James M. Beidler, Author

Return to Pennsylvania: Reversing Migrations Back to the Keystone State

Many Americans find they have roots in Pennsylvania, but don't know how to make the connection back to the commonwealth. Learn the techniques here!

Beginning a Search for Pennsylvania Roots

Particularly because of its Colonial-era prominence as place of entry, as many as 1 in 4 Americans has Pennsylvania roots. The Keystone State is chock full of records and repositories to help these genealogists. A review of the state’s history; most prominent ethnic groups and religious organizations; key records; and where to find them.

Digging Pennsylvania Roots from Your Desktop

It’s estimated that one in four Americans has Keystone State roots. Much of Pennsylvania research – from church records to land documents to courthouse filings – can be done remotely.

Pennsylvania’s Launching Pads into the Midwest

Many Midwestern families spent a generation or more in Pennsylvania before migrating throughout the region as it grew in the 1800s. Hear the details on major spots they came from in—and routes they took from—the Keystone State.

Exploring Pennsylvania’s State Archives and State Library

The Pennsylvania State Archives and State Library of Pennsylvania are well worth a researcher’s attention – catalogs and some records can be accessed online and a research trip can be worthwhile with advance planning.

Courthouse Research in Pennsylvania

Whether it’s commonly known records such as wills and deeds or less-used documents such as divorces or Miscellaneous Deeds, Pennsylvania’s county courthouses hold the solutions to many genealogical problems.

Before It Was a County

A custom-designed lecture that takes the Pennsylvania county of interest and profiles what types of records exist for that county from the time period before it was erected – and where those records can be found. Good for orienting genealogists to the time and place concept.

Pennsylvania Taxes and Census: Keeping Track of Wealth and Population

There's a wealth of information contained in the many types of tax records that have survived about 18th and 19th century Pennsylvanians. Included is discussion of Colonial tax lists, the 1798 U.S. Direct Tax, PA Septennial Census and 1800s land, personal property and head taxes.

Taking a Peek through the Window Tax

Pennsylvania has the most returns from the 1798 U.S. Direct Tax, although fragments remain of other states’ returns from this wonderfully detailed but much hated levy. Presentation will focus on Pennsylvania but include all remaining resources.

Deitsch, Deutsch, Dutch: Key Sources for Germans in Pennsylvania

There’s no corner of Pennsylvania that Germans didn’t populate, and much of the commonwealth was dominated by the so-called Pennsylvania Deitsch/Dutch, descendants of German immigrants. Learn about the details of this ethnic group.

Pennsylvania’s POWER Library Turns the Lights On!

POWER Library has a lot of genealogy assets, but sometimes you need to tease them out of it. Get the background on what’s at this important online resource!

The Case of Pithole: Geography of a Boom Migration

Now a Venango County ghost town, Pithole boomed in the 1860s long enough for one city directory to be produced. Learn about its people!

See also these topics under GERMANS...

• Pennsylvania’s German Waves
• Germany to Pennsylvania: 18th Century Odyssey
• Pennsylvania German Church Records
• Conrad Beidler’s Signature

Registers, Inventories, Abstracts: Using All Iterations of German Church Records

Original German church records for vital events is a goal. But how do you know what you've found is an original? Here’s how.

Top Tools for Elusive German Hometowns

Finding a German immigrant's village of origin is essential. Learn the tools to use American data to find that place's correct name and pinpoint it on a map.

Zigzagging Through German Church Records

Explaining the methodology of using the baptismal, confirmation, marriage and burial records from German church registers most effectively. By utilizing the different bits of information found in each, researchers can zigzag their way to adding centuries to a pedigree.

Pennsylvania’s German Waves

Applying genealogical basics to the peculiarity of searching for the rich records relating to America’s first large ethnic minority population – especially highlighting church registers and immigration documents – as well as the Second Wave Germans who joined them in Pennsylvania.

German Immigrant Waves: Contrasts and Sources

The 1700s “Pennsylvania Germans” were a different breed than the German Americans who immigrated in the 1800s. This presentation shows the differences in geography, economic class, religion, and aspirations of – as well as sources about – the two great waves of German immigration as well as reviewing the basics of German genealogy.

