylvania. If this is so, then John and Hannah Van Boskirk married first cousins.

Benjamin and Nellie (Robinson) Thompson had nine children: John of Canton, Ohio; Moses of Clinton County, Pennsylvania; Samuel, James, and Benjamin of Union County, Pennsylvania; Abigail, who married Philip Pontius of Union County; Catherine, who married Daniel Lemmon of New Berlin and Williamsport, Pennsylvania; Sally, who married Frederick Pontius and died in the West; and Rachel.

Two facts about Rachel's brother Moses are noteworthy:

(1) Moses Thompson had a son named Benjamin F.Thompson, born in 1821. His full name was probably Benjamin Franklin Thompson, which is the probable source for the name of John and Rachel's youngest son: Benjamin Franklin Van Boskirk, who was born in 1832.

(2) Moses Thompson married Hannah Betts, whose father was Solomon Betts. According to the Commemorative Biographical Record of Central and Eastern Pennsylvania, Solomon had seven children: William, Solomon Jr., Catherine, Magdalena, Susan, Rachel, and Leah. If this is accurate, Hannah is probably the one listed as Magdalena -- and our theory may be correct that Magdalena = Hannah, and that Richard Van Boskirk's first wife, referred to in numerous sources of Hannah Kelly, was actually named Magdalena, as Mrs. Shoemaker claimed in Van Buskirk Heritage.

John and Rachel had the following children, whom we will discuss in more detail shortly:

(1) Catherine Van Boskirk born September 20, 1821, died October 5, 1899. She married William Van Valzah, and they had three children.

(2) Hannah Van Boskirk born September 4, 1825, died November 10, 1898. She married Charles Ross Andre of Monroe County, Pennsylvania, and they had two children.

(3) John Richard Van Boskirk born December 8, 1827, died June 13, 1855. He married Elizabeth Hickernell of Union County, Pennsylvania, and they had one son. (We are greatly indebted to his great-great-grandson, the late Andrew C. Van Boskirk, for a great deal of the vital statistics about these four children, Benjamin's children, and John's descendants.)

(4) Benjamin Franklin Van Boskirk born August 2, 1832, died March 21, 1890. He married Louisa Hall of Snyder County, Pennsylvania, and they had four daughters.

It has for some time been thought by this author and by Irene Shoemaker in her Van Buskirk Legacy that there was a fifth child, an eldest son John born about 1820 who lived in Ohio, Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma, where he died in 1897. This is now believed to be incorrect, for several reasons, as discussed in the final section of this chapter. 

3. Catherine Van Boskirk Van Valzah and her descendants

Catherine Van Boskirk, the older daughter of John and Rachel (Thompson) Van Boskirk, was born September 20, 1821 at Mifflinburg, Union County, Pennsylvania and died October 5, 1899 at Lewisburg, Union County, Pennsylvania. She married William Van Valzah, who was born April 19, 1819 and died March 15, 1877; he was the son of Dr. Robert Van Valzah of Union County, Pennsylvania. The 1850 census of Kelly Township, Union County, Pennsylvania showed William (indexed as "William Vandalefarh"!) as being a farmer. By 1860, they had moved into Lewisburg, where William was shown as a merchant. In 1870, living in the South Ward of Lewisburg, William was shown as engaging in lumbering, with eldest son Robert already having left for Indiana. By 1880, Catherine was shown as widowed, parents both born in Pennsylvania, and her younger two children still in the household. As yet, we have been unsuccessful in locating an obituary for her, but the relatively late date of her demise makes it likely that there was one written for at least one of the local newspapers. Their three children were:

(1) Robert Van Valzah born about 1842 in Union County, Pennsylvania, married about 1869 in Indiana to Margaret C. ___ (born about 1849 in Missouri; although the 1900 census listing for their son Robert says that his mother was born in Indiana, this is probably an error). In the 1880 census of Terre Haute, Harrison Township, Vigo County, Indiana, they were shown with two children:

(a) Kate Van Valzah born about 1870 in Indiana and

(b) Robert C. Van Valzah born about 1873 (the 1900 census says March 1873) in Indiana.

As yet, their descendants if any have not been identified. Also shown in the 1870 household was Mattie Sparks born about 1844 in Indiana and referred to as Robert's sister-in-law, which would imply that his wife's maiden name was Margaret C. Sparks.

