Honorable Mention

The following are just a few of my relatives that deserve mentioning, for their success or social contribution, be it in business, politics, sports or whatever, especially those who served in the Revolutionary or Civil Wars.

Theodore Nelson Houghtaling
My 4th Cousin 5 times removed

Records indicate that he was living in Phoenix, Oswego County NY when he decided to enlist in The Army of the Republic to fight in the Civil War. The bounty promised was $300, a large sum for an illiterate 18 year old. He volunteered at Granby NY on Jan. 10, 1864 and was sworn in by Capt. A.L. Scott. He then was sent to Fulton, Oswego, and on to Elmira finally enrolling in Company B., 2nd Regiment of New York Heavy Artillery.

By June he was fighting in one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. At Cold Harbor Virginia, some 3,164 soldiers were declared killed, wounded, or missing in action. On June 3, 1864 Theodore was among the wounded, having received a gunshot wound behind the right ear. He spent nearly 2 months in a military hospital recuperating, before returning to his unit. He returned to the hospital on several occasions, and for 2 months in November and December suffering Diarrhea. On 29 Sept 1865 he Mustered Out as a Private, settling up with the Army "due US $38.68, due for wiper & screwdriver lost
$.43, bounty paid $180, due $120." 

Returning to Phoenix, he settled down, marrying Hannah Letson on August 22, 1868, about 3 months after their first child, Charles was born. Seven others followed including Arthur, William (died young), Tracey, Theodore, Laura, Seymour, and Harriet. 

In 1890 the country, in the midst of an economic boom, passed the "Act of Congress June 27, 1890" entitling Civil War Veterans, reguardless of rank, to receive a pension of $6-$12 per month, based on their inability to perform manual labor. Theodore was among the first to apply. Engaging lawyers, soliciting his congressmen, undergoing several physical exams, facing examiners, he finally received an award for $6 per month in1897. He cited a hearing loss in his right ear and a hernia resulting from a fall while carrying a basket of coal up stairs as infirmities. On subsequent appeals, he cited the growing hernia, obesity, (he stood 5'9", weighing 220#) and the infirmities of rheumatism to receive the maximum benefit. Hannah continued to receiving benefits on his behalf until her passing in 1917.

David Houghtaling
My 6th Great Grand-Uncle

Served in the 3rd Regiment, Albany County Militia, in the Revolutionary War.

Storm Houghtaling
My First Cousin 7 times removed

Served in the Albany County Militia, 3rd Regiment during Revolutionary War.

Samuel Hotaling
My 4th Cousin 6 times removed

Born about 1836, in Columbia County, and on 26 Aug 1862 at age 24, he enlisted in the 134th. NY Vol. Infantry, taken prisoner at Gettysburg, 1 Jul 1863; confined on Belle Isle, where he died, 14 Dec 1863; Richmond Cemetery, Grave #1354. [brother of Edward]

Edward Hotaling
My 4th Cousin 6 times removed

Born in Columbia County, NY, he enlisted in the 134th. NY Vol. Infantry, at age 22 on 26 Aug 1862 and was wounded by gunshots in right fore-arm and left side at Gettysburg, 1 Jul 1863; remained in the hands of the enemy until Lee's retreat, and then sent to Philadelphia, and treated in Satterlee Hospital, transferred to One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Company, Second Battalion. Veterans Reserve Corps, in March, 1864,; discharged at Washington, 26 Jul 1865; Palenville, Greene County, N.Y. [brother of Samuel]

Anson Parsons Hotaling
My 4th. Cousin 5 times removed

Owned and operated A. P. Hotaling & Company Whiskey Distillery in the Historical District of San Francisco, California for nearly fifty years. 451 Jackson, was built in 1866 to house the distillery., it still retains the iron shutters with which it was originally fitted. It was the durability of the Hotaling works which inspired the much-quoted jingle attributed to Charles Field. According to the chroniclers of the time, when local clergymen interpreted the 1906 as divine retribution for the city's wickedness, Field irreverently asked:

"If, as they say, God spanked the town For being over-frisky,
Why did He burn His churches down And spare Hotaling's whiskey?"
Hotaling Place, with its hitching posts and Dickensian air, is one of the quarter's most charming alleys.

