Society in Partnership with Amish to Save House

Visit the Nicholas Stoltzfus web site for additional information

Nicholas Stoltzfus-Birth to Immigration

Nicholas Stoltzfus, son of Christopher Gottlieb and Catharina Rosina Bergman Stoltzfus, was born in 1718, in Sachsen, Germany. His father died while he was a boy and his mother remarried. As a young man, he left the Evangelical Lutheran Church and converted to the Amish-Mennonite faith. While working on the Anabaptist farms in Zweibrucken, Germany, he met and fell in love with one of the daughters of an Anabaptist. Though the government-sanctioned church prohibited their marriage, Nicholas and his bride-to-be planned to be married. In 1744, they submitted a legal petition to the government for permission to marry. Permission was given with the stipulation that they leave the country. Stoltzfus did move, but not long afterwards, he returned to Zweibricken.

Nicholas Stoltzfus was a self-employed farmer in 1754, and in 1759, he is said to have leased and operated a mill at Hornbach, Germany. In the spring of 1766, Nicholas Stoltzfus finally left Germany on the ship “Polly” and arrived at the port of Philadelphia on October 18, 1766. Between 1766, the time of his arrival in America, and 1770, the life of Nicholas Stoltzfus is shrouded in mystery. Primary documentation needed to trace the events in his life are confined to church records (baptismal, marriage and death records, etc.) and county records (deeds, wills and intestates, etc.). Many of these old records are difficult to locate and are often missing altogether. We do know that Nicholas Stoltzfus is the progenitor of all the Amish Stoltzfuses in America. The search for information, especially concerning his land purchase, is still going on and with a new fervor in light of the recent preservation project on the Stoltzfus house at 1700 Tulpehocken Road, Wyomissing, Berks County, Pa.

Threats to the Preservation

Years ago, there was an attempt to secure the Nicholas Stoltzfus house for preservation. This attempt ended when the owner and those individuals interested in the preservation of the house were not able to come to an agreement. Since then, Tri-County Heritage Society has received numerous calls from people all over the United States who were concerned that the house might be lost from either demolition or neglect.

The first threat to the future of the house was the Warren Street by-pass and then the building of the highway connection from that by-pass to the “Road to Nowhere.” Nicholas Stoltzfus’ house stands in the right-of-way of both of these major highways. The house survived.

Time and neglect were the next enemies that endangered the structural integrity of the Stoltzfus house. Brush, weeds, bushes, trees, etc., took over the house until it could not be seen through the dense forage. There had not been a resident in the house for a number of years, which also took a toll on the building as well. Yet, the house survived.

Next was the threat of development encroaching on the house and lot. Country Meadows Retirement Community built their new center on the neighboring property, and rumors circulated that this corporation wanted to buy the property, which included the Stoltzfus house, and use it as part of their expansion plan. Country Meadows, owned by the family of former Pennsylvania Governor George Leader, was indeed interested in purchasing the property, but again no agreement could be made with the owners. The house survived, but the Nicholas Stoltzfus house was running out of time when a series of events began to unfold and the pieces of a large puzzle began to fall into place.

An Idea Whose Time Had Come

Over the past ten years, a few interested individuals periodically placed phone calls to the Tri-County Heritage Society office inquiring about the status of the Stoltzfus house. Tri County Heritage Society, called Paul Kurtz, genealogist and family historian, to see what could be done to save this historic building.

Prior to the Society's phone call, Paul Kurtz had heard many concerns about the house from some guests on a heritage tour he was guiding. This tour featured the early Amish settlement in Berks County, and the bus briefly stopped at the Nicholas Stoltzfus house. Paul and his brother, Pastor Calvin Kurtz, Executive Director of the Berks Council of Churches, who were both on the tour, decided to find out who owned the property and the name of the contact person. Calvin contacted the owner to see what options might be available to preserve the house. He discovered that the property was owned by Tulpehocken Ltd., and a meeting was set up with Mr. David Rick, their contact person, and Calvin and Paul Kurtz, in July 2000. They began to make plans for the house’s preservation.

