First Settled In This Country About 
 
 1639. 
 
 THE DESCENDANTS IN BUCKS. 
 
 Henry, Son of Nicholas Wynkoop, at 
 
 One Time Associate Judge of Com¬ 
 mon Pleas of Bucks County—Mili¬ 
 tary Records of the Family. 
 
 An interesting paper on “The Wyn¬ 
 koop Family,” was read at the May 
 meeting of the Bucks County His¬ 
 torical Society at Warminster on 
 Tuesday, May 27, by Capt. William 
 H. Wynkoop, of Newtown. He read 
 as follows:— 
 
 In giving the origin of our old 
 families most writers commence 
 “Once upon a time two brothers came 
 over from the old country and settled, ’ ’ 
 etc., etc. So the Wynkoop family 
 dates back to 1639 and 1642, when 
 Peter and Cornelius Wynkoop came to 
 this country from Utrecht, Holland, 
 and settled near where the city of Al¬ 
 bany, N. Y., now stands. 
 
 Like other old families we boast of 
 our coat of arms, yet the crest is the 
 only part which savors of heraldry. 
 The name appears to be a contraction 
 of Wynkooper, which in the Dutch 
 language signifies wine-merchant or 
 wine-bearer. 
 
 When in Holland in 1889, my wife 
 and I spent part of a day in Utrecht, 
 for the purpose of ascertaining whether 
 the family name is still in use there. 
 We found the “ koop” as a termina¬ 
 tion to several names such as “Van- 
 derkoop, ” etc., but none with full 
 name of Wynkoop or Wynkooper. It 
 is not my purpose to write a genealogy 
 of the family for our records embrace 
 867 names extending down from 1642 
 through ten generations, but shall 
 select a few persons who from time to 
 time figured prominently among the 
 early settlers and later on in the de¬ 
 velopment of our country, either in leg¬ 
 islative, judicial, religious or in 
 military life. 
 
 We are glad to be able to say no one 
 of our ancestry was ever hung or con¬ 
 victed of any serious crime. Among 
 the earliest names were Peter, Abra¬ 
 ham, David, Deborah, and Daniel, 
 showing a reverence for the Bible and 
 sacred records. The favorite names 
 as carried down were Peter, 20 times; 
 Nicholas, 40; Cornelius, 29 ; William, 
 28; Henry, 29; Catharine, 141; John, 
 39, and Mary, 31. We find honorable 
 mention of several in the early history 
 of New York State but in 1717 Gerrit 
 or Gerardus, moved with his family to 
 
 the township of Moreland, now Mont¬ 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania. He 
 was an elder of the church of North 
 and South Hampton in our county in 
 1744-5, and his descendants now own 
 and occupy land in Northampton town¬ 
 ship, which has been in continuous 
 possession of some of the family ever 
 since. 
 
 We can point with pardonable pride 
 to a long line of elders and ministers 
 running through eight generations, 
 who have been closely identified with 
 the religious element of our country 
 as officers in the local churches where 
 they worshipped. Among these were 
 Rev. Silvester Wynkoop, pastor of 
 Reformed Dutch church at Catskill, 
 1817, and of whom a fellow minister 
 wrote “the memory of Dominie Wyn¬ 
 koop, was cherished with love and re¬ 
 spect by the entire community.” 
 
 Rev. Richard Wynkoop, pastor of 
 Presbyterian church at Yorktown, 
 West Chetser county N. Y., 1827-1834; 
 Rev. Jefferson Wynkoop, pastor of the 
 Reformed Dutch church at Hempstead, 
 N. Y., 1825-1836, filling serial other 
 successful pastorates after 'tfifefb dftec ; 
 Rev. Stephen Rose, son of Uavid Wyn¬ 
 koop, who represented Bucks county 
 in the Legislature six or seven years, 
 was pastor of the First Presbyterian 
 Church at Wilmington, Del., 1838 to 
 1858. In 1833-4 he explored the west¬ 
 ern coast of Africa on behalf of the 
 American Board of Foreign Missions. 
 
