William B Vanhook
1795 - 1871
Born 26 Oct 1795 Cincinnati, Hamilton Co., OH
Died 8 Sep 1871 Hamilton, Butler Co., OH
Buried 9 Sep 1871 Greenwood Cemetery, Butler Co., OH Plot: Hill Section, Lot 523
1795 - 1871
Born 26 Oct 1795 Cincinnati, Hamilton Co., OH
Died 8 Sep 1871 Hamilton, Butler Co., OH
Buried 9 Sep 1871 Greenwood Cemetery, Butler Co., OH Plot: Hill Section, Lot 523
Father Dr. Benjamin Rush Vanhook, b. Abt 1775, d. 1839, Cumberland Co., NJ 
Mother Catherine, d. Bef 1800
Mother Catherine, d. Bef 1800
Married Abt 1795
Family
Julia Ann Stephens, Elizabethtown, Essex Co., NJ, d. 17 May 1882, Hamilton, Butler Co., OH
1850 US Census - Fairfield, Butler Co., OH
Wm. B. VanHook, 50, carpenter, b. OH
Julia VanHook, 48, b. OH
Julia VanHook, 15, b. OH
Frances VanHook, 12, b. OH
1860 US Census - Hamilton, Butler Co., OH
W.B. VanHook, 60, b. OH
Julia VanHook, 58, b. OH
Frances VanHook, 15, b. OH
1870 US Census - Hamilton, Butler Co., OH
William B. VanHook, 73, b. OH
Julia VanHook, 64, b. NJ
Hannah VanHook, 25, b. OH
1880 US Census - Dist 34, Hamilton, Butler Co., OH
Julia VanHook, mother-in-law, age 88, b. NJ
living with Delos and F. Spaulding (her daughter Frances)
Children
1. Mary Vanhook, b. Abt 1825, Ohio
2. Margaret Malinda Vanhook, b. 3 Sep 1829, Ohio, d. 25 Aug 1906, Miami Co., OH
3. Susan Vanhook, b. Aug 1832, Butler Co., OH, d. 22 Jan 1916, Butler Co., OH
4. Julia Vanhook, b. 16 Jun 1835, Hamilton Co., OH, d. 26 Jan 1908, Everett, Middlesex Co., MA
5. Catherine Frances Vanhook, b. Nov 1845, Hamilton Co., OH
6. Charles S. Vanhook, Greenwood Cemetery, Butler Co., OH
Notes
Greenwood Cemetery Association
Name: W. B. VAN HOOK
Location: HIL 523 Original Interment #: 3808 Owner: VAN HOOK, WILLIAM Military, General; buried across from the public receiving vault bldg.
Age: 76
Comments: HIL 523 Original Interment #: 3808
Place of birth: HAMILTON, OHIO
Gender: Male
Veteran: No
Place of death: CINCINNATI, OHIO
Date of death: 09/08/1871
Father name: B.F. VAN HOOK
Mother name: C. VAN HOOK
Service date: 09/09/1871
Cremated: No
WILLIAM B. VAN HOOK.
William B. VAN HOOK was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, on the twenty-sixth day of October, 1795. His parents were Dr. Benjamin F. VAN HOOK and Catherine VAN HOOK, who were Hollanders, and who had emigrated from New Jersey to the North-west Territory at a very early period. Mr. VAN HOOK remained in Cincinnati until the last war with Great Britain, when he enlisted as a private in Captain David OLIVER's company, and served as a soldier until peace was declared. He moved from Cincinnati to Hamilton in the year 1818, where he continued to reside until his death, which took place in 1871.
He was by trade a carpenter, which he followed for many years. He had more than ordinary skill as a mechanic and builder. About 1818 he and the late James B. THOMAS went from Hamilton to New Orleans on a flat-boat, where they remained for several months, working together at the carpenter business. Mr. Van Hook and the late Colonel BALL, of Trenton, walked all the way back to Hamilton through the then Indian country. He was shortly afterwards married to Julia Ann STEPHENS, who survived him, and who died in June, 1882.
In early life Mr. VAN HOOK exhibited quite a taste for the the theater, and, as an amateur, played with and assisted the since eminent tragedian, Edwin FORREST. The circumstances are related elsewhere. Mr. FORREST never forgot his old friend, and never visited Cincinnati afterwards without sending for him.
