Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/509

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

store fo r nearly a year, after which he secured employment a s a com]K>sitor on the WilkesBarre R ecord. Several months later he formed a partnership with A. S. Hottcnstinc, with whom he published the Econom ist, a weekly newspaper, at Milton, P a., fo r about one year. Thence he returned to Bloomsburg, in 1886 taking a positioivas compositor on the Democratic Sentinel, o f which he became man­ ager shortly afterw ard, holding that position for thirteen years. Meantime the Bloom sburg D ady w as started, under his management also. H e retired from his connection with these papers in 1899, in which year he w as elected r o is t e r and recorder o f Columbia county, an omce he continued to fill for six years. D ur­ ing this period, on Jan. 1, 1904, he purchased the Democratic Sentinel and Bloom sburg Daily, changed the weekly to a semi-weekly, and carried on the establishment successfully fo r two years and five months, selling out at the end o f tlu t time. Soon afterw ard, in August, 1906, he founded Rutter’s Printing House, an up-to-date job plant, the ownership o f which he has retained ever since. In Ju ly, [909. he was made president of the Sentinel Printcry and editor o the Sem i-W cekt DemoMv cratic Sen tin el and the D aily Sentinel, and he carried on the papers successfully until March, 19 14, when he retired from newspaper work. H is influence as editor w as us<^ conscien­ tiously for the furtherance o f many worthy projects for the advancement o f conditions in this section, and M r. Rutter is highly respected for the high standards he has upheld and the courageous position he has taken on all vital questions. H e w as one of the directors of the fUoomsburg school district fo r a period of nine years, and has been a notary public for the last twenty-three years. On Feb. 17, 1887. S ir. Rutter m arried H ar­ riet Neal M cK elvy, daughter o f Dr. J. B. M cK clvy. and they are the parents o f six sons: J. B .. who is a lieutenant in the United Slates navy, m arried Sept. 2. 19 14, Irm a MeCloskcy. o f New Y o rk C ity; R. C., a civil en­ gineer. is now in San Diego, C a l.; J. Clayton is a student at Hobart Cbll«^c, Geneva. N. Y ., p rejarin g for the m inistry; Geortje M. has iKcii ap|>ointcd as midshipman at the N aval Academ y .at .' napolis, M d .; Ix>uis and W il­ liam are attending school. N 'A S T IN E. Abraham V an D c Wocstvrnc, with his w ife and their three children, viz., John. Catherine and Hannah, left Holland in the seventeenth century and crossed the ocean on a sailing vessel, landing in N ew Y o rk (then

New .Amsterdam) in 1690. T hey soon crossed over into N ew Jersey. About the time William Penn founded Philadelphia they came into Pennsylvania. In 1696 we find them ia Germantown, P a., where the daughtcn, Catherine and Hannah, joined the Friends. John V an D e W ocstync, son o f Abraham, w as l)om in Holland M ay 24, 1678, and came to Am erica with his father, and records show him living in Gennantown in 1698, where he owned real estate. In that year he purchased several tracts o f land from one Jerem iah Langhorn, in HilltOwn township, Bucks Co., Pa., whither he moved in 1720, being one of the pioneers in that county. H e w as very influen­ tial in the opening o f roads there. 'There he erected a granite dwelling along the pike lead­ ing from Philadelphia to B cth l^ cm. It stood, as was the custom in tlu t day, with its gable to the road, fronting south, at a point two miles north o f Lin e Lexington and tour miles southwest from Scllersvillc, Bucks Co., Pa. The name John V an De W oestyne appears on a number o f official papers and documents on record in Bucks cou n ty; it is found on nuny ]>etitions pertaining to roads and improve­ ments in Hilliown township. On these peti­ tions the name is spelled v a n de W ocstrae. John V an De Woest)'nc died at Hilltown Feb. 9, 1738. H is w ife, Abigail, survived him some lime. T hey were the parents o f five children, as fo llo w s: ( I ) Abraham, born M ay 24, 1698. died in October, 1772, in Hilltown. H e mar­ ried Sarah Ruckm an, and they were the lu ren ts o f live daughters: A bigail, married to •Andrew A rm stro n g; Ruth, m arried to James .Armstrong: M ary, married to Robert Jame­ so n; Rachel, n urried to H ugh M ears; and Sarah, n urried to Samuel W ilson. Thus far we have been unable to learn anything about thcir descendants. ( 2 ) Jerem iah, bora Dec. 24, 17 0 1. died in Hilltown in November, 1769. He and his w ife Debora were the parents of one son and two 'lau gh ters: Jerem iah died io New Britain, Bucks Co., P a., in A pril, 1778 (his w ife ’s name w as Elizabeth); Martha mar­ ried John L o u d er; Hannah m arried Samuel Greshom. ( 3 ) Benjamin, lx>m J u ly 9, 1703. died .Aug. 17, 1749. (4 ) Jo h n died Feb. 9. 1765. in Hilltown, Pa., unnurricd. ( O Mary, bora .March i. 1699 <?), marricennission to hold meetings in his house.