Heritage From the Pennsylvania Dutch

Contributing greatly to American culture--in agriculture techniques, pre-industrial technology, trades, food and in religious patterns--the Pennsylvania Dutch also are credited with giving us such customs as the Christmas tree and the Easter rabbit.

The history of this ethnic group began with the settlement of Germantown (near Philadelphia) on Oct. 6, 1683, when 13 Quaker and Mennonite families from Krefeld (Rhineland) founded that community.

However, the major center of what would become a large German emigration was from the Electoral Palatinate (Kurpfalz). First they were called Palatines, then Dutchmen. Pennsylvania Dutch and Pennsylvania German are American terms with the Dutch coming from the German word for German ( Deutsch )--and originally denoted everyone who came from the mouth of the Rhine River to its origins in Switzerland.

Many of the 18th-Century German-speaking immigrants to Pennsylvania--and they often sailed from Holland--included Palatines, Swabians, Alsatians, Hessians and Swiss.

Mostly these ancestors were Lutheran or Reformed church members, but some were Amish, Anabaptists, Moravian Brethren, Mennonites and Harmonites.

Genealogical and historical records abound on the Pennsylvania Dutch--one of America’s most famous ethnic groups. Finding the marriage records of these ancestors can be difficult, however, as marriages often took place at the parsonage or in a tavern, and often there was no record book.

It is in the church books that you will find the abundance of genealogical information about your Pennsylvania Dutch families--many have been translated and published--but many have not. They are deposited in various locales--mostly in Pennsylvania, in church or historical archives, with numerous records microfilmed by the Family History Library of Salt Lake City.

For the serious researcher with German roots--whether descended from Pennsylvania Dutch or grandparents who came from the old country centuries later--there is a new book that is indispensable in tracing their German roots in American and Old World church records.

“German Church Books: Beyond the Basics,” by Kenneth L. Smith, addresses the multitude of problems an American researcher, even one fluent in German, may encounter. Since church records pertaining to our German ancestors often date from the present to the late 1600s, with some even going back to the mid-1500s, this book is a must for the serious researcher. It is available, hard-bound, on acid-free paper, from Picton Press, Box 1111, Camden, Me. 04843, ($31.50 postpaid).

To discover the many repositories with historical and genealogical material pertaining to the Pennsylvania Dutch, consult Directory of Historical Societies and Agencies in the United States and Canada and the Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Both may be found, usually in the reference sections, of most public libraries.