52 Ancestors: John Nissley (c1722—1789) of Donegal Township

Kris Hocker on 13 Apr 2014

I’ve fallen a bit behind with my 52 Ancestors posts. Hopefully, I can get myself back on track.

I’ve been able to trace my ancestry back to Michael Frantz and his wife Feronica “Fanny” Nissley, through their son Michael and his daughter Anna, who married Levi Hocker. Fanny, I’ve determined, was the daughter of John Nissley of Donegal Township, who died before 19 July 1789 in Donegal Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.1

John Nissley

John Nissley of Donegal Township wrote his last will and testament on 8 June 1784 and it was proven on 19 July 1789.2 The abstract names his wife Mary and children: Feronica, Michael, John, Jacob, Abraham, Samuel and Martin. John’s wife was likely Mary Segrist, daughter of Michael and Anna (___) Segrist of Hempfield Township.3

John Nissley is listed in Donegal Township tax records in 1750, 1751, and 1756.4 He bought and sold land in Donegal Township between 1743/4 and 1774, according to the deeds I reviewed. He warranted 100 acres in Donegal Township on 23 May 1743/4 and another 50 acres on 29 April 1749. Both tracts were patented together as 173 acres on 23 May 1754.5 On 20 March 1764, he purchased 209 acres from Philip Kloninger, adjoining his patented lands, and patented it on 18 November 1771.6 On 23 August 1765, John warranted 274 acres, neighboring Jacob Eversole, Michael Shank, and Jacob Good.7 He patented another 79 acres, adjoining these lands on 23 October 1766, and 76 acres on 15 May 1768.8

On 22 November 1771, John sold his neighbor Peter Ruth 104.5 acres.9 He sold him another 104.5 acres on 31 Dec 1772.10 On 17 October 1774, he sold his son Michael 137 acres and his son John 112 acres.11

Based on John’s land purchase and tax records, he was born by 1722 at the latest.

Who Was John’s Father?

I found no record of John Nissley selling land previously owned by another Nissley—which may have helped me to identify his father. I’ve seen this “John” identified as “Hans Jacob,” son of Jacob and Maria (Funk) Nissley of Manheim Township in online family trees. However, I’m pretty sure that this is incorrect.

First the names are not a match. John ≠ Hans Jacob. According to German naming traditions, “Hans Jacob” would have been Jacob, and that is how Jacob, son of Jacob and Maria (Funk) Nissley is identified in records. Furthermore, Jacob’s wife was named Barbara, not Mary.

According to deeds regarding the settlement of his father’s estate, on 18 June 1752 Jacob (Jacob1) purchased 211 acres of his father’s land from his siblings—Henry (eldest son), Martin, Abraham Whitmore and Frena his wife, Jacob Brubaker and Mary his wife, and Valentine Metzler and Ann his wife.12 The next day, Jacob and Barbara Nissley sold Valentine Metzler 60 acres of the 211 Jacob had purchased.13

When Jacob Nissley of Manheim Township died in 1763, his last will and testament, dated 5 February 1763, named his two children Jacob and Barbara, and empowered Jacob to sell his lands.14 Jacob (Jacob2, Jacob1) sold two tracts—one of 120 acres and one of 16 acres—to Sebastian Graffe on 12 June 1776.

This deed explicitly states the inheritance of this land from Jacob Nissley, the original patentee, through his son Jacob to his grandson, also named Jacob, reading in part: “The said one hundred and twenty acres…being part of a tract of one hundred and fifty acres and allowance…confirm[ed] unto Jacob Nissley the grandfather of the said Jacob Nisely party hereto (by the name Jacob Nutt) in fee Who died seized in fee thereof intestate leaving several children…the eldest son Henry refusing to take and hold the premises… [they] were confirmed unto Jacob Niseley the second son.”

So, that’s a dead-end for determining the parentage of my ancestor. He may have been an immigrant himself or it’s possible he descends from Jacob1 Nissley’s brother John. Or perhaps he’s related to the “Martin Neasley,” who warranted land nearby in 1741.

This post is part of an ongoing, blogging challenge entitled 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, created by Amy Crow of No Story Too Small. Participants must write about one ancestor every week. This is my thirteenth 52 Ancestors post and part of week fifteen.