Stephen Houghtaling
My 4th. Cousin, 6 Times Removed

Stephen was a member of Company D, of the Fourth Regiment Infantry. He died in service of U.S. Army, Ft. Brooke, (Tampa), Florida, during Seminole Indian War. (NARA Record of Enlistments), and was buried in the Oaklawn Cemetery, Tampa, FL. The enlisted men were eventually re-interred to another location near Pensacola.

Garrett Houghtaling Niver
My 5th. Cousin, 4 Times Removed

According the the pension file which was submitted by his mother, Garrett enlisted in the 7th. Cavalry, Co. C, on 2 Oct 1873 in NYC, under the name Garrett H. Van Allen, and served under Gen. George Armstrong Custer, and died along with the General, on 25 Jun 1876, in the Battle of Little Big Horn.

Peter Houghtaling
My 4th. Cousin, 5 Times Removed
Enlisted as a Private on 12 Jan 1864 in Ancram, NY at the age of 38. Died of disease on 02 Apr  1865 in Washington, DC. Buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Peter James (Monkey) Hotaling
1856 - 1928
My 3rd. Cousin, 5 Times Removed

Peter James Hotaling of Mohawk and Ilion, N.Y., excelled for the Syracuse Stars in 1877 and 1878. His elevation to the Major Leagues began with Cincinnati in 1879 where there was great optimism for a championship season. Although they did have a winning year, the Cincinnati's finished fifth in the eight-team National League.

The 22 year old Pete Hotaling began the season as a heralded rookie center-fielder. He was just 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed 160 pounds, but this is the way the Cincinnati Enquirer described him Sunday morning, April 6, 1879:

Hotaling, the new center-fielder, will prove a taking card. He is a broad-shouldered, heavily-built, handsome young fellow, who does every thing with a manner that bespeaks confidence. He hits left-handed, and hits hard and beautifully. He astonished every one this week by the tremendous manner in which he sent the ball spinning into center-field clean to the railing.

Pete led off the first inning of the first regulation game by beating out an infield grounder, moving to second on a passed ball, and scoring the first run of the year on a double by Ross Barnes. Final score: Cincinnati 7, Troy City 5. Thus, a new major league baseball career was launched with great spirit and success.

That career lasted exactly 10 years, and one has to conclude that it was a very good career, although Pete was one of the first "journeyman" players. In addition to his first year with Cincinnati, he also played one year with Worcester, Boston, and Brooklyn, plus one adventuresome year in 1886 in the South playing and managing with Savannah. Before that "experiment," he played 3 years with Cleveland. Finally, he finished up with Cleveland in 1887 and 1888 when that team was in the American Association.

Pete Hotaling was a speedy runner and good fielder. His primary position was ~r- field, but he also was an infielder and catcher. The latter position was probably responsible for his nickname: Monkey. His Cleveland News obituary, July 4, 1928, describes him as a star player who "wore the first mask ever used in baseball. It was ~ by the Remington Arms Company of Ilion, N.Y., and was a great innovation in ~ days." This challenges the common understanding that the catcher's mask originated at Harvard with Thayer and Tyng.

With over 100 hits per year, on average, Pete stroked many doubles and triples, but just 9 homers and a lifetime batting average of .267. In his final year with ~land on June 6, 1888, he had 6 hits in a nine inning game against Louisville. was a rare feat, to be sure.

1888 was also the year when he appeared on 3 different baseball cards, the first to be made by New York's Goodwin and Co., which was promoting its Old Judge cigarettes. One pose shows him in a batting stance (left-handed), one shows him iing (right-handed), and one shows him hitching up his pants (both-handed!).

