Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Descendants of Weaver Van Sant

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Descendants of Weaver Van Sant

Generation No. 1

1. WEAVER¹ VAN SANT was born Abt. 1800 in Pennsylvania (?), and died Abt. 1850 in Pennsylvania or NJ. He married (1) ANN MICHENER Bef. 1824 in Pa or NJ. She was born Abt. 1800 in PA or Germany, and died Abt. 1830 in PA ?. He married (2) ANN IVINS Bef. 1834, daughter of SAMUEL IVINS and LAVINIA (?). She was born Bet. 1800 - 1810 in Pennsylvania (?), and died September 16, 1849 in Fallsington, Pennsylvania.

Notes for WEAVER VAN SANT:
Weaver Vansant-what we know (10/04/03)

His name first appears in print in 1829 as the parent of Allen in the Bucks County Poor School Children's List. At that time he was living in Middletown Township. In 1830 and 31 he was still listed there in the same book and Allen's age consistently translates to a birth year of 1824. Also, he is on the 1830 federal census (page 176) in Middletown with one male under five (Thomas), one male from 5-10 (Allen), one female under 5 (Margerretta or Margaret born about 1830 ). He was listed as between 20 and 30 as was a female, supposedly his spouse. (Question: was this Ann? or a first wife?) According to the Middletown Township (PA tax rolls ), Weaver remained living and working in the area from 1829 when he was working for John Wharton, (Note: son, Thomas, years later married an Anna Mary Wharton) 1830 working on the Nathan Watson farm through 1831, 1832, 1834 and 1835. (I don't have a list for 1833). So we really don't know his whereabouts from 1836-1840.

Assuming that he lived near home or family during his early married years, also listed in Middletown in 1830 were John (30-40), Francis (20-30) and Letticea (50-60?) with other adults and one child (5-10) living in the household. In 1820, Laticia, John and Garret F. all were listed on the same page (231) in Middletown and in 1810, Garret, Garret, Jr. and John were listed together on page 63. At this point Weaver would have been too young to be listed. Prior to 1840 I was unable to locate any VanSant family members in the census records in Falls Township. In 1840, a Peter VanSant (see below)appears and is between 20 and 30 as is his spouse. They had two boys and two girls all under the age of 5! (Fallsington page 195). A perusal of this census indicates no Ivins families and three Comfort families.

Weaver next appears in 1834 on the Poor Children's List as Wearer, the parent of Thomas in Bensalem. No more is known of him until 1840 when he appears in Montgomery County:
1. on the tax rolls as Wever (salary-$50) ;
2. as the parent of William H. (age 6) also as Wever, and
3. in the 1840 census with two males under 5 (John & Jaylette), one male 5-10 (Wm H.) and one female under 5 (Mary B.) in Moreland Township, Montgomery, Co. PA. He and his wife, Ann, were both between 30 and 40. (Note: Garret was born shortly after the census.)

One again, he disappears until 1843 when he is listed in Falls Township on the tax rolls. He may have remained in Moreland from 1840-1843). He had no assets but his salary was $150. His name, Weaver, appears just below William Vansant who had substantial assets. Still in Falls, he is also shown in 1844 (Wearer VanSant) and 1845 with $100 in occupational income. There is also a Peter on the same pages but William is missing in 1844 only. By 1846 the reporting change. At that time Weaver owned a horse worth $11 (going rate) and was a laborer making $100; he was residing on the property of Benjamin Brown. Peter was a carpenter residing on Moses Comfort's property and a William was a blacksmith on John Cheston's land. (This is probably a different Wm. as his assets are much less and unlike earlier, a salary is shown.) Weaver is still in Falls with no change in status indicated in 1848 although he was a tenant with Edward Worell. William and Aaron lived on John Cheston's property and Peter is missing that year only.

In 1849, Weaver lists no assets or livestock but was still making $100. Tenancy was not indicated but Peter and Aaron are nearby as is a William who may be Wm. Heston as he had no assets and made $100 also. 1850 was the last year (and the year after Ann died) that Weaver appeared in the Falls tax rolls but not the census.

The 1850 census fails to locate Weaver by any spelling in any location. However, John (15) and Jaylet (11) Vanzant are living with Jesse, age 23, and Mary (18) Vanhart and their one year old daughter Emma. He was a farmer with property worth $2,400. All of the above were living in Falls Township. I have yet to definitely locate William in the 1850 census. He would only be about 16. Thomas, although on Falls tax rolls, may have been located in NJ off and on from 1849-50 (see notes for Thomas) and Weaver may have been with him, listed as William in Mansfield, NJ) . Margaretta was living with William Burms and family (page 137). Mary B. was living with Aron and Hannah Ivins (both age 47) and family on page 297. Aron was a farmer worth $18,500.

