Germans Living in Roxbury Township and Prattsville, NY between the Years of 1820 and 1860


Prattsville, NY, 1844:




The various public records located in the Delaware County, New York courthouse at Delhi (censuses, deeds, criminal and civil cases, wills and estates) and online indicate four adult males with the surname German living in the Township of Roxbury between the years 1820 and 1855:

Isaac F. Germanborn c.1783, appears in the 1820 US census for Delaware County in the township of Roxbury.  The 1855 census lists his place of birth as Dutchess County, New York and his age as 74 years.  The 1850 census said that Isaac was age 72.  The 1865 census says that he was 86. His wife's application for a Civil War mother's pension says he was about 83 years old when he died in January, 1866. It appears he was born about 1782-1783.

An Isaac F. German also appears in the 1810 and 1830 US censuses for Greene County, which contains Prattsville, is immediately to the east of Delaware County and adjacent to the township of Roxbury. 

According to this webpage, the Lower Cemetery (also known as the Benham or the Pratt cemetery) in Prattsville contains a marker with this inscription: Rachel, w/o Isaac German, d. June 27, 1832, aged 49y3m9d. This would make her date of birth March 18, 1783.

Ezekiel German, born c.1810, married to Betsey Ann Ives, appears in the US censuses of 1840 and 1850, in the New York State census of 1855, and subsequent US censuses.  The 1865 census says Ezekiel and Betsey were both born in Greene County.  

Abel German, born 1815, married Delanah Nichol on 4/4/1844, died 5/31/1844 with no surviving children. We have not found him in any census.  Records of the settlement of his estate are in Delhi.  From the billing records of Abel's physician it appears that Delanah was the sister of a Joseph Nichols.  Marriage is recorded in the book Vital Records of the Dutch Reformed Church of Prattsville.

The Lower Cemetery (also known as the Benham or the Pratt cemetery) in Prattsville contains a marker (#221 in this list) with this inscription: Abel German, d. May 31, 1844, aged 29y.

Zachariah German, born c.1806, married to Mary (Polly) Chamberlain German, appears in the US censuses of 1840 and 1850. These censuses list Ezekiel and Isaac F German as close neighbors. Zachariah does not appear in the New York State census of 1855, apparently having moved to Ogle County, Illinois. Polly does appear in the 1855 census, living in Prattsville for three months with her daughter Mary Jane Howard. Their children who survived to adulthood were Mary Jane, Samuel, Pratt and Abel, from whom I am descended.

In addition to the adult male Germans, the 1855 census also lists a Gitty German Walker, wife of Daniel Walker, and her father Isaac F German who was living with them.  Gitty and Daniel Walker may have been married on 8/20/1854. Gitty died on October 14, 1863. Gitty's given name was Gertrude.

Gitty was previously married to Patrick Lynch with whom she had a son Henry (1850 census). According to the Vital Records of the Dutch Reformed Church of Prattsville, Gitty and Patrick were married on 5/19/1845. In 1850 Gitty and Patrick lived three residences away from Ezekiel German. 

Rachel German, b.1818 d.1887, buried in the West Kill Cemetery southwest of Prattsville in Delaware County.  This was another daughter. She married Ebenezer Soule in 1832, when she was 14 years old, although their first child was not born until 1839.  This wedding is also noted in the Vital Records of the Dutch Reformed Church of Prattsville. We note this was the same year that Isaac's first wife Rachel, probably her mother, died, and that the Soule's were close neighbors of the German clan.  Ebenezer Soule was born September 18, 1812 and died March 19, 1893.  Gitty German petitioned the court to be named co-administrator of her husband Patrick Lynch's estate with Ebenezer Soule, who was her brother-in-law.

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