ROOTS & BRANCHES

Off and on for more than a decade, I served on Pennsylvania’s State Historic Records Advisory Board or SHRAB and every few years we’d be briefed on plans for a new building to house the State Archives. But like the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, those plans would get to a certain point and then …

I’ve probably not referenced my favorite genealogy book nearly enough in this column.And that’s probably because, technically speaking, late Charles H. Glatfelter’s 1980 book on the Lutheran and Reformed ministers and churches of the 18th century is not a genealogy book.Titled in full Pastors and People: German Lutheran and Reformed Churches in the Pennsylvania Field, …

Just a couple of weeks ago “Roots & Branches” shared some musings from relative genealogical newbie Laura Wolf. She’s been perusing the older columns and as someone with a background in social science research, she has loads of questions that I wish more budding family historians would ask (like how to better engage students and …

I’ve heard the saying “you learn something new every day”—and on the day of writing this installment of the “Roots & Branches” column, that was supplied by Jeffrey D. Sherbondy of the Sherbondy Family Association. Sherbondy describes himself as an experienced family researcher and publisher and his initial inquiry bore that out—he’s obviously grabbed more …

The conversation began about a month ago when Laura Wolf emailed me with some welcome words of praise for my book The Family Tree Historical Newspapers Guide.“I learned a lot from your book and wanted to take a moment to thank you,” Wolf wrote. “The book was packed with information, but yet very accessible and …