Friday Finds: Free Online Census Images

1820 US Census, Lancaster County microfilmThe United States Federal Census is one of the most widely used resources for genealogists. Online access to the census indices and images is available through a variety of subscription services like Ancestry.com, Archives.com, and HeritageQuest and free sites like FamilySearch.org. But did you know that the census microfilm images are also available online for free through the Internet Archive?

You can browse the census microfilm online from the comfort of your home. You can even download a reel and view it as a PDF on your computer. You can’t search the schedules for your ancestor—there is no index. But if you’re short on cash, here’s a free and convenient alternative to visiting the nearest NARA office or genealogy library.

I was finally able to learn the census schedules from Conestoga, Lampeter, Strasburg and Sadsbury townships from 1820 are missing by viewing the microfilm roll online—something Ancestry’s customer service department apparently did not know.

Friday Finds: Trinity Lutheran Birth and Baptismal Records Online

I’ve been trying to get the Trinity Lutheran Church Records, volumes 1-4, through ILL for some time now with mixed results. So, imagine how pleased I was to find some of the records online in the Internet Archive. The Pennsylvania-German Society published their Proceedings and Addresses in the 1890s. Several volumes included records from Trinity Lutheran Church.

  1. The Pennsylvania-German Society, Proceedings and Addresses at Lebanon, October 12, 1892, Volume III
  2. The Pennsylvania-German Society, Proceedings and Addresses at York, October 11, 1893, Volume IV
  3. The Pennsylvania-German Society, Proceedings and Addresses at Reading, October 3, 1894, Volume V
  4. The Pennsylvania-German Society, Proceedings and Addresses at Bethlehem, October 16, 1785, Volume VI

These are just the volumes containing the Trinity Lutheran records. Other volumes that have been put online include records from St. Michael’s in Philadelphia and New Goshenhoppen in Upper Hanover, Montgomery County. View more examples of publications from the Pennsylvania-German Society to see if they might have records you’ve been looking for.

Wordless Wednesday: Unknown Pennsylvanians

Starting this week I’m starting a new photo series—Unknown Pennsylvanians. Amongst the photos I inherited from my maternal grandparents were a whole slew of photos of people that no one in the family can identify. Since none of them are labeled with names, I’m going to post them in a gallery here on my website and feature one photo each week. I’m hoping that someone will be able to identify the person(s) in the photo. I guessing that most of the photos were taken in the early 20th century and that they are friends and/or family of my ancestors from the East Greenville/Red Hill area—the Greulichs, Wieders, Snyders, Witmers, and Waages.

Here’s the first photo.

Unidentified young women

Tombstone Tuesday: Horace & Mary (Breish) Witmer

Horace Witmer (1864-1926) & Mary (Breish) Witmer (1870-1944)

Horace Witmer (1864-1926) & Mary (Breish) Witmer (1870-1944)

Horace Witmer, son of Edward J. and Lydia (Kline) Witmer, was born 21 Dec 1864 and died 5 Dec 1926. His wife, Mary A. C. (Breish) Witmer, was born 8 Jan 1870 and died 31 Mar 1944. They are buried in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Cemetery, Red Hill, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Wordless Wednesday: At Home in Edinburgh, ca 1914

Peter Bonnington Family

Peter, Christina, and May Bonnington and Jessie (Alexander) Bonnington

The back says: “Taken a week past Sunday when up. That is Roy [Rog] next door sitting on Crissie’s knee” and also “Peter Chrissie May Jessie & a little boy that always with May.”

Tombstone Tuesday: Edward & Lydia (Kline) Witmer

Edward Witmer (1833-1912) & Lydia (Kline) Witmer (1836-1926)

Edward Witmer (1833-1912) & Lydia (Kline) Witmer (1836-1926)

Edward J. Witmer, son of John and Rachel (Jones?) Witmer, was born in Quakertown 13 Oct 1833 and died near Finland 24 Jan 1912. His wife, Lydia Amanda (Kline) Witmer, daughter of Philip and Lydia (Markly) Kline, was born 26 Mar 1836 near Pennsburg and died 30 Mar 1926 in Red Hill.