Following his last year with Cleveland in 1888, Pete completed all baseball connections with a stint managing in Atlanta. Then, having earlier attended Eastman Business College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., he returned to Cleveland to live out his ional life in business. He worked as a grocer and finally as a machinist with the ~ Motor Company. His immediate family included his wife, Buena Vista Perry Hotaling, and a daughter who later became Mrs. Ray McNeil. He died of pneumonia e 71 in 1928 and is buried in Cleveland's Lake View Cemetery.

Written By: Dan Hotaling, of Ohio

President of United States - Martin Van Buren
My 4th. Cousin, 6 times removed

Martin Van Buren was the first Chief Executive born under the United States flag.

The only president of Dutch ancestry, Van Buren and his wife spoke Dutch at home.

Only about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, but trim and erect, Martin Van Buren dressed fastidiously. His impeccable appearance belied his amiability--and his humble background. Of Dutch descent, he was born in 1782, the son of a tavernkeeper and farmer, in Kinderhook, New York.
His Home:
The village of Kinderhook, New York is an old Dutch village that was settled in the 1600s, shortly after Henry Hudson voyaged up the river that now bears his name. Early inhabitants settled around what is now Stuyvesant Landing and gradually moved inland. The town originally stretched from the Hudson River to what is now the town of Chatham. Kinderhook means "Children's Corner" in Dutch and still retains its colonial Dutch atmosphere.

Kinderhook is steeped in history. Washington Irving wrote his classic story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" while staying at Lindenwald, the home of Martin Van Buren. The Van Alen House, built in 1737, is just north of Lindenwald on route 9H. The house is now a museum, along with the original Ichabod Crane Schoolhouse adjoining it, quite faithfully described by Irving. A fascinating account of the early history of the Kinderhook area was published by the Village in 1976 for the Bicentennial.

Visit the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site Located in Kinderhook, NY

Political Party: Democratic

Other Government Positions:

New York State Senator, 1813-15
New York Attorney-General, 1815-19
United States Senator, 1821-29
Governor of New York, 1829
Secretary of State, 1829-1831 (under Jackson)
Minister to England, 1831
Vice President, 1832-1837 (under Jackson)
Presidential Election Results:

Notable Events:
1837

Banks closed in Philadelphia and New York City on May 10. This was the beginning of the Panic of 1837. The depression that followed would last throughout Van Buren's term. In 1837 the panic began. Hundreds of banks and businesses failed. Thousands lost their lands. For about five years the United States was wracked by the worst depression thus far in its history. Declaring that the panic was due to recklessness in business and overexpansion of credit, Van Buren devoted himself to maintaining the solvency of the national Government. He opposed not only the creation of a new Bank of the United States but also the placing of Government funds in state banks. He fought for the establishment of an independent treasury system to handle Government transactions. As for Federal aid to internal improvements, he cut off expenditures so completely that the Government even sold the tools it had used on public works.

1838
Trail of Tears. Thousands of Indians forced from their homes and die.

1840
William Henry Harrison defeated Van Buren. Defeated by the Whigs in 1840 for reelection, he was an unsuccessful candidate for President on the Free Soil ticket in 1848.
Cousins in a close-knit Dutch community, Hannah Hoes and Martin Van Buren grew up together in Kinderhook, New York. Evidently he wanted to establish his law practice before marrying his sweetheart--they were not wed until 1807, when he was 24 and his bride just three months younger. Apparently their marriage was a happy one, though little is known of Hannah as a person.
From: Th e First Ladies of the United States

In early 1807, while involved in local politics, Van Buren married a young woman he had known all his life named Hanna Hoes. The young couple settled in Hudson, a small town about ten miles from Kinderhook; their first of four sons followed about a year later.
On March 4, 1837, Martin Van Buren succeeded his close friend Andrew JACKSON as PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. At the time, the country was prosperous, the DEMOCRATIC Party was supreme, and the incoming President seemed superbly trained for his office. Van Buren had been VICE-PRESIDENT and secretary of state under Jackson, minister to Great Britain, United States senator, and governor and attorney general of New York. He had been nominated unanimously by his party's convention. In the election of 1836 he had been swept into power, defeating William Henry HARRISON by 170 to 73 ELECTORAL votes.

