Editor's Note: Mrs. Geyer was the author of the recent history celebrating Northampton Township's 250th anniversary. The following article, which deals with Henry Wynkoop the man, supplements the paper on Wynkoop the politician, read at the Historical Society meeting in May by Lyle L. Rosenberger, Associate Professor of History at the Bucks County Community College. It is on file at the BCHS Library.

    Henry Wynkoop had the advantage of being born to well-to-do parents. In 1717 his grandfather, Gerardus, who lived in Abington, Pa., purchased 521 acres in Northampton along the Neshaminy Creek, and subsequently divided it between two of his sons, Nicholas and Gerardus (Garret). On this property at Holland and Newtown Roads, Richboro, stood the little stone house which was the possible birthplace of Henry. In 1739, when Henry was two years old, the family moved into a handsome new house built on the same property by his father Nicholas. Here he and his sister, Helena, grew up, having as playmates, his cousins from the adjoining farm. His schooling was to prepare him for Princeton University (then called the College of New Jersey), but in 1759 with the death at his father, Henry inherited the farm and his father's interest in church and local affairs.

    "Vredens Berg" or "Vredens Hof", as Henry's home became known, was of deep concern to him. Photographs taken of Vredens Berg a few years before it burned in 1911 show a large stone mansion which had, it is said, 18 to 22 rooms. The original homestead, however, may have

been smaller. A study of the pictures leads one to believe that an addition was added in the early house. John Sparhawk Wurts, a descendant, wrote that some "interior" walls were of stone 16 inches thick. [1] This implies that some exterior walls became interior ones, thus substantiating the theory that an addition was added. It seems probable that Wynkoop built the needed addition after his marriage and the advent of his large family.

    Henry Wynkoop married a New Jersey girl, Susanna Wanshaer, in September of 1761, and two years later was presented with his first child - his daughter, Christina. (It was "Crissy" and her husband, Dr. Reading Beatty, who preserved at least 49 letters written to them by Wynkoop, [2] giving us an insight into Wynkoop's family life.)

    Six more children were born before Mrs. Wynkoop's sudden and tragic death in August of 1776. The British, aware of the influence exerted by many prominent citizens loyal to the American cause, ordered as many of them captured as possible. A group of Hessians broke into the Wynkoop home one night, only to find Henry not there. His wife, however, terrified and still weak from delivering her last child two months before, dashed outside, fell into the well and drowned. Her weathered gravestone, with only her name now barely legible, is supposed to have had inscribed on it, "an unfortunate victim to the calamities of America."

Vredens Berg, the home of Judge Henry Wynkoop, where James Monroe spent four weeks recuperating from wounds received at the Battle of Trenton. This photograph was taken several years before the disastrous fire of 1911.