Mr. VAN HOOK was a man of more than ordinary merit, and filled with ability offices of public trust. For several years he was a member of the Ohio Legislature; was speaker of the House of Representatives, and was warden of the Ohio penitentiary. He was at various times a member and president of the city council of Hamilton. During the late rebellion he was deputy provost marshal of the Third Congressional District. In politics he was always an unwavering and ardent Democrat, but during the war of the Rebellion acted with the Union party. For more than half a century he was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity. He died at his home in Hamilton, Ohio. At the time of his death he was probably the oldest citizen of this place. He was a highly respected, useful, and honored citizen.
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 315
CHAPTER X.
STATE BUILDINGS, GOVERNORS, BENEFICES, LOCAL EVENTS.
January- 26, 1838, the legislature passed an act providing for the erection of a new state house on the public square in Columbus, which was the occasion of a grand illumination of the city. Colonel Noble, who kept the National Hotel, where the Neil House now stands, had the candles in his front windows so arranged as to form letters and spell NEW STATE HOUSE. In pursuance of said act, Joseph Ridgway, Jr., of Columbus, William A. Adams, of Zanesville, and William B. Van Hook. of Butler county. were, by joint resolution, appointed commissioner: for carrying the law into effect. They were required to give notice to certain newspapers, and offer a premium of five hundred dollars for the best plan, to be approved by the legislature, upon which said house should be erected. A number of plans were furnished by various competitors for the premium and Henry Walters of Cincinnati received the premium, though his plan was not adopted; but from the various plans furnished, the commissioners formed and adopted one somewhat different from any of the plans presented.
The Legislature Balks.
In the spring of 1839 the commissioners appointed William B. Van Hook, one of their own body, superintendent of the work. The high board fence was put up, and a good work shop erected on the square, and other
MASONIC LODGE.
In the year 1811 the Grand Lodge of the State of Ohio, at Chillicothe, granted a dispensation or charter, authorizing the establishment of a lodge of Freemasons at Hamilton. The dispensation was signed by Lewis CASS, grand mater, and Henry BRUSH, grand secretary, and dated the 7th of September, 1811. On the 10th of October, 1811, a number of Freemasons met at the tavern then kept by William MURRAY, on the south-west corner of Dayton and Water Streets, in Hamilton, and organized themselves into a lodge, by the name of "Washington Lodge, No. 17," the first officers of which were Joseph HOUGH, worshipful master; Thomas BLAIR, senior warden; Matthew HUESTON, junior warden; Robert TAYLOR, senior deacon; Joseph POTTER, junior deacon; William WALLACE, Tyler; John TAYLOR, treasurer, and Alexander SACKETT, secretary.
At that time not more than nine Freemasons were known to reside in Hamilton or the vicinity; but soon after the establishment of the lodge a number of persons joined, and were initiated into the mysteries of the craft, so that they shortly became respectable as to numbers and standing in society. They continued to hold their meetings at the house of William MURRAY for several years. The lodge was then removed to the house on the south-west corner of Second and Basin Streets, where a tavern was then kept by Thomas BLAIR, and afterward by James WILSON.
Afterwards they leased from the Hamilton Literary Society the second story of a building erecting for an academy on lot No. 140, at the intersection of Dayton and Third Streets, then belonging to the literary society, on condition that they would erect and finish the second story, and maintain it in good repair at their own expense. This they fitted up in a neat and tasteful manner, and the lodge was removed to that room, where it was continued until 1831. A school was kept in the lower apartment. The building standing in an isolated place, some evil-disposed persons broke open the room, carried away their jewels, and injured the furniture. This induced them to remove to a more secure place. Accordingly, on the 1st of April, 1831, they leased the fourth story of the Hamilton Hotel for a term of twenty years, at a rent of eighteen dollars per year, which they forthwith fitted up in a neat and appropriate manner for the accommodation of the lodge.
The number in 1843 attending the lodge, as actual members, was forty. In addition to these, there were about fifty more who belonged to the order, but were not in the habit of attending regularly, making in all about ninety Freemasons within the jurisdiction of the lodge.
The excitement as to Masonry and anti-Masonry which prevailed in several parts of the United States from 1827 to 1836, did not agitate (at least to any considerable extent) the neighborhood of Hamilton. The fraternity was not interfered with by the community.
The worthy masters have been Thomas BLAIR, Samuel BAYLESS, Joseph HOUGH, Joseph BENHAM, Alexander PROUDFIT, Lewis WEST, Daniel MILLIKIN, Charles K. SMITH, William B. VAN HOOK, Jesse CORWIN, John H. DUBBS, T. M. THOMAS, Elijah VANCE, Thomas REED, Benjamin F. RALEIGH, William SHEELEY, Isaac ROBERTSON, George W. LOUTHAN, William C. HUNTER, John M. PARKS, H. H. WALLACE, George W. DYE, John B. LAWDER, John CRANE, William FENN, J. CONOVER, and Allen ANDREWS. There are other Masonic institutions here, but we have been unable to get information about them.