But within a matter of weeks President Van Buren had a major depression on his hands. The Panic of 1837 began with the collapse of business and the wholesale failure of banks. Thousands of city people were out of work in a country that had never been through such an experience. The United States had no government machinery to underwrite loans, create jobs, feed the hungry, or bolster the farm market. In the rural sections people continued to lead normal lives. But in the cities mobs stormed the warehouses for food, flocked to the poorhouses, and committed crimes so they could go to jail, where they could at least survive. "Where will it all end?" wrote Philip Hone, a former mayor of New York, in his diary. "In ruin, revolution, perhaps civil war!"

Fortunately the United States had a beckoning frontier, which absorbed some of the unrest, and Van Buren behaved with courage and dignity to restore confidence. He believed that the panic had been caused by too much land speculation (buying and selling land for a quick profit) and that it would run its course. He was right. Within 2 years prosperity was returning, but too late to save him politically. Van Buren was badly defeated by Harrison in the election of 1840. He suffered what to him was the disgrace of being a one-term president.

Van Buren was the first president to be born under the American flag; the first New Yorker to hold the office of president; and the first man to be nominated for the presidency by the Democratic Party under that name. He was a short, plump, jolly man with side-whiskers. His personal charm earned him many friends, even among his political opponents. He probably had more comic nicknames than any other occupant of the White House--the Red Fox, the Little Magician, the Careful Dutchman, and variations on these themes. He was not a statesman, but he was a thoroughly honest, generous, and incredibly clever politician.

Early Years 

Fittingly, this master politician was literally born at the polls. The event took place at his father's tavern in Kinderhook, New York, on December 5, 1782, just 14 months after the battle of Yorktown had secured American independence from Great Britain. Martin's birthplace was where the villagers came to cast their ballots and where they gathered to talk politics.

Martin's father was Abraham Van Buren, whose ancestor had come to the Hudson River valley from Holland in 1631. Abraham married Maria Hoes Van Alen, a widow with three children. Two daughters and three sons were born of the new marriage. As the oldest son, Martin worked in the tavern. There he heard many tales of the intense political rivalry in which he would soon take part.

Martin's parents were poorly educated and not well-to-do. But there was a farm in the family so he suffered no real hardship. He studied at the Kinderhook Academy, leaving at the age of 13 to take a job in a local law firm. There the handsome blond youth advanced from sweeping the floors and cleaning the quill pens to doing copy work and being of general assistance in court.

One day, when Martin was 16, a junior member of the firm turned to him at the end of a petty case and said: "Here, Matt, you sum up."

Matt won his first case and many others while still in his teens. He also made his start as a politician.

A neighbor, John Van Ness, was engaged to marry an heiress. But she would not have him unless he proved himself by winning a seat in CONGRESS. It was the time of the exciting election of 1800, when Thomas JEFFERSON was running against John ADAMS for the presidency. Young Van Buren proposed himself as campaign manager for Van Ness. At the district convention he stood on a table and nominated his candidate, who won on the first ballot. For the next several weeks Van Buren toured the district in the general ELECTION and brought off a resounding victory for Van Ness. Shortly afterward, as a reward for his services, the 18-year-old Van Buren went off to New York City to a job in the law office of Van Ness's brother.

At the age of 21 Van Buren returned to practice law and politics at home. At 24 he eloped to Catskill, New York, and married his childhood sweetheart and schoolmate, Hannah Hoes, a distant cousin.

His Political Career Begins 

In 1808 Van Buren managed the campaign of Daniel Tompkins, who was running for governor of New York. When Tompkins won the governorship, he appointed Van Buren surrogate (judge). Four years later, when he was not quite 30, Van Buren won a seat in the New York State Senate. Within a few years he was leader of the powerful political group called the Albany Regency. At one legislative session he wrested control of the council of appointment from Governor DeWitt Clinton (1769-1828). Van Buren now had control of 8,000 state jobs. He made his law partner a district attorney, his half brother a surrogate, his brother the clerk of the court, and his brother-in-law the state printer. Hundreds of his friends and followers received minor posts. Van Buren had established the spoils system in New York State politics. Soon he would transfer that system to Washington, D.C.