(2) Mary A. Van Valzah born about 1852 in Union County, Pennsylvania. She was still single at the age of 28 in 1880.

(3) Johnson Walls Van Valzah born November 26, 1856, died May 17, 1914 at Lewisburg, Union County, Pennsylvania. He married Eudora B. ____ (born December 1862, died 1922 in Pennsylvania). They were shown in the 1900 census of Lewisburg, Union County, Pennsylvania as having had two children, neither of whom survived. Also in their household that year were Robert Van Valzah born March 1873 in Indiana, his parents shown as being born in Pennsylvania and Indiana (probably an error in re his mother) -- and Emma Frederick, listed as Johnson's sister-in-law, implying that Johnson's wife's maiden name was Eudora B. Frederick.

 4. Hannah Van Boskirk Andre and her descendants

Hannah Van Boskirk, the younger daughter of John and Rachel (Thompson) Van Boskirk, was born September 4, 1825 in Mifflinburg, Union County, Pennsylvania and died November 10, 1898, probably in or near Monroe County, Pennsylvania. As yet, we have been unsuccessful in locating an obituary for her, but the relatively late date of her demise makes it likely that there was one written for at least one of the local newspapers. Hannah married October 9, 1845 to Charles Ross Andre of Monroe County, Pennsylvania (b. December 20, 1819, d. Oct. 2, 1895), and they had two sons:

(1) Leonard Andre born July 29, 1846, died February 10, 1897.

(2) Milton Andre born May 22, 1852. He married June 27, 1888 to Estelle Finehart. Apparently he was still alive in 1902, but his descendants have not yet been traced.

It took years to finally unravel this branch of the Van Boskirk family, and for the longest time we doubted that we had actually located Hannah's family. Irene Shoemaker in her Van Buskirk Legacy cited the History of Pike, Monroe, and Wayne County, Pennsylvania, which says that Charles R. Andre was son of Leonard and Sarah (Kemmerer) Andre and married Hannah Van Boskirk, daughter of John Van Boskirk of Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania. Since it is firmly established that Leonard Andre's wife was Jane Ross and that it was their son James Ross Andre who married Sarah Kemmerer, we had reason to doubt the rest of the information in that multi-county history. Further, one of their granddaughters married a Van Buskirk living in the Stroudsville, Monroe County area, so we suspected that their son's wife was from this clan, rather than the somewhat distant Van Boskirks of Mifflinburg, Union County.

With all these strikes against Charles Andre's wife being John Van Boskirk's daughter, imagine our surprise when we found out beyond a doubt that she was indeed his daughter! The exact same date of birth was given for both Hannahs, which would be extremely unlikely if they were different people. On LDS film #1017420 is an item "Descendants of Leonard Andre and Jane Ross," which includes a pedigree chart compiled by Edgar Croasdale and other family members in September of 1902. The information is so extensive and helpful in unravelling this and other mysteries about the Van Boskirks and Van Buskirks, that we will include it here for the possible benefit of other researchers:

Leonard/Leonhard Andre was born October 31, 1783 in Plainfield Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and moved to Cherry Valley, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a blacksmith and farmer and died July 30, 1859. He married February 1, 1810 to Jane/Janett Ross (born July 30, 1786, died October 13, 1863); she was of Scotch-English origin. His sister, Leonara, married Charles Boys, and some of their children and grandchildren intermarried (see below). Leonard and Jane had seven children:

(1) Mary Ann Andre, born November 17, 1810, christened June 23, 1811, died April 1, 1841. She married November 13, 1835 to Philip Shrauder Brown (1805-1883), and they had two daughters: (a) Jane Brown born 1836, died 1918. She married 1857 to William Van Buskirk (1831-1908), a second cousin descended from Leonard's sister; they were living in Marshall County, Illinois by 1860, and they had nine children: Charles Van Buskirk (born August 12, 1858, died September 3, 1858), William Van Buskirk Jr. (born July 31, 1859, married April 18, 1881 Gertrude Grant; they had Blanche Van Buskirk born November 22, 1883 and Grover Van Buskirk born July 11, 1885), Hardy Van Buskirk (born October 26, 1862), John Van Buskirk (born October 20, 1865), Lily May Van Buskirk (born May 13, 1867, died January 22, 1871), Arthur Van Buskirk (born November 7, 1871, died April 7, 1872), Clyde Van Buskirk (born February 5, 1872), Roy Van Buskirk (born April 9, 1876), and Martha Van Buskirk (born October 17, 1881); (b) Rebecca Brown born 1837, married 1858 to Charles Price. (It should be noted that the Jane Van Buskirk mentioned in Leonard Andre's will was Mary Andre Brown's daughter, not her sister Jane Andre, who married Samuel Boys. Irene Shoemaker in her Van Buskirk Legacy erroneously states that Jane Andre married Joseph Van Buskirk, when it is her niece who married Joseph's son.)

