Thanks, everyone. I had seen the Find-a-grave and the obituary. It seems fairly certain that Volkert was married to a Katherine Mitchell whose father's name was William. I don't know the middle initial of my Katherine Mitchell and her father was William G. not William O. but that could be an OCR error.
William G. Mitchell and his family were recorded on the 1870 census in Deer Park, Orange County, New York, including Katherine and her [twin?] sister Sarah also born in 1853. In 1880, William and his wife were back in Pennsylvania but without Catherine and Sarah. Volkert Van Patten was recorded in Port Jervis, Orange County, NY in 1880 with wife Kate W. and an unmarried sister-in-law Sadie D. Mitchell who was the same age as the wife. Their parents were born in Maine and Pennsylvania which would be correct.
I think I'll accept with reservations as unproven but likely that Volkert Van Patten married my Catherine Mitchell.
Edited to add: "William O Mitchell, editor o: . the Tri-States TCnion" That pretty much confirms the identity of Catherine Mitchell because her father, William Greenleaf Mitchell, was indeed a newspaper editor.
