Are there Palatines in your tree? Post here to join the Palatine Migration Project.

Question

 The Palatine Migration Project aims to add and improve WikiTree content regarding emigrants from German-speaking Europe from 1700 until the American Revolution. These people were known colloquially as Palatines regardless of what part of German speaking Europe was their homeland. The Project coordinates the activities of WikiTreers who have Palatine migrant ancestors and/or would like to improve Palatine profiles.

Project members contribute in a variety of ways, through working on family groupings, cleaning up profiles, adding sources, merging duplicates and ensuring that the profiles reach the best standard possible. They also offer assistance to others working on Palatine profiles wherever possible.

If you would like to join the project we would love to have you.

Please post an answer below including your research interests and what you would like to work on.

Make sure to click the ANSWER button, rather than the comments, so we are sure to see your request!  

Comments

My mother's family has Mennonite roots in the Palatine on both her mother and father's sides.   They fled religious persecution in Switzerland and found it for a while in Germany. William Penn convinced them to come to the colony of Pennsylvania.  But then Penn died and they faced ethnic discrimination in Pennsylvania by the English governor as well.

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Hi I am introducing myself to the project -my name is Branwen Temple- I am a descendant of Johann Conrad Weiser and Straub- also Burkhard Moser. And through my maternal line, Libor Winter through my paternal grandmother- all from Pennsylvania.I'd say 75% of my roots coming into the US were through this migration. I would love to do more research with it as I have spent hours on research already and I absolutely can't stop! I have built a tree of 11,000 on Ancestry that started with Straub and I ran into some dead ends that were very frustrating -because I knew there was so much more to discover. Anne Boleyn who is my 22 degree connection on the Temple side of my family comes around with that through genealogy -its facinating!- I am comfortable with German research, places and names-and I want to go further with my own-

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Hi Branwen,

I'll add the project badge to your profile and contact you with further details.

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Dave,

It appears Mary Grubs (Grubb), is part of the "Palatine" migration and is also 4th or 5th Great Grandmother.

Douglas Duggar

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Hi Douglas,

If you are interested in contributing to our project, please send me a private message and I'll get you set up.

Dave

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I am Jeffrey Rudd, great-grandson of Engelbert Dold.

Born in Freiburg, Breisgau, BadenWürttemberg, Germany.

Died on October 24th 1925 in Belleville, Saint Clair, Illinois, U.S.A.

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Hi Jeffrey,

The Palatine Migration Project focuses on German immigration in the 18th century, prior to the American Revolution.

Your ancestor arrived too late for this project, but you could contact the Germany Project.

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I have a lot of German ancestors who have sort of attestation that they participate in the revolutionnary war

But I am so bad at looking in United States registries.
I think I would need a course on this

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Are you interested in joining the project?

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Actually, I have a lot of Palatine in my ancestors...
I would like to understand more of their stories

What made them move to Scotland and United States

But I just don't understand how you can do the research without mixing things up, when you don't speak or read the langage and you don't have the mother's maid name

If someone can teach me how to do it, I can try

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I'll send you a private message.

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Danke ! 

Answer 1

I so, but I don't want to join another project.

Comments

We'd love to have you on board David. If you change your mind, let us know.

Answer 2

I have Palatines who came to Pennsylvania on many of my branches, my husband's as well, but have never dug very far into any of them. Learning about resources would increase my interest (as does helping others)!

Amy Golder-Cooper Golder-180

Comments

Hi Amy!

I've added the project badge to your profile and I'll send you a message with further details.

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I am like Amy -  a number of Palatines who came to Pennsylvania. I would love to help but am relatively new to WikiTree and don't know how to do many things. I would love to learn more, though!

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I'll add your badge and send you the details.

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Like Amy and Betsy above, I have discovered my husband's ancestry contains a whole branch of Palestine's who came to Pennsylvania in the early 1700s: Imler (to Dutch's Corner in Bedford), Bowser (from Switzerland to Lancaster, Pennsylvania and west to Johnstown, PA), Rhoads (Bedford, PA), Reinhart, to name a few. I would like to join this project to learn more on this branch.

