Leonard R. Peck
Leonard R. Peck – Leonard was born April 10, 1910 and died April 27, 2014. He was a former president and trustee emeritus of the Walpack Historical Society. He was also the editor of the Walpack News, our newsletter, for several years. He once described being the editor of the newsletter as “a job (which) was a labor of love that gave me the chance to share some of the research I had done over the years.”
Indeed, all Len’s labors on behalf of the Society were labors of love. He is remembered for his friendship, knowledge, hard work and good business sense while volunteering for the Walpack Historical Society.
John Rosenkrans
Colonel John Rosenkrans was born July 6, 1724, and is the younger brother of Harmen Rosenkrans. Harmen Rosenkrans is believed to have built part of the Van Campen Inn. After the Revolution was declared, John Rosenkrans, on May 23, 1777, enlisted in the Third Regiment of the Sussex County Militia. He was commissioned to the rank of Colonel. He fought at the battle of Germantown, Pa. He was shot in the shoulder and never fully recovered. He died June 5, 1786 and is buried in the Shapanack Cemetery, east of the Old Mine Road.
John Cleves Symmes
John Cleve Symmes was born July 21, 1742, and died in Cincinnati February 26, 1814. He held several posts in the Revolutionary War, was a member of the Continental Congress 1785-1786, a founder of Cincinnati and father-in-law of William Henry Harrison, ninth president of the United States. He had many land holdings in Walpack and his son-in-law, Peyton Short, was left in charge of them when Symmes left for Ohio.
Isaac Van Campen
Isaac Van Campen, brother-in-law of Harmen and John Rosenkrans, bought the plantation and farm house today known as the Van Campen Inn from Harmen Rosenkrans in 1754. Van Campen is believed to have built part of the Inn. He was a deacon of the Walpack Dutch Reformed Church, a constable of Walpack Township, a Justice of the Peace, a delegate from Sussex County to the Third New Jersey Provincial Congress, a freeholder of Sussex County and a member of the New Jersey Assembly. He is believed to have been born in 1721 and by 1742 was living in Walpack. He remained in Walpack until his death in 1781.