Mining the ‘Űber-sites’ for German Ancestors

While there’s a galaxy of Internet sites that can help you with your German genealogy, some stars shine brighter than others – and it’s not just Ancestry and FamilySearch, although those two 500-pound canaries both have huge assets for those seeking ancestors.

All about Compgen.de

There’s a great website based in Europe that offers researchers of German-speaking ancestors a bountiful menu of online resources – everything from historical background and ways to communicate with European genealogical societies to actual searchable records.

German Names and Naming Patterns

The naming patterns and quirks that are found in German names range from needing to “look in the middle” for first names … as well as dealing with families who used the identical name for surviving children. This presentation demystifies these and other potential problems.

Zeitung Sightings: German-Language Newspapers from Around the Globe

Newspapers and other periodicals are likely to contain information about your German speaking ancestors. Learn about this under-utilized record group, now coming into its own with the digitization of many historical newspapers in the language.

What’s a Palatine Anyway?

So many immigrants hailed from Palatinate area of southwest Germany in the 1700s that Palatine became a nickname for all the Germans coming to America. Learn about the origin of this name, the history of the area, its people and records as well as why it was an emigrant hotbed for three centuries. Handout of article by the same name from Family Chronicle magazine included with talk.

What's a Palatine Anyway?

Your First Wave Immigrants’ Germany: Microstates and Microbreweries

Starting with a concise history of Germany, the geography and records landscape of some First Wave immigration hotspots is examined along with case studies of various microstates applicable to the 18^th century.

Your Second Wave Immigrants’ Germany: Microstates and Microbreweries

Starting with a concise history of Germany, the geography and records landscape of some Second Wave immigration hotspots is examined along with case studies of various microstates applicable to 19^th century.

Germany to America: 18^th Century Odyssey

There are many stereotypes about the immigrants who came from German-speaking lands to America in the 1700s. This lecture uses the personal memoirs of the immigrants themselves to dispel the myths about why they came, what the voyage was like, and how they liked America.

A la Karte: Borders, Maps and Gazetteers for German Genealogists

The borders of German-speaking lands in Europe followed a non-linear pattern that is at first difficult to unpack. Learn about the gamut of on- and off-line tools to overcome it.

Finding the Right German Place!

Researching your ancestors deep into Germany simply doesn’t happen unless you know the name of the village of origin. This presentation goes over the sources to tie your immigrant to a Heimat and then find the village and its records!

What to Call That German Place?

Because of the non-linear history of German-speaking lands, describing to what political entities a village belonged requires two or more iterations depending on the time periods involved. Learn the best practices for recording German place names.

New York’s ‘Palatines’: Diverse Origins, Mid-Atlantic Dispersal

The first mass migration of German-speaking people landed in upstate New York in 1710 and have been intensively studied by Hank Jones and put under the scholarly microscope of Philip Ottnerness. Where did they really come from? And where did they end up?

Pennsylvania German Church Records

An in-depth lecture talking about one of the richest ethnic record groups – the baptisms, marriages, burials, and confirmations recorded by the pastors of the Germans who came to America in Colonial times.

Pioneers and Colonists: Background of Germans in Eastern Europe

Millions of German-speaking people never spent a day in today’s countries of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. For centuries, German-speaking enclaves existed in Eastern Europe. This presentation introduces and gives historical background about these Germans outside Germany.

Conrad Beidler’s Signature

As a prominent miller in Berks County, Pennsylvania, Conrad Beidler (1730-1800), came in contact with more people – and more types of people – in his lifetime than the average Pennsylvania German. The evolution of his signature helps researchers show how these contacts changed him from a youth in Montgomery County to a prosperous Berks County man in middle age.

Werner Hacker’s Welt

The late Werner Hacker built the railway system for postwar Germany before retiring to comb through archives for records of emigration. Learn about his thousands of documents!

German Indentured Servants: The Men, the Myths, the Records

Many Pennsylvania German descendants assume a gap after arrival in America means they ancestor was an indentured servant. Learn the facts and bust the myths!

See also these topics under PENNSYLVANIA...

• Deitsch, Deutsch, Dutch: Key Sources for Germans in Pennsylvania

See also these topics under SPECIALIZED TOPICS...

• Beginner Workshop for German Ancestry

Case Study: Revisiting Sources to Blast a Brick Wall!