 Rev. Theodore S. Wynkoop was 
 pastor of the Second Presbyterian 
 Church at Huntingdon, L. I., in 
 1864; subsequently he went as a mis¬ 
 sionary to India, returned to this 
 country for his health, was elected 
 pastor of Presbyterian church in 
 Washington D. C., and is now again 
 in India. 
 
 Henry,'son of David Wynkoop, lived 
 and died in Bucks county. He served 
 as ruling elder in Thompson Memorial 
 Church of Solebury for fifty-two years 
 and was known only to be beloved by 
 all who knew him. His son, Henry, 
 Jr., married Emily G. Nippes a 
 daughter of Anna Kenderdine and 
 Henry Nippes, and Anna, daughter of 
 said Henry Jr., married Lieut. George 
 Marvell, so the Bucks county branch 
 of our family is to some extent related 
 to the Kenderdine family of whom we 
 hear so favorably to-day. 
 
 Ellen, a daughter of Henry Sr., was 
 recently married to Samuel T. Buck- 
 man of Newtown. Two of her sisters, 
 Louisa Ann and Harriet, married and 
 are still living in suburbs of Phila¬ 
 delphia. 
 
 There are many more honored names 
 of elders and deacons who were identi¬ 
 fied with Presbyterian and Dutch Re¬ 
 formed^ churches, but time forbids a 
 personal mention in this paper. 
 
 We find several honored members of 
 the Bar and Judges on the bench. 
 Cornelius C., was an attorney at law* 
 in 1795, practicing in the courts of 
 
Netf York city. Gerardus was for 
 nineteen successive years a member of 
 the House of General Assembly of 
 Pennsylvania and for a series of years 
 its speaker. He died in 1813. Dirk 
 or Derick was a member of the com¬ 
 mittee of safety, and of the Second 
 Provincial Congress which met at New 
 York November 14th, 1775. He was 
 appointed a Judge of the Common 
 Pleas of Ulster county, N. Y., in 1777, 
 was a member of the New York As¬ 
 sembly 1780-1; and in 1788 a member 
 of the State convention to which was 
 submitted the Federal Constitution. 
 
 Henry, son of Nicholas Wynkoop, 
 was an officer in the Revolutionary 
 Army, and at one time an Associate 
 Judge of the Common Pleas of Bucks 
 county. He greatly distinguished 
 himself by the active and determined 
 part he took in favor of our struggle 
 for independence. He served as a 
 member of the First Provincial Con¬ 
 ference of Pennsylvania which con¬ 
 vened in Carpenter’s Hall, Philadel¬ 
 phia, on the 18th of June, 1776, and 
 was elected a member of the First 
 Congress,* which assembled at New 
 York, on the 4th of March, 1789. 
 Judge Wynkoop’s house was distin¬ 
 guished as the home of Col. Monroe— 
 afterwards President—during the time 
 he was disabled by a wound received 
 at the battle of Trenton. It was the 
 letter of General Washington, addressed 
 to his friend Wynkoop, that procured 
 these hospitable quarters for Col. 
 Monroe and for whom kind attention 
 from the family of Judge Wynkoop. 
 President Monroe as late as March 
 26th, 1834, in a letter expressed the 
 most lively gratitude “for the kind¬ 
 ness received during an interesting 
 period of our Revolutionary War.” 
 
 Gen. Alexander Hamilton and Judge 
 Wynkoop were members of the First 
 Continental Congress. On one occa¬ 
 sion while walking on Chestnut street, 
 Philadelphia, the General was urging 
 very strongly the claims of a bill be¬ 
 fore the House, for which he desired 
 to secure his friend’s support. But 
 the Judge desiring to avoid the dis¬ 
 cussion, because he was adverse to the 
 measure, changed the subject by call¬ 
 ing the General’s attention to two very 
 beautiful women who had just passed 
 them. The conversation was not re¬ 
 sumed ; but forty-eight hours after¬ 
 ward Mrs. Wynkoop arrived quite 
 unexpectedly, having traveled all 
 night in consequence of a letter re¬ 
 ceived from General Hamilton, request¬ 
 ing her immediate presence, as her 
 husband was in a very dangerous con¬ 
 dition. The joke was well taken and 
 caused great merriment to all con¬ 
 cerned. 
 
