Nicholas Rittenhouse

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Abt 1730

Notes:

Also called Klaus, Claus; also called Rittenhausen, Ruttinghuysen, Rittinghausen. That Nicholas Rittenhouse and Claus Rittenhouse were the same individual is established by a deed of his father that refers to "his son, Nicholas, by the name of Claus Rittenhouse". "Claus" was a common shortening of "Nicholas."

Nicholas Rittenhouse (1666-1734) = Wilhelmina Dewees (d. 1737)
Matthias Rittenhouse (1702-1779) = Elizabeth Williams (1705-1792)
David Rittenhouse (1732-1796) -- American astronomer, mathematician, surveyor, inventor, and first director of the United States Mint. Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia is named for him. Benjamin Franklin bequeathed him a telescope in his will. 1st cousin 6 times removed to JMF.

From A Genea-Biographical History of the Rittenhouse Family (citation details below):

It is presumed that he was married in New York before he came to Germantown. He succeeded his father, Willem, in the business of paper making, and was the sole owner of the mill after his father. He was the grandfather of our philosopher, David. He was also a member of the Mennonite Church at Germantown, and after the death of his father, Willem, he was elected a minister in his father's place in said church, ordained presumably by Jacob Godshall, who came over in 1702, in which capacity he served faith fully till his death in 1734. In 1727 he signed the proceedings of the first Mennonite Conference in America.

An old historian has the following:--

"The Rittenhouses settled on the eastern bank of the Wissahickon, adjoining the southwest side of Germantown, where they erected on a small stream which empties into the Wissahickon, about a mile above the Schuylkill, the first paper mill in British America. The name of the chief proprietor of this mill was Wilhelm Rittenhouse, then spelled Ruttinghuysen or Rittinghausen. He had two sons, Claus (or more properly, according to the German, Klaus), or Nicholas, who succeeded him at this paper mill, and Garret, or Gerhard, who lived in Germantown on Cresheim Creek, and there had a grist or flour mill. The Rittenhouses from that day to the present have continuously occupied mill seats on the Wissahickon Creek. The American astronomer, David Rittenhouse, LL.D., was born in Roxborough, near the site of the first paper mill."

Nicholas married Wilhelmina Pietre de Wees on 29 May 1689 in New York, New York. Wilhelmina (daughter of Garrett Hendricks de Wees and Zytian) was born on 13 Mar 1673 in Lieuwarden, Friesland, Netherlands; died after 6 Mar 1737. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: John Johnson. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Benjamin married Jannetje Swart between 1762 and 1769. Jannetje (daughter of Jacobus Swart and Jannetje Lane) was born about 1736 in Middletown, Monmouth, New Jersey; died before 14 Mar 1816 in Loudoun County, Virginia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Phebe married Henry Roberts in 1795. Henry (son of John Roberts) was born in Feb 1774 in Aldie, Loudoun, Virginia; died on 15 Feb 1851 in Fultonham, Muskingum, Ohio; was buried in Uniontown Cemetery, Fultonham, Muskingum, Ohio. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]