Early Life and Career
Van Camp was born in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. He married Maria L. Bestor of Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in about 1837. A son, Eugene B. Van Camp, was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1838 and later assisted the elder Van Camp in his espionage activities for the Confederate States of America.
Aaron Van Camp practiced dentistry in Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., and then migrated with his family to California during the California Gold Rush period.
In 1851, Van Camp went on a voyage into the South Pacific and became interested in supplying whaling ships, with the Navigator Islands as his base. He established a whaling resupply outpost in Apia, Samoa, in 1852. In 1853, Van Camp was appointed as Commercial Agent to the Navigator Islands (Samoa) and to the Friendly Islands (Tonga) by the U. S. Secretary of State. He held that position until 1856, when he returned to the United States to resume his dentistry practice in Washington, D.C.
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