 At one time General Washington, 
 who was in favor of styling the Presi¬ 
 dent, “His Mightiness,” asked Gen¬ 
 eral Muhlenburg’s opinion. Judge 
 Wynkoop was standing by. General 
 Muhlenburg replied : “If all the in¬ 
 
 cumbents were j to have the command¬ 
 ing size and presence of yourself, cr 
 of my friend Wynkoop, the title 
 might be appropriate, but if applied 
 to some lesser men it would provoke 
 ridicule.” The writer has in his par¬ 
 lor a chair used by the Judge in his 
 lifetime. He died March 25th, 1816. 
 
 Many others might be named, but 
 with mention of Richard a son of Rev. 
 Richard fl'ynkoop, we will turn to the 
 military record cf the family. He was 
 born in 1829, educated at Rutger’s 
 College afterwards studied law in New 
 York city, and was admitted to the 
 Bar in 1852. He served for some time 
 in New York Custom House, under 
 Collector Barney, Draper and Chester 
 A. Arthur, afterwards President of the 
 United States. He wrote in his leisure 
 hours a genealogy of the Wynkoop 
 family to which the writer is indebted 
 for many records in this paper, also 
 was the author of several poetic effu¬ 
 sions. 
 
 Besides those prominent in civil and 
 religious life, our family has ever 
 been loyal to our flag and many of 
 them took up arms in their country’s 
 defense. We mention a few only. 
 Adrian, son of Cornelius Wynkoop 
 was elected major of the First Regi¬ 
 ment, Ulster county, N. Y., May 1st, 
 1776, and in October, 1776, was placed 
 in command of 200 men to guard the 
 passes of the Hudson. 
 
 Cornelius D. was appointed Major 
 of the Third Regiment,same company, 
 June 30th, 1775, and promoted to Lieut. 
 Col. of same regiment August 2d, 1775. 
 He was made Col. April 11th, 1776, 
 
 and received honorable mention, in the 
 archives of that day. 
 
 Evert, a son of Cornelius, Jr., was 
 a Captain in the old French war and 
 died of camp fever, 1750. Jocobus, 
 son of Cornelius Wynkoop, was elceted 
 Captain of the 4th N. Y. Continental 
 Regiment, August 15th, 1775, and 
 transferred to naval service on recom¬ 
 mendation of Major Gen. Schuyler, 
 to take command of all the vessels on 
 the Lakes George and Champlain, near 
 Ticonderoga. He had the misfortune 
 to offend Gen. Benedict Arnold by re¬ 
 porting to Gen. Gates instead of him, 
 and was ordered under arrest, but 
 Gen. Schuyler had him reinstated and 
 he retained his command until the 
 evacuation of Ticonderoga. 
 
 Francis Murray Wynkoop was born 
 1820 and on the 13th of December, 1857, 
 while hunting birds to tempt the de¬ 
 licate appetite of his wife was acci¬ 
 dentally shot and died in half an hour. 
 During the Mexican War he enlisted 
 as a private under Gov. Shunk s call 
 for volunteers, was elected Col. of 
 the regiment, was at the capture of 
 Vera Cruz, in the battles of Cerro- 
 Gordo and Humantla, exhibiting great 
 skill and bravery, and received honor¬ 
 able mention in the autobiogarphy of 
 Gen. Winfield Scott. Under President 
 Pierce he was U. S. Marshal of the 
 
^<jlcK 5 Co • h «6T, 50C. 4/ 3o Up 
 
 eastern district of Pennsylvania. Our 
 honored president, Gen. W. W. H. 
 Davis, fought by his side during the 
 Mexican War, and will bear testimony 
 of his soldierly ability. 
 
