Lively and replete with names, this book is a must for everyone, not only those with German-speaking ancestors. Founded in 1827 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to support missionaries in the Indian Territory, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, "The Weekly Messenger of the German Reformed Church" soon became a huge success. Pastors began sending in, together with their subscription money, notices of deaths and marriages and other interesting bits of information, not only about members of their church but about anybody they knew. The newspaper gave fascinating details on marriages, deaths, parsons taking...