(2) Adam Andre, born June 1, 1813, christened March 3, 1814, died August 2, 1901. He married May 8, 1845 to Blandina Jones (1817-1884); they had no children. He was living in Rock County, Wisconsin by 1860.

(3) James Ross Andre, born February 27, 1815, christened August 20, 1815, died August 15, 1884. He married December 7, 1848 to Sarah Kemmerer (1823-1902), and they had four children: (a) John Kemmerer Andre, born September 16, 1849, died 1911. (b) Ellen Croasdale Andre, born May 8, 1851, (c) Martha Jane Andre, born November 8, 1854, died 1941, (d) William Ervin (Willie) Andre, born July 11, 1859, died 1945.

(4) Catharine Jane Andre, born July 9, 1817, christened January 4, 1818, died April 17, 1853. She married April 28, 1836 to her first cousin, Samuel Boys, and they had six children: (a) Leonard A. Boys born 1837, (b) Mary Boys born 1839, (c) Martha Boys born 1842, died 1879, (d) Jane R. Boys born 1844, (e) Charles C. Boys born 1847, and (f) son born/died 1853.

(5) Charles Ross (?) Andre, born December 20, 1819, christened April 9, 1820, died October 2, 1895. His middle name is in question, since his older brother had Ross as his middle name; also Charles was listed in the 1850 census as Andrew Andre, leading us to believe that his middle name was Andrew, not Ross. He married October 9, 1845 to Hannah Van Buskirk (born September 4, 1825, died November 10, 1898). They had two sons: (a) Leonard Andre born July 29, 1846, died February 10, 1897, (b) Milton Andre born May 22, 1852, married June 27, 1888 to Estelle Finehart. (Note: the 1870 census of Stroudsburg Borough, Monroe Co. PA showed C. R. Andre 50, Hannah 40, Leonard 23, and Milton 17. The 1880 census of Stroudsburg, Monroe Co. PA showed Charles R., “Annie”, and Milton as being 56, 48, and 24, when they should have been 60, 54, and 28, respectively. Leonard was not in the household. Curiously, in Hamilton Twp., Monroe Co. PA, there was a Leonard Andre age 45, with wife Katie Ann 44 and children William L. 22, Lizzie 17, Samuel 12, Milton 6. It is tempting to suppose that this is Charles’ older son, overstating his age for the sake of appearances, but he also appears age 64 in the 1900 census, after the date at which Charles’ son died. So, while we cannot place the family of this Leonard, he apparently is not Charles’ son.)

(6) Caroline Andre, born December 18, 1823, christened December 6, 1823, died January 2, 1897. She married March 4, 1854 to her first cousin, Daniel Boys, and they had five children: (a) Sarah Boys born 1855, died 1860, (b) Charly Boys born 1859, died 1866, (c) George Boys born 1861, died 1866, (d) Benjamin Franklin Boys born 1863, (e) Lewis Boys born 1864.

(7) Ellen Andre, born July 20, 1825, died September 19, 1900. She married May 31, 1849 to Evan Thomas Croasdale (1827-1898). They had three sons: (a) Edgar Croasdale born 1855, (b) Howard A. Croasdale born 1857, (c) Stuart Croasdale born 1866.

Leonora Andre married Charles Boys, and they had eight children:

(1) Daniel Boys married his first cousin Caroline Andre.

(2) Samuel Boys married his first cousin Catherine Jane Andre.

