ROOTS & BRANCHES

My longtime friend André Dominguez of Lancaster County came to me for advice on tracking down a German immigrant to York County, Pennsylvania. The man for whom he was searching was named George Mohrline “but I have also found a possible alternate spelling Merlein,” Dominguez reported. Those spellings made me confident that German phonetics would …

Right up there with the No. 1 question I receive (“how can I find my German ancestor’s hometown?”) is curiosity about whether it’s possible to find living German relatives. Andrea Bentschneider, the Hamburg, Germany–based professional genealogist who runs the service she calls the German Genealogy Collective, will be devoting a free online “masterclass” to this …

I first encountered Barbara Granato more than a decade ago when I did an all-day series of lectures for the Central New York Genealogical Society and renewed the acquaintance at a New York State Family History Conference near Syracuse, N.Y., a couple of years later. Granato has some deep roots in Pennsylvania, including a prominent …

Sometimes you try to kill a lot of birds with one stone. For one thing, with the busy holiday period coming up, when I found that five historic organizations in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, had banded together for a long weekend of “Pennsylvania German Christmas” events from Dec. 6–8, I was ecstatic that I might be …

I’ve known Glenn Riegel, who has been involved in photography in every angle from photo-journalism to teaching to commercial advertising, basically forever. His photos of birds—and just about everything else—have fascinated me for years and I’ve had growing admiration for all the awards he wins for those images. We grew up in the same church, …

The new book titled Storytelling for Genealogists: Turning Family Lineage into Family History covers an important topic that a fair number of genealogists could improve—making the jump from the sterility of names-and-dates-only compilations to the richness of interesting narrative. Doug Tattershall’s slim volume published by Genealogical Publishing Company touts the difference between genealogy and family …

Tara Sewell’s email came to me last month with several interrelated questions. First and foremost was the trouble she was having de-evolving her ancestor William Henry Sewell’s surname, which was defying her attempts to find more than a handful of records. I gave her some ideas on phonetic variants but it was when we talked …

Maybe this installment of “Roots & Branches” should be titled “Travels, continued,” but it’s not about my manic pursuit of fall foliage that took me to the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania as much as it is highlighting a couple of events at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for which I did or will …

I’ve been on record as saying that the first two weeks of October have more activities scheduled than any other time of the year, but this time around I think I even outdid myself! On Oct. 5, I managed to double-book myself with two events that Saturday, which thankfully were within walking distance of each …

Talk about “my cup runneth over.” Last week’s “Roots & Branches” gave some of the details on Hamburg, Germany–based Andrea Bentschneider’s new “German Genealogy Collective.” And, as promised, this week’s column will focus on another new service for those with Deutsch ancestry, this one called the “German Genealogy Headquarters: Discover the lives behind the names!” …

The last few months have been exciting ones in the German genealogy field. And I say that as your “Roots & Branches” columnist of more than a quarter century, who has every reason to be jaded about announcements promising the latest and greatest thing … but turning out to be “more sizzle than steak.” In …

Family history has a huge number of facets, and sometimes the most beautiful cut of the gem comes from one that’s unexpected. That’s what I found when I recently attended the premiere at Gratz College in Melrose Park, north of Philadelphia, of “Hidden: A Musical,” which is based on the life of Holocaust survivor Ruth …

It’s a truism of life that “all good things come to an end.” And so it is with the great deal that Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania has been offering its members with The Pennsylvania Genealogical Almanac. The publication has been under preparation for a couple of years (yes, most diligent “Roots & Branches” readers will …

I won’t try to mislead you: I’ve always been fascinated by lineage societies. Even before I was a genealogist—and that’s talking a while ago since I started genealogy at age 24!—the cachet of groups such as the Daughters of the American Revolution definitely had some allure to me. Then a couple of decades later when …

Please forgive my horn-tooting but … when it comes to genealogy publications, it might be said that I know a thing or two. My first involvement in the genealogy world beyond being a pure hobbyist dates back to the late 1980s. That’s when Laurel Miller was editor of the Journal of the Berks County Genealogical …

Last week’s “Roots & Branches” shared the welcome announcement that the long-running series of genealogy books German Immigrants in American Church Records (GIACR for short) will be concentrating on Pennsylvania starting in 2025. GIACR is the masterwork of retired Brigham Young University Professor Roger P. Minert, who has marshalled a generation of BYU students to …

