Maria Vanderhoof Tucker 1807-1879

Research Question

Was Maria Tucker (1807-1879) a daughter of Jacob Vanderhoof (1772-1847) and Ann Hopler (1772-1841)?

Published Book

In her book Vanderhoof (1991), Louisa Caroline Freeman Hickerson did not list Maria Vanderhoof, wife of Charles Tucker, as one of the children of Jacob and Ann. If she was born around 1807, there was room for this birth between John in 1804 and Charlotte in 1809.

Children of Jacob Vanderhoof and Ann Hopler (with notation that any might be in error and some children may be omitted):

1. Peter (1797-1847) married Rachel Peer (1800-1850)

2. Elizabeth (1799-1878) married Stephen H Cook (1797-1853)

3. Mary (1801-1853) probably unmarried

4. Hyla (1803-1888) married William Cook (1801-18xx)

5. John (1804-1888) married Sarah Dobbin (1805-1876)

6. Charlotte (1809-1886) married Chilion Cook (1807-1888)

7. Samuel Saron (1811-????) married Eleanor Anderson (1815-????)

8. Richard Vanderhoof (1814-1892) married Eliza Cook (1810-1875) and Jane Tunis (1832-1919)

9. Conrad (1817-1874) married Mary Hopler (1823-1903)

Family Trees

Find A Grave and family trees posit Maria Vanderhoof as the wife of Charles Canfield Tucker (born about 1805). Imaged below is an example of one such tree.

Proposed daughters of Jacob Vanderhoof and Ann Hopler
named Mary or Maria.
Example of online tree configuration of this family.

These trees do not attach or link to documentation on the parents of Maria/Mary Vanderhoof, wife of Charles Tucker.

Other Women Named Mary

A prior article discussed Mary Vanderhoof (1822-1861), wife of John K ODell (1824-1898). I determined that she was not a child of Jacob Vanderhoof and Ann Hopler. A future article will discuss Mary Vanderhoof (1800-1853) and Mary VanFleet.

The Vanderhoof family includes multiple women named Mary or Maria in overlapping generations. This article focuses only on Maria Vanderhoof, wife of Charles Tucker, and does not assume that she is the same Mary Vanderhoof who died in 1853 or the Mary Vanderhoof who married a man named VanFleet.

Records of Mary or Maria Vanderhoof, Wife of Charles Tucker

New Jersey did not begin registration of births until 1848, well before Maria was born. A baptismal record would provide the name of her father and probably her mother, but this record has not been identified yet.

Marriage records of the 1820s were created by the religious officiant and filed with the County of Morris. Such records did not usually provide names of parents, but this would at least confirm that Charles Tucker married Maria Vanderhoof and not Maria with another surname. As of this writing, I have not found a marriage record in Morris County in the 1820s for Mary Vanderhoof and Charles Tucker.

Maria's first chronological appearance in a record was the 1850 federal census, the first to list all members of households.

Below are snapshots of Charles, Maria, and their children from the 1850 and 1870 census entries for Rockaway Township. She was 43 in 1850 and 63 in 1870, which is consistent with being born in 1807.

1850 census in Rockaway, Morris County, New Jersey.
Charles Tucker and Mary resided with seven children
ages 1 through 21.

1870 census in Rockaway, Morris County, New Jersey.
Charles C Tucker and Maria with Sarah J,
their youngest child.

Charles Tucker and Maria were last seen in the 1870 census. I have not found a record of the death of Charles. A gravestone has not surfaced.

Maria was buried at Rockaway Valley United Methodist Church Cemetery in Boonton. Many Vanderhoofs were laid to rest here. Maria's stone gives her date of death as September 13, 1879, age 72 years, 7 months, and 17 days. The calculated date of birth would be January 27, 1807. This date of death does not correspond with an entry in New Jersey's index of deaths. A death certificate would be another chance of seeing the names of her parents. Imaged below is Maria's memorial page on Find A Grave.

Memorial page at Find A Grave
for Maria Vanderhoof Tucker (1807-1879)

Maria Vanderhoof and Charles Tucker had at least eleven children from 1829 through 1851: Peter Vanderhoof, John, Elias, Mary Etta, George Allen, Charles, Marinda, Helen Elizabeth, Laura A, Agnes, and Sarah Jane. They probably had other children who died early.

To indirectly catch Maria's birth name, we can look at the marriage and death records of her children. I found only one record that identifies Maria, wife of Charles Tucker, as a Vanderhoof. Their son, Elias, died November 25, 1913 at the New Jersey State Hospital in Morris Plains. This is locally known as "Greystone" and still exists today for inpatient treatment of mental illness. The death certificate of Elias Tucker provides his mother's name as Maria Vanderhoof. Below is the image of Elias' death certificate.

Death certificate of Elias Tucker died November 25, 1913
in Morris Plains, Morris County, New Jersey 
(New Jersey State Hospital).
Father- Charles C Tucker. Mother- Maria Vanderhoof.
Death certificates are not online but can be ordered from the New Jersey State Archives
or copied in person.

Elias Tucker (1833-1913) was one of the older children of Maria and Charles. In 1860 he married Phebe Elizabeth Blanchard. He served in the Civil War.

Conclusions

None of these sources provide the parentage of Maria Vanderhoof. More information is needed to link Maria to any parents.