The Messenger Newspaper of the German Reformed Church

In 1827, a newspaper was founded to help support the missionaries of the German Reformed Church in the new country of the United States of America.  It was printed in English and Pastors sent subscriptions accompanied with information on marriages and deaths.  In 1832, the newspaper was named The Messenger, also known as The Magazine of the German Reformed Church, with it's office in  York, PA. It was published semi-monthly until 1835,when it became a bigger publication.  At that time it's offices moved  to Chambersburg, PA, and was renamed The Weekly Messenger of the German Reformed Church.  Issues were sent to 22 of the States, and the  content blossomed to inform the readers about many human interest stories, including community members and their individual family members.

by Barbara Manning, published by Heritage Books, July 2012, 328 pp. including index

Got German ancestors?  Perhaps they were mentioned in one or more of the newspapers published by the German Reformed Church during the years 1830 to 1839.

What's inside this book?  Notices of marriages, deaths, accidents, murders, arrests, convictions, hangings, and, oh yes, Good News stories are also mentioned in this text.  Lists of students, school and church board members and those who donated to special collections of importance to members of the German church are mentioned, too.

I browsed the index to look for familiar names, then looked into the text to find what had been reported about these persons.  A majority of the reports were of people living in and around Pennsylvania.  However, the information seemed to be valuable, as marriages announced the groom and bride, along with their parents names and the counties from which they resided.  Other reports of those making donations to support their pastors mentioned each by name, amount donated and location of their church.  Deaths reported the causes of each person's demise, including ages and circumstances, like lightening strikes or old age.

This book is offered on Amazon for $29.50.  AncestorStuff.com has one book offered for $10.00 on CLEARANCE.  After that one is sold, we will order from the publisher and offer the book at $26.30.

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Charts and Forms

I know that so many researchers are fighting to get their research scanned and stored online, in a cloud, on a flash drive, loaded on a CD, or wherever.  But, don't you just miss the paper that you can hold in your hands?  I do.  That's why I always keep a few copies of paper family trees and paper forms.  Just to know that I have it makes me more comfortable.

AncestorStuff.com represents a few companies that offer  publications of books and guides with forms that can be reproduced.  Priced from $14 to $18, these are very affordable.  And, they are a nice gift idea for anyone who has a passion for family history.  Here are a some by Tony Matthews:

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