His Ambition 

In his autobiography, published after his death, Van Buren good-humoredly recounts his youthful adventures and climb to power. He makes no secret of his life's ambition. He wanted to become president. He called that office "the glittering prize" and "my most earnest desire."

Van Buren's career can be understood only by taking him at his word. Every office he held was a stepping-stone to the White House. In 1821 he went to Washington as a United States senator. He left his unfinished second Senate term to run for governor of New York in 1828. He remained governor only 10 weeks, returning to Washington to be near President Jackson as his secretary of state and political manager.

Van Buren resigned as head of the State Department in 1831 to allow Jackson to get rid of his CABINET members who were followers of Vice-President John C. Calhoun, Jackson's political enemy. Jackson then appointed Van Buren minister to Great Britain, but he served less than 5 months. The Senate rejected his confirmation by the deciding vote of John C. Calhoun. When Jackson won re-election in 1832, however, Van Buren became the new vice-president. He was then, as Jackson's favorite, almost certain to win the presidency in 1836.

Van Buren's Character and Personality 

But any bare account of the Red Fox's wily progress fails to do him justice. Van Buren made a fortune in law and a name in politics because people trusted and admired him. His sparkling wit, his affection for people, his occasional flashes of genius for serious statesmanship, were his extraordinary traits.

Jackson once remarked of Van Buren: "It is said that he is a great magician--I believe it, but his only wand is good common sense which he uses for the benefit of his country." The author Washington Irving, meeting Van Buren for the first time after hearing harsh criticism of him, found him "one of the gentlest and most amiable men I ever met with." Most of the criticism, in fact, stemmed from amusement at Van Buren's cleverness. Congressman John Randolph (1773-1833) picturesquely described Van Buren as one who always "rowed to his objects with muffled oars." When Van Buren arrived to take his Senate seat in 1821, Rufus King (1755-1827), a fellow senator from New York, wrote that within 2 weeks "he will know every man's opinion, but none will know his."

Yet nearly everybody acquainted with Van Buren conceded that he had talent and was capable of political courage. During the War of 1812 he wrote and submitted in the New York legislature a bill to draft able-bodied men into the Army. The measure was widely denounced as an invasion of personal liberty. But Van Buren toured his district in support of the measure and pushed the bill through to passage. A historian of the day called it "the most energetic war measure ever adopted in this country."

Van Buren's admirers often wished he would put his mind to serious affairs and give up the game of intrigue and self-promotion. Benjamin F. Butler (1795-1858), Jackson's attorney general, once wrote to an acquaintance: "If I were Van Buren I would let politics alone. ... This morning I heard him open a case before the (New York) Supreme Court in the most able, eloquent and exact fashion I almost ever heard."

President 

Once Van Buren reached the White House, he did leave "politics" alone. The Panic of 1837 was no fault of his, coming when he had barely reached office. President Jackson's financial policies had sowed the whirlwind that his successor had to reap. As the first president from the West, Jackson had reason to feel that the Eastern money interests held the frontier areas in a financial vise. Old Hickory withdrew federal deposits from the Bank of America in Philadelphia and distributed them in banks around the country. The result was a splurge of investment, followed by a sudden loss of confidence in the banks.

Van Buren's handling of the crisis was superb. It was altogether devoid of crafty politics or retreat from principle. He calmly allowed the excitement of the spring and summer to subside, and he set a special session of Congress for September. He then delivered a message in the spirit of Thomas Jefferson. Van Buren said in part: "All communities are apt to look to Government for too much ... especially at periods of sudden embarrassment or distress. But this ought not to be. The framers of our excellent Constitution ... wisely judged that the less Government interferes with private pursuits the better for general prosperity. ... Its real duty ... is ... to leave every citizen and every interest to reap, under its benign protection, the reward of virtue, industry and prudence."

