Isaac Van Wart is our chapter’s Patriot namesake and the volunteer militiaman for whom our town and county are named.

Van Wart, David Williams and John Paulding detained and then captured the British spy Major John Andre and secured documents that directly led to the exposure of the traitor Patriot General Benedict Arnold, who actually escaped to the British side. Without Isaac Van Wart, the outcome of the American Revolutionary War would have been so different. As an honor to him, the county and village of Van Wert were named with a typographical error made by a government clerk. Each man received a farm, a $200 per year stipend and the first medal of the American Revolutionary War – the Fidelity Medallion. 

Isaac Van Wart – Spelling
The spelling of his name had an “a” instead of an “e”. To honor him our county was named after him, however, due to the above-described error, the spelling of Van Wert was written with an “e” instead of an “a”.