“His Christianity was pure, his views of religion sound and scriptural, and his fidelity and integrity of character were like his own well aimed rifle, true to the mark.”
– Rev. Thomas Aitken
Obituary of Moses Van Campen
"I was nurtered in the school of the rifle and the tomahawk."
- Moses Van Campen
“The notes of war are hushed,
The rage of battle o’er,
The warrior is at rest,
He hears our praise no more.
The soldier nobly fought
For all we dearly love,
He fought to gain a heavenly crown,
And now he reigns above.”
- Rev. Thomas Aitken
Inscription, Moses Van Campen's tombstone
From it's back cover, the following is the Author's description of Three Journeys to the Genesee, The Life of Moses Van Campen, A Frontier Biography. "By foot and by boat, once in his underwear, Moses Van Campen (1757-1849) traveled to the Genesee River three times in his life. This brief new biography of Moses Van Campen details the adventures (and misadventures) of these three journeys, including General Sullivan's march across Iroquois territory, Van Campen's captivity as a prisoner of war, and the story of his long feud with the Seneca chief John Mohawk, to whom Van Campen had "lent his hatchet." Two centuries after Moses Van Campen settled in Angelica, New York, where he is considered a founding father, he remains iconic, a figure of his times and situation. "I was nurtured in the school of the rifle and the tomahawk," Moses like to boast, and this cultural ambidexterity is the result of a particular intersection in American geography and history."