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Welcome to the project. I've added the project badge to your profile and I'll send you a message with further details.

Answer 3

My name is David Leighr (Leighr-1) I am descended from Johan Henri Lehr and Elizabeth Seitz who were lured to Broadbay now Waldoboro, Maine by Samuel Waldo around 1745. I would like to learn more about them as the only ref to them I have is the Broad Bay Pioneers, which I own.

Comments

Hi David,

Welcome to the Palatine Project. I'll send you an email.

Answer 4

I think I may be related to some Duchess County Palatines.

Comments

Hi Lorraine,

I'll send you a message about the project.

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Thanks, wasn't aware there was such a privacy setting.

Answer 5

I would like to join and have many Germanic direct ancestors from Southern Germany, Alsace, and Germanic Switzerland in the early 1700s to PA: Lay (Leh, Ley, Lee, Loy), Hefflebower, Bitner, Bowers, Cart, Cauffman, Koder, Coldsmith, Croft, Darr, Dockstader, Dunkelberger, Fetter, Gabel, Gottschalck, Gurtner, Haldeman, Hauer, Henrich, Hoch, Hoffman, Hohenschilt, Huber, Kagi, Laux, Lutz, Mayer, Nelich, Orris, Schwarz, Schweitzer, Smutz, Stober, Shollenberger, Unangst, Wagner, Zeigler - among many others.

Ed Lay

Comments

Hi Ed,

Welcome to the project. I've added the project badge to your profile and I'll send you a message with further details.

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I have Loy ancestors as well from this area.

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My Perry Co PA Lay (Ley, Leh, Loy, Lee) family is distantly, not directly, related to Michael Loy 1740-1823 of Loysville, Perry Co.

See: https://wc.rootsweb.com/trees/619625/I4954/michael-loy/individual

For my direct line with all my Lay/Loy/Ley ancestors see: http://www.people.virginia.edu/~kl2u/Genealogy.html

Ed

K. Edward Lay
Cary D. Langhorne Professor Emeritus of Architecture, University of Virginia

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I have Dunklebergers, Gottchalk,  and others in my Wininger line. I may work on this project.  See how it goes.

Deborah Winegar

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I descend from the Dunkelberger line in PA.

Please email me

Ed Lay

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Hi Ed,

We are not allowed to post email address in G2G, so I've removed it here. Better to ask someone to send you a private message. That accomplishes the same thing.

Thanks!

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I descend from Clemens Hsrtkopf Dumkelberger 1682-1752 & Maria Margaretha Gottschalck whose family came to Berks Co PA

Wish we could email.

Ed Lay

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Sending a private message gives the recipient your email address. The message is delivered via email.

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I do not know how to send a private message - don't have her emil address.

Ed

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Just go to her profile page (or anyone's profile page) and look where she is listed as profile manager.And click on the send private message button:

See

Profile manager: Deborah Gregory [send private message]

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The Dunkleberger line goes back several generations. I have  a huge tree on ancestry.  I'm don't know if it against the rules to mention another site. I will have to check the site to outline the marriage and lineage.

Deborah Gregory (Silveira) Winegar

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Andara (Andrew) Wininger (Winegar) b 1745 Berks, Penns.

married Catherine Dunkelberger, daughter of Clementz Dunkelberger b 1705 Pilghausen, Soligen, Nordrhein, Westfallen, Germany.  From the Sons of the American Revolution application.  

I suspect this is the same family.

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I have added the profiles for Clemens Hsrtkopf Dumkelberger 1682-1752 & Maria Margaretha Gottschalck to the project.

All these folks are connected on WikiTree.

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I have Franks, Bielers, Plyler, Nolph, Nulf. Peffer, and so forth

Answer 6

I would like to join the Palatine Migration project. I have one 6GGF Nicholas Weaver, three 7GGF Hans Michael Ittig, Conrad Frederick and Johan Jurgen Smidt, and one 8GGF Johan Ernst Empey who were Palatines from the initial wave of migration. I have not yet extended my WikiTree out to include them, but can transfer from Ancestry if that would be helpful.

Comments

Hi Gregg

Welcome to the project. I've added the project badge to your profile and I'll send you a message with further details.

