1661-1682 NICHOLAS UMBSTATT
ORIGINAL RECORDS

Cris Hueneke

Nicholas Umbstatt was born about 1625 and died 4 October 1682.

There are several ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS in existence that give us information on Nicholas. THE HANDWRITTEN BIBLE NOTATION SHOWING HIS DATE OF DEATH IS DEFINITELY "OUR" NICHOLAS, father of Hans Peter, which we know because Hans Peter brought the Bible with him from Germany.

IT IS NOT ABSOLUTELY PROVEN that either the 1661 Kriegsheim list or the 1663 Monsheim confirmation record refers to our Nicholas, father of Hans Peter, however Hans Peter's Kriegsheim Passport Requests and Rotterdam deed create a reasonable probability that they both do. My intention here is only to make available the information that exists from original documents.

I have in my possession copies of these original documents. Due to copyright considerations, I will not reproduce them here. I've listed source information below so that anyone may obtain copies for themselves.

1661 LIST FROM KRIEGSHEIM, GERMANY

Krefeld Immigrants and Their Descendants, Volume 6 #1, p 4, Spring, 1989, published a translated version of this list, with all the individuals' names. Due to the death of Iris Carter Jones (2006), I don't know whether back issues will be made available in the future.

The original, which is housed at the Fürstlich Leiningensche Verwaltung, Amorbach, Germany, under A6/15/5, and is written in old German script, reads:

"Verzeuchnus (old form of Verzeichnis) der Kriegsheimer Gemeinsleut und wie selb mit Namen und Zunamen heißen. 1661."
Translation: "Register of the community members of Kriegsheim and how they are called with (Christian) name and family name. 1661."

Nickel Umbstatt is listed with NO religious affiliation shown after his name, as it is on others. Note that the Umbstatt spelling is the same as in the 1663 Monsheim confirmation record below.

Others on this list who are of interest to us:
Petter Schuhmacher, Menist (Mennonite)
Gilles Cassel, Menist
Görg Schuhmacher, Menist
Arnold Schuhmacher, Menist

Note that "how they are called" is a literal translation, but it would imply that the names as listed were common names or nicknames. In the case of Nickel Umbstatt, this was probably Niclaß (Niclass) Umbstatt, the father of the Johannes Nicholas Umbstatt who was confirmed in Monsheim in 1663 at age 15 (see below). Kriegsheim is located right next to Monsheim and can be considered the same place.

The Krefeld Immigrants article states: "Kriegsheim near Worms was one of the places where the German settlers of 1683 came." (Sic) This Kriegsheim list includes surnames of several emigrants known to have come in 1685 or later. I have compared the 1661 Kriegsheim list with the Krefeld immigrants of 1683 and I find none of the surnames appearing on both lists. This may be very important to the question of whether or not Hans Peter and family were "of" or were ever in Krefeld.

1663 CONFIRMATION RECORD MONSHEIM, GERMANY

Monsheim, Dekanat Worms, Germany. LDS Film #1195874 Item 1, Volume KB01, page 381, Konfirmations. Microfilmed by the Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah, at the Zentralarchiv der E.K.H.N. (Central Archive of the Evangelische [LUTHERAN] Kirche Hessen-Nassau), in Darmstadt, Germany, May 1984.

The record reads:
"Anno 1663 In Festo Pentecost" Translation: Year 1663 in (during the) celebration of Pentecost ...
"Johannes Nicolaus Umbstatt, Niclaß Umbst. Fil: Alt 15" Translation: "Johannes Nicolaus Umbstatt, Niclass Umbstatt's son, age 15"

In Festo Pentecost is Whitsuntide, which, in 1663, was June 7 in the Protestant regions of Germany. This is an E.K.H.N. (Evangelische Kirche Hessen-Nassau, LUTHERAN) church record.

From this we can determine that the son Johannes Nicolaus was born between June 7, 1647 and June 7, 1648, his having been 15 years of age on that date in 1663.

Niclass the father, could have been born any time between about 1613 and 1631. This COULD very well be OUR Nicolas Umstat who died October 4, 1682, and who traditionally has been thought to have been born about 1625. If he was born in 1625, he'd have been age 38 in 1663, and he'd have been age 57 at his death in 1682, both of which are reasonable. However, as of this writing, I have NOT seen firm evidence that this is in fact "OUR" Nicholas, father of Hans Peter.

