He was born on April 3, 1807, in the Lamington section of Bedminster Township in Somerset County, New Jersey.
[1] After completing his preparatory and law studies, Van Dyke was admitted to the Bar in 1836.
[2] Van Dyke's political career also began in 1847; he was elected to the Thirtieth and Thirty-first Congresses as a Whig.
Van Dyke declined re-nomination for another term, choosing instead to continue his law practice.
He was a delegate to the 1856 Republican National Convention, and from 1859 to 1866 he served as a judge on the New Jersey Supreme Court.