Dietz, William Esq.,
Birth
William Dietz Sr. was born in 1720 at Vielbach, Parish of Nordhofen, Westerwald, now Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. He was baptized on Jan 14, 1720 at Nordhofen Parish Church, Parish of Nordhofen, Westerwald, now Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. His parents were Johann Peter Dietz (1690 - Jan 19, 1730) and Anna Eva Becker (c.1690 - after Mar 22, 1752). Both parents were born at Parish of Nordhofen, Westerwald, now, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. William's father, Johann Peter Dietz died there in 1730. William emigrated c. 1733 with his mother, Anna Eva Becker, three brothers, Adam, Johannes, Johan Hendrick, and three sisters, Elisabetha, Maria Margaret, and Rosina. The family traveled from NYC to the Catskill area for a few years and lived near the Overbach family who had migrated earlier from the same town. About 1740 some of the family moved to the Beaver Dam, (now Berne), Albany, NY. William Sr., Adam, and Johan Hendrick homesteaded farms in the Beaver Dam area c. 1740. Johannes stayed in the Catskill area a while more, married Marie Overbach in 1742 at Katsbaan Reformed Church in Ulster Co., and they moved up to join his brothers and homestead a farm in the Switzkill Valley by 1752. William Sr. had a 229 acre farm at Beaverdam on Lot 539 which by 1792 was leased by son Adam Dietz. William Sr. lived by 1752 at Foxes Dorf, Schoharie, Schoharie (then Albany), NY.
Education
William Sr. was educated. He was naturalized on Jul 29, 1752. He was a freeholder in 1763 (Albany Co. Freeholders) in 1763 at Schoharie, Schoharie, NY. His name was carved on a stone of the 1772 Schoharie Reformed Church which six years later became the Old Stone Fort of Schoharie. William Sr. was a member of the Schoharie Committee of Safety during the Revolutionary War.
Occupation
William Sr. was a Farmer and a Blacksmith. He farmed first at Beaverdam, then at Schoharie, and worked as a Blacksmith in a shop at Schoharie. In his will of Mar 25, 1782, he left his Blacksmith tools to son William Jr.
He was a Justice of the Peace at Schoharie. On May 30, 1778, William Dietz, Esq., Thomas Ekeson, Major, and Johua Baker, Major, co-signed a letter to General Stark in Albany describing the Battle of Cobleskill and asking for reinforcements and ammunition.
Marriage & Children
William Dietz Sr. married Dorothea Wanner of Huntersland, Schoharie (then Albany), NY., daughter of Ludvig Wanner and Anna Barbara Beisels, on Jul. 14, 1743 at High And Low Dutch Reformed Congregation, Schoharie, Schoharie (then Albany), NY. William Dietz Sr. and Dorothea Wannner had the following eight children:
- Eva Dietz - b. before Apr. 20, 1744 at probably, at Beaver Dam (now Berne), Albany; NY. She died at probably, Beaver Dam (now Berne), Albany, NY.
- Maria Elizabetha Dietz - b. before Feb. 23, 1746 at probably, Beaver Dam (now Berne), Albany, NY. She married Hendrick Ball, son of Peter Ball and (Anna) Margaretha (--?--), on Feb. 22, 1763 at Schoharie Ref. Church, Schoharie, Albany (now Schoharie), NY. She died before 1800 at Beaver Dam (now Berne), Albany, NY.
- Peter W. Dietz - b. Aug. 19, 1748 at NY. He married Anna Maria Sidnig, daughter of Herman Sidnig and Maria Catarina Snell, on Feb. 25, 1771 at High And Low Dutch Reformed Congregation, Schoharie, Schoharie, NY. He died before Mar. 1782. He began military service on May 2, 1767 at Schoharie, Schoharie (then Albany, NY.
