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German Community Forum Series
PalAm-Ohio’s German Community Forum Series resumes on Saturday, September 27, 2025 at 10:00 AM ET, as a FREE ZOOM only event. Carol Swinehart, who coordinates our series, will present one of her most challenging success stories and share the tips, techniques, and strategies that led her to the right ancestor in Germany. Join us as we hear an inspiring success story of breaking through a difficult German research brick wall.
Do you have an elusive ancestor story—one where you finally uncovered your family in German records after an exhaustive search? We’d love for you to share your journey!
The German Community Forum Series offers a welcoming space for researchers to exchange strategies, discoveries, and success stories. Presentations may run anywhere from 15 minutes up to 2 hours, depending on your preference.
We currently have presentation slots available in November, December, January, and February. After a short break for the Spring Conference, the German Community Forum Series will resume with monthly Saturday sessions from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time through June.
This talk is free, and we hope to see you online. To register, e-mail ckfsmail@gmail.com, and put “Ohio PALAM GFS” on the subject line. We get so many emails; please be sure to use that specific title so that you can be sure to get registered and receive your ZOOM link.
Cemetery Markings and Their Meanings Language of the Cemetery
Presenting NANCY OTTMAN, a retired Director of Human Resources and Loss Prevention for the JC Penney Co. She has been involved with genealogy research and cemetery studies for 30 plus years. She joined Palatines to America in 2006, and is a former treasurer for PalAm and was instrumental in the moving of the collection to the Columbus Metropolitan Library. She is a member of the Association of Gravestone Studies and Ohio Genealogical Society. She has spoken on beginning Genealogy, Immigration of Germans to America, migration of Germans throughout the United States, and has given numerous lectures on cemetery tombstones and their meanings, as well as several educational presentations for the Columbus Metropolitan Library, school districts and fraternal organizations.
The Language of the Cemetery will introduce the sights of the cemetery. We will start the visit with a quick review of tombstone types. Then we will look closer at the stones for the 17th, 18th and 19th century markings. We will see stones and markings from around the United States, Europe and South America. We will finish with military markers and a few interesting miscellaneous stones and markers.
The cost is FREE for PalAm members and $5 for non-members or registrations after September 20th. Registration is required to get the Zoom link.
Members: Email Bonnie Everhart (bonnieeverhart@gmail.com) or Becky Thornton (rthornton07@gmail.com) with your membership number to get the Zoom link. Non-Members: Send via PayPal at @NCPALAM, or mail a check payable to: NC Chapter PalAm Bonnie Everhart 7791 Young Rd Hickory, NC 28602 Email address is required to get the Zoom link.
Come join us on the 2025 PalAm FamilySearch Library Research Trip!
A deposit of $100 is required with registration. Balance is due July 31, 2025. Fees do not include parking at the hotel, meals, or transportation costs.
Register online here or Download the flyer with more details and offline registration form.
Questions? Contact Lloyd Shenberger, group leader, at LWShenberger@gmail.com
• Hotel accommodations at the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel—a 2-minute walk to the Library • 7-nights [Sunday, September 28 thru Saturday, October 4 (depart Oct 5) • Special hotel rate for our genealogy group • 4 floors of extensive research resources―microfilm, books, periodicals, maps, etc. • Research specialists to provide assistance and translations • View microfilm onsite that otherwise requires vising a FamilySearch Center or Affiliated Library or may be restricted outside of FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake • Transfer a wide variety of media to digital format at no cost―includes photos, VCR, cassette tapes, movies, etc. • Going as part of a group that can be supportive is especially good for first time visitors to the FamilySearch Library • Social time with fellow researchers • FamilySearch Library classes scheduled for group • The remainder of the time is yours to use for research as you desire. • Travel arrangements and additional expenses provided by each attendee
The Pennsylvania Chapter’s series of Third Tuesday Zoom programs continues. Presented at 7:00 PM ET, they are free and open to all. Join us for our October program:
From the Old World to the New: German Immigration & Emigration Records Across the Centuries Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Millions of German-speaking immigrants crossed the Atlantic to build new lives in America, leaving behind valuable records on both sides of the ocean. This webinar explores immigration and emigration sources from the Colonial Era through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We'll examine why Germans left, where they settled, and—most importantly—what records document their journeys. From Pennsylvania oaths of allegiance and Hamburg passenger lists to Ellis Island manifests and German emigration permissions, you'll learn how to locate and interpret the records that trace your ancestors' paths. Real-life examples and case studies for each wave of immigration will show you how to put these resources into practice. Whether your German ancestors arrived in the 1700s or the early 1900s, this presentation will give you the strategies and tools to follow their journey from the Old World to the New.