 Edward H. Wynkoop, brother of 
 Francis, was Major of a Colorado regi¬ 
 ment performed perilous and efficient 
 service against the rebels in New 
 Mexico and against the Indians, and 
 was one of the members of the original 
 Pike’s Peak expedition. 
 
 Another of the Bucks county branch 
 was John Estill Wynkoop, Col. of the 
 20th Pennsylvania Cavalry and com¬ 
 manded a brigade at Cumberland, 
 Md., in war of 1861-4. His brother, 
 George, was Lieut. Col. of the 98th 
 Pennsylvania Infantry at Chancellors- 
 ville, where he was wounded and re¬ 
 signed in consequence. 
 
 The writer of this paper served over 
 three years in war of ’61-4,as private, 
 Sergeant, Second Lieutenant , First 
 Lieutenant and Captain; was three 
 times wounded and at the time of his 
 discharge was on the staff of Brig. 
 Gen. Davies, Greggs Cavalry division, 
 Army of Potomac, acting as Asst. 
 Adjt. General. 
 
 His brother Thomas H., was a mem¬ 
 ber of Gen. Davis’ 104th regiment, 
 from Bucks county and was killed in 
 action June, 1862. The G. A. R. 
 Post, of Newtown, was named in his 
 honor. A number of others of the 
 name served honorably in the wars of 
 our country, but space forbids further 
 mention. 
 
 Thomas L., father, of the writer, 
 always lived in Bucks county. Three 
 
 of his children still survive, Catharine, 
 William, and Samuel. He was' for 
 many years a prominent officer in the 
 Presbyterian church at Newtown. He 
 died in 1879. His brother, Gerardus, 
 lived near Newtown during a long life 
 and died in 1888. Four children still 
 survive him, viz: Susan B., widow 
 of Elias E. Smith, M. D. ; Emeline, 
 wife of William Patterson, of Doyles- 
 town; Mary A., wife of Elijah Tor- 
 bert, and Matilda, wife of John L - 
 Janney. 
 
 One sister, Anna Maria, married N. 
 I. Rubinkam, of Hartsville, and 
 lived near where we meet to-day. Two 
 of her sons were educated for the min¬ 
 istry, one of whom died early in life, 
 the other, Rev. N. I. Rubinkam, D. 
 D., has been pastor of churches in 
 Philadelphia, Jamestown, N. Y., and 
 Chicago. Another son, Jesse, died 
 recently of disease contracted in the 
 war of 1861, his brother, G. W. Rub¬ 
 inkam, Esq., is to-day an active elder 
 in the Presbyterian church of Ne- 
 shaminy and favorably known 
 throughout Bucks county. 
 
 The temptation is great to continue 
 these recollections, for there are many 
 others equally deserving of mention as 
 the few selected, but I must forbear. 
 Hoping that my paper may not savor 
 too strongly of egotism, but that much 
 may be excused as pardoi able pride of 
 ancestry, I will close, knowing full 
 well there are other families in our 
 county, whose history not yet written 
 is fully equal, if not more creditable, 
 than our own. 
 
 • 9 ! 
 
 Of President Roosevelt in Chester 
 County. 
 
 LIKE THOSE IN THIS COUNTY. 
 
 They Were of Scotch-lrish Origin— 
 Chester County Dunwoodys Were 
 Maternal Ancestors of the Chief Ex¬ 
 ecutive—Removed to Georgia. 
 
 In a rcent issue of The Republican was 
 published an account of the Scotch-lrish 
 ancestors of President Roosevelt who were 
 residents of Bucks county, an article in 
 Saturday’s North American gives an ac¬ 
 count of other Scotch-lrish progenitors of 
 the President being the ancestors of his 
 mother, Martha Bullock. The Bucks 
 county branches were ancestors of his 
 grandmother, Margaret Barnhill. The 
 
 North A.merican article is as fol¬ 
 lows:— 
 
 A stone in the graveyard at Brandywine 
 Manor, Chester county. Pa., bears this 
 inscription:— 
 
 In Memory of 
 JOHN DUNWOODY, 
 
 Who departed this life the 17th 
 day of September, 1776, 
 aged 69 years. 
 