    Because of disease and war, tragic death was fairly common in the early days, and life went on uninterrupted. With a large household of seven children and several slaves, Henry needed a wife, and the next year he married Mary Cummings another New Jersey woman (possibly a widow with a child, since a Miss P. Cummings is mentioned later as being in the Wynkoop household). She died after only four years of marriage. In the Pennsylvania Gazette of Nov. 2, 1781 appeared the following inspiring obituary: "Departed this life in the 52d year of her age, Mrs. MARY WYNKOOP, the amiable consort of the Hon. Henry Wynkoop of Vreden's Berg, in the county of Bucks, Esq., a lady in whom were happily blended together those qualifications which render mankind useful and agreeable in life, and portend a happy immortality." This lengthy obituary is an interesting contrast to the notice of Henry's passing.
    In a few months Henry again married, charming yet another Jersey woman, Sarah Newkirk. She supposedly was his housekeeper, and bore Henry's eighth and last child. Capt. Isaac VanHorne, a Bucks County friend, wrote to Dr. Reading Beatty, "... met the new Mrs. Wynkoop - she is a plain woman, not so polite as the last...." [3]
    While Henry frequently was away from home fulfilling his judicial and patriotic duties (he now was affectionately called "Judge"), his concern for his family remained constant. What greater love can a father have, when on a business trip to New York, than to take time out to purchase clothing for his children? The Judge bought six pairs of Hartford-made thread stockings and sent them home - two pairs each for sons Nicholas, John, and Jonathan. A gown, too, was purchased for Crissy.
    Little is known of the Wynkoop children when they were young. However, Capt. VanHorne's letters to Dr. Reading Beatty in 1782 give us glimpses into the daily lives of the Wynkoop family and friends around the Newtown area during the final years of the war. Although Vanhorne thought "New Town" had changed greatly, Dancing School continued, in spite of a scarcity of "Gallants." Capt. VanHorne visited the Wynkoops, and after dining there, took the "ladies to the [Dancing] School . . . As soon as they had taken their Lessons, into the School I tumbles - Danced Country Dances. The Miss Tates and Miss Wynkoops I esteem very Much. . . . I told somebody that she [Crissy] was a favorite of yours. Believe me I can Court much better for my Friend than for Myself." If only Reading who had "felt the power of her Charms", could "come down" [to Newtown], then he could "see Crissy, the incomparable."
    During a later visit, VanHorne "drank Tea with 'em." Miss P. Cummings was there "affable, agreable, look'd exceeding well." "Ann is naturally very sprightly . . . Chrissy look'd charmingly - rather in her disabille [dishabille]. No gause, but her head plain & neat, her countenance Majestick & open. I sometimes stole a look, not often. Mrs. DuBois [Henry's sister Helena], her daughter Sally, another neighboring old Lady & the old Don [Wynkoop] & his lady compos'd the Circle - the squire kept us pretty well engag'd in chat, so we had very little conversation from the Girls." VanHorne certainly did his best to keep Beatty

Henry Wynkoop's walnut high chest, attributed to the Philadelphia cabinet maker, Thomas Affleck. There is a matching dress table. Yale University Art Gallery, Mabel Brady Garvan Collection.

application for membership in the Newtown library, inquired about obtaining a position for him as Registrar and Recorder of Bucks County, and gave him advice on investing his money - if there was any extra to be had. This seems highly unlikely, since Henry lent him money several times to pay debts to Dr. Fenton (of Northampton Township). When he was unable to give Beatty additional cash, Henry offered to let his name be used for security to procure 25 £s.
    His generosity included giving Indian corn to Reading, "tho' I relied on that to supply myself with necessary Cash." He wrote, "respecting the cow, have her drove to Vredens Berg and take one in return, you and Mama shall agree upon, provided the one you send do not exceed 9 years old."
    Advice, too, was freely given. When the Beatty family moved to Fallsington, Wynkoop wrote a comment fathers have given for generations: "Am happy to find you are as well settled, tho' your not having all those conveniences, which might be wished may be temporarily disagreeable, yet generally those Deficiencies to People setting out in the World, have a Beneficial Effect by introducing that Attention, Care & Economy which, by perseverance, will surmount every difficulty." In other words, work hard, save your money and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
    At the time when Judge Henry was writing the letters to Beatty, it appears that Wynkoop's son, Nicholas, was living with his sister, Crissy and her husband, Reading. This would explain why the Judge included his son's name when sending regards to the Beattys, while not mentioning the names of his other children. Nicholas, now about 21 years old, probably received his first instruction in medicine from Reading. He later studied medicine formally, and practiced in the Newtown area for many years. (It is through Nicholas that the genealogist can trace a direct line bearing the Wynkoop name back to Henry.)
    Further evidence of Henry Wynkoop's concern as a father exists in his apprehension about the welfare of his daughter, Ann. He requested help from the Beattys. Ann and James Raguet, a French exile, were betrothed, but James would not be pinned down to a definite wedding date. When papa inquired of Ann, "she cryed & appeared much disturbed."     Wynkoop, riding to Newtown, called upon Raguet, who told him that there were "certain incumbrances" which forced the delay of the wedding for three months. "From Anney's behavior [I] am led to suspect that Mr. Raguet perhaps, may intend trifling with this matter. She had best collect her fortitude & wear her affection from him."
    Wynkoop, knowing that "girls generally communicate reluctantly to Parents" asked Reading to enquire of Raguet, and Crissy of Anney and communicate to me the result." Unfortunately the various communications have not come down to us, but we do know that four months later the nuptials were announced.
    In 1789 another daughter, Margaretta, married the successful Philadelphia businessman Herman Lombaert. He and his partner, James VanUxem introduced the Wynkoop family to the world of Philadelphia high

Christina Wynkoop Beatty, Henry Wynkoop's daughter who married Dr. Reading Beatty and lived near Fallsington. The portrait is by Samuel DuBois, noted Doylestown artist, who painted this picture of his elderly cousin in 1832. Private Collection.

