Learning from Case Studies

 From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman):

 

This week, we have finished the second day of our German Phase 1: Identify the German Hometown. We have a wonderful class with engaged students. Locating the German town of origin can be a challenging research journey. One of the ways to learn effective methodology is to study the published articles and case studies from those that have been successful.

 

One of those researchers is the late John T. Humphrey, who sadly died in 2012. He has published several articles that can be instructive in how to research German immigrants. Two of them are linked below:

 

·      “Establishing the German Origins of Several Northampton County Settlers,” online at https://genpa.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/pennsylvania-genealogical-magazine/PGM_Volume_38_Number_1_pages_005-039.pdf

·      “Identifying Victims of an Indian Massacre,” online at https://genpa.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/pennsylvania-genealogical-magazine/PGM_Volume_41_Number_2_pages_101-119.pdf

 

Studying the methodology and sources used in the above articles can be instructional and can inform how we plan our research.