Two 1755 Pennsylvania Deeds Prove
Two very significant property transactions (see Deeds 195 and 197 below) contradict the almost universal attribution of 1740 as the death date of Nicholas (Claus) Erb, born 1680. They offer convincing proof that he was still alive in Warwick Township at least 12 years later and may have been alive as much as 15 or more years later. In April 1752 he would have been 71 years old.
Nicholas (Claus) Did Not Die in 1740
On April 22, 1752 Nicholas and his wife Catherine appeared before Justice of the Peace Emanuel Carpenter in Warwick and personally signed and sealed their acknowledgments of transfers of land to two of their sons - John 1713 and Jacob 1724. The deeds also refer to other legal actions taken by Nicholas in 1747 and 1750, years after his supposed death. He was not necessarily alive when these deeds were formally recorded in January of 1755, but he had to have been alive in April of 1752 in order to sign his acknowledgement.
The 1740 death date for Nicholas is very widely accepted. Indeed, I know of no published research that uses any other date. But none of these attributions, as far as I can tell, is based on a contemporary original source. Instead, references are made to books or other researchers. (They may all have been copied from the book "Erb Family History 1679-1961" by Gladys Lichtenwalter.) And once again the secondary and tertiary sources have shown themselves to be unreliable for this early Erb material. [See the parrallel case of Christian Erb 1703, falsely reputed to be the son of Nicholas.]
I am tempted to say that these deeds are newly uncovered, but actually they have been publically available for almost 250 years. Even so, to the best of my knowledge they never made it into any published Erb genealogies. (Perhaps there's a moral in here somewhere.)
On the basis of this primary evidence I recommend
that all ERB researchers change the death date of
Nicholas (Claus) Erb 1680 to "after April 1752"
Deed 195
[Grantors:] Nicholas Erbe and wife Katherine of Warwick Twp. (Katherine signed with "X".)
[Grantee:] John Erbe, one of the sons of Nicholas.
[Price:] 130 British Pounds Sterling and love and affection.
[Size and Location:] 142 acres [in] Warwick Twp.
[Adjoining land owners:] Melchor Irishman, Valentine Baker, Jacob Erbe.
[Deed chain:] Part of larger tract patented to Nicholas Erbe 12 May 1742, 20 Nov 1747.
[Date of deed:] 11 Jan 1755.
[Witnesses:] John Stwart, Jacob Sansenie, J12.
[Acknowledgment of satisfaction:] Nicholas Erbe and wife Katherine 22 Apr 1752.
Deed 197
[Grantors:] Nicholas Erbe and wife Katherine. (Katherine signed with "X".)
[Grantee:] Jacob Erbe of Lancaster County, one of the sons of Nicholas.
[Price:] 130 British Pounds Sterling and love and affection.
[Size and Location:] 142 acres [in] Warwick Twp.
[Adjoining land owners:] Henry Landus, John Erbe.
[Deed chain:] Patented as in Deed 195. 30 Nov 1747.
[Date of deed:] 17 Jan 1755.
{Witnesses:] John Stwart, Jacob Sansenie, J12.
[Acknowledgment of satisfaction:] Nicholas Erbe and wife Katherine 22 Apr 1752. (Catherine Erbe signed with mark.)
Deed 193
[Grantors:] Christian Shiepley (Sheibli) and wife Esther of Warwick Twp.
[Grantee:] John Erbe of Warwick Twp.
[Price:] 475 British Pounds Sterling.
[Size and Location:] 158 acres [on] Cocalico Creek.
[Adjoining land owners:] Christian Shieply, Michael Deal, John Davis, George Miln.
[Deed chain:] This 158 acres was patented 11 Apr 1745 to Christian Shieply, 25 Feb 1752.
[Date of deed:] 8 Jan 1755.
[Witnesses:] Frederick Klingel, Wendel Swetger, J12.
Deed 196
[Grantors:] John (Hans) Erbe and wife Barbara of Warwick Twp. (Barbara signed with "X".)
[Grantee:] Jacob Erbe of Lancaster County.
[Price:] 5 Shillings.
[Size and Location:] 10 acres [on] Cocalico Creek.
[Adjoining land owners:] Jacob Erbe, John Erbe.
[Deed chain:] Patented as in Deed 195. 6 Apr 1750.
[Date of deed:] 14 Jan 1755.
{Witnesses:] John Bare, Jacob Sansenie, J12.
[Acknowledgment of satisfaction:] John Erbe and wife Barbara 2 Apr 1752.
Source: Mayhill, R. Thomas, compiler - Lancaster County Pennsylvania Deed Abstracts & Revolutionary War Oaths of Allegiance, Deed Books A through M, 1729 through c1770 with adjoining Landowners & Witnesses (Knightstown, Indiana,The Bookmark: 1965), p.47. [A revised and enlarged edition of this book was printed in 1981.]Thanks to researcher James Landis who checked these deeds against references in the Lancaster County Historical Society. And special thanks to Emily Terrell, a New Mexico Erb researcher who accessed this book in the Albuquerque Public Library and was astute enough to recognize the significance of the dates.
Comments: Nicholas immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1737 and patented his land ten years later in 1747. Then in 1752, for a reduced price, he granted 142 acres of his plantation to his son John and another 142 acres to his son Jacob. These transactions were finalized in 1755. Also in 1755 John transferred 10 of his acres to Jacob and bought an additional 158 acres at full price from his neighbor. It is not clear why Nicholas's other two sons, Nicholas (Claus) Jr. and Christian, were not involved in these land transfers. But Christian, the youngest son, would have been only 18 in 1752. Other provisions might have been made for them and for Nicholas's daughters in a will, but no will for Nicholas is listed in the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania probate index.
Note that the husbands used signatures but the wives signed with an "X". Note also the many surname spelling variations shown in the list below. (My personal favorite is "Irishman" for "Erisman", a German-speaking native of Switzerland.)
Index of Names:
Grantors and grantees:
Nicholas Erb (1680-aft1752) ["Erbe"]
Katherine (c1680-aft1752) [wife of Nicholas]
John Erb (1713-1778) ["Erbe", son of Nicholas]
Barbara Schantz (1716-1796) [wife of John]
Jacob Erb (1724-1810) ["Erbe", son of Nicholas]
Christian Shively (1718-1772) ["Shiepley/Sheibli"]
Esther Neff (1719-1803) ["Naeff", wife of Christian]
Owners of Adjacent Land:
Henry Landis (1700-1780) ["Landus", lived Hammer Creek 1726-1754]
Melchior Erisman (c1680-1740) ["Irishman", Warwick]
Edith ["Widow Irishman", owner 1740-c1760]
Valentine Baker [Warwick]
Christian Shively (1718-1772) [lived Cocalico Creek 1745-1752]
Michael Deal [Cocalico Creek]
John Davis [Cocalico Creek]
George Miln [Cocalico Creek]
Witnesses:
John Bear (1723-1778) ["Bare", his wife was Jacob Erb's sister-in-law]
Frederick Klingel
Jacob Sensenig ["Sansenie"]
John Stewart ["Stwart"]
Wendel Zwetger
Justice of the Peace "J12":
Emanuel Carpenter (1702-1780) [son of Heinrich Zimmerman of Bern]
Index of Places:
Warwick Township, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania
Cocalico Creek (in Warwick) - where John's new land was located
Hammer Creek (in Warwick) - where Nicholas's plantation was located
Index of Dates:
1745
1747
1750
1752
1755
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| ай John Larkins 2001 | Last updated 10 Nov 2001 | Email: jhlarkins@msn.com |