    The letters seem to indicate that the cold and severe-appearing Henry Wynkoop portrayed by Rembrandt Peale was in reality an involved and caring father. As a husband, who knows? Three marriages in rapid succession must have demanded some silver-tongued persuasion by Wynkoop. After all, there was a large family waiting to greet each of the last two brides.
    As mentioned earlier, the Judge chose all his wives from New Jersey, which raises the unanswerable question: what was wrong with the local Bucks County belles? Or, turning the question around: what did the local ladies find wrong with Henry? He was prominent in local affairs, and owner of a large farm; he was tall, but not handsome, stern though just, and intelligent. His sense of honor can be detected in a letter written when his wife was visiting with him in New York, and he felt she was over-spending. He wrote, "I don't know whether she will not have to do like some other People, make an elopement to avoid paying their Debts."
    A legend related by Mr. Wurts tells of Wynkoop walking one day in Philadelphia with Alexander Hamilton,

. . . when Hamilton begun to advocate a measure to which Mr. Wynkoop was strongly opposed. To divert Hamilton's attention the Judge remarked upon the beauty of the Philadelphia belles who were passing. The next day Mrs. Wynkoop received a message from Hamilton that her husband was in a dangerous condition, that she should come at once. Upon her arrival, Judge Wynkoop sent a similar message to Mrs. Hamilton which resulted in the two families having a pleasant visit together. [6]

yield "was 20-30 Bushels ye Acre." How he wished he could "again slip home to view Fields of Grain before Harvest."
    Years later, his grandson, John Beatty, wrote that Vredens Hof had long lanes of cherry trees extending from the roads to the farm buildings, and many acres were covered with pear trees, Virginia crabapples and other fruit - 27 varieties in all. With the help of several slaves, Wynkoop produced the finest champagne and cider in his cellars, the cider finding a ready market in Philadelphia. [7]
    Without the help of slaves during Wynkoop's many absences, a farm as large as Vredens Berg would have been difficult to operate. He treated his slaves so well that although he gave them their freedom, most of them remained on the farm, and according to legend were buried under a tree near the Vredens Berg mansion.
    Washington, too, knew his friend to be an able farmer. Shortly after peace was declared, Washington requested Wynkoop send him a Bucks County plough.
    Farming left some spare time, and as a result of his interest in reading, his acquaintance with the Newtown Library developed.
    The Newtown Library was founded August 9, 1760. While Wynkoop was not one of the original 21 members, due, perhaps to his attendance in August at the Pennsylvania Assembly, he joined soon after, and assisted in making the first purchase of books for the library. In 1762 he was

Recovered after the fire at Vredens Berg: a door lock; and English Delft fireplace tiles made by Sadler and Green of Liverpool in the mid-1700's. Also shown is the leather-bound family Bible, with brass clasps; written in Dutch, now in the Bible Collection of The Bucks County Historical Society. Illustrated in the Spring 1972 "Journal" is Wynkoop's silver bowl also in the Society's collection.

A portion of the Bucks County subscription list for the relief of yellow fever victims in Philadelphia. Wynkoop's name heads the list with a donation of 3 £s. Archives of The Bucks County Historical Society.