Footnotes

  1. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book LL:520, Michael Frantz & uxr. to Michael Nissly, 3 Sep 1789; digital images, Recorder of Deeds, Online E-film Reader (http://www.lancasterdeeds.com/onlineefilmreader/ : accessed 11 Apr 2014). ↩
  2. Thera, compiler, “Wills: N-R Surnames: Will Abstracts 1729-1819: Lancaster Co, PA,” text file, UsGenWeb Archives : Pennsylvania (http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/lancaster/wills/willabstn-r.txt : accessed 11 Apr 2014), entry for John Nissley of Donegal Township. ↩
  3. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book H:3, Anna Seegrist et al to Michael Seegrist, 30 Jun 1752; digital images, Recorder of Deeds, Online E-film Reader (http://www.lancasterdeeds.com/onlineefilmreader/ : accessed 12 Apr 2014); John Niseley is named as the husband of Mary, daughter of Michael Seegrist, deceased. ↩
  4. Gary T. Hawbaker and Clyde L. Groff, A New Index, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Before the Federal Census (Hershey, Pennsylvania: self-published, 1982), Volume 3, page 77. ↩
  5. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Warrantee Township Maps, “Conoy, West Donegal, and East Donegal Townships warrantee map”; PDF, Pennsylvania Museum and Historical Commission, Pennsylvania State Archives (http://www.portal.state.pa.us : accessed 2 Apr 2010); citing Records of the Land Office, Records Group 17, Series 17.522. ↩
  6. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book O:529, John Nissly to Peter Ruth, 22 Nov 1771; digital images, Recorder of Deeds, Online E-film Reader (http://www.lancasterdeeds.com/onlineefilmreader : accessed 11 Apr 2014). ↩
  7. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Warrantee Township Maps, “Conoy, West Donegal, and East Donegal Townships warrantee map.” ↩
  8. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Warrantee Township Maps, “Conoy, West Donegal, and East Donegal Townships warrantee map.” ↩
  9. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book O:529, John Nissly to Peter Ruth, 22 Nov 1771; digital images, Recorder of Deeds, Online E-film Reader (http://www.lancasterdeeds.com/onlineefilmreader : accessed 11 Apr 2014). ↩
  10. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book P:426, John Nissly to Peter Ruth, 31 Dec 1772; digital images, Recorder of Deeds, Online E-film Reader (http://www.lancasterdeeds.com/onlineefilmreader : accessed 11 Apr 2014). ↩
  11. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book S:44, John Nissly & ux to Michael Nissly, 17 Oct 1774; and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book X:238, John Nissly & ux to John Nissly, 17 Oct 1774; digital images, Recorder of Deeds, Online E-film Reader (http://www.lancasterdeeds.com/onlineefilmreader : accessed 11 Apr 2014). ↩
  12. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book C:485, Henry Nisley & wife & al to Jacob Niseley, 1752; digital images, Recorder of Deeds, Online E-film Reader (http://www.lancasterdeeds.com/onlineefilmreader : accessed 11 Apr 2014); Jacob’s sister Elizabeth was underage at the time of this deed and later died in her minority without issue. ↩
  13. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book S:596, Jacob Niseley to Valentine Metzler, 1752; digital images, Recorder of Deeds, Online E-film Reader (http://www.lancasterdeeds.com/onlineefilmreader : accessed 11 Apr 2014). ↩
  14. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book R:113, Jacob Niseley & ux to Sebastian Graff, 12 Jun 1776; digital images, Recorder of Deeds, Online E-film Reader (http://www.lancasterdeeds.com/onlineefilmreader : accessed 13 Apr 2014). ↩

Cite This Page:

, "52 Ancestors: John Nissley (c1722—1789) of Donegal Township," A Pennsylvania Dutch Genealogy, the genealogy & family research site of Kris Hocker, modified 23 Mar 2017 (https://www.krishocker.com/52-ancestors-john-nissley-c1722-1789-of-donegal-township/ : accessed 22 Dec 2024).

Content copyright © 2017 Kris Hocker. Please do not copy without prior permission, attribution, and link back to this page.

