Moses Van Campen

Early life

Van Campen was born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, on January 21, 1757. His father was a farmer named Cornelius Van Campen. He was of Dutch descent on his father's side and French descent on his mother's side. He was the oldest of six sons and four daughters, and was named after Moses Depue, his grandfather. Shortly following Moses Van Campen's birth, his family moved to Northampton County, Pennsylvania, near the Delaware Water Gap, where Van Campen spent most of his childhood. Van Campen was educated at home until the age of nine, when he was sent to a nearby school, where he learned surveying and navigation, and aspired to become a sailor. After he turned 16, he often hunted deer and wild turkey in the forests around his home. The group then continued to Chillisquaque Creek, then over the Muncy Mountains to Muncy Creek. Finding no trace of any Indians, Van Campen then returned to Fort Wheeler. He went to Northumberland with a number of other soldiers, then crossed the Susquehanna River and returned past Mahoning Creek to Roaring Creek. He and the soldiers disguised themselves as Indians and encountered a Loyalist hunter by the name of Wilkinson. The Indians were then taken to Northumberland, where Colonel Hunter commanded that they leave the area for the duration of the war. who were sailing downriver discovered Van Campen's group and set out to pursue them. When the Indians did catch up to Van Campen's group, the group fought them. Three of Van Campen's men escaped, a total of nine were killed, and several more were wounded. The remaining soldiers were then taken up the Susquehanna River valley to Pine Creek and from there through the Pigeon Woods to the Genesee River and Niagara. They were then taken to an Indian village in New York and beyond to near Buffalo Creek. Van Campen and the other prisoners were then taken to Fort Niagara and given to the British army. The British soldiers then took him to Montreal. He was then sent down the Hudson River to New York in December 1782. He was paroled and eventually returned to Northumberland via New Jersey. In New York, he was employed as a surveyor and surveyed approximately 150,000 acres of land over the course of several years. He also aided in the creation of a number of important roads in the area.