The Vanauken line is one that I am just now starting to learn about.
I have learned that Marinus Vanauken was one of the early settlers of the New York area.

There was a historical marker commemorating the site of Fort Van Auken
according to the New York State Historical Markers web site.
Their information read as follows.

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County: ORANGE  Town: DEERPARK
 [ARROW]
         FORT VAN AUKEN
         WHICH STOOD HERE DURING  REVOLUTION, UNSUCCESSFULLY
         ATTACKED BY MOHAWKS AND TORIES, LED BY JOSEPH BRANT,
JULY 20, 1779

         Location: ON NEVERSINK DR. ABOUT 2 MILES EAST OF PORT JERVIS
----------------------------------------------------------------

Vanaukens fought during the Revolutionary War, doing battle with
Joseph Brant Chief of the Mohawk. His indian name
Thayendanegea.
Read more about Joseph Brant

On July 22, 1779 the Van Auken's were involved in a number of incidents with
Joseph Brants raiding Indians. "....This day there had been a funeral (at Van
Auken's), and Major Decker and some others on their return on horseback met the
Indians, who shot and wounded the Major, who rode into the woods and escaped.
There was some firing at the Van Auken fort, and one man (James Van Auken) was
killed. An Indian attempting to get to a building near the fort to set it on fire was
shot. By this time the smoke of the dwellings was seen ascending in many
directions, and generally known that the Indians with Brant at their head were there.
The very name of this leader struck the inhabitants with terror, as when 'the lion is
known to prowl around an African hamlet'. An occurrence took place here which
shows that this cruel and hard hearted warrior still contained a perk of humanity."

"The Indians had visited the school house, and threatened to exterminate one
generation of the settlement at a blow. Jeremiah Van Auken was the teacher, and
they took him from the house, conveyed him half a mile away and then killed him.
Some of the boys in the school were cleft with the tomahawk, others fled to the
woods for concealment from their bloody assailants; while the little girls stood by
the slain body of their teacher bewildered and horror struck, not knowing their own
fate, whether death or captivity. While they were standing in this pitiful condition, a
strong, muscular Indian suddenly came along, and with a brush dashed some black
paint on their aprons, bidding them to 'hold up the mark when they saw the Indians
coming, and it save them;' and with the yell of a savage plunged into the woods and
disappeared. This was Brant, and the daughters of the settlers were safe."

"The Indians, as they passed along and ran from place to place, saw the black mark,
and left the children undisturbed. The happy thought, like a dash of lightning,
entered the minds of these little sisters, and suggested that they could use the mark
to save their brothers. The scattered boys were quickly assembled, and the girls
threw their aprons over the clothes of the boys and stamped the black impression
upon their outer garments. They in turn held up the palladium of safety as the
Indians passed and re-passed, and these children were saved from death to the
unexpected joy of their parents. Mrs. Leah Van Auken escaped by hiding herself in
a ditch. This was the day before the battle of Minisink. During this invasion the
Indians took or destroyed the goods and chattel's of the people, plundered and
burned their houses and barns, and with them the first old church built there for the
Mahackemack congregation on the confines of the three states." (24)

That church was located where the old Maghaghkamik cemetery is currently located
in Port Jervis, New York. This cemetery is adjacent to the St. Mary's Cemetery on
East Main Street.

Another incident involving Brandt is reported in the "Battle of Minisink" by Vernon
Leslie where it is reported that "...Captain Martinues Decker and John Van Auken,
on a scouting party, met Brant and six Indians near Matamoras. Van Auken was a
swift runner. The Indians fired. The Captain ran for the fort. Brant pursued him, the
others pursued Van Auken. As Brant neared the fort alarm was given. Brant fired a
horse pistol at the captain and hit him in the ear. Decker, the blood flowing freely
over his face, fired, the blood preventing his seeing the sights. Van Auken and Brant
both escaped."
Source: The Battle of Minisink, Vernon Leslie, p.224.
 

A great deal of research, covering many years, which includes history on the Vanauken line
and many of my ancestors has been done by Bill DeCoursey.

