Rebecca (DuBois) Vanmeter (1722 - bef. 1806)

Born 14 Aug 1722 in New Paltz, Ulster, Province of New York

Ancestors

Wife of Henry Van Meter — married 7 May 1741 in Philadelphia, Province of Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died before 12 Feb 1806 before age 83 in Moorefield, Hardy County, Virginia, United States

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Rebekah (DuBois) Vanmeter was a New Netherland Descendant 1674-1776. Join: New Netherland Settlers Project Discuss: new_netherland

Biography

Rebekah (DuBois) Vanmeter is the descendant of a Huguenot emigrant.

Rebecca DuBois or DuBoyes

Henry VanMeter and Rebecca DuBoyes were recorded as marrying on 7 May 1741^[1] in the First Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania ^[2]

Rebecca DUBOIS. ^[3] Dubois.

Born 14 AUG 1722. New Paltz, Ulster, New York, USA. ^[4]

Parents Rebecca may have been a daughter of Isaac and Rachel Dubois. The will of Isaac's father Solomon, dated 1756, states that his son Isaac had four daughters, including a Rebecca, and devised land in Pennsylvania to them.^[5] This would be after Henry and Rebecca moved to Virginia. Onomastic support for this attribution comes from observing that Henry called one of his sons "Solomon" in his will (abstracted on his profile).

Husband and Children Rebecca married Henry Van Meter in Philadelphia on 7 March 1741.^[6] They lived briefly in Pilesgrove in Salem County, New Jersey before moving to Hampshire County, Virginia (now part of West Virginia, just accross the Pennsylvania border).

On 30 April 1741, Henry Van Meter was the third signer to the covenant of the Pilesgrove Presbyterian Church in Salem County, New Jersey, the first two signers being his parents Isaac and Hannah Van Meter.^[7]

On 4 February 1741/2, Rebekah, wife of Henry V. Meter Ju^r., was admitted to communion.^[8]

On 26 September 1742 was recorded the baptism of Isaac, son of Henry V. Meter, Ju^r, & Rebekah his wife.^[9]

Died 12 FEB 1806. Moorefield, Hardy County, Virginia, USA. ^[10]

Buried Pittsgrove Presbyterian Cemetery, Daretown, Salem, New Jersey. OR PA.

Will

The will of Rebekah Vanmeter of Hardy County, Virginia is dated 20 January 1802 and was proved 12 February 1806 in the same place.^[11] A transcript follows:

In the Name of God Amen I Rebekah Vanmeter of Hardy County and State of Virginia being weak in body but of sound mind and memory taking into consideration the uncertainty of Life do make and ordain this to be my last & Testament.

First I recommend my soul to the Mercy of my creator & my body to be buryed at the discreation of my executor who is hereby ___ directed to pay all my Just debts and funeral expences Item I give and devise to all and every one of my sons all debts or demands that I have or might claim or demand from them or either of them and desire that they may not be Called on for any settlement on acct. of any thing due or owing me from them or either of them Item my will and desire is that at my death my slave Abigail be emancipated and set at liberty fully and free in every respect and it is further my will and desire that my slave Cuffy son of Abigail be emancipated when he attains to the age of twenty five years and enjoy his Liberty fully in every respect after that age.

Item I give and devise unto my son Jacob Vanmeter the use and Labour of my slave Cuffy from and after the first day of April next until he attains to the age of twenty five years at which time I have directed him to be set at liberty in consideration of this devise to my son Jacob my desire is and I do hereby direct that my son Jacob pay to my son Isaac twenty dollars annually so long as he continues to have the use and labour of my said slave Cuffy Item I give and devise all the rest of my estate unto my five sons to be equally divided between them And Lastly I do Nominate constitute and appoint my sons Isaac and Jacob Vanmeter Executors to this my last will and Testament In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twentyeth day Janary one thousand eight hundred & two

signed sealed published and declared in the presence of Isaac Vanmeter, Jacob Vanmeter

Rebekah Vanmeter made her mark.

Research Notes

This profile originally showed Rebecca's death on 8 December 1759 in Salem County, New Jersey. This is erroneous and seems to have resulted from confusion about Rebecca's husband -- see below.