Gail Shaffer Blankenau is a historian, genealogist, author, and speaker with expertise in uncovering hidden family histories and analyzing complex records. Her book Journey to Freedom—the story of Celia and Eliza Grayson's 1858 escape from enslavement in Nebraska Territory—was a Midwest Book Award Finalist in Nonfiction History and the 2025 Winner of the Nebraska Book Award. Gail has contributed research to the award-winning book, A Question of Freedom by William G. Thomas III, serves as genealogist for the Nickerson Family Association, sits on the Nebraska State Historical Advisory Board for Digitizing Newspapers, and is a board member of the Germanic Genealogy Society.
Register here to join us for this program. If you have a question that you want to ask, feel free to email us in advance at info@pennpalam.org or pennsylvaniapalatines@gmail.com.
German Farm Families and Histories, and Bavarian History and Resources
Oct 25, 2025, 9:15 am to 4:30 pm Eastern
Gail Shaffer Blankenau – Our morning speaker Gail Shaffer Blankenau is a professional genealogist, historian, speaker, and author. She holds a MA degree in history from the University of Nebraska–Kearney, and in 2023 she received the James L. Sellers prize for her article about the Grayson sisters in a volume of Nebraska History magazine.
German Farm Histories and Family Histories For many with Germanic heritage, the history of the farm is the history of the family. Learn about farm histories, what they are and what might be in them.
Synopsis of Finding Your Roots in German Farm Histories Until the early 1900s, most of the population in the Germanic states was engaged in agriculture. Thus, many of us with Germanic heritage will have some ancestors engaged in farming. German farm customs were different from those in America and Germans were tied to the land in ways that American farmers were not. Particularly in the earlier years, the history of your family’s farm was integral to your family history.
We will explore what farm histories are, how to use them and what kinds of records are used to construct them. We will also discuss the importance of the farm in German rural and village life and how farming differed from what we know here in the United States. In the Germanic states, farms and farmers were part of a hierarchical social structure and understanding how our ancestors fit into these structures can help us to flesh out important details in our genealogy. We will also discuss resources, websites and keywords to help in locating farm histories. Two case studies will show how research progressed from American research records “back to the farm” in Germany.
Power Combination: Using German Farm Histories with German Church Records German church books have been called the gold standard of German genealogy, and rightly so. Every genealogist exploring Germanic roots will utilize them. But when you add in the kind of information found in German farm histories, you will have a powerful combination of information and context that will help you better to understand your German heritage.
Maximilian Riedel – Our afternoon speaker Since 2007 he has had a passion for genealogy and has been helping clients from all over Europe, North America and Australia. His own roots are located in Bavaria, Bohemia, Silesia and Greater Poland (Prussia). Occasionally he does research for PBS “Finding Your Roots”.
Topics: The History of Bavaria. Available Online resources as well as research strategies for finding ancestors in Bavaria.
Seminar Information This seminar will be offered via Zoom only. All registered participants will also have access to the recordings for 30 days after the event.
Visit the Ohio PalAm Chapter Website for Registration & Payment information.
The Colorado Chapter of Palatines to America is pleased to announce that Alex Tolksdorf has accepted our invitation to be the speaker at our Fall Seminar on 15th November 2025. Visit www.copalam.us for more details.
Alex’s Topics: 1. Maximizing Research Success in the Aroslen Archives 2. Eastern European Genealogy for Beginners 3. Tracing your Dutch Roots 4. How to Get your Family Engaged in your Research
The seminar will be a hybrid event. A recording will be made available for 30 days to those who register. In-person attendees who register by 27th October 2025 will be eligible for lunch with Alex, There will be lots of door prizes for both in-person and virtual attendees.
