Born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, his father was Abraham Van Vorhes and his brother was Nelson H. Van Vorhes.
He worked in his father's paper the Hocking Valley Gazette in Athens, Ohio.
Then he and his brother bought the paper and changed the name to The Athens Messenger.
He served in the Union Army from 1863 to 1865, during the American Civil War, as a quartermaster.
Van Vorhes also served as Indian agent at Fort Ripley in 1862.