I am excited to be able to announce that Family Roots Publishing just signed contracts to continue the publication of what was Picton Press’s German Immigrants in American Church Records series of books.
Under the direction of Lewis Rohrbach, these volumes have been printed at the rate of just under 2 per year since 2005. They are amazing books, listing the names, relationships and German homeland birthplaces of thousands upon thousands of German settlers in the Midwest United States. Under the direction and editorship of my friend, Roger Minert, these records have been meticulously extracted by students at BYU, then formatted and indexed to make for some of the finest German birthplace aids in existence today.
For those who may not know, Mr. Rohrbach was one of the premier genealogists and genealogy publishers in the country, specializing in Swiss research – but also known for his quality publications – both in content as well as appearance. Lewis passed away last January, and Picton Press closed it’s doors. Read his obituary at Dick Eastman’s blog. Seventeen volumes of the series were shipped to customers. I personally know of 74 libraries that have nearly the entire series. The manuscript for Volume 18 was sent to Picton just prior to Lewis’s death and was never shipped, although I suspect it may have been printed. I understand that Lewis’s widow plans to donate his inventory to various libraries, and I am in hopes that those 74 libraries (plus others I am sure) will get Volume 18 during that process. Because of contractual and copyright issues, neither Roger, nor Family Roots Publishing has access to any of volumes one through eighteen at this time – other than ten copies of Volume 5, one copy of Volume 4, and one copy of Volume 8.
German Immigrants in American Church Records – Volume 19: Missouri (Excluding St. Louis County) will ship in September 2016. We will be posting it at the Family Roots Publishing website in the near future. If you or your library wish to be placed on a standing order for the volumes as they come out, email me at Lmeitzler@gmail.com and I’ll forward you a standing order form to get the book at a substantial discount.
Note that Family Roots Publishing is very interested in maintaining the superior quality of this hard-bound series, and like Mr. Rohrbach, will ensure that all volumes will be hardbound and printed on 60# acid-free paper for long-lasting shelf life.
