Germans in America
German immigrants to America have appeared from the earliest days of European settlement here, although the bulk of them arrived after 1848. Who were they? Where did they come from? Where did they go? What happened to them?
There are national sites and sources, many of which are listed on the Immigration and Emigration page, but after arrival, most information about their lives in what became the United States are organized by individual state. There is some overlap with national records in areas such as naturalization, military service and the census, but most information will reside in city, county and state records.
In addition, since Germans lived in many other areas of Europe, you may find information about them in societies devoted to countries outside of what today constitutes Germany.
Census:
There are national sites and sources, many of which are listed on the Immigration and Emigration page, but after arrival, most information about their lives in what became the United States are organized by individual state. There is some overlap with national records in areas such as naturalization, military service and the census, but most information will reside in city, county and state records.
In addition, since Germans lived in many other areas of Europe, you may find information about them in societies devoted to countries outside of what today constitutes Germany.
Census:
- Ancestry (available to RVGS members)
- FamilySearch
- Individual County and State Records
- Fold3
- Ancestry
- My Heritage
- Ancestry (available to RVGS members)
- FamilySearch
- Individual County and State records
- Bureau of Land Management: Organized by state and county.
- Individual county and state records
- International German Genealogy Partnership has a lengthy set of partners around the world, many focusing on the United States.
- Polish Genealogical Society of America