The Van Slyke House is saved by the Nichols Family
When Pauline and Peter Nichols secured the mortgage for Lot 43, they brought two young children to the homestead with them. Peter and Pauline had two more children raising their family of four at the Van Slyke House.
A New Home for Moses and Lucinda Van Slyke
On March 28, 1851, the property of Lot 43 was conveyed to Moses and Lucinda Van Slyke. According to genealogical records, Lucinda and Moses Van Slyke were distant cousins and descendants of Johannes Müller.
The Palatine Germans in Search of a Land to Call Home
The earliest European settlers in the Mohawk Valley came from what is now southwest Germany.
Under near constant threat of destruction, whether from multiple wars, invasions, or the plague, in the near hundred years leading up to the 18th century, the southwest German population experienced extreme hardship.