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Nicholas Stoltzfus


Nicholas Stoltzfus was born in 1719 in Zweibruken, Germany. The Stoltzfus ancestry formed about 400A.D. in the German state of Saxony. Nicholas was born the son of Christian Gottlieb Stoltzfus, of the Lutheran faith. Before Nicholas was five his father died so he went to work on an Amish farm. The Amish people were not accepted by the German government and Nicholas was not allowed to marry an Amish woman. A year later, after Nicholas' mother died, he appealed to the government once again to be allowed to marry an Amish woman named Katharina Bermann. The marriage was finally approved on the condition that Nicholas would leave the country. He did finally leave the country many years later.

Nicholas arrived in Philadelphia on October 18, 1766 on the ship Polly with his son Christian and a daughter Barbara both of whom would become progenitors of the Amish community in America. Nicholas and his son Christian are the forefathers of the Stoltzfus name in America. They originally settled in Reading, Pennsylvania and purchased farms. Nicholas died November 19, 1774. Two homes that are associated with Nicholas and his children can be seen today.