History of Paterson and Its Environs pp. 50–61.
Elizabeth, second child of Dirck and Marretje (Van Rypen) Van Houten, married David Bensen; the third, Jannetje, married Peter Poulese ; the fourth, Antje, married Jacob Berdan, Jr. ; the fifth, Abraham, born March 23, 1778, married Catharina, daughter of John Sip, of Athenia. At the time of his marriage his father built a house for him on the south side of Totowa avenue, southwest of the present West Side Park. His children were: Molly, married Thomas P. Doremus; Gertruy, married Ira Ryerson; Annatje (Hannah), married John Nicholas Ryerson; and Richard, born May 2, 1812, married Eliza, daughter of James Post. He wrote his name Richard A. Van Houten, and lived in is father’s house on Totowa avenue, which he enlarged and improved. He was a man of superior intelligence, cultivated by wide reading and European travel. He was a farmer and milkman, and being a total abstamer from the use of intoxicants was dubbed “Vinegar Dick.” He was a member of the Assembly in 1857-58. The issue of his marriage was: Catharine, married (first) J. W. Feitner, (second) Adrian Van Houten; Abraham, died aged thirteen years; Hannah, died in infancy; Jane, married Henry H. Freeman, a silk manufacturer, afterwards a real estate agent of Paterson ; Mary Elizabeth, married George Van Houten ; Abraham died aged two years; Gertrude Ryerson, married Richard E. Doremus; and Richard, born Aug. 14, 1856, married Ida Wirtendyke.
The other children of Dirck and Marretje (Van Rypen) Van Houten were : Maria, married Jacob Van Ryper ; Gerritje, a twin of Maria, died in infancy ; Adreyean, died in infancy ; Adreyean, mentioned below ; Neesje, married Casparus Wessels; Gerritje (Charity), married David Demarest.
Adreyean, ninth child, was born March 2, 1784. To distinguish him from the numerous other Van Houtens of the same name he was called after his mother, “Molly’s Yawn.” He lived in his father’s house in the present West Side Park, and so the brook running through his farm came to be known as Molly Yawn’s Brook, which has been modified into Molly Ann’s Brook. He married Margaret, daughter of John Doremus. They had eleven children : Richard, died in infancy ; Gertrude, married John B. Van Ripen; Mariah, married John Romaine Oldis; John, born Feb. 7, 1820, married Abigail Ann, daughter of Abraham Van Blarcom. There were two daughters, and one son, who died in infancy, by this marriage : Margaret and Abigail Lavinia. Richard, the fifth child, married Jane Ryerson. His children were: Adrian, born Jan. 25, 1844; Margaret, married Hiram Rynier Speer ; Catherine, married Christopher Hartley. William, the sixth child, born Jan. 27, 1824, married Catharine Ann, daughter of James Demarest, of Fairlawn. The issue of this marriage was : Anna Catharine ; Richard ; Jennie, married Jacob Westervelt ; Henry, married Maggie Hines ; Adrian, died in childhood ; Mary, married Abraham Paulson ; Maggie, married Dr. William H. Pruden, a dentist in Paterson. The seventh child, Elizabeth Jane, married Daniel R. Brinkerhoff. Adrian R., the eighth child, born Aug. 2, 1828, married Catharine, a daughter of his cousin, Richard Van Houten, and a widow of J. W. Feitner. He was a farmer and a dealer in produce, and was at one time a member of the Board of Aldermen of Paterson. Children : Abraham, married Gertie Rogers ; George, died in infancy ; John H., died in infancy ; Jennie; Ira Ryerson, died in childhood; and Mary, married Charles Borden ; the ninth child, Margaret Ann, married Cornelius H. Garrison ; the tenth, Abraham, born Dec. 28, 1832, married Jane Amelia, daughter of Comelius I. Westervelt. He removed to Texas. The eleventh child, George, born Dec. 19, 1834, married Mary E., daughter of Richard Van Houten; of their four children, two, Nellie C. and William, died in infancy, the others were John Milton, born Feb. 16, 1868, married Jennie, daughter of John Kingsland ; and Richard.
Adrian, youngest child of Gerrebrant and Jannetje (Sip) Van Houten, born Oct. 9, 1785, married Elizabeth, daughter of John Van Houten. At the time of his marriage his father gave him a farm on Water street, where he lived during the eight years of his married life. The issue of his marriage was : Jannetje, married Albert Van Saen ; and Andreyaen, bora Nov. I, 1782, he married, April 10, 1807, Annaatje Sip, and shortly after he assumed the name of Aaron A, Van Houten. He removed to Passaic, where he acquired a portion of the Sip farm on the river road at the corner of what is now called Van Houten avenue. He was the father of six children: Marytje, married John Van Winkle; Elizabeth, married John Sip ; Clarissa, married John V. Ryerson ; Jane, married Elias A. Vreeland ; Cornelius, married Maria Zabriskie, and they had four children, the eldest dying in infancy, the others were : Anna, Aaron, and Zabris- kie ; and Anna Sip, married Henry Doremus.
(Nelson and Shriner 1920)