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- [S39] Findagrave.com, (www.findagrave.com), Stewart Family Cemetery, Port Penn, New Castle, DE.
Susanna Johns Stewarts
Birth: Dec. 16, 1789 New Castle, New Castle County, Delaware, USA Death: Dec. 5, 1862 Parents: Kensey Johns (1759 - 1848)
- [S20] Internet History and Family History sites., The Sunday Morning Star - Jun 12, 1949 p. 9.
"Redletter Nuptials For Van Dyke Girls G. Washington Kisses Pretty Ones: General at Ann Van Dyke's Wedding; Lafette gives her niece Dorcus away...By William H. Conner Managing Editor, The Star. In the world's eyes they will always be regarded as Those Lucky Van Dyke Girls of New Castle-on-the-Delaware, and with most excellent reason. The lightning of reflected fame struck twice at Van Dyke nuptials, and quarry proved a pair of the greatest "lions" of early history of the Republic--none other than George Washington himself and the Marquis de Lafayette. Ann Van Dyke was married to Kensey Johns, Sr., in New Castle on April 30, 1784, and to her wedding came General George Washington, freshly garlanded as the Father and Preserver of his Country, a bit late, to be sure, but the observed of all observers. Forty years later, when Washington had laid in his grave for nearly a quarter of a century, his bosom friend and the Nation's guest, the Marquis de Lafayette, cut short a state dinner in Wilmington's City Hall to hurry over to New Castle and give the bride away when Dorcas Montgomery Van Dyke was married to Charles Irenee duPont, the while Ann Van Dyke Johns, her aunt, looked on happily. Second Fiddle -- Proud as Ann and Dorcus must have been at the presence of these Two Great Men who made their weddings redletter days in New Castle history, they might well be pardoned if they had fleeting private thoughts on the subjects. There is a homely old saying that only thrice in a person's career may that person be absolutely sure of being the center of attention, namely, at birth, death, and at marriage. To be sure in the first and last instances, the individuals is quite unconscious of his or her prominence, but the second, especially in a girl's life, is an event in which the dividing of honors is a definite surrender of prerogatives. Both lions came, of course, as the friends of the bride's father--Washington as the close friend President (Governor) Nicholas Van Dyke, Sr. and Lafayette as the warm personal admirer of Senator Nicholas Van Dyke, Jr. Governor Van Dyke was living in what is known as the Amstel House in New Castle when his eldest daughter Ann, or Nancy as she is recorded on her tombstone, was joined in wedlock to the brilliant young lawyer from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Senator Van Dyke, the father of Dorcus, was born in this same Amstel House and at the time of his sister's marriage was fourteen years old. Later, he was to complete his law studies in his brother-in-law's office. The ceremony took place in the main apartment of the old mansion, called the music room, and today their portraits hang on the walls, Kensey Johns, Sr., was then 25, while pretty Ann Van Dyke was still three months away from her 16th birthday. General Was Late -- Washington was 52 years old at the time. He joined heartily in the spirit of the occasion, even though he was late and missed the ceremony, but enjoyed himself hugely at the reception and banquet that followed. Posterity is left to puzzle over the reason for his lateness, but "The Great Man," wrote Justice James Booth at the time, "stood upon the hearth-stone and kissed the pretty girls--as was his wont." Tradition has it that he not only kissed the bride at the hearthstone but also kissed her again as he stood on the steps as his departure. The inscription on the broad stone slab that extends from the hearth has nothing to say about all his kissing, but merely states that George Washington attended the wedding of Ann Van Dyke to Kensey Johns, Sr., on April 30, 1784. Ten years later, another chronicler relates, when Kensey Johns attended one of Presidents Washington's levees in Philadelphia, the Great Man turned to him and remarked: "You must be a happy man, Mr. Johns, to have such a beautiful wife."... Following their nuptials, Kensey and Ann Johns settled down to a long and happy wedded life in New Castle. Children were born, among them Fidelia, who became the wife of Governor Thomas Stockton; Kensey, Jr. John and Van Dyke, Kensey, Jr., succeeded his father as Chancellor of Delaware, and John Johns became a bishop of the Episcopal Church in Virginia, and president of William and Mary College. Kensey and Ann Johns lived out the rest of their lives in New Castle and lie buried side by side in Immanuel Cemetery there. Briefly, Kensy Johns, Sr., was born on June 14, 1759 and died December 21, 1848, being then in his 90th year. Ann Johns was born on August 9, 1768, and died in her 72nd year on October 21, 1839, her husband thus survived her nine years. Built Many Houses -- Senator Van Dyke was born in the Amstel House, built about 1730, a landmark that still stands at the north corner of Fourth and Delaware streets in Old New Castle. His sister Ann, his senior by two years, was also born in the