(3) Robert Boys

(4) John Boys

(5) William Boys

(6) James Boys

(7) Sarah Boys

(8) Rebecca Boys married Joseph Van Buskirk (1803-1888). Their son William Van buskirk (1831-1908) married in 1836 to his second cousin Jane Brown. Joseph was the son of William Van Buskirk (1773-1860), grandson of Joseph Van Buskirk (1751-1821), great-grandson of George Van Buskirk (1721-1800), brother of Andrew Van Boskirk (1719 - ?), whose great-granddaughter Hannah Van Boskirk married Charles Andre, the uncle of their son's wife. (You don't want to see the family tree diagram for this!)

5. John Richard Van Boskirk and his descendants

John Richard Van Boskirk, the older son of John and Rachel (Thompson) Van Boskirk, was born December 8, 1827 and died June 13, 1855 at Mifflinburg, Union County, Pennsylvania. Usually referred to by his middle name, Richard was named for his father John Van Boskirk and his paternal grandfather Richard Van Boskirk.

For some time, it has been thought that John and Rachel had two different sons named John and Richard. A transcript of the 1836 Orphan's Court document filed by Rachel lists the children as including "John Richard Benjamin Franklin." Since it is now known that Benjamin Franklin and John Richard were two sons, not four, it is apparent that the transcriber inserted commas that were not there between the first and third names. (See section 7 below.)

Richard married about 1849 to Elizabeth Hickernell (b. June 20, 1833, died September 11, 1915), daughter of Jacob Hickernell of Hartley, Union County, Pennsylvania. They had one child:

(1) William Richard Van Boskirk born July 29, 1850, Mifflinburg, Union County, Pennsylvania, died January 24, 1923, Selinsgrove, Snyder County, Pennsylvania, where he is buried in the Union cemetery. His obituary said that "he had only been ill for several days with a severe cold, and during a heavy coughing spell he bursted a blood vessel which caused his death." Apparently both of his parents had died by 1860, for he appeared as "Richard V. Buskirk" in the census of that year in the household of his grandfather, Jacob Hickernell of Harleton Borough, Union County, Pennsylvania. Apparently his first four children were born in Mifflinburg, while the latter four were born in Selinsgrove, for his obituary states that "the deceased went to Selinsgrove from Mifflinburg 36 years ago." William "has always been a conscientious worker; for eleven years he was foreman for the State Highway Department in that section." He married about 1881 to Elizabeth Kaufman (born June 10, 1854, died November 19, 1937). They had nine children:

(a) Martin John Franklin (J. Frank or Franklin) Van Boskirk born November 23, 1882, died April 30, 1950. He married Edith Yetter (b. October 18, 1875, d. November 1, 1917). They lived at Belleville, Pennsylvania and had five children:

(i) Ethel Van Boskirk

(ii) William Van Boskirk

(iii) Paul Van Boskirk, born November 28, 1910, died January 1965 (SSDI). He married Edith L. ____ (b. December 3, 1911). They had a daughter Barbara Van Boskirk born October 19, 1936.

(iv) Lewis Van Boskirk

(v) Martin Van Boskirk, born September 1914, died January 1976 (SSDI). He married Lucille ____. They had a son Martin Van Boskirk Jr.

(b) William James Daniel (James W. or James D.) Van Boskirk born April 28, 1884, died April 18, 1953. He married Elsie M. Goss (b. August 27, 1889, d. May 1, 1974). They lived at Lewiston, Pennsylvania and had three children:

(i) Mary E. Van Boskirk born December 24, 1907, died March 27, 1939. She married Raymond Stroup (b. January 1, 1909), and they had a daughter Lucille Stroup born June 17, 1930 who married Wilmer Hedrick and had four children: Michael Hedrick, Beverly Hedrick, Suzanne Hedrick, and Pamela Hedrick.

(ii) William C. Van Boskirk born May 16, 1910 (July 6, 1910?), died November 12, 1996. He married Henrietta M. Eastwood (b. September 18, 1906, d. June 1, 1987). They lived at Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania and had three children: Janice Van Boskirk born April 17, 1933 who married Walter H. Clarke (b. March 18, 1932) and had three children: Valerie Clarke born December 13, 1959 and married Greg Stricker; Bruce A. Clarke born March 21, 1961 and married Donna Marsh; Mark W. Clarke born March 29, 1965 -- Andrew S. Van Boskirk born April 5, 1937 who married Elsa C. Hoener (b. August 16, 1936) and had three children: Jeffrey S. Van Boskirk born September 12, 1958, Jamie L. Van Boskirk born August 19, 1960, and Joanna E. Van Boskirk born September 17, 1968 -- and Katherine A. Van Boskirk born September 4, 1950.