 My flei-h ►hall slumber in the ground 
 Tdl the last joyful trumpets sound, 
 
 Then burst tne chains with sweet surprise, 
 And in my Saviour’s image rise. 
 
 This stone marks the last resting place 
 of the first Scotch-lrish ancestor of Presi¬ 
 dent Roosevelt, who came to this country 
 and settled in Londonderry township, 
 Chester county, Pa., about 1736. 
 
 There was quite a Scotch-lrish settle¬ 
 ment in Londonderry township about this 
 time and Presbyterianism seems to have 
 embodied their chief religious faith, for a 
 Presbyterian Church, widely known from 
 that time to this as “Faggs Manor” was 
 first built by this Scotch-lrish element 
 about 1730. 
 
 ANCESTOR A SCHOOL TEACHER. 
 
 Tradition says John Dunwoody taught 
 school at Fagg’s Manor, which is located 
 
in the southern part of the township. 
 His name appears on the records of Chester 
 county. Pa., In 1737, as a single man in 
 Londonderry township. In 1740 he is taxed 
 as a married man, but is then located in 
 West Nantmeal township, in the same 
 county, near where the Scotch-Irish of 
 that time had built another Presbyterian 
 Church almost as widely-known as'Fagg’s 
 Manor. The name of the latter is Brandy¬ 
 wine Manor. 
 
 A. little love affair is responsible for 
 John Dunwoody’s removal to Brandywine 
 Manor. While he was a school teacher at 
 Fagg’s Manor he met and fell in love 
 with Susanna Criswell, aged 16 years, a 
 daughter of William Criswell,of the same 
 neighborhood. John was without real 
 estate, and the young woman refused to 
 marry him unless he would buy a farm. 
 
 A number of the Criswell family came 
 from the old country with the Dunwoodys 
 and they were all a sturdy race of good 
 Scotch-Irish farmers. Land was cheap in 
 Chester county at that time so that the 
 young woman’s request was probably 
 neither unnatural nor harsh. At any rate, 
 it was promptly complied with,and tradi¬ 
 tion s.iys when John bought a farm in 
 West Nantmeal township, where he soon 
 took his yonng wife, she was pronounced 
 the handsomest woman who entered 
 Brandywine Manor Church. 
 
 COMES FROM NORTH OF IRELAND. 
 
 The two families had had some inter¬ 
 marriages in the North of Ireland, before 
 the immigration, and this was the first 
 instance of a marriage of a Dun woody and 
 Criswell in the new country. Robert 
 Dun woody, a son of this couple, married 
 Mary Criswell, a first cousin, in London¬ 
 derry township, about 1780. Eight child¬ 
 ren were born to John Dun woody and 
 wife. Among the oldest of the children 
 was one James, who studied medicine and 
 went to Georgia to practice his profession. 
 A daughter of Dr. James Dunwoody 
 married Hon. John Elliott, U. S. Senator 
 from Georgia. 
 
 Mrs. Elliott’s granddaughter, whose 
 maiden name was Bullock, married the 
 father of President Roosevelt and became 
 the mother of the future President of the 
 United States. This makes Mrs. Elliott 
 the great-grandmother of the President 
 and Dr. James Dunwoody his great-great¬ 
 grandfather, and John Dunwoody and 
 Susanna Criswell Dunwoody, the Scotch- 
 -Irish immigrants, his great great-great- 
 grandparents. 
 
