THE VAN SCYOC FAMILY OF FREMONT CO., IOWA

 THE VAN SCYOC FAMILY OF FREMONT COUNTY, IOWA

Asbell Van Scyoc (1808-ca1859) was born in Virginia, married in Holt County, Missouri and died, probably, in Fremont County, Iowa. It is theorized that he was the son of Cornelius Van Scyoc of Ohio Co., Virginia (son of Abel Van Scyoc) and stepson to Almira Goodrich Van Scyoc since his birthdate predates the marriage of Cornelius and Almira. Note: Two date the DNA appears to support this with connections to descendent of this man.   Two female descendants of this group Elizabeth Van Scyoc Keeler and Ruth Van Scyoc Mustard are also in Fremont Co., Iowa during the time period Ashbel is in Fremont County.

From an Iowa Territorial Census we learn he settled into Iowa as early as 1836. His son Jackson Van Scyoc said in his biography of 1906 that his father was occupied cutting trees, farming, and other related tasks in those years and later. Another source suggests he might have been one of the young men who was involved in the Black Hawk War and the settling of Michigan and Wisconsin and names similar to his may be found in both locations to suggest extended family night have traveled there as well.

Since there are an Isiah, Abram and Cornelius Van Scyoc (of various spellings)  east of Fremont County they  may need to be considered as possible relations.

The Family of Franklin Van Scyoc had the information that his father had married a Sarah Farley and they had lived in Fremont Co.,Iowa.  With that as the source point the search began for the lineage of Franklin Van Scyoc. A lot of obstacles (assumptions, bad tree constructions, and lost records) hindered the process. 

Theory 1: The Father of Franklin Van Sycoc was an “Ashville” or , as only ONE source claims, “Nashville” based on the appearance on the 1850 Andrews County, Missouri census of a group there named VanSchoiack: Rueben, Josiah, Jackson, and Machiga. They apparently came out of the southeast. There is a land patent # 3062 issued in 1846 to Josiah Vanschoiack of Andrew County. This group, except for some who attempted to head to Oregon, remained in Andrew County, Missouri and there is a cemetery there called the VanSchoiack Cemetery. 

On the 1850 census of the county is listed a man many have identified as “A.R. VanSchoiack”. With him was a wife named Sarah born in Virginia and a daughter named Margaret born in Missouri.   Thus, the “A.R.” of that 1850 Missouri census became “Asbury R. Van Scyoc” because of the happenstance of the wife and child’s names being the same.

A close inspection of the entry in the census record calls this into question. 

The initials used, when compared to other letters written by the survey taker, are “N” and “R”. In fact, just four lines below the entry for this individual is a person named “Nancy” and the capital initial is clearly the same in both instances. One researcher, citing merely “Morman records” identified these people as “Neely Ralston VanSchoiack”, his wife Sarah, and daughter Margaret who left to go to Oregon but may not have survived that trip. The limitations of many databases is that the variations of name spellings create a barrier to searching, linking and locating connections with unique surnames. The 1850 Jefferson Twp., Andrews County, Missouri was dated Nov. 26, 1850.

A clear and close look at the census record for the Andrews County group reveals it is clearly an "N" and not an "A."

Since the Fremont County, Iowa Van Scyoc group is located on the 1850 Census of Iowa in District 22 of Fremont County, the two are not the same. Since the textual evidence of the handwriting clarifies the interpretation of the initials in the Andrew County, Missouri census, the two are not the same. Since no further links can be found to tie these two groups together the conclusion is that these are two distinct groups unrelated to one another.

Theory 2 – The A. Van Scyoc (by various spellings) in Fremont County, Iowa came into Iowa at an early date, at or shortly after the area of Iowa Territory was opened to white, male populations in surrounding regions and beyond. Thus his trek from his birthplace in Virginia likely crossed, Ohio, Indiana, and then northwest into what would be Wisconsin and Michigan Territories. His birthdate – based on response to the 1850 census – suggests he could have been a young man when he first arrived in the region and possibly fought in the Black Hawk War or worked for the government in exploring, clearing or otherwise opening the territories previously mentioned. His second son, Jackson Van Scyoc, will say in 1906 that his father felled trees on first coming into Iowa and that may be a clue as to his presence in the 1836 Territorial Census of Iowa.

In 1845 his path and that of Sarah Ann Farley cross in Holt County, Missouri. The region – often considered part of Fremont County, Iowa as well as Atchison and Holt County, Missouri – is said to have seen people counted in multiple census records. Yet, only one marriage record exists for this couple and it is in Holt Co., Missouri in 1845.

Subsequent census records, especially those after Sarah apparently widowed about 1860, remarries a local merchant-farmer Abraham Fletcher, have been greatly confused by people. Children of Van Scyoc were labeled as Fletcher and the fact that there were several Sarah Fletcher's in the area further confused things. Sarah Farley Van Scyoc Fletcher is often listed as a mother to children by her second husband when she was married to Van Scyoc and before.