Palatines to America German Genealogy Society : New York Chapter
President 2023-2025: Tom Shannon 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.
| The Henry Z. Jones Jr. Palatine Research Center The Henry Z. Jones Jr. Palatine Research Center is comprised of the research library amassed over a lifetime by renowned genealogist, Henry Z "Hank" Jones Jr. The New York Chapter has used monies previously donated toward the effort of getting the collection from California to New York, purchasing a scanner to digitize the letters, and funding a look up service. Click here: https://bit.ly/3oPu3zX to view a list of publications available. 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 available to those searching their Palatine ancestors. Interested researchers may email inquiries to palatines@germantownlibrary.org Please keep inquiries as specific as possible. 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 Palatines to America earmarked for the Hank Jones collection. You can email palamny@gmail.com for more information. Donate online here: choose NY Chapter and type "Hank Jones Collection" in the comment field.
Palatine Park
Known as "East Camp", the colony had four villages: Hunterstown, Queensbury, Annsbury, and Haysbury. The area was later renamed "Germantown."
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Christopher White demonstrating how to clean a gravestone.
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.
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.
Palatines to America is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. PO Box 141260, Columbus OH 43214 © 2025