Meanwhile, Tri-County Heritage Society had been invited on two occasions to be the guest speaker at the regular meeting of the Pequea Bruderschaft Library. This group of Amish historians is involved in preserving the history of the Amish culture, Amish genealogies, and the artifacts of their heritage. Restoring the Nicholas Stoltzfus House is a project that qualifies as a major achievement in all three categories. Both Tri-County Heritage Society and the Pequea Bruderschaft Library have a mutual interest in achieving this goal.

The Wheels of Progress Turn

Next on the calendar of events was a meeting with Tulpehocken Ltd., representatives of the Pequea Bruderschaft Library (among whom were members of the Stoltzfus family), and Paul Kurtz. Mr. David Rick, representing the owners, appreciated the significance of the house and decided to include its preservation into their planning. Mr. Rick wanted to be certain that the condition to preserve the house was agreeable to all interested parties. Since everyone agreed to preserve the house and property, and Country Meadows Retirement Community was interested in purchasing it, Mr. Rick initiated a meeting with the Leader family, owners of Country Meadows.

Tri-County Heritage Society attended several meetings with the Bruderschaft for the purpose of reporting on the progress made toward the preservation of the Nicholas Stoltzfus House and a working relationship was established between the two organizations.

Paul Kurtz, John F. Stoltzfus, Sam Stoltzfus, and Aaron Petersheim joined the group the day of the meeting between Mr. Rick, and George Leader and his son Michael, CEO of Country Meadows. The real surprise of the day was hearing the senior Mr. Leader relate the special relationship he had with the Amish.

George Leader was elected governor in the 1950s. At that time the law stated that all children in Pennsylvania were to attend the newly legislated consolidated state schools. Amish fathers refused to obey; some were thrown into prison. Governor Leader was responsible for negotiating on behalf of the Amish and releasing them from adhering to that law. He went even further and made sure that they were allowed to educate their own children and to have vocational education available to them.

The Amish men who were present at this meeting, though they were children themselves when these events unfolded, thanked Mr. Leader for what he had done to protect their religious convictions and to help protect their way of life. After that exchange, there was a spirit of comradery and mutual trust. Tulpehocken Ltd. was ready to sell the property to Country Meadows with the promise that the house be repaired and secured for further use. The property was transferred to Country Meadows on December 15, 2000, and a previously signed lease agreement for occupancy and use of the Nicholas Stoltzfus House to Tri-County Heritage Society went into effect.

A Partnership is Formed

Tri-County Heritage Society came into the picture in an active way to solve some practical issues for the Amish and to provide certain services to aid in the rehabilitation project. Tri-County Heritage Society created a committee, The Nicholas Stoltzfus House Preservation Committee, to facilitate the operations of the preservation project. The officers of the Pequea Bruderschaft Library chose five people to sit on a committee organized as part of the Tri-County Heritage Society. The Nicholas Stoltzfus House Preservation Committee of the Tri-County Heritage Society will raise the funds, rehabilitate the house and grounds, and maintain the property in exchange for use of the house.

House with a Future

The house will be set up as a small house museum, displaying among other things, artifacts depicting the Amish culture. One item of interest to the Stoltzfus family that survives to this date is the original sea chest that came with Nicholas Stoltzfus when he immigrated (1766) to America. This chest is on display at the Pequea Bruderschaft Library in Pequea, Lancaster County. The Nicholas Stoltzfus House will be a point of interest to visitors attending Amish and Mennonite Heritage tours and others traveling through Berks County. The rehabilitation of the house will hopefully be done in time for the upcoming Berks County 250-year celebration in the year 2002. It is the desire of those involved in this project to raise awareness of the early Amish settlement in Berks County. The Nicholas Stoltzfus House will serve to remind us of the important part the Amish played in the history and development of Berks County.