(iii) Infant Daughter born and died July 31, 1912.

(c) Sarah Jane Louisa (Sarah L.) Van Boskirk born April 12, 1886, died after 1923. She married Elmer Klingler. They lived at Lewistown, Pennsylvania and had six children: Elizabeth Klingler, Alsetta Klingler, Ralph Klingler, Byron Klingler, William Klingler, and Orlando Klingler.

(d) Waldo Murray (W. C. or Waldo M.) Van Boskirk born June 9, 1888, died after 1923. He lived at Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.

(e) Mary Catherine Van Boskirk born July 13, 1890, died after 1923. She married John Kemberling. They lived at Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania and had nine or ten children.

(f) Martha Anna Van Boskirk born November 10, 1891, died January 8, 1954. She married S. J. Lutz. They lived at Lewistown, Pennsylvania and had three children: William Lutz, Richard Lutz, and Anna Martha Lutz.

(g) Charles Richard Abraham (Richard C. or Charles Richard) Van Boskirk born November 3, 1892, died January 10, 1965. He married Stella ____ (born May 21, 1896, died June 12, 1994 [SSDI]). They lived at Milton, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.

(h) Ira Schoch Van Boskirk born November 27, 1901, died November 5, 1918. 

Dr. Benjamin Franklin Van Boskirk, the younger son of John and Rachel (Thompson) Van Boskirk, was born August 2, 1832 at Mifflinburg, Union County, Pennsylvania and died March 21, 1890 at Selinsgrove, Snyder County, Pennsylvania. Usually referred to by his middle name, Franklin was named for his mother's father, Benjamin Franklin Thompson. For some time, it has been thought that John and Rachel had two different sons named Benjamin and Franklin. A transcript of the 1836 Orphan's Court document filed by Rachel lists the children as including "John Richard Benjamin Franklin." Since it is now known that Benjamin Franklin and John Richard were two sons, not four, it is apparent that the transcriber inserted commas that were not there between the first and third names. (See section 7 below.)

Franklin married January 1, 1852 at New Berlin, Pennsylvania to Louisa Hall (b. ca. 1830, d. March 1, 1914), as reported in the following item from the January 8, 1852 Union Times of New Berlin:

Married on the 1st inst., Mr. F. Van Buskirk of this place [New Berlin] to Miss Louise Hall of Selinsgrove by Rev. S. L. M. Conser.

As yet, we have not located an obituary for Franklin, but it is likely that one was written for one of the local newspapers, due to his prominence as a medical doctor. The Snyder County Annals, Vol. I compiled by George W. Wagenseller in 1919 show that Dr. B. F. Van Buskirk, "Co D 18th P. M." (Pennsylvania Militia) was buried at Wagenseller's Union Cemetery at Selinsgrove. We also have yet to locate Franklin in the 1850 census, but he appeared in the censuses of 1860, 1870, and 1880 for Selinsgrove, Snyder County, Pennsylvania. In 1860, he was Benjamin Van Buskirk, "pedlar of washing machines." In 1870, he was B. F.Van Boskirk, "dentist," and in 1880, he was Doc. B. F. Van Buskirk, "dentist," with both parents having been born in Pennsylvania. Louisa appeared as a widow in the 1900 census, in which for some reason she and a daughter were listed as being born three years later than was indicated in any of the previous censuses. Their four children, none of whom married, were:

(1) Mary E. Van Boskirk born January 28, 1854, died May ?, 1953.

(2) Anna Belle Van Boskirk born May 24, 1857, died October 11, 1858.

(3) Rachel L. Van Boskirk born May 10, 1862, died February 3, 1950.

(4) Jessie Irene Van Boskirk born January 26, 1866, died November 9, 1876 (age 10 years, 9 months, 14 days, according to her grave marker in Wagenseller's Union Cemetery at Selinsgrove).

7. John Van Boskirk (1820-1897), not John's son

[To be written at a future date. See also the chapter on Van Boskirk and Van Horn Roots.]