 A number of the Dunwoodys and Cris¬ 
 wells from the Londonderry, Chester 
 county,settlement,did good service in the 
 Revolutionary war. They were with 
 Washington at the battles of Brandywine 
 and Trenton, and crossed the Delaware 
 with him. An old lady, Mrs. ;M. J. Collins 
 who is still living in West Chester, has 
 frequently heard of James Criswell, a 
 Revolutionary soldier,and a cousin of Dr. 
 James Dunwoody, of Wellsboro, Colleton 
 county,speak of his personal acquaintance 
 with Washington and of the great faith 
 the latter had in the Scotch-Irish element. 
 
 SUCCESS PREDICTED FOR ROOSE¬ 
 VELT. 
 
 The following extracts are from a letter 
 written by the Rev. James B. Dunwoody, 
 of Walterboro, Colleton county, S. C. 
 
 to a resident of West Chester, Pa., in 
 1884:— 
 
 “My grandfather’s name was James. 
 He was a physician, skillful, of extensive 
 practice and high reputation. He settled 
 rot in Savannah, but in Liberty county, 
 Georgia, where he married an admirable 
 woman, a widow with a good estate, who 
 brought two sons, John and James, and 
 one daughter, who married the Hon. John 
 Elliott, Senator of the United States from 
 Georgia. * * * * Mrs. Elliott's family 
 was short-lived. Of her grandchildren, 
 Captain James Dunwoody Bullock has 
 lately brought out an interesting couple 
 of volumes called ‘The Secret Service of 
 the Confederate States. ’ * * * Captain 
 Bullock has two sisters, one of whom is 
 married to a very worthy lawyer in New 
 York city. The other is the widow of the 
 late Theodore Roosevelt,of the same great 
 city, and her two sons, Elliott and Theo¬ 
 dore, are rising young men in the city. 
 
 * * * In the north of Ireland we have 
 heard that our ancestors of that day 
 married into a family of the name of 
 Criswell, and his eldest son moved over 
 to this country. My grandfather Dun¬ 
 woody was a determined Whig and a sur¬ 
 geon in the war of independence. One of 
 my grandfather’s brothers came to Georgia 
 some time after he did. He died early in 
 life. I think his name was Robert. Dr. 
 Dunwoody assisted the widow in rearing 
 the children.” 
 
 LEFT A LEGACY OF ONE POUND. 
 
 Samuel Criswell.(of Londonderry town¬ 
 ship, Chester county, Pa., whose will was 
 probated in 1785, named his son James 
 and his son-in-law, Robert Dunwoody, as 
 executors of his will But Robert re¬ 
 nounced his right to letters testamentary 
 so that he might go to Georgia at that 
 time. 
 
 The will of William Criswell, of the 
 same township, probated in 1743, has this 
 item in it: “And to my well-beloved 
 daughter, Susanna Criswell, now wife of 
 John Dunwoody, my son-in-law, I give 
 and bequeath the sum of one pound. ” 
 
 Samuel Criswell, the father of Mary, 
 who married Robert Dunwoody, left this 
 said daughter £5. John Dunwoody’s will 
 is on record in Chester county. He leaves 
 his son, James, five shillings. These 
 records tend to confirm the statments 
 made in Rev. James B. Dunwoody’s let¬ 
 ters. The Rev. Mr. Dunwoody is said to 
 be still living at the age of 86 years in a 
 Walterboro, S. C.,and was lately reported 
 to have been the officiating clergyman at 
 the marriage of President Roosevelt’s 
 parents. He little thought when he wrote 
 in 1884: “And her two sons, Elliot and 
 Theodore, are rising young men in the 
 city, ’’ that one of the “two sons, ’ ’ was des¬ 
 tined to become the President of the 
 United States. 
 
 It is remarkable that while quite a num¬ 
 ber of the descendants of these two old 
 Scotch-Irish families are still to be found 
 in Chester county, yet many more are 
 living at the present time in almost all 
 parts of the country. They can be found 
 in almost every one of the Southern and 
 Western States as well as in all of the 
 Middle States, and many of them exhibit 
 much of the same independent and aggres¬ 
 sive spirit as the President himself.