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Pennsylvania German Marriages, printed here in two volumes, is the most important collection of Pennsylvania-German source materials to appear since the publication of Strassburger and Hinke's Pennsylvania German Pioneers over fifty years ago. Primarily a compilation of Reformed Church marriage records (including some records from Lutheran and Union churches), it provides documentation on some 50,000 persons of German origin or descent. Based on records in the collection formed by Dr. William J Hinke--records of approximately 100 churches in eastern Pennsylvania--the compiler has developed herein not merely a list of marriages but a genealogical record of the Pennsylvania Germans.

The records of actual marriages, which form the basis of the work, generally give the names of the bride and groom, the date of marriage, names of parents, place of residence, and sometimes place of origin, date of birth, and previous marital status; while records of marriage deriving from baptismal entries, burial records, etc., variously give names of parents (usually the maiden name of the mother), names of grandparents and sponsors, place and date of birth and/or baptism, names of children, and date of death. Many of the records transcribed here are capsule pedigrees, some identifying three or more generations in a direct line of descent. There is, besides, an abundance of out-of-the-way and unexpected information. Considered as a whole, Pennsylvania German Marriages must rank as one of the premier sources in all of Pennsylvania-German genealogy.

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