A recent question was where one could find church records. Many states have an Archive which maintains originals or copies of church records. In Virginia there has been published a 270-page book, which shows the Archive's holdings of church records. By now, they may be online also. This would be my first suggestion for tracking down records. Also, many churches have libraries and depositories, in conjunction with their theological seminaries. The German churches, especially the Lutheran and Reformed, but not the Anabaptists, are well represented, especially in the records of births and baptisms.
Just yesterday a question was asked concerning the identity of Rev. Daniel Hoffman's wife. There is no marriage license, or record of the marriage, but it is very probable that she was Magdalena Bunger. Arriving at this conclusion goes beyond reading the church records, which consist of confirmations and baptisms. It does take a knowledge of the community.
The question is sometimes asked, "Aren't hard facts, such as marriage licenses, better than the deductions from records such as baptisms, confirmations, and the whole realm of evidence, such as land records and wills?" The answer is that sometimes they are not. The late Libby McNamara once scolded me for not using a will to determine who Mary Willheit was. I pointed out that there were six Mary Willheits in the community, and the will was not very specific about which one was intended. On the other hand, the baptisms often identify the brothers and sisters, and in doing so, remove any ambiguity.
I am of the opinion that a mass of circumstantial evidence can be much better than a single hard fact, which might not be true. The tales that we read on Roots Web of forged names on birth certificates should give one pause for thought. Genealogy is a matter of probabilities, not certainties. The more evidence that we can collect the better that we can answer the questions.
And the evidence that we pull off web pages is hardly evidence at all. It makes interesting fiction, and that is all that it should be considered, until it is verified.
If any of you will be in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, today, come on to the Hans Herr House, where I will be leading tours. Already this is the second time this year that I have done this. I expect the day to be pleasant, and the countryside to be filled with the farmers busy in the fields. No five-day work weeks for them.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.