This blog post was partially written using Artificial Intelligence based on my research report on Valentine Shults. Unlocking the Mysteries of Johan “Valentine” Velten Shults Johan “Valentine” Velten Shults was born in 1715 in Darmstadt, Germany, and immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1731. He married twice and died in 1745. But who exactly was this early German immigrant to America? Genealogists have puzzled over conflicting records about his parentage and life in Germany. I recently completed...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is a case study about John D. Isenhour and surnames that can be challenging to research. The surname Eisenhower was challenging to research because of the various spellings and eventual anglicization of the name by our branch of the family. We discuss John D. Isenhour’s migration from Pennsylvania to North Carolina to Missouri, using tax and land records to learn more, and understanding the community he migrated with....
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about using DNA evidence to help with your Pennsylvania German research. We talk with Heidi Mathis about her experience using DNA with her colonial German ancestry. She noticed that her recent German side has fewer DNA matches than her colonial German side. We discuss differences in match lists, using autosomal DNA for more distance research questions, and an example from the Hittell family in 18th century Pennsylvania. ...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is a discussion with Alice Childs, AG, about additional record types that can help with Pennsylvania German research, including tax records, military records, naturalization records, court records, German Newspapers, and family records. We go over Fraktur and Taufschein and where those can be found as well. Transcript Nicole (2s): This is Research Like a Pro episode, 211 Pennsylvania Germans part five more records. Welcome to Research Like a...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is a discussion with Alice Childs about finding probate and church records for Pennsylvania German ancestors. We discuss the probate process and the resulting records. We also talk about using FamilySearch to browse to probate books at the county level. Pennsylvania was known as a place for religious tolerance, and many Germans of different denominations settled in the same places. We talk about how to find out what...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about acquiring land in Colonial Pennsylvania and subsequent land transactions. Alice Childs, Accredited Genealogist Professional, shares how colonists received the first title to land in a five-step process. We review the steps to finding your ancestor’s land and an example from Alice’s family. We talk about deeds and using various types of deed indexes. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is Research Like a Pro episode 209 Pennsylvania Germans...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about the emigration of Pennsylvania Germans from their homeland. We talk with Alice Childs, Accredited Genealogist Professional, about the steps required for a German emigrant to leave Germany. We also talk about the voyage and ship records. This episode also includes a discussion of the guiding principles to follow when researching Pennsylvania Germans, like employing FAN methodology and identifying the proper jurisdiction. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about the history of Pennsylvania Germans. They came in the colonial American period and have millions of Americans as their descendants. Join us as we talk with Heidi Mathis about important factors for finding records about Pennsylvania Germans and factors for Germans leaving Europe and coming to Pennsylvania colony. Transcript Nicole (2s): This is Research Like a Pro episode, 207 Pennsylvania Germans part one with Heidi...
In our previous blog posts in this series, we have been learning all about how to research our Pennsylvania German ancestors by discovering the paper trail they have left behind. What about DNA? How useful will it be in helping us with these colonial ancestors? Even though (for most test-takers) colonial ancestors will be beyond the typical 5-6 generations that autosomal DNA is useful, using DNA with your colonial German ancestors may be a key...
Have you noticed that some of your family lines have many DNA matches and others very little? My dad is seven-eighths 19th-century German, one-sixteenth Pennsylvania German (18th century) and one-sixteenth colonial American/British. I’ve noticed that my dad has many matches on his Pennsylvania German side. However, there are only a few matches on my dad’s 19th-century German ancestor lines. As much as we want our match list to tell us about our ancestors, we have...