14 Replies to “52 Ancestors: John Nissley (c1722—1789) of Donegal Township”

  1. Barbara Hurley 29 Aug 2016 at 9:10 pm

    John’s father is the original Jacob Nissley that immigrated in 1717 (1688-1749). HIs second wife was Mary Funck and they had the children that one reads about everywhere on the internet–including Henry, Martin and Jacob. Henry is often referred to as his oldest son, but that is not true as Jacob had one child, John (1718-1789), with his first wife Veronica Guth. It is very hard to unearth this information, but as my ex-husband is also descended from John I kept at it until I found the full picture–There is a lot on Geni.com. Many of the Nissley genealogies ignore John’s branch altogether and only acknowledge the children from the second marriage to Mary Funck. John was married to Mary Sechrist and Fanny (1759-1813; m. Michael Frantz) was one of their children. My ex is descended from her brother Samuel (1761-1838). Interestingly, I made a notation that John lived in Manheim.
    PS, it is true that the European surname spelling included several variations, and the original Ulrich (1639-1717) who left Switzerland in 1701 for Germany then left for the US with his family in 1717 was known as Nussli. He died during the voyage but his wife Margreth Isler and sons Jakob, Heini and Hans Jakob made it to PA. I have also seen our John’s surname spelled Nissli.
    PPS, my maternal side is Rohrer and Miller from Rapho Township and Manheim, which makes me doubly interested in pursuing information on Pa Dutch genealogies from the 1700’s immigration.

    1. Kris Hocker 30 Aug 2016 at 7:27 am

      Thank you for the post, Barbara!

      I’ve also seen information from another researcher descended from John and Mary (Siegrist) Nissley who claims that John’s father was Johannes “Hans” Nissley–brother to Jacob Nissley.

      I’m inclined to believe this more than that John was an older son of Jacob’s “first” marriage. Estate records for Jacob clearly state that Henry was the eldest son.[Lancaster, Miscellaneous Book 1742-1760:40] The only way Jacob could have had an elder son was if that son had died before this estate record—-which would not match the known information about our John. Otherwise, legally he would have been an heir and named in the documents regarding Jacob’s estate.

      There were two “John Natts” (Sr. and Jr.) taxed in Conestoga (all Lancaster) in 1718. “Natts” or “Nutt” is a variation associated with this Nissley family. Jacob was identified as “Jacob Nutt” when he took up land adjoining his father-in-law Henry Funk in 1717. Additionally, in his “Swiss and German Mennonite Immigrants from the Palatinate, 1704-1717,” Richard Warren Davis indicates that John Nissley Sr. (age 49) arrived in 1717 with his wife and two sons: John (age 22) and Jacob (age 18).[Mennonite Family History, Jan 1994, pages9-16.] It’s more probable that Veronica Guth was not the “first wife” of Jacob, but the wife of his elder brother Hans, aka John Jr.

      I’m still looking for information, but this theory seems more probably given the data I have from land, tax, and probate records.

      1. Barbara Hurley 30 Aug 2016 at 1:51 pm

        Thank you for this additional information. I find it fascinating that there are so many variations on a theme regarding this one original immigrant family on the internet. I also have Jacob Nissli as aka Nutt in my notes. Now I will have to go back to square one, as a John Nissley, Sr. arriving in 1717 at age 49 does not coincide with any of my notes, which indicate that Ulrich’s sons Jacob and John would have been 34 and 29 when they immigrated in 1717. I have been under the assumption that our branch started with that original Jacob, but now it seems that it is from his brother John. I am really confused as your information on John Sr. does not match my data on ages of the immigrants in 1717 but your email says that the John who married Mary Sechrist is the son of Jacob’s brother John. I will retrace my steps to find Ulrich’s son Johh’s lineage as most of what is out there talks only about Jacob’s lineage.
        Again, thanks for the information. Barbara

        1. Kris Hocker 31 Aug 2016 at 9:51 am

          Barbara, if you don’t mind my asking, what is the source(s) of the information you’ve got?

          I firmly believe that what you know is only as good as the information you’ve found to date, so I’m always open to new information… But I do like to research and analyze it myself. Sometimes new information can mean new interpretations of information you already have.