Click on links below to see his work.
1430 - 16501650 - 17001700 - 17501750 - 1800
 

Surname of Immigrant: Van Auken
Given name(s) of Immigrant: Marinus
Name of Ship:
Arrival Date: ca 1683

Origin of Immigrant: Cadzand, Holland
Immigrant's Date & Place of Birth: 1660 Holland
Immigrant's Date & Place of Death: bef 1724
Immigrant's Spouse: Pieternelle de Pre van Wingen
Source of Information: Bradford Van Auken's Website
 http://pages.prodigy.com/VT/vanauken/
Immigrant's Children:
Pieter (1685),
Sara (1688),
Cornelis (1690),
Catrina (1692),
Rachel (1695),
Neeltje (1697),
Abraham (1689)
Isaak (1702).
Cornelius Van Aken - 1690 Cornelius was the son of the emigrants Marinus Van Aken and Pieternelle de Pre. Cornelius was baptized May 25, 1690 in Kingston, New York.
He married Zara Westbroek April 30, 1714. They moved from Ulster County to Bucks
(now Pike County), PA, at Theesacht (Rosetown), near Matamoras, in Westfall Township
before 1734. They had nine children who were:
Pieternelletjen (1715),
Lena (1717),
Abraham C (1720),
Annaatjen (1723),
Elizabeth (1725),
Johannes (1728),
Jannetje (1730/32),
Jacobus (1734),
Sarah (1737),
and Gideon (1738).

Notes: "Marinus Van Aken was in Ulster County, NY sometime between 1683 and 1685.
His marriage to Pieternelle de Pre in Cadzand, Holland took place on 11 Apr 1683.
He took the oath of allegiance to the English government at Kingston, NY, in 1689.
He was on the tax list on 9 Dec 1709 when he was taxed three shillings for '1 frye place and 1 slave'. He was also listed in the town of Rochester, Ulster Co., NY in 1711 and 1720/1.
His children were all born (1685-1702) in Kingston NY." (4). Marinus had four sons and four daughters. Three boys eventually moved down the Old Mine Trail to the Delaware Valley
 and settled near Port Jervis then known as Mahockamack.
 

Surname of Immigrant: Van Aken
Given name(s) of Immigrant: Marinus
Name of Ship: ?
Arrival Date: before 11 August 1685

Origin of Immigrant: Cadzand, Holland
Immigrant's Date & Place of Birth: ca. 1660 Holland
Immigrant's Date & Place of Death: before 17 October 1724; Rochester, Ulster Co., NY
Immigrant's Spouse: Pieternelle De Pre
 Source of Information:
1. Copy of Official Baptism Record from Cadzand, Holland. Written in Dutch.
2. Copy of Official Marriage Record from Cadzand, Holland. Written in Dutch.
3. KINGSTON, ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK, 1660-1809, Baptismal and
 Marriage Registers of the Old Dutch Church, by Roswell Randall
 Hoes. Record numbers are from this source.
4. Deed Book 2, page 134, 135 Kingston NY City Hall, Feb 10, 1694.
5. E. B. OíCallaghan, M.D., The Documentary History of the State of New York.
(Albany, New York: Weed, Parsons & co., 1850), vol. 1, p. 173.
6. New York Archives Transcribed by Chris Andrle, 11 Mar 1997.
Role of names who took the Oath of Allegiance in the County of Ulster first day of Sept. 1689.

Immigrant's Children:
 1. Pieter Van Aken bpt. August 11, 1685 in Kingston, Ulster County,
 NY (Bpt. record #430) d: abt. December 16, 1756 in Lehman Twp,
 Pike County, PA. Spouse: Rustjen Damen m: April 09, 1707 in Kingston, Ulster County, NY.

2. Zara Van Aken bpt. February 12, 1688 in Kingston, Ulster County,
 NY, (Bpt. record #553) d. ? Spouse: Nichlaus Westfall b: in Kingston,
 Ulster County, NY m: October 20, 1712 in Kingston, Ulster Co. NY (marriage record # 286).