Answer 7

Researching my 6th ggf Thomas Miller/Muller. We know he was born before 1731, but where is the question. The known facts are that he had 200 acres in the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River, Augusta,VA 1767, patent 1769, and died 1800 in same location Pendleton, VA. We believe he married Elizabeth Deeds/Dietz 1749. Y-DNA has him related to George Muller 1706-1792 who arrived 1727 with mother, stepfather, and siblings settling in Millbach, PA., but not a direct descendant. The town of Mauer is the former home in Palatine.

Comments

Hi David,

Welcome to the project. I've added the project badge to your profile and I'll send you a message with further details.

Answer 8

We have a book entitled "The Genealogy of Col. William Fetter (Vetter) a Hero In The War of American Independence". My wife's Grandfather is the last descendant in the book. It was published in 1910 I believe - we actually just sent it to her cousin's son who works for Microsoft with some other books to make digital copies, and I asked if he could then make a GEDCOM file of that book so I could incorporate in our tree. Her mother's family has an actual genealogy society with a library in an 1825 church they own in Little Falls, NY Snell-Zimmerman-Timmerman Inc.

Hopefully, I will get the GEDCOM file which I can upload - I have manually put in several generations direct to her, but this book has a couple of thousand ancestors of the Col. and traces to specific German ancestors in the 1500s. Here's a link to their site http://szt-genealogy.org/?fbclid=IwAR35bhuauVqYaPod3-74AuKngEH7y1fqxMT7aqzI0hHoE7cWVbOthHhVnbs

Comments

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the resource. You are not logged in, so I can't sign you up for the project. If you are interested in joining us, contact me with your profile details.

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Thanks for sharing the link.  I checked... unfortunately, I do not have a connection there.

Answer 9

I am working on some Alsatians who share a last name with my ancestors (so far, no relation). At least one of them emigrated, possibly to Iowa. (I have not been able to make the case that the person on both sides of the pond is, in fact, the same person.) I'll pitch in whatever I can.

Comments

Hi Gus,

Welcome to the project. I've added the project badge to your profile and I'll send you a message with further details.

Answer 10

I have several ancestors from the Palatinate Area in Europe.

Wampler, Rieff/Rife, Umberger, Maisch, Eby, Herschii/Hershey, Funk, and many others.

Comments

Reiff of Pennsylvania? That is one of my ancestors who I am researching. Would love to learn more about that side of the family.

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Hi Doug,

I've added you to the project and sent you a message with further details.

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I have Wamplers from Switzerland, then France, and Hersheys from Germany in my family also. I have more projects than time right now, so not ready to join the project, just checking on resources I might find here.

Answer 11

I am interested.  I am descended from Johannes Christman who arrived in 1710 from Dalsheim Germany.  He and his family ultimately settled in the area of Stone Arabia, NY.  Christmans married women whose maiden names were Snell, Hall, and Grey to name a few.  My branch of this family wound up in Wisconsin concluding with my grandmother Laura Christman.

Comments

Hi Barbara,

I see that you are still just a guest member. Once you confirm your membership and get started at WikiTree, we'd love to have you join our group.

Answer 12

My understanding is that my Revolutionary ancestor of Pennsylvania is probably a Pallatine immigrant, or his parents were. I am not sure about his wife, though. Would love to be part of the project and to learn more.

Comments

You are not logged in as a member of WikiTree. If you are interested in joining us, please log in and contact me.

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Okay,

I am logged in....

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That's great. I've added the project badge to your profile and I'll send you a message with further details.

Answer 13

Hello,

I'm descended from (5 GGfather), Andreas Bayer/Beyer/Boyer that arrived in PA (Berks Co.) from Eppstein, Frankenthal, Rheinland-Pfalz. 

Comments

Hi Deb,

Welcome to the project. I've added the project badge to your profile and I'll send you a message with further details.

Answer 14

I am interested in joining this project. One ancestor, Jacob Boy (Bauch), has long been said to be "full blooded German". He was originally from Pennsylvania, moved to Virginia, then settled in Sullivan County, Tennessee after the Revolutionary War. It is beginning to appear many more of my ancestors also had German roots. I haven't taken the time to really study the Palatine Migration and am very interested in learning more.