the sufferings of his children, and put a period to their afflictions." A historian noted the Mayor's Committee had to "pay the price of such eloquence to reap the benefits of Bucks nobility." [11] His concern for others, however, far surpassed the price of such eloquence. It is obvious, then, that Henry participated in the religious and civic life of his community.
    Henry Wynkoop's political accomplishments are well researched and publicized: his services on the Committees of Safety and Observation, the Provincial Conferences, the four years of membership in the Continental Congress, the activities as justice of the High Court of Errors and Appeals, and the culmination in his election to the First Congress of the United States. But politicians are human. What of Henry the man in politics?
    Henry was only 23 when he was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly as a representative of the Freemen of the Province of Pennsylvania. One of the first committees to which he was appointed was charged with writing a letter of congratulations to King George III of England on his accession to the throne. Little did Henry foresee that in less than 15 years he would be working actively against the English monarch. In the interim, his sincerity and integrity earned him appointments as local justice of the peace, then lay associate judge of the circuit court, an honor for men without legal training. He obviously earned and enjoyed the title of Judge.
    A delightful story has been handed down through several generations of the VanHorn Family. After holding court in Newtown one day, Henry began to drive home in his carriage. Reaching the Neshaminy Creek, he started to ford it at a sand bar (below the present Spring Garden Mill) as was his usual practice. This day, however, he found the water getting deeper and deeper. To his consternation both he and his carriage box seat begun floating free down the creek. Someone on the bank heard him shout, "Help me, help me, I'm Judge Henry Wynkoop. I'm head of the courts! Somebody help me. I'm Judge Wynkoop. Help me!" He still held onto the reins while drifting downstream. Managing finally to extract himself from the swollen Neshaminy he drove on home, probably "mad as a wet hen." [12] What a spectacle that must have presented to the observer on shore. Isn't it odd that he did not offer to rescue the Judge?
    There were some who felt that the Judge was a little pompous when he, as President Judge of the Bucks County courts, ordered the constables to appear in court with their staves in hand, and after adjournment "to walk in procession with their staves before the sheriff to the door. . ." Though a bit pretentious when he urged these correct but British-flavored legal procedures, he did so until new methods could be devised. He believed, however, that those men in public office who clung to the "remains of Monarchial Government" clothing themselves with "Majesterial Dignity" instead of being "confidential servants to the people" were injurious to national concerns.
    When it was proposed that Washington should be addressed as

"His Elective Majesty," [13] Wynkoop objected vigorously. He hoped "all those little badges of Royalty called titles be abolished."
    Harman Yerkes in an address in 1912, while applauding Wynkoop's accomplishments, asserted, "Wynkoop through his associations with Washington, Adams, Hamilton and other great men at the nation's capitol, was deeply imbued with the idea that a display of pomp, rather than certainty and rapidity of executing the public business, would impress the people with the majesty of the law." [14]
    Men in public life always have admirers as well as detractors, and while the Judge had his share of both, there was one man who expressed absolute dislike.
    William Maclay, a Pennsylvania Senator in the Congress of 1789, was Wynkoop's New York roommate. A blunt and unaffected man, Maclay was not, however, without prejudices. His journal is an invaluable historical record of the unreported senatorial debates of those years, it records not only the power plays and deals that accompanied the passage of bills, but also gives biting or scathing descriptions of those important and self-important legislators around him. Of Judge Henry he makes the following comments: "I can not help having a despicable opinion of this man. It would not be easy to find a more useless member, he never speaks, never acts in Congress, but implicitly follows the two city members. He does not seem formed to act alone even in the most trifling affair. Well it is for him that he is not a woman and handsome, or every fellow would debauch him." [15]
    Needless to say, in January of 1790, at the beginning of the second session of Congress, Maclay moved to a different boarding house.
    On April 1, 1790, Maclay again wrote,

"I went to Chamber of Representatives to hear the delegates. Spoke to Mr. Wynkoop about some inconveniences of the Assumption [of state debts]. I found he seemed much embarrassed. Lawrence and Benson had got him away from his usual seat to near where they commonly sat. He paused a little and got up rather hastily, said "God bless you!" went out of chamber and actually took his Wife and proceeded home to Pennsylvania. The way in which this good man can best serve his country is in superintending his farm. He certainly is wanting in political fortitude. Benson, Lawrence, the Secretary and others have paid attention to him and he has not firmness of mind to refute them his vote. But he has done what equally offends them and subjects himself to ridicule; he has abandoned the whole business and deserted the cause of his country at a time when an honest vote is inestimable." [16]