A History and Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County Ohio, With Illustrations and Sketches of its Representative Men and Pioneers - Cincinnati Ohio. Western Biographical Publishing Company, 1882.
JOHN CRANE.
Major John CRANE was born in the State of New Jersey in 1796, and died on the 16th of March, 1864. He came with his family to this county in the first quarter of the century, and first settled in Jacksonburg, where in 1818 a post-office was established, he becoming the first postmaster. In 1825 he was elected a county commissioner, serving in this capacity for three years. In 1828 he was a member of the Ohio Legislature, having as a fellow-member Fergus ANDERSON, of this county. From 1841 to 1845 he was coroner. Major CRANE removed to Hamilton in 1825, keeping for several years a hotel in the frame building on the corner fronting the public square. During his residence in this town he was engaged for several years in the grocery and liquor business, in company with William B. VAN HOOK, and was at the same time city inspector. About 1855 he prepared with great labor and expense a useful map of this county. Being a loser by it to the amount of five hundred. dollars. He was for several years the commandant of a splendid battalion of uniformed light infantry. One of the companies, known as the Miami Guards, was composed of the finest young men in Hamilton. Major Crane had taken the lodge, chapter, and encampment degrees of Masonry. He was a Knight Templar, becoming such in the year 1827, in Lebanon. For a few years before his death he resided in Covington, Kentucky, but his remains were brought here, and he was buried in Greenwood Cemetery.
THOMAS V. HOWELL.
Thomas V. HOWELL, the leading dry-goods merchant of Hamilton, was born in this city, in what is now the First Ward, September 28, 1826. He is the son of Hezekiah and Sarah A. (VIRGIN) HOWELL. Mrs. HOWELL was the daughter of Thomas VIRGIN, an early settler in Liberty Township, and afterward in the War of 1812. He was killed by Indians, on the Rocky Mountains. Mr. HOWELL received a limited education in the common schools, and when from ten to twelve years of age entered the employment of George P. BELL, a prominent merchant, and continued with him some ten years, when he wen6t to Cincinnati, with the firm of REILLY & WOODS. He returned to Hamilton, and entered the employment of BROWN & LEIGH, remaining there until March, 1849, when, in company with D. G. LEIGH, they purchased the business of William B. VAN HOOK, and began the firm of LEIGH & HOWELL, under which title they traded for two and a half years. Mr. LEIGH then sold out to John DYE, and the new firm of HOWELL & DYE was formed.
Family
Julia Ann Stephens, Elizabethtown, Essex Co., NJ, d. 17 May 1882, Hamilton, Butler Co., OH
1850 US Census - Fairfield, Butler Co., OH
Wm. B. VanHook, 50, carpenter, b. OH
Julia VanHook, 48, b. OH
Julia VanHook, 15, b. OH
Frances VanHook, 12, b. OH
1860 US Census - Hamilton, Butler Co., OH
W.B. VanHook, 60, b. OH
Julia VanHook, 58, b. OH
Frances VanHook, 15, b. OH
1870 US Census - Hamilton, Butler Co., OH
William B. VanHook, 73, b. OH
Julia VanHook, 64, b. NJ
Hannah VanHook, 25, b. OH
1880 US Census - Dist 34, Hamilton, Butler Co., OH
Julia VanHook, mother-in-law, age 88, b. NJ
living with Delos and F. Spaulding (her daughter Frances)
Children
1. Mary Vanhook, b. Abt 1825, Ohio
2. Margaret Malinda Vanhook, b. 3 Sep 1829, Ohio, d. 25 Aug 1906, Miami Co., OH
3. Susan Vanhook, b. Aug 1832, Butler Co., OH, d. 22 Jan 1916, Butler Co., OH
4. Julia Vanhook, b. 16 Jun 1835, Hamilton Co., OH, d. 26 Jan 1908, Everett, Middlesex Co., MA
5. Catherine Frances Vanhook, b. Nov 1845, Hamilton Co., OH
6. Charles S. Vanhook, Greenwood Cemetery, Butler Co., OH
Notes
Greenwood Cemetery Association
Name: W. B. VAN HOOK
Location: HIL 523 Original Interment #: 3808 Owner: VAN HOOK, WILLIAM Military, General; buried across from the public receiving vault bldg.