3. Cornelius Van Aken bpt. May 25, 1690 in Kingston, Ulster County. NY (Bpt. record #650)
d: abt. 1772 in Westfall Twp, Pike County, PA.
Spouse: Sarah Westbrook bpt. June 10, 1694 in Kingston, Ulster County, NY (Bpt. #810)
m: April 30, 1714 in kingston, Ulster Co. NY (M. record #312 )
d: December 20, 1766 in Minisink, Orange County, NY[T.S. inscription]

4. Catrina Van Aken bpt. October 16, 1692 in Kingston, Ulster Co. NY (Bpt. record #718) d. ?
Spouse: Cornelius De Puy bpt. January 06, 1688 in Kingston, Ulster County, NY
(Bpt. record #547) m: May 06, 1713 in kingston, Ulster Co. NY (M. record #293) d:?

5. Rachel Van Aken bpt. June 09, 1695 in Kingston, Ulster County, NY (Bpt. record #852)
d: Bef. November 14, 1725.
Spouse: William Decker; bpt. November 06, 1687 in Roosendaal, Ulster County, NY
 (Bpt. record # 531) m: April 30, 1719 in Kingston, Ulster County, NY (M. record #405)

6. Neeltje Van Aken bpt. September 11, 1697 in Kingston, Ulster Co., NY (Bpt. record #988)d. ? Spouse: Jan Emans b. in Long Island, NY m: November 18, 1724 in Kingston, Ulster Co., NY (M. record #543) d: Bef. 1735;
Spouse: 2nd Husband, Edward Robbertsz m: Bef. February 16, 1735.

7. Abraham Van Aken bpt. October 29, 1699 in Kingston, Ulster County,, NY (Bpt. record #1118)
d: Aft. 1775 in Minisink, Orange County, NY.
Spouse: Jannetjen DeWitt bpt. July 13, 1701 in Kingston, Ulster County, NY (Bpt. record # 1251) m: ? in Rochester, Ulster County, NY d: Aft. 1767 in Minisink, Orange County, NY.

8. Isaac Van Aken bpt. July 05, 1702 in Rochester, Ulster County, NY (Bpt. record 1329)
d: abt. November 27, 1761 in Montague, Sussex County, NJ
Spouse: Rachel DeWitt bpt August 21, 1698 in Rochester, Ulster County, NY (Bpt. record # 1054) m: April 15, 1723 in Kingston, Ulster County, NY (M. record #501) d: ? in Montague,

Sussex County, NJ. Notes: Marinus Van Aken was presumably born
 in Holland. Marinus Van Aken and his first wife, Prijntje Rents where witnesses to a baptism on March 1, 1682 in Cadzand, Holland. Parents of the child baptized were Cornelis Van Aken &
 Jolyntje Vas. {1.} On April 11, 1683, Marinus was the widower of Prijntje Rents, when he married Pieternelle De Pre in Cadzand, Holland. Pieternelle was from Wingen, Holland. Witnesses to the marriage were Cornelis Van Aken & Jolyntje Vas. {2.} The first of Marinus & Pieternelleís eight children was baptized in the Reform Dutch Church in Kingston, Ulster Co., NY on August 11, 1685 {3.}; therefore, they immigrated to America sometime between 1683 and 1685. Marinus first lived near Kingston, Ulster County, NY. The British had control of New Netherlands, and encouraged further settlements. The settlers in Klyne Esopus {Kingston} were all freeholders.
They were granted land if they signed an agreement to be loyal to the British government.
They were granted all the land  they could clear and had to pay a specified number of bushels of wheat or other forest products a year to the governor. {4.} Among
 those who had taken the oath of Allegiance by 1 Sept. 1689 was “Marinos Van Acar.”
{5.} Later Marinus and Pieternelle moved to Rochester, Ulster County, NY.
A deed dated Feb 10, 1694, {5.}shows Marinus Van Aken bought land from Aelbie Doorn
[widow of Aert Doorn] at Mombaccus, NY. {near Rochester, Ulster County, NY.} All
 eight children of Marinus & Pieternelle lived to maturity, married and had children of their own. {3.}Marinus died in Rochester, Ulster County, NY sometime before October 17, 1724, at which date, Pieternelle, his widow, was remarried to Moses De Puy, a widower.(M. record #533) {3.}

Marinus & Pieternelle Van Aken are my 7th and 8th great grandparents,
and I am descended from their sons  Abraham and Isaak.

