Source Information

Lineages, Inc., comp. Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, U.S., 1747-1875: Millbach Reformed Congregation [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001.
Original data: William J. Hinke. Church records of the Millbach Reformed Congregation, Millbach Township, Lebanon County, 1747-1875. Typescript records at Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

About Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, U.S., 1747-1875: Millbach Reformed Congregation

Millbach Township lies in Lebanon County, which is located in southeastern Pennsylvania. The Millbach Reformed Congregation is located in the township. This database contains birth, marriage, and death records of the Millbach Reformed Congregation for the years 1747 to 1875. With more than 4,600 names, it will prove helpful for those researching early residents (especially German immigrants) of Pennsylvania.

Church records rank among the very best genealogical records available worldwide, but they are one of the most under-used sources in American genealogy. Until the advent of vital statistics in the United States—a very late development in most states—church records were the primary source of birth, marriage, and death information. The sheer number of denominations and affiliate churches has made identifying and locating each one's records a time-consuming ordeal for most genealogists. Church records also vary a great deal in content and emphasis according to the basic theology of the religious group that created them.

Early immigrants from England, Scotland, and other European countries brought their religious beliefs, institutions, and customs with them, including the keeping of church books in which to record births, baptisms, confirmations, marriages, communion lists, deaths, and burials. Lutheran and Reformed Church records in Pennsylvania rank among the very best church records available.