About Alex: Alexander Tolksdorf is a genealogist and speaker, specializing in German, Dutch, and Eastern European research. He began his personal journey in high school, inspired by a trip to Ellis Island and through a correspondence with his great uncle in Germany, who also was an active family historian. All four of his grandparents immigrated to the United States in the 1950s following the Second World War; as such, the majority of his research experience and focus is in European sources. Paternally, his family is German, primarily from the Prussian provinces of Westphalia, Posen, and East Prussia. Maternally, his family roots are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Lithuanian. Thus far, Alex has uncovered and actively researches family lines in Ukraine, Germany, Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, and Russia. Through this work, he has become very comfortable with research in these counties; including overcoming the language barriers, lack of online record access, and lost or missing records. He relies on civil, church, and a plethora of other records for his research, and finds that all provide illumination and the tools to break down brick walls. Alex believes that standard records only tell part of the story, with the many additional forms of documentation providing color and texture to a family history. Alex enjoys his work as a financial analyst at the Ford Motor Company, and is a former President of the Ford Genealogy Club. He is also active in the Ukrainian-American community of Metro Detroit, serving as a former treasurer of the Ukrainian Graduates of Detroit and Windsor, the treasurer and circulation manager of the Detroitski Novyny, the local community newspaper, the chairperson of the Supervisory Committee of the Ukrainian Self-reliance Michigan Federal Credit Union, and a board member of the Ukrainian American Archives and Museum. During his spare time when he is not researching, Alex enjoys walking and exercising with his wife, Katelyn, and their dog, as well as working on his car, a 2014 Ford Mustang GT. Alex is an Accredited Genealogist (AG®), credentialed by the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen℠) for the Germany – East region.
Register electronically using PayPal at https://www.copalam.us/ on the seminar registration link. Register by mail by completing the form available at https://www.copalam.us and mail it with your check payable to COPalAm Colorado Palatines P.O. Box 51186 Colorado Springs, CO 80949
The Pennsylvania Chapter’s series of Third Tuesday Zoom programs continues. Presented at 7:00 PM ET, they are free and open to all. Join us for our November program:
Lost in Pennsylvania - Try the Published Pennsylvania Archives Tuesday, November 18, 2025
The Pennsylvania Archives is a set of 138 published volumes in ten series that can be overwhelming to the genealogist who first sees them. However, searching in these volumes can help you locate information about what an ancestor was doing at a given time, and where s/he was doing it. If an ancestor surfaces in Western Pennsylvania or Ohio, information in these volumes may help you to learn where s/he was before that time. Most information in the published Pennsylvania Archives covers from the colonial period through about 1850. Along with state documents, reports and papers, this series included things like land records, church records, and military records. This talk will discuss how to access the Pennsylvania Archives and give you a plan of attack to work through them to get the most information soonest, illustrated with examples of the kind of information you might find.
Christine Crawford-Oppenheimer, MLS, has a Master’s Degree in library science and a graduate certificate in archives. She started doing genealogical research in 1979, specializing in Pennsylvania research. She belongs to several genealogical societies. Her training as a librarian helps in developing talks about research for genealogists, and articles she has written have appeared in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, and the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, among others.
Indiana Chapter Collaborative Learning Session Saturday, February 7 2026 ― 10:00 AM – 12:00 PMZoom Virtual OnlyFree to ALL
Join us on Zoom as we explore how AI can enhance genealogical research. From searching on websites to using smartphone features, AI already helps genealogists work more efficiently. This CLS will help you understand and use these tools.
10 am - 11 am General introduction to AI and Genealogical Uses
AI Basics and Practical Applications - Patty Wiseman will explain AI fundamentals and demonstrate how chatbots like ChatGPT can assist genealogists. You'll learn practical ways to use these tools for genealogical tasks.
11 am - 12 pm Putting it All Together: Research Planning and Projects
Integrating AI into Your Research Process - Andrea Ackermann will show how AI can work as a research assistant throughout your genealogical research plan. Learn specific techniques for using AI to increase your plan’s efficiency and effectiveness.
Both presentations will include time for questions and sharing experiences. Whether you're new to AI or have been using these tools extensively, participants can join the discussion and learn from each other.
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