Jacob Wandell, 1747-1827

My 4th great grandfather, Jacob Wandell, was the son of Johannes Wandell who immigrated from the Netherlands in 1737.  Johannes was the gg?grandson of the famous Dutch poet and playwright, Joost Van Der Vandel, whose statue is displayed in Vandelpark in Amsterdam.

Jacob Wandell > Miriam Olivia Wandell > Ada Clemina Hall > Horace C. Crofford > Virginia M. Crofford > Teresa Zaun Austin

Jacob was born in 1747 in Fishkill, New York.  He married Catherine Stillwell in 1770,  and they had ten children.  He became a wealthy man and owned slaves.

Jacob enlisted as a Quartermaster in the military under General Washington in 1777, and was assigned to Colonel Spencer's regiment.  His connections with the Dutch community enabled him to obtain food when the English army could not.  Jacob participated in the battles of Brandywine (September) and Germantown (October), and was with the army at Valley Forge during that terrible winter of 1777-78.  My great grandmother Ada Crofford wrote:

When Washington was at Valley Forge, my great grandfather seeing the soldiers were in much need of shoes went to Washington and told him that he had left a great quantity of hides in his tan-vat, and that they were, by that time, ready to be finished.  He offered to go home and have the hides finished, and made up into shoes, by his slaves, one of whom was a good cutter, and several could sew leather.  Washington gladly gave his permission.  My great grandfather went home, returning in due time with two great wagons loaded with shoes. 

Jacob's own home was plundered during the war.  According to Ada:

Great grandfather Wandell was rich when the revolution began.  His home was between the lines much of the time and was plundered by both sides. They had got down to one cow. One day they saw a soldier departing with her.  Great grandmother had twin babies in the cradle. Snatching them from the cradle she ran to the door with a baby on either arm.  "Stop, stop!" she cried.  "If you take her, my babies will die." The soldier stopped and looked at the babies a moment, then took the rope off the cow and went off.  

In 1780, Jacob was transferred to Colonel Goose Van Schaick's regiment where he served until the close of the war.  He was in Virginia at the Battle of Yorktown, and was apparently acquainted with Lafayette. Many years later, when Lafayette visited America (1824), he recognized Jacob during a parade in NY City and embraced him.

When the Treaty was signed in 1783, Jacob's discharge was signed by George Washington.  This relic is currently housed in Washington's Headquarters in Newburgh, New York.

General Washington's Headquarters at Newburgh, NY

Jacob moved to Havershaw, New York in 1794 and became a millwright.  He died a poor man.  He and Catherine both died on Weygant's Island, now called Iona Island, on the Hudson River.  The island was owned by the Van Cortlandt family for 200 years.  It is now part of Bear Mountain State Park.

Small island on the Hudson River where Jacob and Catherine died.