Age: 76
Comments: HIL 523 Original Interment #: 3808
Place of birth: HAMILTON, OHIO
Gender: Male
Veteran: No
Place of death: CINCINNATI, OHIO
Date of death: 09/08/1871
Father name: B.F. VAN HOOK
Mother name: C. VAN HOOK
Service date: 09/09/1871
Cremated: No
WILLIAM B. VAN HOOK.
William B. VAN HOOK was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, on the twenty-sixth day of October, 1795. His parents were Dr. Benjamin F. VAN HOOK and Catherine VAN HOOK, who were Hollanders, and who had emigrated from New Jersey to the North-west Territory at a very early period. Mr. VAN HOOK remained in Cincinnati until the last war with Great Britain, when he enlisted as a private in Captain David OLIVER's company, and served as a soldier until peace was declared. He moved from Cincinnati to Hamilton in the year 1818, where he continued to reside until his death, which took place in 1871.
He was by trade a carpenter, which he followed for many years. He had more than ordinary skill as a mechanic and builder. About 1818 he and the late James B. THOMAS went from Hamilton to New Orleans on a flat-boat, where they remained for several months, working together at the carpenter business. Mr. Van Hook and the late Colonel BALL, of Trenton, walked all the way back to Hamilton through the then Indian country. He was shortly afterwards married to Julia Ann STEPHENS, who survived him, and who died in June, 1882.
In early life Mr. VAN HOOK exhibited quite a taste for the the theater, and, as an amateur, played with and assisted the since eminent tragedian, Edwin FORREST. The circumstances are related elsewhere. Mr. FORREST never forgot his old friend, and never visited Cincinnati afterwards without sending for him.
Mr. VAN HOOK was a man of more than ordinary merit, and filled with ability offices of public trust. For several years he was a member of the Ohio Legislature; was speaker of the House of Representatives, and was warden of the Ohio penitentiary. He was at various times a member and president of the city council of Hamilton. During the late rebellion he was deputy provost marshal of the Third Congressional District. In politics he was always an unwavering and ardent Democrat, but during the war of the Rebellion acted with the Union party. For more than half a century he was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity. He died at his home in Hamilton, Ohio. At the time of his death he was probably the oldest citizen of this place. He was a highly respected, useful, and honored citizen.
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF COLUMBUS - 315
CHAPTER X.
STATE BUILDINGS, GOVERNORS, BENEFICES, LOCAL EVENTS.
January- 26, 1838, the legislature passed an act providing for the erection of a new state house on the public square in Columbus, which was the occasion of a grand illumination of the city. Colonel Noble, who kept the National Hotel, where the Neil House now stands, had the candles in his front windows so arranged as to form letters and spell NEW STATE HOUSE. In pursuance of said act, Joseph Ridgway, Jr., of Columbus, William A. Adams, of Zanesville, and William B. Van Hook. of Butler county. were, by joint resolution, appointed commissioner: for carrying the law into effect. They were required to give notice to certain newspapers, and offer a premium of five hundred dollars for the best plan, to be approved by the legislature, upon which said house should be erected. A number of plans were furnished by various competitors for the premium and Henry Walters of Cincinnati received the premium, though his plan was not adopted; but from the various plans furnished, the commissioners formed and adopted one somewhat different from any of the plans presented.
The Legislature Balks.
In the spring of 1839 the commissioners appointed William B. Van Hook, one of their own body, superintendent of the work. The high board fence was put up, and a good work shop erected on the square, and other
MASONIC LODGE.
In the year 1811 the Grand Lodge of the State of Ohio, at Chillicothe, granted a dispensation or charter, authorizing the establishment of a lodge of Freemasons at Hamilton. The dispensation was signed by Lewis CASS, grand mater, and Henry BRUSH, grand secretary, and dated the 7th of September, 1811. On the 10th of October, 1811, a number of Freemasons met at the tavern then kept by William MURRAY, on the south-west corner of Dayton and Water Streets, in Hamilton, and organized themselves into a lodge, by the name of "Washington Lodge, No. 17," the first officers of which were Joseph HOUGH, worshipful master; Thomas BLAIR, senior warden; Matthew HUESTON, junior warden; Robert TAYLOR, senior deacon; Joseph POTTER, junior deacon; William WALLACE, Tyler; John TAYLOR, treasurer, and Alexander SACKETT, secretary.
At that time not more than nine Freemasons were known to reside in Hamilton or the vicinity; but soon after the establishment of the lodge a number of persons joined, and were initiated into the mysteries of the craft, so that they shortly became respectable as to numbers and standing in society. They continued to hold their meetings at the house of William MURRAY for several years. The lodge was then removed to the house on the south-west corner of Second and Basin Streets, where a tavern was then kept by Thomas BLAIR, and afterward by James WILSON.
