ROOTS & BRANCHES

I consider it to be one of the perks of being a columnist—in addition to this weekly “Roots & Branches” column I also have different bimonthly column in German Life magazine—to receive mail, now mostly electronic but occasionally through the post office, from readers.

And as careful readers of this and the magazine column know, sometimes I see that answering the reader’s inquiry will benefit more than just that person and make it into its own column.

So it was with the earnest e-mail I received Martha Bachman of Plattsburgh, New York, earlier this month.

“My third-great-grandfather was Richard Umstead,” Bachman recounted. “I believe he was born in the Perkiomen area of Pennsylvania.  His father was Joel.  Joel brought his family west to Butler County in the early part of the 1800s Richard became a minister of the Church of God.  I am very interested in suggestions on how to learn more about this family.”

As Bachman went on to write, the Umstead family went back to the founding of Germantown in the late 1600s. The historically minded early 20^th century Pennsylvania Gov. Samuel Pennypacker was descended from a family member, Bachman wrote.

Her ancestor Richard Umstead’s religious affiliation in western Pennsylvania is especially of interest to Bachman. “When and how Richard became involved with this church is a mystery,” she wrote. “Richard is buried in a family cemetery in Butler County. The land belonged to his wife’s family. The church was located on this property. His wife was Elizabeth Kerner or Carner.  I have not been able to trace them.”

Of course, ancestors’ motivations are often a matter of guesswork—unless they keep a diary or other correspondence has been preserved.

But in the case of Richard’s church involvement, we can at least place it in the context of history, in this case the religious movement called the Second Great Awakening, and make an educated guess that his affiliation might have something to do with uptick in the founding of many new Christian denominations. Researching these individual denominations and congregations (many of which have published histories) may yield more information.

As far as other sources, of course, Bachman needs to look at traditional sources such as estates, deeds and tax lists, some of which are now online on pay-site Ancestry.com or the free FamilySearch.org.

She also should look at smaller institutions in the areas of residence of her family such as the Perkiomen Creek Valley in Montgomery County—such as the Pennypacker Mills in Schwenksville and Center for Pennsylvania German Studies in Trappe (the latter is scheduled to open in May).