Van Buren was not heartless, although his enemies painted him as such. His administration enacted legislation that established the independent treasury system and made sound-money loans available through local banks. Foreign relations were troubled during his term by a boundary dispute with Canada and by difficulty with Mexico over the secession of Texas. Van Buren skillfully negotiated the dispute with Canada. He refused to accept Texas into the Union because that would mean an additional slave state as well as war with Mexico. He was a good president who dared to be unpopular.

Van Buren's defeat in 1840 can be seen as delayed punishment for his 25 years of playing politics. The WHIG Party was organized and led much as the Albany Regency had been. The Whig candidate, General William Henry Harrison, was presented to the country as an "old hero." He avoided every serious issue. Along with his running mate, John TYLER, Harrison won by an electoral vote of 234 to 60 with the campaign slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." Van Buren took his defeat with unruffled good humor.

Free-Soil Candidate 

Still, Van Buren remained a powerful figure in New York State politics. In 1848 he was nominated as the presidential candidate of the Free-Soil Party, composed mainly of Northerners--both Whigs and Democrats--opposed to the expansion of slavery into the western territories. Van Buren's candidacy, however, split the Democrats and helped General Zachary TAYLOR, the Whig candidate, defeat Lewis Cass (1782-1866).

Later Years 

Van Buren's last years were his happiest. His marriage had ended tragically with Hannah's death in 1819. But she left him four fine sons, who brought him pride and pleasure. John Van Buren became attorney general of New York. Abraham Van Buren married a niece of Dolley Madison, and Smith Thompson Van Buren married a niece of Washington Irving. Martin, Jr., accompanied his father on a 2-year trip through Europe. There the former president, the first to take such a journey, was admired by the crowned heads and the society figures of many countries. These family successes and personal honors helped him to bear the disappointment of being turned out of the White House.

Van Buren had purchased the old Van Ness mansion on the Hudson near Kinderhook and renamed it Lindenwald (Linden Woods) after the trees. There he spent his declining years, pampered by his daughters-in-law, honored by his neighbors and by famous visitors. He died on July 24, 1862, at the age of 79. He would have been pleased to know that 81 carriages, including that of the governor of New York, followed his hearse to the nearby cemetery of the Dutch Reformed Church. His last will and testament beautifully sums up his life: "I, Martin Van Buren ... heretofore Governor of the State and more recently President of the United States, but for the last and happiest years of my life, a Farmer in my native town. ... "

Holmes Alexander
Author, American Talleyrand: The Career and Contemporaries of Martin Van Buren

Franklin Butler Van Valkenburg
My 6th cousin 3 times removed.

Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 5 April 1888. Appointed a Midshipman in 1905, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in June 1909. His initial service was in battleships, punctuated by a tour with the Asiatic Squadron in 1911-14. He received postgraduate education in the field of steam engineering and was Engineering Officer of the battleship Rhode Island during the First World War. Van Valkenburgh was twice an instructor at the Naval Academy during the late 'Teens and in the 'Twenties, and also served in the battleships Minnesota and Maryland during that time. Following promotion to the rank of Commander, he was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, in Washington, D.C., during 1928-31

In the early 1930s, Commander Van Valkenburgh commanded the destroyer Talbot and Destroyer Squadron Five. He was a student at the Naval War College and inspector of naval materiel at the New York Navy Yard before again serving at sea as Commanding Officer of the destroyer tender Melville in 1936-38. Captain Van Valkenburg then spent a tour ashore with the Third Naval District and, in February 1941 became Commanding Officer of the battleship Arizona. He was killed in action when his ship exploded and sank during the 7 December 1941 Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor. For his "conspicuous devotion to duty and extraordinary courage" at that time, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

The destroyer USS Van Valkenburgh (DD-656), 1944-1967, was named in honor of Captain Van Valkenburgh.

Stephen Houghtaling - Garrett Houghtaling Niver - Peter "Monkey" Hotaling - Martin Van Buren