Roger P. Minert is one of those heavyweights of the German genealogy field who practically needs no introduction. But for the benefit of those who haven’t encountered him or his work: Minert is a retired Brigham Young University family history professor who has a background in German language study and has published a variety of …

In the quarter century that I’ve been involved in the larger genealogical community, I’ve been exposed to a lot of organizations and repositories. I try to keep my criticisms muted (or at least constructive) when I see a group going awry, and I can be an unabashed cheerleader when see an outfit that’s lifting more …

As you’ll be reading this, I’m just getting back from an extended stay in Salt Lake City. My “good reason” was to be one of the presenters at the Foundation for East European Family History Studies conference, but let’s face it the “real” reason was doing research at the FamilySearch Library, both for clients and …

I’ve had a chance in some spare moments to pull out files (yes, this began-in-the-Gutenberg-age genealogist still has paper files!) from some of the files of my personal ancestry. OK, so it may have been connected to some new presentations I’m cooking up for next year’s family history conferences, but reacquainting myself with these ancestral …

I’ve attended what’s now been branded the “GRIP Genealogy Institute” a couple of times in the past and found it to be a great “summer camp for genealogists.” It began as the Genealogy Research Institute of Pittsburgh more than a dozen years ago under the stewardship of Elissa Powell and Deborah Deal before being acquired …

People outside the world of genealogy often have no idea how specialized family history is.True story: A long, long time ago I had a first date with a woman who, when we talking about upcoming travel, said in response to the fact that I was going to a weeklong genealogy conference: “Wow, a week on …

There are times that I have “Roots & Branches” written weeks in advance—a couple of times I’ve put together a summerlong series around a particular topic—and then there are other times that I’m a little stumped about whether I still have something to say after more than a quarter century of writing this column. But …

The Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society celebrated its 50th anniversary last month with a two-day hybrid conference in Pittsburgh. Capping off the event was a celebratory dinner that included the announcement that the society has scanned and published online the Allegheny County death registers from 1893–1905 including over 28,500 names across more than a hundred municipalities.  …

I’ll note at the outset that I have a conflict of interest with this book review. That’s because Michael John Neill is a friend of mine. He and I met some years ago when we were both serving on the board of the now-defunct Federation of Genealogical Societies, and for the past four years we’ve …

This “Roots & Branches” column is one that I’ve been dying to write for almost the entire existence of “Roots & Branches.” That’s because way back during my first stint as executive director of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, I noted that a genealogy guidebook publication called the Pennsylvania Line had gone out of print. …

I’ve been to New York state’s capital city of Albany a few items over the years, starting in 2004 when I went to my first National Conference of the Palatines to America. That year I arrived just in time for a bus tour leaving for Schoharie County, New York, to take in the landscape where …

When you’ve been around the larger genealogy community for a quarter century as your “Roots & Branches” columnist has—you get a little skeptical at any announcement that claims to be the biggest or greatest … when often it’s just the “newest.” I used to say a lot about such announcements “well, that’s going to be …

During a random scroll around Facebook the other day I had a group named Descendants of Andersonville Prison. Attracting my attention was that DNA genealogist Blaine Bettinger, a Facebook Friend, was a member of that group. I didn’t know whether Bettinger’s interest was academic or personal, so I reached out to him with that question, …

It’s not often as a genealogical speaker that you get to meet someone who you’ve admired from afar never met in person. The 2024 Palatines to America National Conference (June 6–9 in Albany, New York), however, is affording me that opportunity because the event’s keynote speaker is Philip Otterness, Ph.D., and emeritus professor of history …

I’m not quite of the age to directly remember President John F. Kennedy (although my mother would remind me that after his assassination when I was 3 years old and some months, she brought me out to the television to see Lee Harvey Oswald … just in time for Jack Ruby to shoot him!). But …

Last week’s “Roots & Branches” gave some of the details about my long personal history about the Bern Cemetery Company’s Historic Graveyard and the wooden marker that had been there all my life. As a result of some publicity about the installation of a replacement wooden marker, Marvin P. Stamm Jr. emailed Patrick Donmoyer (Kutztown …

Steady readers of the “Roots & Branches” column know I have a special affinity for the burial grounds of Bern Reformed United Church of Christ, now owned by the Bern Cemetery Company, of which I am a trustee. I was raised in this Berks County church—almost literally, since my mother was often there “until the …

