1753 Johann Adam Nicodemus, age 30, immigrated at Philadelphia on the ship Edinburgh. He took the oath at Philadelphia on October 2. [1]
1756 Joh Adam Nicodemus may have posted a notice about a missing family member. The Pennsylvania German Folklore Society [Yearbook], vol. 3, (1938), 15 (not seen) [2]
1757 John Adam Nicodemus immigrated to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. [3]
1757 Son John Adam was born. "Joh. Adam, s. Adam & w. Maria Christine; b. July 6, 1757; bap. Aug. 6, 1757; sp. Friedrich Steindorff & w. Magdalena." [4]
1880 Elizabeth Smith (age 83, born in Virginia, widowed), mother, lived in Violet Twp, Fairfield County, Ohio, in a household with Henry Smith (age 41), and Rebecca Smith (age 57). Elizabeth Smith's parents were both born in Virginia. [5] Elizabeth is reportedly a daughter of Henry Nicodemus (1760-1835), son of Johan Adam Nicodemus. This would place John Adam Nicodemus in Virginia in 1760.
1880 Christy Raver (age 77, born in Pennsylvania, married) lived in Lockville Twp, Fairfield County, Ohio, in a household with Susen Raver (age 57), and Albert Raver (age 20). Christy Raver's parents were both born in Pennsylvania. Christy Raver's occupation was laborer. [6] Christy is reportedly a son of Catherine Nicodemus (1760-1835), daughter of Johan Adam Nicodemus. This would place John Adam Nicodemus in Pennsylvania in 1760.
Research Notes:
Just starting to gather notes about this family, so far based on reports from other researchers.
A Nicodemus genealogy reports [7] also suggests that Catherine (spouse of Frederick Raver) and Henry (spouse of Susannah Greenwood), who moved to Fairfield County, Ohio, were children of this couple. We seek evidence that Catherine and Henry were children of this couple.
Johann Adam, b. 6 July 1757, is the only documented child of this marriage - PA Archives 6:6, p 244
Henry b. ca 1760
Catherine b. 14 March 1759
Anna Catherine b. ca 1760
These [last] three issue are unproven and are speculative.
What is the documentation for Catherine and the other children listed above?
1759 Catherine Nicodemus, daughter of Johannes Adam Nicodemus and Maria Christine, was born on March 14 in Lancs, Weisseichenland, Pennsylvania. [8]
There are several reports about the Weisseichenland congegration:
"The Reverend John Conrad Bucher, Reformed minister at Manheim, Quittaphalia, Hummelstown, Lancaster, and Weisseichenland [White Oak], Pennsylvania." [9]
The Jerusalem church at White Oak [Weisseichenland?] was the oldest of Bethany Charge. It was originally Reformed. Rev. John Waldschmid was the minister for the church from 1752 to 1786. [10]
Weisseichenland: see (Waldschmidt Records, 1752-1786, Hinke Collection)
John Waldschmidt; Luther Reily Kelker, Baptismal and marriage records : Cocalico, Moden Krick, Weisseichen Land and Seltenreich Gemeinde, Lancaster County, Penna., 1752-1786 At Canton, Stark County, Ohio Library: https://search.starklibrary.org/search/o?SEARCH=35706603
Pastoral records of the Rev. John Waldschmidt, Cocalico Charge, Lancaster County, vols. I-II, 1752-1786 [1813] by William John Hinke (Book).
A history of the congegration reports the following. [Editors Rev. Daniel G. Glass, Rev. C. George Bachman, Rev. Harry E. Shepardson, Rev. John F. Frantz, Rev. J. N. Le Van, D.D., History of the Classis of Lancaster of the Eastern Synod of the Reformed Church in the United States, 1852-1940; Part II, Histories of the Congregations of the Classis of Lancaster, Pg. 138-142. (Printed by The New Holland Clarion, New Holland, PA) [11]:
Jerusalem Reformed church, Penryn
Rev. George B. Raezer, PastorJerusalem Congregation, Penryn, was originally known by the name "White Oak".
…
This congregation was exclusively Reformed to 1766, when a deed was secured for
a Union Church. This deed was granted September 4, 1766.The Pastors of Jerusalem Church have been the following:
Rev. Conrad Tempelmann . . . . . . . . . . –1752
Rev. John Waldschmidt. . . . . . . . . . . 1752-1786
…
The name Nicodemus does not appear in a listing of baptisms at White Oaks Church transcribed by William John Hinke, Baptisms of White Oaks Evangelical Lutheran and Reformed Church, Warwick Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1754-1789 [12] "Part of Warwick Township became Elizabeth Township. White Oaks Lutheran and Reformed Church was organized ca. 1752 and is not to be confused with White Oaks or Reyer's Reformed Church, also in Warwick Township but now part of Elizabeth Township. Both churches were about 4 miles apart."
Worldcat lists three books relevant to the White Oaks congegration. Not yet seen. [13]:
Baptismal register of the Evangelical Lutheran and Reformed Congregations in Warwick (Werwick), Lancaster County (Book) [14]
Tauf Buch von die Germanindan ... Evangelish lutherisse al Reformirte in Werwick, Lancaster County ... Conrad Tempelman Ref. pr. und Joann Theophilo Engelland, Ev. Luth. Pr. 7 Aprl 1754 (Book) [15]
Church records of the 18th century, Lancaster County, Pa. by F. Edward Wright (Book) [16]
Ancestry.com reports about William Nicodemus [undocumented, comuter generated summary]:
Born in Weisseichenland, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Colonial America on 1763 to johann adam Nicodemus and Maria Christine Meden Conrad. William Nicodemus married Susannah Greenwood LNZR-D7R and had 3 children. He passed away on 06 Feb 1835 in Nine Mile, Fairfield, Ohio, USA.
Hundreds of Ancestry.com trees, none with documentation, show this family with Catherine, daughter of Johan Adam and Maria Christine, as a spouse of Frederick Raver. What is the basis for these reports?
1759 Henry Nicodemus, tenant of John Brubacher, was taxed in Warwick Twp, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. [17] [18]
[1] Ralph B. Strassburger, William J. Hinke, ed., Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Vol. 1 (1934, Pennsylvania German Society), 577, 578, 580, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[2] U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, [AncestryRecord].
[3] U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, [AncestryRecord].
[4] Thomas Lynch Montgomery, Pennsylvania Archives, Sixth Series, Volume 6 (Egypt) (1907), 185, citing records of Rev. John Waldschmidt, [HathiTrust], [InternetArchive].
[5] United States Federal Census, 1880, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[6] United States Federal Census, 1880, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[7] Ivan J Nicodemus, Nicodemus Notes in America (Texas: self-published, 1995), 1, [FHLBook].
[8] Family Data Collection - Individual Records, undocumented, [AncestryRecord].
[9] Extracts from the diary of the Moravian Pastors of the Hebron Church, Lebanon, 1755-1814, 58
[10] D. C. Tobias, A History of Bethany Charge of the Reformed Church: In Lancaster County, Pa (1881), 7, [URL].
[11] USGenWeb Archives, Jerusalem Reformed Church, Penryn, Lancaster County, [USGenWeb].
[12] FHL catalog entry, Film 20355, item 3, [URL].
[13] Worldcat: Jerusalem Reformed Church (Penryn, Pa.), [URL].
[17] Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Tax Records, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[18] Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Tax Records, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].