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The Hopedale Moravian Church letters are the only known first-person accounts of life in the early settlement of Newfoundland in northeast Pennsylvania. When a small group more of German immigrants arrived in the Wallenpaupack Valley in the 1820s, the region was a pristine wilderness, as yet undiscovered by the tanners, mill owners and lumber manufacturers that would arrive a decade or two later. The letters shed light on a period in our rural history about which little is known and for which little documentation exists. The letters not only document the challenges of establishing a mission church along Pennsylvania’s northern frontier, they also give insight into the struggles of the families to survive in the face of so many hardships—poverty, language barrier, illness, lack of agricultural skills, seasonal floods, harsh winters, unreliable harvests, internal conflicts, absence of schools for their children—and create a thriving community. The pastors were a lifeline for the early settlers. In many ways they instrumental in guiding the settlers through those early perilous years, and these efforts are described in their correspondence. In addition, the letters include membership lists, annual reports and annual budgets which are helpful in documenting family histories and genealogy, as well as other details that may open up new possibilities for further research. As the first and only church in the Wallenpaupack Valley, the Hopedale Moravian Church pastors ministered to all who settled there, regardless of their religious affiliation. The letters also reveal connections between the German-speaking Moravian settlers and the surrounding English-speaking community. less

The digitized reminiscences recorded by John Hill Brinton consist of five volumes (three original and two typed transcripts) and date from 1856 to 1868. Found within more the collection are descriptions of early Chester County people, places, and historical events dating back to the late 1600s. John Hill Brinton (1811-1893) was born in Thornbury, Pennsylvania on June 2, 1811, the son of Thomas Hill and Catharine Odenheimer Brinton. He attended Strode’s Academy, West Chester, Pennsylvania and Germantown Academy in Philadelphia. Brinton then studied law for three years with William H. Dillingham and was admitted to the Chester County bar on October 6, 1832. He practiced law in West Chester, and was the oldest member of the county bar at the time of his death. Active in politics and a self-identified Jacksonian Democrat, Brinton was a compelling speaker. Though he was never elected to office, he was appointed Deputy Attorney General—the equivalent of District Attorney—for Chester County, serving from April 1847 until July 1848. Brinton was also a local historian interested in his family genealogy, as well as early Chester County history. In 1873, he traveled to Europe in part to learn about his family’s origins. Additionally, beginning in the 1840s, he interviewed Chester County residents about their families and recorded their memories about the county’s past. Brinton died, aged 81, unmarried and childless, after a brief illness on February 5, 1893. The collection consists of three handwritten volumes and two volumes of transcriptions that document the history of Chester County, Pennsylvania from the late 1600s to the mid-1800s through the reminiscences of residents interviewed by Brinton. After Brinton’s death, the original manuscript was held by the Ogier family for many years before being returned to the Brinton family at which point handwritten indexes were added. In 1915, Francis D. Brinton underwrote the manuscript’s typed transcription and the two volumes of transcripts were bound by Fahr and Johnson of Philadelphia in 1950. The only typed index is in the first transcribed volume, leaving readers to refer to the original manuscript volumes for handwritten indexes to Book 2 and Book 3. Book 1 is described by Brinton as “Conversations held with old people respecting former times—some of them relatives, some of them friends, some acquaintances—and residing generally in Chester and Delaware Counties and Birmingham and Thornbury Township.” The volume begins with a 23 page index followed by 240 pages of Brinton’s handwritten synopses. These recollections include many members of the Carr, Darlington, Dilworth, Downing, Hickman, Hoopes, Mendenhall, Sharpless, and Taylor families. Brinton notes that these conversations were recorded as soon as they took place, though in cases of multiple conversations with single individuals, manuscript notations were consolidated into a single record. Topics discussed include the Revolutionary War and the Battle of Brandywine, the growth and development of Chester County, the changing appearance of the county’s land and trees, house and road construction, Quaker meetings, family genealogies, local mills, property ownership, politics, legal precedents, and etc. In addition, Brinton family members and the building, renovation, and general appearance of the 1704 Brinton House are discussed at length. Book 2 begins with a 32 page index followed by 231 pages of handwritten recollections, which cover topics similar to those in Book 1. In addition, Brinton records his visit to Europe, which he undertook in part to trace his family’s history and origins. Book 3 begins with a 14 page index followed by 174 pages of notes. The first section, “Notes of Conversations held by me with old inhabitants about the early settlement in Penn’s Colony,” covers events relating to Chester County’s earliest European inhabitants. The second section, “Some account of William Brinton one of the early settlers in Penn’s Colony of Pennsylvania and of His Descendants,” is an essay on the life of William Brinton, who settled in America in the 1600s. less

