Johannes Nucella

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Johannes Nucella (aka John Peter Nucella) is said to have supplied spiritual services to the Albany congregation in 1699-1700. He was more widely known a the pastor of the Reformed church in Kingston, New York.

Traditional resources tell us that he had been ordained by the classis of Amsterdam in the Spring of 1694. He was sent to America to serve at Kingston where he arrived in 1695.

The Ulster County faithful had been without a minister since 1689 when Domine Johannes Weekstein was dismissed for unacceptable behavior.

A not dissimilar situation existed in Albany where its long-time pastor had or was about to return to Europe. Actual services probably were supplied by Nucella. A new pastor had been called but had not yet arrived in Albany. In 1700, Nucella helped pave the way for Reverend Johannes Lydius to be received as the lawful minister in Albany.

Nucella was known to fellow clerics as "a man of good report, of studious habits, of excellent gifts and godly walk." Provincial political machinations caused him some discomfort (perhaps innocently) especially in his Albany setting. Those troubles are chronicled more closely in the most useful monograph on the Albany church.

His wife was named Maria and has been characterized as an English woman. A number of Nucellas became Reformed church ministers. We still seek clarity on his precise origins.

Even though, Johannes Nucella probably never resided in Albany nor was he formally called to the Albany pulpit, Nucella Street in the South End was among those named for early Dutch church clerics

Upon leaving America, Johannes Nucella is said to have settled in London "undoubtedly" due to the influence of his English wife and to take charge of the "Dutch chapel" there. He died in 1722.


biography in-progress


notes

the people of colonial Albany Sources: The life of Johannes Nucella has no CAP biography number. This sketch is derived chiefly from the external sources cited in the text above. But see Robert S. Alexander's Albany's First Church, pp.95-96. See also, New York Considered and Improved, by Nucella's contemporary and provincial observer, Rev. John Miller.




first posted 7/30/16; updated 9/10/16