He was born in Germany in the year 1741, and came to Pennsylvania when he was twenty years old, arriving in Philadelphia, 1761, in the ship SQUIRREL, from Rotterdam, via Portsmouth, England. He took the oath of allegiance to King George III, October 21, 1761, which was probably the day of the arrival of the vessel, because foreigners were required to take the oath as soon as possible, being generally marched direct from the wharf to the Courthouse for that purpose. He anglicized his German name "Nicolaus" to "Nicholas." After about seven years' residence in the city of Philadelphia he was able to purchase a good-sized tract of land on Tinicum Island, then in Ridley township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, where he then took up his residence. On the tax list of 1768 for that township, his name appears as "Nicolas Deal" for 105 acres and 20 cattle. On the tax lists of succeeding years his name appears with various spellings as follows, Ridley township: 1769 Nicolas Dale . . . 126 acres, 2 horses, 3 cattle, 1 servant 1771 Nicolas Deel . . . 126 acres, 2 horses, 2 cattle, 2 servant 1774 Nicolas Deel . . . 435 acres, 8 horses, 80 cattle, 1 servant 1779 Nicolas Dheale . . . 159 acres, 6 horses, 18 cattle, 2 servant 1780 Nicolas Dheale . . . 159 acres, 6 horses, 18 cattle, 2 servant 1781 Nicholas Diehl . . . 160 acres, 12 horses, 20 cattle, 3 servant Nich's Diehl . . . 198 acres Diehl & Grsff . . . 27 acres Graff & Diehl . . . 200 acres, 2 horses, 45 cattle At that time Nicholas Diehl was the largest landowner in the township, owned by far the largest number of horses and was the only person in the township having more than one servant. The Graff who appears as joint owner with him was Christopher Graff (rated individually in addition to the above as owner of 66 acres, 2 horses, and three cattle), with whom he was concerned in some ventures of horse and cattle breeding. After this date the assessments rated by money values; in 1785 Nicholas Diehl was taxed £16 9s. 5d, the largest amount levied in the township. When Delaware county was erected September 26, 1789, from part of Chester county, Tinicum (as well as Ridley) township, became part of the new county. In Nicholas Diehl's time, what is now Tinicum Island was a number of islands (a good portion of all of them partially submerged) separated by small channels have since been filled in and the flats reclaimed by banks being built. The island on which Nicholas Diehl's land was situated, or Tinicum Island, proper, was the lower or most southwesterly one, and was surrounded by Long Hook Creek, Darby Creek and the Delaware river. It was originally patented to the Swedish Governor, John Printz, November 6, 1643; and on it stood the celebrated Printz Hall, and the seat of the Swedish government on the Delaware, the site of which is now covered by the encroaching river. After having several owners under the Swedish, Dutch and English governments, Tinicum Island became, 1683-84, the property of Christopher Taylor, one of the principal statesmen under Penn's government, and from him went down in the Taylor and Elliott families, his descendants. In 1748 Christopher Elliott, whose son, Israel married Nicholas Diehl's daughter, Sarah, had 256 acres of the island. It appears from the will of Christopher Elliott, dated February 2, 1784, that his plantation on Tinicum Island was then occupied by Nicholas Diehl. John Hill Martin, in his "History of Chester," says, "Ncholas Diehl lived in the fine old country mansion, adjacent to the Lazaretto Station, on the west side of the old line of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad," now the Chester branch of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway. Nicholas Diehl was an early and active participant in the War of the Revolution. At the meeting of a number of the inhabitants of Chester county, held at the Courthouse in Chester, December 20, 1774, he was chosen a member of the Committee of Observation for that county, "to carry into execution the resolves of the late Continental Congress," and to take into consideration measures for the defense of their liberties, etc. This Committee of Observation had charge, later on, of the military affairs of the county. Nicholas Diehl was also a member of the sub-committee to drive off cattle to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy, in 1777, in case the seat of war approached the vicinity. When the Associators of Chester county were organized, 1775, he joined the company formed in Ridley township, and in 1776 was Captain of Third Company, in Col. Hugh Lloyd's Third Battalion of Chester County Militia, with which he participated in the New Jersey and Long Island campaigns, and took part in the (to the Americans) disastrous battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776, having thirty-eight men under his command. When the militia was organized into battalions, without reference to township limits, 1777, he was commissioned Captain of the Fifth Company, Third Battalion, Chester County Militia, commanded by Col. Caleb Davis. His commission, which as well as his sword, is now in possession of his great-great-grandson, Joseph Lybrand Stichter, of Reading, Pennsylvania, reads as follows: "In the name and by the authority of the Freeman of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. "The Supreme Executive Council of the said Commonwealth, to Nicholas Diehl, Esquire, We reposing especial Trust and Confidence in your Patriotism, Valour, Conduct and Fidelity, Do by these Presents, constitute and appoint you to be Captain of a Company of Foot, in the 3rd Battalion of Militia in the County of Chester. You are therefor, carefully and diligently to discharge the duty of Captain by doing and so performing all manner of things thereunto belonging. And we do strictly charge and require all officers and soldiers under your command to be obedient to your orders as Captain. And you are to observe and follow such orders and directions as you shall from time to time receive from the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth, or from your superior officers according to the Rules and Discipline of War and in pursuance of the Acts of Assembly of this State. This Commission to continue in force until per term, by the Laws of the State, shall, of course expire. "Given under the Lesser Seal of the Commonwealth at Philadelphia, the 14th day of May on the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven. Attest, T. Matlack, Sec'y." Tho. Wharton, Junr. Prest. The battalion of Col. Caleb Davis was eventually reorganized into one of light horse. Nicholas Diehl was Captain of the First Company or Troop in this, then called the Sixth Battalion (Volunteers), in 1780-81, and probably remained in the service until the end of the war. His sword was exhibited among the Revolutionary relics at the Atlanta (Georgia) Exposition, in 1895. Nicholas Diehl was married to Anna Maria Meyerlin (1743 - 1827). He died in December of 1818. His will was dated October 9, 1811, probated May 26, 1819, and registered in Delaware county Will Book, B, page 422, at Media. He left all his estate real and personal to his wife, Mary, for life, except his wearing apparel, which he left to his son, William. After his wife's death his sons Adam, Nicholas, Thomas, and William, and the heirs of his son, John, were to have all his real estate, including two tracts in Centre county, Pennsylvania, which had been taken up in the names of his sons, Adam and Nicholas, but to which the real right was in their father. To sons, Adam and Nicholas, $1,000 each; to daughter, Mary, after the decease of his wife, $360 per annum, and after her death $6,000 to her children: to his granddaughter, Mary Ewing, $2,000, after the decease of the wife: the executors named were his sons, Adam, Nicholas, Thomas, John and William. He left $10,000 in cash, which would have made him considered quite wealthy in Pennsylvania, 1819, when we add to this the value of his real estate holdings.