Nearly four decades ago, James Beidler began what he calls a “genealogy quest.” Since his initial foray into his family genealogy, he’s become the “go-to” speaker for German genealogy lectures across the country, and he’s written four commercially published genealogy books.
How did you become interested in genealogy? Almost 40 years ago, I was helping my mom with research on our church at the time, Bern Reformed United Church of Christ. I saw family names that were familiar to me based on the small pieces of genealogy I already had then, so I decided to go to Bern’s historic cemetery and see what else I could find. I guess you could say I never made it back from the cemetery because I’ve been on a genealogy quest ever since.
Can you tell me about the genealogy books you’ve written? The first book is a German genealogy guide, and the second book is a guide about online genealogy resources. The third is a guide about using newspapers in genealogy research. I used to be a copy editor for the Harrisburg Patriot-News, and I know how important newspapers are in research. Newspapers are often used for the obituaries, but they should also be used for the rich cultural context added to your genealogy research. Finally, the fourth book is a genealogical historical atlas of Germany.
In addition to writing books, what other genealogy activities do you do? I’m literally living the dream as the interim executive director of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania; I was the executive director from 1999-2003, and now I get to do it again and finish some things I didn’t have time to do before. I do lectures and webinars. I also create document albums about historic properties tracing their history to William Penn, which is why I named that project From the Penns to the Present. Finally, I do a lot of freelance writing; in fact, I had a family history newspaper column, Roots & Branches, in the Altoona Mirror. You can learn more about these projects and my books and schedule me for webinars and presentations via my website jamesmbeidler.com. Outside of my genealogy work, I run my own small, part-time tax service.
Your home is also filled with family history, right? Yes. I live in a house in Berks that’s been in my family for more than a century. My great-great-grandfather purchased it in 1920, and he also claims to have laid the foundation for the house 50 years before he bought it. I inherited seven trunks full of family history items from multiple generations.
It sounds like genealogy is how you have fun. But how else do you relax and enjoy your free time? I enjoy going to the Jersey Shore, and I like going to festivals with Pennsylvania German history. My work and my fun really come together.
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For the genealogy buff.The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania plans to release a Pennsylvania genealogical almanac and host a virtual genealogy event in 2023.
Fighting hunger. For more than 30 years, Beidler has participated in the Reading-Berks CROP Walk, which is part of a nationwide fundraiser to fight hunger.