Afterwards they leased from the Hamilton Literary Society the second story of a building erecting for an academy on lot No. 140, at the intersection of Dayton and Third Streets, then belonging to the literary society, on condition that they would erect and finish the second story, and maintain it in good repair at their own expense. This they fitted up in a neat and tasteful manner, and the lodge was removed to that room, where it was continued until 1831. A school was kept in the lower apartment. The building standing in an isolated place, some evil-disposed persons broke open the room, carried away their jewels, and injured the furniture. This induced them to remove to a more secure place. Accordingly, on the 1st of April, 1831, they leased the fourth story of the Hamilton Hotel for a term of twenty years, at a rent of eighteen dollars per year, which they forthwith fitted up in a neat and appropriate manner for the accommodation of the lodge.
The number in 1843 attending the lodge, as actual members, was forty. In addition to these, there were about fifty more who belonged to the order, but were not in the habit of attending regularly, making in all about ninety Freemasons within the jurisdiction of the lodge.
The excitement as to Masonry and anti-Masonry which prevailed in several parts of the United States from 1827 to 1836, did not agitate (at least to any considerable extent) the neighborhood of Hamilton. The fraternity was not interfered with by the community.
The worthy masters have been Thomas BLAIR, Samuel BAYLESS, Joseph HOUGH, Joseph BENHAM, Alexander PROUDFIT, Lewis WEST, Daniel MILLIKIN, Charles K. SMITH, William B. VAN HOOK, Jesse CORWIN, John H. DUBBS, T. M. THOMAS, Elijah VANCE, Thomas REED, Benjamin F. RALEIGH, William SHEELEY, Isaac ROBERTSON, George W. LOUTHAN, William C. HUNTER, John M. PARKS, H. H. WALLACE, George W. DYE, John B. LAWDER, John CRANE, William FENN, J. CONOVER, and Allen ANDREWS. There are other Masonic institutions here, but we have been unable to get information about them.
A History and Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County Ohio, With Illustrations and Sketches of its Representative Men and Pioneers - Cincinnati Ohio. Western Biographical Publishing Company, 1882.
JOHN CRANE.
Major John CRANE was born in the State of New Jersey in 1796, and died on the 16th of March, 1864. He came with his family to this county in the first quarter of the century, and first settled in Jacksonburg, where in 1818 a post-office was established, he becoming the first postmaster. In 1825 he was elected a county commissioner, serving in this capacity for three years. In 1828 he was a member of the Ohio Legislature, having as a fellow-member Fergus ANDERSON, of this county. From 1841 to 1845 he was coroner. Major CRANE removed to Hamilton in 1825, keeping for several years a hotel in the frame building on the corner fronting the public square. During his residence in this town he was engaged for several years in the grocery and liquor business, in company with William B. VAN HOOK, and was at the same time city inspector. About 1855 he prepared with great labor and expense a useful map of this county. Being a loser by it to the amount of five hundred. dollars. He was for several years the commandant of a splendid battalion of uniformed light infantry. One of the companies, known as the Miami Guards, was composed of the finest young men in Hamilton. Major Crane had taken the lodge, chapter, and encampment degrees of Masonry. He was a Knight Templar, becoming such in the year 1827, in Lebanon. For a few years before his death he resided in Covington, Kentucky, but his remains were brought here, and he was buried in Greenwood Cemetery.
THOMAS V. HOWELL.
Thomas V. HOWELL, the leading dry-goods merchant of Hamilton, was born in this city, in what is now the First Ward, September 28, 1826. He is the son of Hezekiah and Sarah A. (VIRGIN) HOWELL. Mrs. HOWELL was the daughter of Thomas VIRGIN, an early settler in Liberty Township, and afterward in the War of 1812. He was killed by Indians, on the Rocky Mountains. Mr. HOWELL received a limited education in the common schools, and when from ten to twelve years of age entered the employment of George P. BELL, a prominent merchant, and continued with him some ten years, when he wen6t to Cincinnati, with the firm of REILLY & WOODS. He returned to Hamilton, and entered the employment of BROWN & LEIGH, remaining there until March, 1849, when, in company with D. G. LEIGH, they purchased the business of William B. VAN HOOK, and began the firm of LEIGH & HOWELL, under which title they traded for two and a half years. Mr. LEIGH then sold out to John DYE, and the new firm of HOWELL & DYE was formed.
