This family settled in the Mohawk Valley at a date prior to the revolution. The records of "New York Soldiers in the Revolution" show many of the family to have been engaged in the struggle for independence. One of the number, Nicholas, an enlisted member of Captain Jillis Fonda's company of "Associated Exempts" was taken prisoner by the Indians and Tories, taken into the wilderness and was never heard of again. The region in which the family settled was the theatre of the operations of Brant and the Johnsons and the cruel, remorseless Tories and Indians were only held in check by the determined bravery of the Mohawk settlers and patriots. The Van Brocklin family in the Mohawk Valley was founded by two brothers one of whom was Gilbert. There were four brothers that came from Holland about the year 1730 with their sister Barbara. They were Gilbert, Malachi, Nicholas and Harpet. Two of the brothers never married and from the other two have sprung probably all the Van Brocklins of New York state.
(I) Gilbert Van Brocklin, immigrant ancestor, came from Holland to America in 1730 and settled in what is now Montgomery county, New York. He married and had issue.
(II) Gilbert (2), son of Gilbert (1) Van Brocklin, was born in 1768, died April 15, 1849. He was a farmer of Montgomery county, a Whig, and a member of the Lutheran church. He married Jemima ————, born 1783, died February 3, 1849. Children:
- Hannah, born 1806, died 1870; married Michael Stotter, born 1803, died 1880.
- Matthias, of whom further.
- John G., died May 9, 1852, aged thirty-four years; his son John enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifteenth Regiment, New York Volunteers, at the age of sixteen years, and was the first man killed in that regiment; he was orderly for Colonel Sammons and was instantly killed by a shell while in the performance of duty.
- Margaret, died unmarried at the age of sixty-seven years.
(III) Matthias, eldest son of Gilbert (2) and Jemima Van Brocklin, was born in the town of Johnstown, then Tryon, now Fulton county, New York, January 1, 1813, at the locality known as Albany Bush, died at Amsterdam, New York, August 28, 1889, and is buried in the family plot in Green Hill cemetery. He learned the carpenter's trade at which he worked for several years. In 1868 he began the manufacture of stockings in Amsterdam, meeting with such success that in 1872 he enlarged his plant, added underwear to his line of manufacture, and admitted his son William to the firm. In 1873 Matthias withdrew as an active partner and formed a company called the American Hosiery Mills Company, which continued until September, 1876. At that time their mills were destroyed by fire and were never rebuilt. He was a strong Republican, and served as president of the Amsterdam village corporation the last year prior to its becoming a city. He was an active member and in the early years the chief supporter of the West Amsterdam Lutheran Church. He married, at Albany Bush, December 27, 1836, Charlotte Stoller, born June 3, 1815, at Albany Bush, twelfth of the thirteen children of Michael and Magdalene Stoller. Michael Stoller died May 9, 1853, aged eighty-one years. Magdalene died December 21, 1859, aged eighty-four years. Charlotte (Stoller) Van Brocklin is a resident of Amsterdam, New York, retaining to a remarkable degree her mental and physical activity, although in her ninety-sixth year. She is a lifelong member of the Lutheran church. Children:
- William Shields, of whom further.
- John, born February 20, 1842; married Louise Revies, June 15, 1864; resides with mother in Amsterdam; has a daughter
- Clara, who married ———— Wenans, of Rochester.
- James, born July 6, 1844, died November 11, l909; married, October 20, 1868, Katherine Simpson, who survives him; children: Susan and Mrs. E. Watson Gardner.
- Eli, born November 3, 1846; a glove and mitten manufacturer of Northville, Fulton county, New York, since 1898; previously a knit goods manufacturer from 1872; he is a Presbyterian although reared in the Lutheran church, and a Republican; he served as village trustee for two terms, and since 1901 has been trustee of the board of education, having held the same office when residing in Amsterdam; he married, April 14, 1869, Mary C. Mosher, born May 13, 1851; children:
- Matthias, born January 6, 1871;
- Lottie, born November 14, 1873, married D. Newton, of Gloversville;
- Charles Gilbert, born 1878.