The Agentur Records Collection consists of 72 volumes of handwritten ledgers, indexes, logs, reports, and letter books spanning the years 1847 to 1947, recording the efforts more of the German Society of Pennsylvania’s Agency to help needy German immigrants and Philadelphia residents of German origin. The collection contains valuable biographical information for local history, social history, labor history, immigration research, and genealogy. less

Miscellaneous papers of Lutheran clergyman Henry Melchior Muhlenberg from his later years, including two versions of a memorandum in his hand concerning St. Peter's Lutheran Church more in Barren Hill, Pa. (1774-1783), three letters addressed to him (1782-1786), and a copy of a marriage certificate signed by him (1771). less

This collection consists of the daily German language newspaper "Der Demokrat". Variant titles are: Philadelphia Demokrat, Philadelphia Demokrat und Anzeiger der Deutschen, and Philadelphier Demokrat. It more merged with the Morgen Gazette to form the Gazette-Demokrat. This collection includes issues for 1838-1876 with some missing years and issues. The years 1877-1907 were digitized separately and can be viewed at: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102409452/Home less

This newspaper was edited & published by Hermann Burckhardt & Georg Rottenstein, May 1838-?, then by Georg Rottenstein alone. Not to be confused with Der Demokrat, more 1839-1918. less

This collection contains items from the German Society of Pennsylvania's archival holdings related to Philadelphia-based German-American singing societies of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Items more include: souvenir programs, recordings, correspondence and sheet music. less

Since its founding in 1764, the German Society provided charitable assistance to German-speaking immigrants in the community. The Women’s Auxiliary of the German Society of Pennsylvania more was founded in 1900 to serve as an additional charitable arm of the Society, with particular emphasis on charity for families in distress in the Philadelphia area. The collection includes annual reports, meeting minutes, correspondence, photographs and ephemera. less

In the Johnstown neighborhood of Cambria City are located five historical, ethnic churches. In 2009, the Altoona/Johnstown Diocese closed four of the churches and renamed the more fifth church. Each of these churches has celebrated a centennial and one has celebrated a quasquicentennial. Before the churches were de-sanctified, each one was photo-documented and a description developed to explain the location and history of realia contained in the church. In addition, print materials were digitized related to each church (e.g. church newsletters, event flyers, bulletins.) The ethnicities of the churches were German, Slovak, Irish, Polish/Hungarian, and Croatian. less

This collection includes scans of immigration declarations registered in Cambria County from 1835-1991. Information includes name, place of departure, country of origin, and age.

This collection features items collected from the public that focus on the immigrant and ethnic heritage of Cambria County.

The manuscript diary was recorded by the Germantown printer and Church of the Brethren pastor, Christopher Sauer, Jr. (1721-1784). Written in German script, the diary, although more small, contains a wealth of genealogical information on the early Church of the Brethren in Pennsylvania, as well as important personal information about Sauer, Jr., including accounts concerning his printing business and a short entry regarding his being brought to a provisional continental court on suspicion of being a spy for England during the American Revolution. In the words of the late Brethren scholar, Dr. Donald Durnbaugh of Juniata College: “in his [Sauer’s] diary are included brief sketches of his life history and that of his family. Though terse, they are informative.” less

Selections from the State Library of Pennsylvania’s vast collection of works in the German language and about the Pennsylvania German communities of the state of Pennsylvania. more less

Items include a report on the 1907 Dar Mine Disaster relief efforts; the Twin Shaft mining disaster investigation, 1986, Early Indian history along the Susquehanna River, more Problem of the Irish in America speech, 1886, American Freeman, 1867. less

A newspaper of the Pennsylvania and New York Colonization societies, covering immigrant issues, African American affairs, religious tracts and tract societies, and various other issues, such more as the Apprentices’ Library company of Philadelphia.  Contains advice and informational columns on household affairs and farming.  Also reports on the Back to Africa movement and African affairs in other countries, such as Haiti.  Published fortnightly at first, then weekly, in 1838, then published monthly in at least January-June 1839, beginning with the New Series, which restarted numbering.  Issues from March 14, 1838 to December 26, 1838. less