- William Dietz Jr. - b. Dec. 6, 1749 at probably, Schoharie, Schoharie (then Albany), NY. He married Margaretha Bergh, daughter of Philip Berg and Christina Fox, on Nov. 16, 1777 at High And Low Dutch Reformed Congregation, Schoharie, Schoharie (now Albany), NY. He died on Feb. 16, 1794 at Fox's Dorf, Schoharie, Schoharie (then Albany), NY, at age 44. He was buried after Feb. 16, 1794 at Old Stone Fort Cemetery, Schoharie, Schoharie,NY. He began military service on May 2,1767 at Schoharie, Schoharie (then Albany), NY. He lived after 1771 at Fox's Dorf, Schoharie, Schoharie (then Albany), NY. He ended military service in 1790 at Tryon, NY. He was a blacksmith. He inherited his father's blacksmith tools. He appeared on the census of 1790 at Schoharie (then Albany), NY.
- Lt. Col. Johannes Deitz (1752) - b. May 10, 1752 at Fox's Dorf, Schoharie, Schoharie (then Albany), NY. He married Maria Enders, daughter of William Enders and Elizabetha Margaretha Knieskern, on Oct. 6, 1773 at High And Low Dutch Reformed Congregation, Schoharie, Schoharie (now Albany), NY. He died between 1797 and 1802. He was one of the first Town Clerks in 1789. He ended his military service in 1790 at Tryon, NY. He appeared on the 1790 census of Schoharie (then Albany), NY.
- Adam W Dietz - b. Apr. 18, 1755 at Schoharie, Schoharie, (now Albany), NY. He married Margaret Reinhart, daughter of George Frederick Reinhart and Catherine Frolich, on Mar. 30, 1776 at Schoharie Ref. Church,Schoharie, Albany, (now Schoharie), NY. He died on Sep. 29, 1830 at Town of Berne, Albany, NY, at age 75. He began military service in 1782 at the Town of Berne, Albany, NY. He lived in 1787 at Switzkill Valley, Beaver Dam (now Berne), Albany, NY. He appeared on the census of 1790 at Rensselaerville, Albany, NY, in what is now Berne.
- Eva Dietz - b. Jul. 1, 1758 at Schoharie, Schoharie (now Albany),NY. She married Abraham Lawyer, son of Johannes Lawyer Jr. and Christina Sternberg, on Oct. 12, 1783 at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Schoharie, Schoharie, NY. She died on Aug. 30, 1834 at Schoharie, Schoharie, NY, at age 76.
- Col. Johan Jost Dietz - b. Sep 19, 1760 at Schoharie, Schoharie, NY. He married Eva Hilts, daughter of George (Jurian) Hilts and Elisabeth Bellinger, on Dec. 15, 1783 at Schoharie, Schoharie, NY. He died in 1841 at Knox, Albany, NY. He was a Farmer. He was confirmed on Aug. 8, 1779 at Schoharie Lutheran Church, Schoharie (then Albany), NY. He lived in 1787 at Town of Berne, Albany, NY. He appeared on the census of 1790 at Rensselaerville, Albany, NY. in what is now Knox. He was in the military during the Revolutionary War at Schoharie where he fought at the Lower Fort (Old Stone Fort).
In 1770, William Jr. and Johannes, sons of William Sr., bought farmland one mile north of the Old Stone Fort. This Dietz farm on now Rt. 30 stayed in the Dietz family until Issac Dietz in the 1920s. A map by William E. Roscoe drawn to indicate the famed British general Sir John Johnson's October 1780 raid through the Schoharie Valley, shows two of the Dietz houses in what was named the "Dietz Neighborhood" on the map on the west bank of the Schoharie River just north of the Fox Creek. The original map is at the Old Stone Fort.
Death
William Dietz Sr. died between Mar 25, 1782 and Jun 6, 1782 at Schoharie, Schoharie (then Albany), NY. His estate was probated on Jun 6, 1782. It is not known where he was buried. However, his wife, Dorothea Wanner Dietz was buried at the Old Stone Fort Cemetery, Schoharie, Schoharie, NY.
Obituary
Additional Media
Letter from Schoharie Committee of Safety, signed by William Deitz, Esq.
Sources