Comments

Hi Emily,

Welcome to the project. I've added the project badge to your profile and I'll send you a message with further details.

Answer 15

Family lore has it that my 4G immigrant Grandfather: Matthias Brandenburg came from Winkelbach, Parish of Hochstenbach, in the Rheinland-Pfalz region, Holy Roman Empire to Philadelphia, Pennslyvania in 1752 aboard the ship "Two Brothers", What would be the best way to do research?

Comments

Hi Don,

Welcome to the project. I've added the project badge to your profile and I'll send you a message with further details.

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Thanks Dave . . looking forward to some good research ideas.

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Do you, by any chance,  mean Höchstenbach? It‘s a small town in Rhineland-Palatinate, close to Hachenburg.

just thought, this might be helpfull.

Yours, Sabine

Answer 16

I'm a direct descendant of Johann Michael Schmitt - https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Schmitt-2097

Palatine German migrated to Lunenberg, Nova Scotia in the mid-18th century.

Comments

Hi Tim,

Welcome to the project. I've added the project badge to your profile and I'll send you a message with further details.

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Thanks for sharing the link.  My wife has Schmitt ancestors.  Unfortunately, I do not see a connection.  Again, thanks!

Answer 17

Just wanted to note that Ancestor Explorer allows you to (1) generate a list of all your ancestors that have the Palatine Migration template on their profiles (using the Palatine Migration list option), (2) generate a list of all your ancestors that are in a category that has the name Palatine in it (using the Category Text list option and entering the word Palatine -- this should include all ancestors in #1), and (3) generate a list (sortable by date of birth or death) of all ancestors who immigrated to NY, PA or NJ from the Palatinate or Germany (or other applicable place names) so you can see what ancestors might qualify for the Palatine Migration Project (using the Location Text option and entering b:Palatinate,Germany,d:New York,Pennsylvania,New Jersey).

Note, however, that the app will only list ancestor who are connected to you on WikiTree.

Comments

Thanks for creating this nifty tool.  I often say that my paternal line is a "target-rich environment" for Palatines. Now I know how many. Your app says I have 22!

Answer 18

My ancestor, Hans Adam Fehler, was born 20 August 1718 near the Neckar River in Wuerttemberg and was christened 21 August 1718 in the Evangelisch Church in Weinsberg.  He arrived in Philadelphia on 20 October 1738 on the bilander Thistle having sailed from Rotterdam via Cowes, England.  He is listed as a Palatine on the ship's manifest and signed the Oath of Allegiance in his own hand writing of which I found at the Lehigh Historical Society in Allentown, PA.  He married Anna Maria Dorothea Turckerin in 1759.  I believe his parents were Hanss Georg Fehler and Maria Agnes Sammete but I have been unable to confirm this.  I would like to be able to do that as well as find out some information about his wife.

Comments

Hi Margaret.

Welcome to the project. I've added the project badge to your profile and I'll send you a message with further details.

Answer 19

I have worked for several years on the Stahring/Starnes/Starns line and may already be a member.  If not, beginning next fall I will have time to do some palatine research.  I'm sure there are additional names because of the first 2-3 generations who married Palatine women.

Comments

Welcome Janet!

I've added you to the project and I'll send you a note with further details.

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I have Stahring roots too, my maternal grandfather's middle name was Sterling, a derivative of the name.  A great-great grandmother of his' maiden name.

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Hi Helen,

Are you interested in joining our project? If you are just send me a message and I'll get you set up.

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I see that you did post an answer further in the thread. So I'll add you to the project.

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thank you :)

Answer 20

I believe I have Palatines in my ancestry because my grandfather was named Volney Adolphus Collins. His uncle was named Volney Burnell Collins.  I believe the given names Volney and Adolphus originated with Palatines in North Carolina where my great grandfather Sylvester C. Collins was born.  I have been unable to find a Palatine connection to my family tree at this time.

Comments

Hi Turner,

Welcome to the project. I've added the project badge to your profile and I'll send you a message with further details.

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Dave, Thank you for your response.  I look forward to participating in the Palatine Project.