Confusion about her husband

Later in the year following Rebecca's admission to communion in the Pilesgrove church, the record shows Henry Van Meter, Sen^r and his wife Mary were admitted to communion.

Then we see in the baptismal register both Henry Jr. and Rebecca and Henry Sr. and Mary having children in an overlapping time period, proving that there were two Henrys at this place and time and that the younger was the one who had married Rebecca. Because Henry Jr. is associated through the covenant of the church with his father Isaac, and these church records also associate that same Isaac with Virginia, we can be sure Henry and Rebecca were the pair later producing records in Virginia.

As noted on her husband Henry's profile, some sources have confused him with his uncle Hendrick "Henry" Van Meter. This latter man is the senior Henry who joined the Pilesgrove congregation in 1741. That Henry had several marriages, including one probably within just a few years of Rebecca's marriage to the younger Henry. The elder Henry also had some lineal descendants with connections to Philadelphia, where Rebecca married the younger Henry, so some confusion here is quite understandable.

In particular, this profile originally listed 8 December 1759 for Rebecca's death date. This is the exact date that the elder Henry's will was proved.^[12] It is undoubtable that this is not a coincidence. Because the will names no wife, presumably Rebecca's death date was supposed to have been listed as "before 8 December 1759" and we can infer that the person who entered it had erred and thought Rebecca was married to the elder Henry.

Alternate place of birth

Profile Dubois-1959 had her birthplace as Frederick Township, Montgomery, Pennsylvania.

Sources

1. ↑ The Old Style date in the record, in month, day, year format, is 3, 7, 1741. This corresponds to 7 May 1741.
2. ↑ Record of Pennsylvania Marriages Prior to 1810, page 21
3. ↑ Ancestry Family Trees. Record for Rachel DuBois
4. ↑ Ancestry Family Trees. Record for Rachel DuBois
5. ↑ Documents and Genealogical Chart of the Family of Benjamin DuBois of Catskill, New York, (New York: Peter Eckler, 1878), page 15
6. ↑ "Pennsylvania Marriages, 1709-1940", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2WF-R4G5 : 6 February 2020), Henry Vanmeter, 1741.
7. ↑ Turner, page 68
8. ↑ Turner, page 72
9. ↑ Turner, page 77
10. ↑ Ancestry Family Trees. Record for Rachel DuBois
11. ↑ "West Virginia Will Books, 1756-1971," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-HGSX-5K?cc=1909099&wc=Q8BW-M9W%3A179686301%2C179697801 : 21 June 2016), Hardy > Will book, v. 001 1786-1811 page 323 > image 161 of 242; citing Jackson County Clerk, West Virginia.
12. ↑ Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey: Vol. 32, Pages 336-337

• Wallace, H. E. "The Inskeeps." Moorefield Examiner, Moorefield, W.V. Originally published in 1906. Available online on Burlington County, New Jersey, GenWeb at http://sites.rootsweb.com/~njburlin/inskeepbio.html. The information regarding Rebecca found in this source is: "Mary Inskeep, the eldest daughter [of Joseph Inskeep], married Col. Joseph VanMeter, a son of Henry and Rebecca (du Bois) VanMeter. It is supposed that Joseph VanMeter was born shortly after his father and mother removed from New Jersey to the South Branch."
• Joseph Brown Turner, "Vital Records of the Pittsgrove, N.J., Presbyterian Church, 1740-1768," Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society (1901-1930) 9 no. 2 (June 1917), pages 65-94.
• Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey (The Daily Journal Establishment, Newark, New Jersey, 1880-1949)
• Ancestry Family Trees. Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile DuBois-799 was created through the import of wikitree1.ged on Oct 17, 2012 by Kimball G. Everingham.
• The WikiTree profile DuBois-176 was created through the import of LaBach Family TreeApril28_2011.ged on 05 May 2011.
• The WikiTree profile Dubois-940 was created by Jeffrey Lewis through the import of LewisFamilyTree.GED on May 27, 2013.
• The WikiTree profile for Rebecca Dubois (Dubois-129) was created through the import of carl&elaine_(grove)_rhodes-10-2-2010.ged on 09 March 2011.
• Dubois-1278 was created by John Floyd through the import of Van_Meters_Cundiff_HardinCoJDF.ged on Sep 5, 2014.