ancient mansion. The newly-married couple lived in the Amstel House for five years and then set up housekeeping in their own new mansion erected at the north corner of Third and Delaware street, exactly one block away. Their son, Kensey, Jr., in turn after his marriage to Maria McCallmont, built his house (1823) between his father's and his grandfather houses. Senator Van Dyke built his own mansion (1799) directly opposite Amstel House at the west corner of Fourth and Delaware. In addition, the Senator built a home (1820) for his son, Kensey Johns Van Dyke, exactly one block away from his own home, at the west corner of Third and Delaware, directly opposite the home of Kensey, Jr. All of these houses, in excellent state of preservation, remain showplaces in New Castle. The family was of great importance in the architectural history of the river town. Rooted To One Spot -- It is thus apparent that the Van Dyke family was rooted to one spot, and in time children and the children's children grew up about them. They trod in general the same paths in professional life, since the Governor, the Senator, Kensey Johns, Sr., Kensley Johns Jr., and Kensley Johns Van Dyke were lawyers. The Senator, Kensey Jr., Kensey Johns Van Dyke, and Bishop John Johns were graduates of Nassau Hall, later Princeton. The high offices they held were also noteworthy, especially the fact that Kensey Jr., succeeded his father as Chancellor. The wedding of Senator Van Dyke's daughter, Dorcas Montgomery Van Dyke, to Charles Irenee duPont, took place on October 6, 1824, in the mansion he built for his son, Kensey Johns Van Dyke. The son lived in this house until his death in 1826, the same year in which his father died. The mother of Dorcus was Mary Van Leuvenigh, scion of another ancient New Castle family whose mansion also stands at Delaware street and The Strand, three blocks away from the Senator's house. The wedding day itself was a busy one in the life of the famous Lafayette. Arrives In Delaware -- First, on his famous return visit to the United States in 1824, he had left Philadelphia in the morning and had arrived at the Delaware State Line about ten o'clock, accompanied by the Governor of Pennsylvania and numerous military and civic escorts. At the line he was met by a large delegation from Delaware, among them Colonel Allan McLane, then over 80 years old, who served with the famous Frenchman. Passing through Brandywine Village, now part of Wilmington, he paid his respect to old friends, including the descendants of John Tatnall, merchant miller and friend both of Washington and Lafayette. In Wilmington, after crossing the bridge, he found Market street bedecked with arches, flags, and transparencies of all sorts, and among the decorated buildings was the old tavern, the Sign of the Ship, a building still standing today, which in honor of the occasion, had its name changed to the Lafayeete by it admiring proprietor, General James Wolfe, whose first name was actually General. General Wolfe served the banquet that day in "the long room" of the old Town Hall between three and four o'clock. One hundred persons sat down to the feast, including Senator Van Dyke and Louis McLane. Lafayette once said that in his own judgment Senator Van Dyke was one of the first statesmen of America. Off To New Castle-- Numerous toasts were drunk, but at five o'clock the guest of honor arose from the table and left for New Castle, where Dorcas Van Dyke was to wed Charles Irenee duPont, the oldest son of Victor Marle duPont de Nemours, the latter the brother of Eleuthere Irenee duPont de Nemours, founder of the famous Brandywine Powder Works. Vows were taken under the handsome arch in the hall of the Kensey Johns Van Dyke house, and Lafayette, described at the time as "a large stout man, slightly lame, with heavy and strongly marked features, surmounted by a thick growth of curly reddish hair," gave the blushing bride away. He had just passed his 67th birth date...Not until this other “Great Man" left could Dorcus duPont assume her rightful place as queen of the occasion. She was eighteen years old, the same age as her gifted cousin, Robert Montgomery Bird, famous author, playwright, and editor. Young Bird, whose mother was also a Van Leuvenigh, was born away in what is known as the Booth House, and undoubtedly he was present at the wedding of the charming girl with whom he had played and gone to school. After his ownfather had died when he was four years old, the Senator had taked this nephew into his own home. Dorcus duPont died in 1838 at the age of 32. Her Aunt, Ann Johns, thus survived her by one year. Charles I. duPont remarried, his second wife being Anne Ridgely, daughter of Henry Moore and Sarah Baning Ridegly, of Dover. Charles duPont died in 1869."
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http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2293&dat=19490612&id=M-VfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-gIGAAAAIBAJ&pg=1826,1334070
- [S17] Ancestry.com, Internet Archive, Research and Resource Site., All Delaware Marriage Records 1744 - 1912.
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Descendants of Hendrick Willemsz
1789 - 1862 (72 years)