Garret, age 9 in the 1850 Falls Township census, page 150, was living with Edward Ivins, age 22, and his wife Anna (Brown) Ivins, age 20. Edward Ivins is the son of Aron, Ann's cousin, mentioned above, by his first wife Hope Aaronson who died in 1834. Incidentally, Hope's grave is only three plots away from Margaret Vansant who may be Weaver's daughter (from a first marriage?)

In 1851, Thomas Vansant was the only listing in Falls Township in the tax rolls. He worked for Sam Comfort as a laborer making $100. Weaver, Peter and William no longer are shown in Falls.

In October 2003, Cousin Laurie Vansant and I visited the Burlington Burial Grounds (part Society of Friends and part non-secular) Supposedly several VanSants were there including one who died in 1851 but didn't find anything of note. The burial grounds are about 5 miles south of the English and Lucas farms (where Thomas and William worked). If the 1851 VanSant is Weaver, the date sounds right and could explain why we’ve never found him elsewhere. The first names were not included in the index at the historical society.

More About WEAVER VAN SANT:
Occupation: Laborer

Notes for ANN IVINS:
Ann Ivins VanZant's death in 1849 reconciles with the 1850 census in that Garret and his siblings were split up between many homes. Where is she buried???

Ann's family, the Ivins (Ivens, Ivans), intermarried with the Comfort family with considerable frequency. Ann's aunts, Mary and Ann Ivins, who were sisters, married Comfort brothers, Stephen and John respectively. When Mary and Ann's father, Aaron, died in 1797, John Comfort was appointed their guardian as well as guardian for their younger brother Barclay. Their older brothers Aaron, Isaac, and Samuel did not require guardians. We believe at this time that Samuel is Ann's father. Within a year of Aaron's death, his daughter Ann married her guardian, John Comfort. Mary and Ann's brother Aaron had a daughter, also named Ann, who married another Comfort brother named Ellis.

Samuel Comfort in Falls, where Thomas Vanzant was working is 1850, was yet another brother of John and Stephen Comfort. Moses Comfort was their cousin. Branches of the Comforts and Ivins families removed to Falls in the 1790's from their origins in Burlington County, NJ. As the crow flies, Burlington and Bucks Counties are adjacent territories separated by the Delaware River. Relocations and intermarriages were frequent between the two counties particularly for members of the Society of Friends.

Stephen Comfort and Mary Ivins had a daughter named Ann Ivins Comfort born 1808. She married a John Vanzant in 1830 in Falls, which may be a connection to Weaver.

Another theory has Samuel dying in 1809 and Ann Ivins as head of household in Falls in 1820 but where the family may be in 1810 remains a mystery. If this is our Samuel, his will was recorded in NJ and the 1810 NJ census records are missing from Ancestry.com

Marriage Notes for WEAVER VAN SANT and ANN IVINS:
At this time (11/01), I am unable to find any records of this union although we know it existed. Believing that Ann is a second wife, I have listed the first three children under an unknown first wife.

Children of WEAVER VAN SANT and ANN IVINS are:

2.	i.	WILLIAM HESTON² VANSANT, b. 1834, Pennsylvania; d. Unknown.
3.	ii.	JOHN VANSANT, b. 1835, Bucks County, PA; d. Unknown.
4.	iii.	JAYLETTE VANSANT, b. 1838, Pennsylvania; d. February 05, 1882, Trenton.
	iv.	MARY B. VANSANT, b. 1839; d. Unknown.

Notes for MARY B. VANSANT:
1850 Census (Falls Township, Bucks Co, PA-Mary B. Vanzant, age 10, was living with Aron and Hannah Ivins and their extended family. (Aron/Aaron is Ann Ivins' first cousin. His father, also named Aaron, is a brother of Ann's father, Samuel)

5.	v.		GARRET VANSANT, b. July 08, 1840, Pennsylvania; d. February 04, 1918, St. Francis Hospital, Trenton, NJ.
6.	vi.		BENJAMIN VANSANT, b. April 28, 1843, Pennsylvania; d. March 21, 1917, Pennsylvania.

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