          ~Kris

          1. Barbara Hurley 1 Sep 2016 at 9:20 pm

            I went back to square one after hearing from you and I think (repeat think) that I have found the correct information now. It is unbelievable how much confusing information is out there, especially as many of the names are the same plus it appears that some dates are incorrect. I had used Geni.com, but I realize now that a lot of their data is incorrect (they were the ones calling John the son of Jacob and half-brother of his 10 children, but you are correct–they were brothers). I did finally find a source that seems to be accurate and explains a lot of the confusion I had from a lot of other sources that apparently are wrong. It is Genealogy.com, but you need to enter “Genealogy Report: Descendants of Jakob Nussli” The path is Home/User Trees/Dwayne-Larry-Nicely-MI. You need to start with “first page” which is generation 1, Jakob Nussli (1542-1614). Before him is Martin Nussli/Annali Wolfensperger (1520-1542) and before that Martin Nussli/Barbara Nuseli (1499-1559), but those generations are not part of this genealogy. It is somewhat hard to follow as displayed, but the direct line is Konrad Nussli (1570-1648), Hans Jakob Nussli (1596-1653), Jakob Nussli (1628/9-?), Hans Nussli (1662-?; died in Lancaster), Hans Nissley, Jr (1697-1749; this is our John who immigrated with his parents and is the brother of Jacob, 1688-1749, who married Mary Funck), John NIssley (1718-1789; an only child who married Mary Seigrist and had 10 children). That generation is where we part ways as my line is from Samuel, and apparently yours is from Franey.

            There is a separate lineage that splits off with the second wife of Konrad producing Hans Jakob (1608-?), then Ulrich (1639-1717 who died at sea while immigrating in 1717with son Hans Jakob (1688-1789, who died in Donegal). Originally I thought that was the lineage of our John because many sources are confusing about the initial generations prior to emigration. However, the source I note above tracks every generation from the original Jakob in 1542 pretty clearly.

            I hope this helps.

  2. 52 Ancestors Challenge: Week 15 Recap | No Story Too Small 5 Jan 2015 at 10:39 am

    […] – “John Nissley (c1722-1789) of Donegal Township” by Kris Hocker on […]

  3. B. Nuessli 27 Dec 2014 at 2:11 pm

    Did you ever search under the name Nüssli (Nuessli) in Switzerland? The Names you found from Germany was originally emigrated from Switzerland to Germany and some to America and possibly to other places too

    1. Kris Hocker 1 Jan 2015 at 5:29 pm

      No, I’m still trying to find the immigrant ancestor. Without knowing who, it’s unlikely I’d be able to find the where.

  4. Lin Mease 5 Jun 2014 at 12:04 pm

    Hi. Is it possible to get the details from John Nissley’s will? According to your link, the will abstract was “proven” in the court in July 1789, but I am hoping that a death date of May 30, 1789 is also in that document that was proven in court.

    1. Kris 5 Jun 2014 at 2:34 pm

      Lin,
      I can tell you that wills were usually “proven” after—sometimes months after—a person’s death. They almost never include the death date of the deceased, especially from this time frame. In fact, I’ve only seen the date of death (or a general timeframe) given in probate files from the late 1800s. To get a death date from this period, you’ll need to locate the burial location (and gravestone) and/or church record. Or a family bible record.

      I don’t have a copy of this will. It was recorded in Will Book Y2:487 which is not online nor on microfilm. You can order it from the Lancaster County Archives. Email them and they’ll send you a copy of the will (hopefully translated) and a bill for copying.

      ~Kris

      1. Lin Mease 5 Jun 2014 at 6:30 pm

        Thanks so much!

        1. LinMease 18 Jun 2014 at 1:29 pm

          As a descendent of John Nissley of West Donegal, you might like to know that developers working on what was his original property have come across a buried farm cemetery. In it they found what is believed to be Nissley’s tombstone dated May, 1789, another possibly belonging to Mary Nissley, an Ober tombstone, and the first postmaster of Elizabethtown, Michael Kobel’s (Coble) tombstone. Grave Concern of Lanc County attorney 717-393-0671, or 717-627-3736 (phone numbers listed on their fb page) is working with local preservationists regarding the future of the site and its remains. If you are interested, please call Grave Concern. Thank you.

          1. Kris 18 Jun 2014 at 2:54 pm

            Good to know, Lin! Thanks for posting.

  5. Surname Saturday: My Ahnentafel List 3 May 2014 at 7:18 am

    […] Elisabetha Weidman (1733-aft 1790) 260. Henry Landis (1736-1785) 261. Catharina (___) [Rham?] 266. John Nissley (c1722-1789) 267. Maria Seegrist/Sechrist (c1720-c1784) 276. Michael Krehl (c1737-1788) 277. […]

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