1751 German immigrant Friedrich Winter’s village of origin was a mystery—until a descendant returned to sources he’d previously checked as a greenhorn genealogist and found this was a self-inflicted brick wall that only needed a proper reading of evidence to dismantle!

Success Story: Finding a European Village of Origin

The case study of Johannes Dinius, a 1765 immigrant to Pennsylvania, is used to show how scraps of evidence properly deployed can lead to the discovery of a European hometown. A rundown of methodologies and prime sources for finding German origins follows the case study.

Method to the Madness: Investigating Every Possible Newspaper for Your Ancestors

It's tempting to go straight only historical newspaper databases when starting a search. But savvy researchers march to the beat of a different flowchart.

Letterpress to Digital: Historical Newspapers in Print, Microfilm, Online

Everyone’s talking about the huge increase in accessibility of newspapers to genealogists due to digitization. But that’s not the only reason that newspapers are the hottest record group for family historians: More precise cataloging of old newspapers allows researchers to find a greater number of old newspapers in their original print form and microfilm and today’s “born digital” newspaper content are also factors.

Go with the Flow: Finding All the Newspapers You Need!

There’s been a huge increase in accessibility of newspapers to genealogists due to digitization but keeping up with the many services—ranging from free to paid to publisher-sponsored sites—offering content is difficult. Learn the ebb and flow of finding historical newspapers on- and offline, as well as finding and utilizing other newspaper resources such as abstracts and clipping files, and learn through a couple of case studies.

An Average Ancestor Seen Through Newspapers

The country song says everyone dies famous in a small town but you can expect to find a fair number of other references to even your most ordinary ancestors if you make your goal to use all of the potential newspapers for a particular time period.

Early Newspapers’ Hidden Content

Newspapers have changed radically over time. Items that would never be published today were stapes of bygone eras … and those items may well mention your ancestors in everything from birth notices to social columns.

Headlines to Bylines: Using ALL the Newspaper in Your Genealogy

Everyone turns to newspapers to find obituaries of their ancestors but every section and column of historical newspapers can be valuable in your genealogical search. Learn how news briefs, advertisements, even editorials and letters to the editor might add to your store of knowledge about your ancestors and their lives in context.

Vital Records in Print: Finding Births, Marriages and Deaths in Newspapers

Looking at historical newspapers is stepping back to a time when the format of newspapers was not nearly as intentionally designed – this presentation gives you the tools to zero-in on your ancestors’ vital events no matter where they might appear in the newspapers of decades past!

See also these topics under GERMANS...

• Zeitung Sightings: German-Language Newspapers from Around the Globe

Hunting a Homestead Using Land Records

Two options: 1) Three-hour session in which land records are described and the method for drawing land maps for a written description is explained and practiced; 2) A lecture and deed-drawing session followed by a second day in a courthouse or Pennsylvania State Archives to put theory into practice. (Note: Session must be held in a classroom setting to allow participants room to draw the deeds)

Beginner Workshop for German Ancestry

There are many contrasts in how to research Germans from the Colonial First Wave vs. the Second Wave in the century up to World War I. Get a hands-on feel for these differences and the best resources to research each one, including checklists, flow charts and case studies. (Note: Designed as a 2- to 3-hour session, ideally in a classroom setting, to allow more individual attention and interaction)

Organizing (or Reorganizing!) That Family Reunion

There’s no place as good for a family’s history as a reunion, but the gatherings come and go – learn how to organize one that will last or reorganize one that’s fading.

Unlocking the Door to Lineage Societies

Ever wondered how to get into Daughters of the American Revolution? Or Mayflower Society? Or more obscure groups such as the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick? This seminar goes over the qualifications for various groups and the types of documentary proof needed to complete applications.

Preparing for Salt Lake City Research

This session goes over the major resources of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), including which ones can be used at home or locally as well as those that only exist at the Family History Library in Salt Lake. (Note: Available either as a standalone lecture or as an orientation for a group trip)

Secondary Uses for Primary Sources

Learning how to use whole data sets rather than individual records can blast open genealogical roadblocks by exploring the interrelationships of a whole community. Case studies show how this works.

Duplicate Documents That Aren’t the Same

A discussion of how multiple sources may overlap but seldom duplicate exactly the same information – making it essential that researchers check records that may at first blush seem to be the same.