52 Ancestors: Week 23, Niclaus Joder

Orginal post: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Niclaus Joder, son of Adam and Barbara "Barbli" (Ochsenbein) Joder, was baptized in Steffisburg, Switzerland 5 October 16731 and died probably in Mußbach, Electoral Palatinate (now Rhineland-Palatine, Germany) by 1740.2 Niclaus' brother Johannes acquired 461 acres in Oley, Berks County, Pennsylvania in 1731. In his will, Johannes of Oley left half of the land to his son by his first marriage, also named Johannes, and the other half to his son by his second marriage, Daniel. Daniel died intestate about 1747. English law at the time favored a “whole blood” cousin over a half-sibling in terms of inheritance. Thus, instead of passing to his half-brother Johannes of Oley, Daniel's land would have passed to his uncle Niclaus. However, Niclaus was already deceased, so it passed Niclaus' eldest son Johannes of Mußbach. Johannes of Mußbach had no use for the land on the other side of the Atlantic, so on 31 January 1771, he sold it to his cousin Johannes…