Palatines to America German Genealogy Society : New York Chapter
President: Tom Shannon | The Henry Z. Jones Jr. Palatine Research Center |
Email: PalamNY@gmail.com Gravestone Cleaning Project The New York Chapter has made gravestone cleaning a big part of what we do. During last year's annual meeting, program chair Christopher White demonstrated how to do the cleaning.
| Update: The New York Chapter of Palatines to America and the Germantown (NY) Library are happy to announce a pilot program of a look up service for the Henry Z Jones Jr Palatine Research Center. Interested researchers may email inquiries to palatines@germantownlibrary.org. Please keep inquiries as specific as possible and reference the library search feature at germantownlibrary.org before writing. Please allow up to seven days for an answer. If you find the look up service useful and want it to continue further, please consider making a tax deductible donation to the New York Chapter of PalAm earmarked for the Hank Jones collection. ![]() Canajoharie & Palatine Bridge, NY 1881; https://lccn.loc.gov/2005626674 |
In October 1710 some 1200 Palatines established “East Camp” on the east bank of the Hudson after a long and arduous voyage from southwest Germany via Queen Anne’s England. It was the largest single migration in the colonial era. The Palatines came seeking land, but first they had to fulfill their contract with the Queen to produce pitch pine tar for the Royal Navy on land sold to the Crown by Manor Lord Robert Livingston. The pitch pine venture failed in just two years, but the hardy immigrants persevered and in due course realized their dream. Many Germantown residents today trace their ancestry to those original Palatine settlers. | Known as "East Camp", the colony had four villages: Hunterstown, Queensbury, Annsbury, and Haysbury. The area was later renamed "Germantown." |
We visited Gen. Nicholas Herkimer's house outside of Little Falls NY as part of our Fall 2022 seminar. In 1723, Nicholas Herkimer’s grandparents (Georg and Magdalena) and his parents (Johan Jost and Catherine) were among the German Palatines to be granted land in the Burnetsfield Patent. Today this includes the towns of Herkimer, Mohawk, Ilion and part of Little Falls, NY. They were among the thousands of Protestant refugees from the Palatinate region of the Rhine River Valley who fled war, famine and religious persecution.