27 December 2021

Hank Jones Palatine Collection

 Henry Z. Jones is the leading genealogist on Palatine German immigration to New York in the early 1700s. He has an enormous collection of papers and over 800 volumes of books and journals that he is donating to the New York Chapter of the Palatines to America German Genealogy Group. This is awesome! However, the collection is on the West coast and we are here on the East coast. 

 The NY Chapter of PalAm is putting together a fund raiser so that the Jones collection can be shipped to New York. This one-of-a-kind collection will be housed in Columbia County at the Germantown Library after it makes its cross-country journey. These resources will be cataloged, shelved, and made available to the public for use.

 If you are not familiar with Hank Jones, he is the author of numerous books that were meticulosly researched on Palatine Germans. Some of his writings include:

  • The Palatine Families of New York (2 Volume set)
  • More Palatine Families: Some Immigrants to the Middle Colonies 1717 to 1776
  • Even More Palatine Families
  • Westward to American: Some 18th Century German Immigrants

 Jones also won the 1986 Donald Lines Jacobus Award from the American Society of Genealogists and the Award of Merit from the National Genealogical Society. He is also one of the 50 fellows of the American Society of Genealogists.

 A note from the NY Chapter of PalAm is below explaining this opportunity. Please read and donate if possible.


Extraordinary Opportunity - The Hank Jones Collection

Please consider supporting this Everyone studying or researching Germans who emigrated from the Palatinate during the colonial period has referenced books written by Hank Jones or saw him speak at genealogy conferences.

Hank has been researching 18th century Palatines since 1960. He is the author of The Palatine Families of Ireland, The Palatine Families of New York – 1710 and a recent supplement..

Much of his research was done on-site, village-to-village in collaboration with Carla Mittelstaedt-Kubaseck. Together they documented over 600 of the ancestral origins of the 847 families who arrived in New York in 1710.

During his research, Hank assembled quite a collection of reference books. To be more specific, approximately 850 book volumes, 1970 thru 2020 issues of The New York Genealogical & Biographical Record and filing cabinets full of Carla Mittelstaedt – Kubaseck’s many reports. He used these re[1]sources to do his own research to document and share information about the colonial period Palatines.

Hank would like to donate his library to the NYS chapter of Palam. Arrangements have already been made to house the collection at the Germantown, NY Library and the Germantown, NY History Department in the old Reformed Parsonage. The library will be assisting with cataloging, shelving, and preserving this collection to make it available to the public.

Our NY Chapter needs to raise the funds to have the collection boxed and delivered 3,000+ miles from Hank’s home in California to Germantown by professional movers. In addition, once the collection is here, we will have additional costs to shelve, index and preserve the items so they can be accessed.

This is a wonderful opportunity to make Hank’s private resources available to the public for their own research. This is a one-of-a-kind collection.

Please consider a monetary donation to make this possible. The NY Chapter of PalAm is a non-profit 501 (c ) (3) organization so your donation is tax deductible. I

f you have any ques[1]tions, please email: palamny@gmail.com. We appreciate your donation supporting this wonderful effort!

PayPal contributions can be made to our account at Palamny@gmail.com please note it is for the Hank Jones collection

or make checks payable to:

NY Chapter Palatines to America, please write on the check “Hank Jones Collection”.

Mail to: Garry Finkell, Treasurer NY Chapter PalAm

PO Box 8811

Albany, NY 12208