Lower House" and to Maclay as "Your Highness of the Senate," [17] He also told Maclay that "he didn't know what to make of men [like Wynkoop] who agree to a thing at night and then denied it in the morning." [18]     On yet another occasion, Maclay records that Wynkoop "waved what I said as if he would push it by in the lump. But had I talked to a mute camel or addressed myself to a dead horse, my speech would have had the same effect: and yet he seemed to have neither opinion nor system of his own." [19] Maclay "observed the blind obedience which he [Wynkoop] pays to the opinions of his Philadelphia colleagues," [20] and "I never saw a man take so much pains not to see a subject." [21]
    It would be both sad and wrong to think the Judge had feet of clay. Whether Wynkoop was as weak as Maclay painted him, or whether Maclay, in utter frustration at the slow pace and devious methods used in Congress, lashed out at those whose ideas did not coincide with his own is a moot question. Wynkoop was a responsible man. Upon completion of his term in the United States Congress in 1791, he was appointed Associate Judge of the Bucks County Court. A few months later, Gov. Mifflin appointed him President Judge in the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. He and his ability were well respected in Bucks County - his continuous appointments to the bench until a few years before his death are proof of that.
    Henry Wynkoop was a considerate, generous and loving father, and a successful and civic-minded gentleman farmer, as well as Bucks County's elder statesman extraordinaire.

1. John S. Wurts, "Judge Henry Wynkoop", Papers Read Before The Bucks County Historical Society, V. III (1909), p 197. [Back]
2. 46 of these original letters are in the archives of BCHS and all unidentified quotations are taken from this source. (Two other letters are at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and one is in the possession of Mrs. Dorothy H. Ernst of Wellesley, Massachusetts.) [Back]
3. Introd. by Joseph M. Beatty, Jr., Ph.D., "Letters from Continental Officers to Dr. Reading Beatty", The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (PMHB), V. 54 (1930), pp. 167-69. [Back]
4. The VanUxem Genealogy, Diary of James VanUxem, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, (1923), F V 99 v. 1. [Back]
5. Wurts, op. cit., p. 214. [Back]
6. Joseph M. Beatty, Jr., "Letters of Judge Henry Wynkoop", PMHB, V. 38 (1914), p. 43. [Back]
7. Wurts, op. cit., pp. 209-10. [Back]
8. Edward R. Barnsley, "The Newtown Library under Two Kings", (Newtown, 1938), archives of BCHS, Folio 10. [Back]
9. Bible collection, BCHS. [Back]
10. "Philadelphia Poor Relief Fund 1793-Yellow Fever Epidemic": lists kept by Henry Wynkoop of Bucks County subscribers, by township. BCHS archives. [Back]
11. H. Powell, Bring Out Your Dead, (Philadelphia, 1949), pp. 246-7. [Back]
12. Related by Harry W. VanHorn to Edward R. Barnsley, Newtown historian. [Back]
13. Heber G. Gearhart, "The Maclay Family of Pennsylvania", Historical Society of Pennsylvania. [Back]
14. Harman Yerkes, "Address Delivered . . . on the Occasion of the Centennial Celebration of the Removal of the County Seat of Bucks County to Doylestown, Pa.", BCHS archives, p. 14. [Back]
15. Edgar S. Maclay, ed., Journal of Senator William Maclay, (New York, 1890), p. 164. [Back]
16. Ibid., pp. 222-3. [Back]
17. Ibid., p. 33. [Back]
18. Ibid., pp. 149-53. [Back]
19. Ibid., p. 239. [Back]
20. Ibid., p. 276. [Back]
21. Ibid., p. 245. [Back]

Source:

Geyer, Virginia B., "Further Notes on Henry Wynkoop", The Bucks County Historical Society Journal, Vol. 1, No. 10 (Fall 1976): 1-12

    I would like to thank Mrs. Virginia B. Geyer, the author of this terrific article, for fulfilling a long-time dream of mine and granting me permission to reprint it here for all Wynkoop family members to enjoy. It really is a terrific piece and shows a side of Henry Wynkoop that other authors have missed. Thank you so much Mrs. Geyer!

    I would also like to express my thanks to Cynthia D. Earman, cearman@mercermuseum.org, Director of Library Services for the Spruance Library at the Bucks County Historical Society in Doylestown, PA. Cynthia very kindly researched the rights issues for Mrs. Geyer's articles and then acted as go-between for us when I sought Mrs. Geyer's permission to reprint her great work. Thanks so much Cynthia, you've been an enormous help!

    All my best,

    Chris