I will work from the present back on this one:

I am Jim Van Campen, born 1958 in Whittier, California
youngest son of John Gerrit Van Campen.

My father John Gerrit Van Campen was born 1922 in Minneapolis, Mn.
He was the only son of Charles Howard Van Campen and Cora Taney Van Campen. He fought in the Pacific theater in WWII and was stationed at Camp Pendelton near San Diego during the Korean War. That is how this branch of Van Campens is now in California. Cora Taney Van Campen was from St Joe, MO; but her ancestry is from Emmitsburg Maryland back to 1650. Her 3nd great uncle was the supreme court chief justice, Roger Brooke Taney, who presided over the Dred Scott case in 1850.

My Grandfather, Charles Howard Van Campen (1872-1933) was born in Chicago IL. His family settled in Rochester, Minnesota in 1874. Howard attended University in the Twin Cities and settled in Minneapolis. He was a fairly prominant lawyer and insurance underwriter there from about 1910-1933.

My Great Grandfather, Charles Van Campen (1843-1920)was born in Pahaquarry Township, Warren Co, New Jersey. He was the son of Abraham Van Campen and Mary Depue. His family immigrated to Lee County, Illinois and homesteaded a farm in 1856. He was in Army of the Cumberland during the Civil War, and his letters home, as well as his personal diary, are still with my family records. After the war, he became a rail agent for the Chicago & Northwestern, and settled in Rochester, Minn. He was civic minded, and served on the City Council and the Board of Education. He was married to Mary Louise Elkins in 1868, in Mendota, ILL.

Children of Charles Van Campen and Mary Elkins:

Cora Irene(b. 1869 in Chicago) married Henry strong Adams.
Charles Howard( b. 1872 in Chicago) as noted above
Mary Elsie (b. 1874 in Rochester)married John Crew.
{I was told that the Crew operated the major hotel in Rochester that catered to all who would visit the Mayo Clinic.}
Mabel Grace (b. ???) married ????
Homer Abram (b. 1880 in Rochester)married Sarah Campbell.
{children of Homer and Sarah: Charles, Lawrence, Robert, Mary Alice, Mabel Cecelia}

My 2nd great Grandfather would then have been Abraham Van Campen who married Mary Depue in New Jersey.
This is where I would need to do my research, then.