Peter Aaron Van Dorn

Peter Aaron Van Dorn (September 12, 1773 – February 12, 1837) was an American lawyer, judge and cotton planter in Mississippi. Born and raised in New Jersey, with a law degree from Princeton, as a young man he migrated to the Mississippi Territory, where he made his career and fortune. He became a major planter with a plantation on the Yazoo River, a law practice in Port Gibson, and a seat as a judge on the Orphan's Court. He was one of the founders of Jackson, Mississippi, designated as the capital when it became a state.

Early life Peter Aaron Van Dorn was born on September 12, 1773, near Peapack, New Jersey. He descended from the ethnic Dutch Van Doorn family. Members of this family were elevated to the Dutch nobility in the 19th century.

Career in Mississippi Van Dorn first moved to Virginia. It was listed on the NRHP in 1979.

Van Dorn also built a house in Grand Gulf, ten miles away from Port Gibson. The Van Dorns had nine children before her death in late 1830 or early 1831: Mary Van Dorn Lacy (1812–1837) Jane Van Dorn Vertner (1815–1870) Octavia Van Dorn Ross Sullivane (1816–1897). Her son Clement Sulivane (1838-1920), served in the Confederate States Army (C.S.A.) as aide de camp to his uncle Earl Van Dorn (below) and later was elected to the Maryland Senate. Sophia Mabella Van Dorn (1819–1836) Earl Van Dorn (1820–1863) attended West Point and became a U.S. Army officer; after the Civil war broke out, he joined the C.S.A., becoming a general during the war. He was killed by a man who thought he was having an affair with his wife. Aaron Van Dorn (1822–1874) Sarah Ross Van Dorn (1825–1828) Emily Donelson Van Dorn Miller (1827–1909) Jacob Van Dorn (1829–1837)

Death Van Dorn wrote and dated his will in 1830. He died on February 12, 1837, at his plantation near the Yazoo River. He was buried with Masonic honors in the Wintergreen Cemetery in Port Gibson, Mississippi. Daniel Vertner was the sole executor of his will.