The Ohio Genealogical Society’s conference earlier this month was a reminder that great in-person family history experiences do exist. As I often do with a column such as this, I being with the disclaimer: I’ve been a speaker at the spring OGS conference for more than a dozen years now and find the people who …

What was once proven and then unproven—is now proven again! I’ve corresponded with and written a couple of columns over the years about Kathy Williams’s attempt to restore the patriotic dignity of John Peter Weaverling in the Revolutionary War. The story in brief is this: Weaverling had fought in the American Revolution and was considered …

It’s either my blessing or my curse—or probably a bit of both!—that for reasons unknown to me that some of the genealogy topics to which I’m most attracted as a researcher are ones that don’t resonate as deeply with other family historians. Take historical newspapers. Oh, sure, every genealogist uses them now that so many …

OK, let’s get the name thing out of the way. Trappe is a Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, borough with an evocative name. It took that name from a tavern called “the Trap” that was operated by the town’s founder Jacob Schrack Sr., with the spelling altered over time as often happens. I have an affinity for …

The Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society was founded in 1974, which makes this year the organization’s golden anniversary. And what could be more appropriate for a 50th anniversary than a two-day hybrid conference, which will be held for in-person participants at the historic University Club in Pittsburgh. The conference carries the theme of “The Journey of …

Last week’s “Roots & Branches” took my readers to my home library’s bookshelf, particularly the books I keep on the “top shelf.” Apparently, it struck chord with some of those readers, who made comments about the column as well as talking about their own bookshelves. Trey Kennedy gave this list: “Elizabeth Shown Mills, Tom Jones, …

I had just hit upon this week’s “Roots & Branches” topic when Facebook showed me a shot of Germanology Unlocked’s Katherine Schober rightfully crowing about the fact that Brigham Young University uses her two books as texts in their paleography course. The irony of this is that those two books—Tips and Tricks of German Handwriting …

When I was first cutting my teeth in the genealogy world some four decades ago, there were some conferences with one-off lectures and just a few weeklong institutes for intensive study. Those latter opportunities have greatly expanded in the last decade or so, and one of them—the Genealogy Institute of Pittsburgh or GRIP—is now in …

There was a collective sigh from many in the family history community when the National Genealogical Society announced at last year’s conference in Richmond, Virginia, that the 2024 event would be fully virtual. After two COVID-19 years of virtual-only NGS conferences in 2020 and 2021—the former of which was turned on a dime from in-person …

It was about two-and-a-half years ago that I became interim executive director for Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. There was a familiarity to the territory. I had been GSP’s executive director for four years in the early 2000s. Earlier this month, I finished that “interim-cy” and have moved back to being a freelance genealogical writer, researcher, …

A couple of year ago I had the honor of being the guest speaker for the 2022 Dillman Genealogical Conference and was impressed by the sponsoring organization, the Dillman Family Association. It was one of the relatively few instances in which I’ve given in-person presentations since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and maybe that’s …

Regina Kelly of Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, didn’t know she was going to be tipping me off to a new way of looking for German records on the mammoth genealogy website FamilySearch.org. Kelly was using Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania’s FamilySearch Affiliate Library to access some records she couldn’t get from her home computer desktop (due to …

What’s a “Hep Cat?” That was the questions posed in comments on my Facebook feed after the Ohio Genealogical Society conference dubbed as such in promoting its upcoming annual event, which has been a consistent spring gathering for decades. Truthfully, I was a little late to the party, only becoming a speaker for the first …

I’ve spent the last couple of “Roots & Branches” columns talking about an open records lawsuit and I understand that some probably have been left with the impression that I’m a curmudgeon who’s in favor of keeping records from genealogists. Well, I won’t dispute the curmudgeon part. But, no, I’m not “in favor” of closed …

I’m from a generation that doesn’t think “move fast and break things” is the coolest slogan ever created. Last week’s “Roots & Branches” gave some of my thoughts about a suit involving New York professional genealogist Alec Ferretti, a director at “Reclaim the Records,” a group that specializes in suing government entities to force access …

It’s rare that genealogy makes newspaper headlines but the second half of December is usually a “slow news cycle” so I guess it’s not surprising that an article appeared on Christmas Day with a blaring click-bait title of “Ancestry.com says it owns copies of PA historical records.” That misstated the issue a bit—copies of the …