(IV) William Shields, eldest son of Matthias and Charlotte (Stoller) Van Brocklin, was born in Amsterdam, New York, December 5, 1839, died October 15, 1908. When twelve years of age he went to New York City, where he obtained a position as messenger boy in a bank. He was a lad of industry and good habits, and was able to command promotion and salary. For six years after leaving New York, he was connected with a lumber company in Troy, New York. Leaving Troy he became interested with his father in the manufacture of stockings and for twelve years was a manufacturer in Catskill, New York. Later, in Amsterdam, he was of Van Brocklin, Stover & Company, manufacturers of knit goods, a successful enterprise in which he was engaged until his death. He was a director of the First National Bank of America and held the same position in the Johnstown Bank. He was interested in many enterprises of his town, where he was held in high esteem. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, which he served as trustee. Mr. Van Brocklin married, in Amsterdam, May 7, 1862, Margaret Kline, born in the same city, June 23, 1840 (see Kline IV). Children:
- Harry D., born July 1, 1876, died at the age of two years.
- Frank V., July 29, 1880; was educated in the common and high schools of Amsterdam and Ithaca, New York; succeeded at his father's death to the management of his large business interests and has proved a worthy successor.
(The Kline Line)
The question of the nationality of the Kline immigrant is not one that has yet been settled to the unanimous satisfaction of his descendants. But either Germany or Holland is believed to have been his native country. The best proof we have at hand that he was from Holland is the fact that in his will he provided that his large "Dutch Bible" should go to a certain son. As he referred to the Bible as being "Dutch" it forms a strong presumption that he was a Hollander. This will was made only a few years before his death. William Kline, the emigrant ancestor above referred to, was born in 1736, died 1814. He emigrated to America when a young man, and located in New York City where for a time he followed his trade of journeyman baker, but in a few years established a business of his own in the same line. He was in the baking business in New York at the time of his marriage and for a few years thereafter, when he sold out and with his young wife settled in Montgomery county on land he purchased in what is now Amsterdam township, village of Aiken. Here he and his wife thereafter lived and died. This was after the revolutionary war. On the New York rolls of enlisted men in the revolution is the name of William Kline. As these rolls were printed from old and imperfect lists and spelling was often a matter of choice with the writer, it establishes as a fact beyond a doubt the tradition of the family that William served in the revolutionary war. (See New York in the Revolution, p. 69.) While conducting his bakery in New York, William Kline became acquainted with and married Mary O'Reagen, born in Ireland in 1740, died in Montgomery county, New York, August 28, 1827. Children:
- James.
- Adam.
- William, born in 1775, died April 1, 1861; married and had issue; his home was in Amsterdam.
- John, born 1777, died December 1, 1885; he married and had issue; he is buried at Tribes Hill.
- Joseph.
- George, see forward.
(II) George, youngest son of William and Mary (O'Reagen) Kline, was born May 23, 1783, died September 29, 1857. He was a farmer at Aiken, Montgomery county, New York, where he died and is buried in the family plot. He and his family were members of the Lutheran church. He married, in 1803, Sarah Van Nest, born September 21, 1785, died December 22, 1851, daughter of Henry Van Nest, born October, 1757, died June, 1832, and Mary (Ten Eyck) Van Nest, born November 7, 1765, died March 2, 1832. Children of George and Sarah (Van Nest) Kline:
- Maria, born January 23, 1804, died August 28, 1884.
- Hannah, December 13, 1805, died December 3, 1857.
- Jane, February 3, 1809, died January 27, 1893.
- William, April 22, 1811, died February 14, 1841.
- Henry V., of whom further.
- Charity, June 8, 1815, died March 16, 1883; married, May 31, 1843, Joseph Clark May, born May 17, 1815, died January 3, 1893.
- Catherine, March 6, 1818, died May 21, 1897.
- John, March 8, 1820, died December 20, 1828.
- Sarah Jane, August 25, 1825, died August 1, 1859.
(III) Henry V., son of George and Sarah (Van Nest) Kline, was born March 17, 1813, died December 3, 1879. He married, in Amsterdam, Maria, born May 17, 1814, died January 7, 1849, daughter of Frederick and Hannah (Lingenfelter) Moore, both of whom lived and died in Amsterdam township. Children:
- Margaret, of whom further;
- George, born February 3, 1842; a veteran of the civil war; resides near Aiken, New York.
- Sarah, wife of Stephen Quilhot, a manufacturer of Amsterdam.
By a later marriage to a sister of his first wife, Mr. Kline had a son, John M., now deceased.
(IV) Margaret, eldest child of Henry V. and Maria (Moore) Kline, was born in Amsterdam, June 23, 1840. She was educated in her native town, and after her marriage to William S. Van Brocklin (see Van Brocklin IV) was of material assistance to him in the development and management of his business. She was an unusually capable business woman and a devoted wife and mother. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and though nearing her three score and ten years is very much interested in the affairs and happenings of the present. She and her son, Frank V., reside in Amsterdam, New York.