Hans Heinrich (Henry) Felder, Sr. was born 11 October 1725, in Zurich, Switzerland. He immigrated to South Carolina with his parents as a young boy. In the 1730s, the Felder family was one of many families on the several boatloads of German and Swiss natives to come to the Carolina area of current day Orangeburg.

Henry Felder married Mary Elizabeth Shaumloffel, (b 1727) in Zurich, Switzerland, on 5 December 1747, in the Orangeburg District of SC. They had seven sons. Henry Felder served as Justice of the Peace and Justice for the Quorum in the area. Mary Elizabeth died in 1761. In 1763, Felder remarried and added another five children to his household.

As time went by, the relationship between the British Crown and the colonists grew more and more tense. Felder joined with fellow Independence-minded “Whigs” in enforcing the Continental Association. The Association was one of the first steps in severing the ties with the British Crown and the dissolution of ties with the King.
In 1775, Felder joined other like-minded "Patriots" in being elected to the Second Provincial Congress from St. Matthews Parish. While a member of the body, the now historic Constitution for the Independent South Carolina was passed. There was no doubting where Henry Felder stood in the coming Revolution. The Swiss immigrant would cast his lot with the Independence movement.
Henry Felder’s initial participation in the war effort was supplying the Whig government with much needed gunpowder. Immediately, Henry Felder enlisted the help of his seven sons and others as a militia company for the area. Felder held the rank of Captain of the Whig body. As in most cases of these "Americans versus Americans" encounters in the South Carolina backcountry, few official records would survive.
Henry Felder’s died trying to protect his homestead. Felder barricaded himself, his sons, and an overseer named Fry in his home to fend off the Tories. The Tories attacked Felder’s house. They set fire to the house to draw the defenders out and put them to the sword. Escaping from the flames, Henry Felder threw on his wife’s clothes to escape the Loyalist trap. As he attempted to scale the yard fence, he was cut down by the Tory bullets. His boots had given him away. Henry Felder’s perseverance would not fail him, even though he was so close to death. Felder denied his bitter enemies the pleasure of capturing his dead body as he managed to make his way a few hundred yards before his wounds got the best of him. One of his nearby servants, who was chopping wood, came to his assistance and carried Henry to a safe place. However, the Loyalist bullets had served their purpose. A few days after the skirmish, Henry Felder died of his wounds. The year was 1780.

Captain Henry Felder's grave is located in the Old Felder Family Cemetery in Orangeburg, SC.