A Pert Amboy story of 19 August 1756, reported "from the northern frontier that Abraham
VanAUKEN, Esq., who lived on the present Port Jervis Country Club property, was shot
and wounded by an Indian while driving his team with a load of grain. Riding on the load
was Van AUKEN's daughter. The father yelled for her to run for her life and as she fell off
the wagon the Indian caught up and was attacking her when the old man rushed at him with
 a pitchfork and drove him away. Three men --- Geradrus SWARTWOUT, Samuel FINCH
and Peter WESTPHALN, were found murdered, stripped and scalped.

Then Major SWARTWOUT was Slain. On 29 March 1757, the WESTFALL barn had
been burned with 24 cows, 9 horses and 400 bushels of grain." On 2 May, Jacob
VanCAMP and Peter BRINK were slain. On 9 November John DOTY and Otho
MAHURIN were killed. The next day, Gideon WESTBROOK was killed near Brink Fort.
The following day, John PRESSER. On 15 May 1758, Nicholas COLE's four children and
three Germans were slain by the Indians. Cornelius WESTBROOK and Abraham
WESTBROOK were killed 8 June 1758. On 12 June, Bastian CORTRIGHT and Mary
KIRKENDALL; and on 13 June, eight men at Urian WESTFALL's. These were but a few
of the deaths reported during the Indian Wars of 1755-1763. *******
YESTERYEARS, v.7, pp.211-212, v.18, pp.56-57.

"January 7, 1763. Stolen from the subscriber, last Tuesday Evening, at the house of Isaac
 VANAKEN, in Shipacung, next to Minisink, in Sussex County, West New Jersey, near the
Delaware River, a certain sorrel Mare, five years old next spring, 15 hands high, with a
Blaze in her face, is Hip Shot in her rear hip, paces and trotts, has a way of snorting
through her nose at the first Off-set and has no brand nor Ear-mark. Whoever takes up and
 secures the said Mare, so as the Owner may have her again, and the thief, that he may be
brought to Justice, shall have Five Pounds Reward. Proclamation Money, and reasonable
Charges paid by Abraham VANAKEN, Junior. N.B. She stood at the said Isaac
VANAKEN's door with Saddle and Bridle on, which were taken off with her."
Newspaper Extracts, NEW JERSEY ARCHIVES, First series, v.XXIV, p.133;
VAN AKEN/VAN AUKEN NEWSLETTER, v.5, p.44.

Isaac VanAKEN, son of Marinus and Pieternella (DePREZ) VanAKEN, was bapt. 5 July
           1702 at Kingston, New York. He married, 15 April 1723, to Rachel DEWIT.

Isaac Van AKEN, son of Marinus and Pieternel (de PREZ) Van AKEN, married 15 April
1723, to Rachel DeWITT, bapt. 23 Aug. 1698, dau. of Jan and Wyntje (KIERSTED)
DeWITT. They had children: Abraham VanAKEN; Sarah VanAKEN m. Jacobus Van
SICKLE; Isaak d.y.; Jacob VanAKEN m.1752 Margaret VanGARDEN; Isaac VanAKEN
m. Margaret HORNBECK; Janneke VanAKEN m. Benjamin COURSE (Benjamin
deCOURCY?); and Joseph VanAKEN m. Elizabeth WESTFAEL.

A grave stone inscription at the Port Jervis, New York Cemetery reads, "Here Lies buried
Sarah, the wife of Cornelius VanAKEN who died DEC 20, 1766." This most likely was the
grave marking of Sarah (WESTBROOK) VanAKEN, who married in 1714 to Cornelius,
son of Marinus.

A fort was erected in Minisink at the house of Daniel Van AUKEN (He was born 1735 and
married Lea KITTLE) in "the lower neighborhood," by order of the committee of safety in 1778.
On 20 July 1779, the Van AUKEN home and fort halted a party of Brandt's Indian
Raiders "while they exchanged shots with Mr. AUKEN and then set everything afire. Mrs.
AUKEN hid safely in tall grass along the brook nearby. One of Van AUKEN's sons
(Jeremiah) was master of the school nearby, and he was seized and taken away, ---"
Charles E. Stickney, A HISTORY OF THE MINISINK REGION (1867), p.137;
YESTERYEARS, v.8, pp.8-16.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~nytryon/brantptg.html