Niclaus Feller (bef. 1670 - 1763)

Born before 1670 in Guntersblum, Leinig-Hartenburg, Hessen

Descendants

Died 1763 after age 93 in Burnetsfield Patent, New York Colony [uncertain]

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Biography

Niclaus / Anglecized to Nicholas Feller married Magdalena (aka Maria) Elisabetha Braun.

Nicholas and Magdalena were the parents of seven children, the first four born either in Germany or on the journey over to New York.

Nicholas' will was dated May 28, 1734 and proved February 9, 1763. ^[1]

Born between 1665 - 1670 Guntersblum, Leinig-Hartenburg, Germany ^[2] Died AFT 8 MAY 1734 Herkimer, Herkimer Co., NY.^[3]

On 1717 Simmendinger Census at Queensburg with wife Elisabeth and 6 children. Drew lot #7 on 1725 Burnetsfield Patent. Lived at German Flats 1723 to 1734. He supposedly had 2 daughters named Catherine. ^[4]

The earliest reference to a church building at Herkimer is in the will of Nicholas Feller, dated May 28, 1734, in which he bequeaths his seat in the church to Hans Nicholas Cristman (his son-in-law). The will does not show which church was meant, on the north or south side of the river. Nicholas Feller had lot No. 7 on the north side but his wife, Mary Feller, had lot No. 16 on the south side. There is no "Cristman" among the original patentees. Nicholas Welleven, who sold the acre of land to the church on the south side, married a daughter of Nicholas Feller. The name of Cristman appears later among the pew holders in the church on the south side. We do not know which church the Nicholas Feller refers to. There was not likely any substantial church edifice on either side of the river by 1734.^[5]

He may have had a brother Johan Feller, born in 1664 who went from the Palatinate to England in 1709 with his wife, two daughters, and two sons. There is no record of Johan in New York State. Nicholas may also have had a sister Anna Catherine. An Anna Catherine, surname unknown, had died by 1726; she was the first wife of Jurg Adam Zufelt, and bore him children, baptized from 1712 on. Guntersblum, the immediate origin of the Feller family, has been located on a Latin map published in 1664. It stands on the north end of the Hardt Mountains south of Mainz, halfway from Mainz towards Frankenthal, a little south of Oppenheim (where the Rau family originated) and a little west of the Rhine River.^[6]

Nicholas Feller, his wife Mary Elizabeth, his son Johan Philip, his daughter Catharine, and possibly other children, came to this country in 1710. 'Nicolaus Foller' was among the Papatines in Livingston Manor the winter of 1710-11. 'Niclaus Feller,' a resident of Queensbury, one of the villages in East Camp in Livingston Manor, was among the Palatine Volunteers in the Expedition against Canada in 1711. In 1712 his youngest daughter was baptized in West Camp, and in 1716 a daughter of his acted as sponsor in West Camp; so he probably removed to the other side of t he Hudson River before 1712. There is no further documentary record of Nicholas until we find him on the Mohawk in 1723. But in 1720 a daughter of his married Lambert Sternberg, who had removed to Schoharie in 1712; the marriage was presumably in Schoharie (it was not at West Camp); so Nicholas Feller and his family had probably removed there by this time

Jan. 17, 1723, 'Nicolas ffeller' and his wife Mary were named among the grantees of land in the Burnetsfield Patent of 1725. Nicholas received Lot No. 7, which contained 30 acres of lowland and 70 acres of woodland on the north side of the Mohawk River; and Mary, his wife, received Lo t No. 16, containing 100 acres of woodland on the south side of the Mohawk. In the Indian deed of Jan 17, 1722, to this tract, twelve men were named, including 'Nicholas Fuller'; this probably refers to our Nicholas, as there was no fuller among the grantees. Nicholas lived and died on his upland lot, which was in Burnetsfield or German Flatts, now called the village of Herkimer; this is one of the few lots that remained in the possession of descendants of the original holder until recent years. In the formation of the business section of Herkimer village, in deeds of 1765 and 1793, Nicholas Feller, although deceased, received two lots No. 4, each a half-acre plot. Nicholas' farm houses were probably burned in the war of 1757, when the settlement was burned and massacred; and he may have been one of the prisoners, or one of those who fled to th e south side of the river.

Will: 28 MAY 1734 The will of Nicholas Feller, of Burnetsfield, husbandman, was dated May 28, 1734: he gave all to his wife Maria Elizabeth while she was a widow; he promised Lb. 5 to his eldest son Philip for primogeniture; he left to his daughter Mary Elizabeth, wife of George Helts, all his lands, house, barns, stables, with one plow and its tackling; except for two morgens of land outright to his wife. He left his moveable goods to his wife and his children: Catharine (sic), wife of Lambert Starenberg; Cathar ine (sic), wife of Nicholas Welleever; and Margaret wife of Johannes Cri sman; he left his seat in the church to Han. Nicholas Crisman, son of Hannes Crisman; and made executors his sons-in-law Nicholas Welleever and Johannes Crisman, Jr. The will was proved Feb. 9, 1763 (Herk. Cox, pp . 71-72). So Nicholas probably died in 1762 or 1763, at a ripe old age . He must have been born about 1665-70, since his son was born 1690-95 .

The Palatine Families of New York by Henry Z. Jones Jr. pg. 231 The ch. of Nicholas Feller and Magdalena Elisabetha Braun (called Maria Elisabetha in American records, hinting at second marriage.^[7]

Notes

Hunter List Page: p.230

Euro-Origin 6524 Guntersblum, Pfalz, Germany Per Jones: "The town of origin was 6524 Guntersblum (7 km. s. of Oppenheim [in the Pfalz]; Chbks. begin 1651, Luth.). A possible ancestor of the American line was Dalwig Fehler, d. 12 Jan 1674; he had a son Jacob Feller, who d. 23 May 1682, aged 29 yrs. Sponsors at Guntersblum show that the w/o Nicl\\olaus Feller was Magdalena Elisabetha, d/o Benedict Braun of Udenheim." Page: Vol. 1, p. 230

Niclaus was of Guntersblum in the earldom of Leinnig-Hartenburg. See much more information in the Jones book. Page: p.230

Sources

1. ↑ Jones cites History of the Reformed Church of Herkimer, N.Y., by Rev. H. M. Cox, p. 71
2. ↑ The Völler Family,a German Palatinate Family in Ulster County, New York, USA, https://sites.rootsweb.com/~rykbrown/voller.htm#Johan%20Philip%20Veller/Feller%20and%20Catharina%20Elisabetha%20Rauch
3. ↑ A Line of the Hilts Family of Herkimer County, https://herkimer.nygenweb.net/herktown/hilts.html
4. ↑ "The Pala­tine Families of New York: A Study of the German Immigrants Who Arrived in Colonial New York in 1710" by Henry Z. Jones, Jr. Universal City, CA 1985.
5. ↑ History of the Old Fort Herkimer Church German Flatts Reformed Church 1723 By W. N. P. Dailey, D. D. Published by the St. Johnsville Enterprise and News Lou D. MacWethy, Editor, St. Johnsville, NY, Price 35 cents Post Paid (on cover)
6. ↑ The Fellows (Veller, Feller, Fellers) Family of the Hudson River Valley , Series: The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volume: LXII I (July, Oct. 1932), LXIV (Jan. 1933), Page: 244-259, 374-400, 68, Bailey, Rosalie Fellows
7. ↑ The Palatine Families of New York, by Henry Z. Jones Jr., pg. 231

• Palatine Families of New York: A Study of the German Immigrants Who Arrived in Colonial New York in 1710, by Henry Z. Jones, Jr. (Universal City, California 1985) pp. 230-231.