Niclass, the father, can reasonably be believed to have had other children. The son Johannes Nicolaus of this record would not be our Hans Peter who came to the US in 1685. It is possible that they were brothers. We are showing Hans Peter as having been born about 1650 and we know from the Bible records that his father was Nicolas. This fits well with Johannes Nicholaus's birth year of 1647-1648. Johannes Nicolaus MIGHT have been the firstborn son, and as such, received his father's name as his middle name, which, IF they were brothers, would help confirm Hans Peter's date of birth as about 1650. The Bible record does say "OUR father died," which would indicate that Nicholas, father of Hans Peter, had more than one child.

Hans is a nickname for Johannes. Our Hans Peter may have been named Johannes Peter and known casually as Hans Peter. It's quite possible, considering German naming practices of the time, that Johannes may have been the first name carried by all the sons, and could perhaps have been their grandfather's name. It is possible that other grandsons of a grandfather Johannes might also have been named Johannes, such as Johannes/Hans Valtin, whether or not they were not sons of this Niclass.

There has been no record of Hans Peter's birth, baptism, or confirmation found in the Monsheim records. I will address the other MONSHEIM RECORDS separately at a later time.

1682 NICHOLAS' DEATH AS RECORDED IN HANS PETER'S BIBLE

Hans Peter's Bible has remained in the Pennypacker family for over 300 years, and is currently housed at Pennypacker Mills in Schwenksville, PA. Hans Peter's daughter Eve married Heinrich Pannebecker in 1699.

The word KREFELD does NOT appear in the notation!!!!

UPDATE: Looking at a clearer photo of the page containing the the handwritten notations, which comes from Pennypacker's book, I am now less certain that the wording on Nicholas's death is "um8" rather than "umb 4 Uhr." For more info, see Bible.

UPDATE #2: See also comments in Blurb from "Pottstown Daily Ledger/MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH." This may place Nicholas in the Kriegsheim area are early as 1652!!!

VERIFICATION

I have had each of the original records listed above checked by a professional German archivist whose specialty is deciphering and translating old German script documents in conjunction with church and German history.

BUT WHAT ABOUT KREFELD?????

Wasn't Nicholas born and didn't he die in Krefeld (Crefeld)? It seems unlikely. Hans Peter's Passport requests and land purchase in Rotterdam both show Kriegsheim as his place of residency in 1685. I have seen no original documents so far showing that either Nicholas or Hans Peter were from or ever lived in Krefeld.

ACKNOWLDEGEMENTS

It is with deep gratitude that I acknowledge the following:

Betsy Umstattd, who has brought so many pieces of information to my attention, and whose work on the UM family over many years, and her willingness to share it, has provided me with a foundation from which to work.

Iris Carter Jones of Links Publications, publisher of "Krefeld Immigrants and Their Descendants," who was always wonderfully and cheerfully helpful.

Eleanor Mayfarth, who obtained copies of the Monsheim records for me, and whose determination to use only firm documentation has been my inspiration.

Armin Roether, archivist at the Evangelische Akademie in Germany, whose help in deciphering the Monsheim records and in answering numerous side questions, has been invaluable.

Ella Aderman of Pennypacker Mills, always willing to help.

Clarence Lee, who sent me my first copy of the Bible page showing Nicholas's death.

The late Governor Samuel W Pennypacker, for reasons too numerous to list. Although I may argue with many of his premises, his work has provided an outstanding foundation for further research.

The LDS church for filming the old records and making them available to anyone.

SOURCE CONTACT INFORMATION

Krefeld Immigrants and Their Descendants (Iris Jones, deceased)
Links Genealogy Publishing Company
8125 Arroyo Vista
Sacramento, CA 95823-5935

Dr. Wolfgang Meister M.A.
Fürstlich Leiningensche Verwaltung
Postfach 11 80
63916 Amorbach
Germany

Pennypacker Mills
5 Haldeman Road
Schwenksville PA 19473

Family History Department (LDS)
35 N West Temple Street
Salt Lake City, Utah 84150-3400

Betsy (Elizabeth Madison Coles) Umstattd:
Betsy's book, THE RHINE TO SKIPPACK & BEYOND ~ The Route of a German Settler's Family, privately published 1999, is available. The price is $35 plus shipping and it may be ordered via email to Betsy Umstattd <[email protected]>.
Note: Information on this site may in some instances supercede information in Betsy's book due to its having been determined after publication of the book. I highly recommend the book and suggest combining information from the two.

Copyright 2000 Cris Hueneke

Last updated 15 April 2017