Jacob Van Buskirk (1760 – November 27, 1834) was a merchant, judge and political figure in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

. He represented Shelburne County in the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia Each General Assembly of the ...

from 1805 to 1818. He was born in Bergen County, New Jersey, the son of Abraham Van Buskirk and Sophia Van Dam. He was a lieutenant in the

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

New Jersey Volunteers The New Jersey Volunteers, also known as Jersey Volunteers, "Skinners", Skinner's Corps, and Skinner's Greens (due to their green wool uniform coats), were a British provincial military unit of Loyalists, raised for service by Cortlandt Skinn ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolu ...

. He was captured on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

in 1777 by General Philemon Dickinson but then released and rejoined his regiment. In 1781, he was wounded at Eutaw Springs. After the war, Van Buskirk settled in the

Shelburne, Nova Scotia Shelburne is a town located in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. History Shelburne lies at the southwest corner of Nova Scotia, at roughly the same latitude as Portland, Maine in the United States. The Mi'kmaq call the large and well-sheltered ...

region in 1783. In 1790, he married Sarah Breen. He originally planned on farming but some time later established himself as a merchant at Shelburne. Van Buskirk was named a justice of the peace in 1802 and a judge in the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in 1810. He also later served as provincial collector for impost and excise duties. Van Buskirk joined the local militia as major, later becoming lieutenant-colonel. After his wife's death in 1832, he moved to Yarmouth to live with his son-in-law John Bingay; he died there two years later.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Buskirk, Jacob 1760 births 1834 deaths Loyalists in the American Revolution from New Jersey Nova Scotia pre-Confederation MLAs People from Bergen County, New Jersey People of colonial New Jersey American people of Dutch descent Canadian people of Dutch descent Loyalist military personnel of the American Revolutionary War Loyalists who settled Nova Scotia Colony of Nova Scotia judges