What is the G.R.?

By Allen Viehmeyer, Associate Director of Research

Yes, it’s the 102nd Anniversary of the GR (The Genealogical Record of the Schwenkfelder Families…) edited by Samuel Kriebel Brecht and published in 1923.

Brecht Compiles Genealogical Record

Brecht published a notice of printing-completed and binding-started in the September 1923 issue of The Schwenkfeldian, p. 154.

The GR was printed as a single volume and as a deluxe 2-volume set limited to 500 copies. The paper quality and content are the same for both bindings. Starting with the October 1924 issue of The Schwenkfeldian, an advertisement appears announcing the price of the single volume as $15 and $25 for the 2-volume set. The GR consists of 1752 pages, 200 illustrations, and 5,000 families.

Cover page of 1879 Genealogical Record by Rev. Reuben Kriebel

This GR is Based upon Previous Manuscripts

The Genealogical Record of 1923 has a long and complicated history reaching back to family records of births, deaths, and marriages. The 1923 GR is technically the 2nd edition of the Genealogical Record of the descendants of the Schwenkfelders …. Printed in 1879. Beginning in 1980, the Society of the Descendants of the Schwenkfeldian Exiles has been continuously collecting genealogical information from Schwenkfelder descendants in order to keep the database up to date. A form for submitting genealogical information to this project can be found at schwenkfelderexilesociety.org under the tab Projects, Genealogical Record. In the last paragraph is the link: Schwenkfelder Families Genealogical Record Supplement. These sheets are also available at the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center, 105 Seminary St., Pennsburg, PA 18073.

This posting is the first in a series of postings about the GR and how to use it. For more background on the Schwenkfelders, see An Immigration Story.