Pennsylvania genealogy, record by record.
Your Pennsylvania Ancestors treats Pennsylvania genealogy as fieldwork: records, repositories, local societies, and the odd historical detail that changes a family story. Episodes move between solo research guides and interviews with archivists, society leaders, authors, and historical researchers.
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Your Pennsylvania Ancestors is a Pennsylvania-centered genealogy show with a clear practical mission. It helps family historians understand which records exist, where they are held, and what those records can reveal about real lives. The show is especially strong on archives and local institutions. It gives county historical societies, genealogical societies, libraries, museums, and specialized collections the attention they often deserve but rarely receive. Episodes often begin with a concrete research problem. A Civil War ancestor did not serve, a patriot line needs proof, a family history manuscript feels impossible to organize, or a local tradition needs historical context. From there, the conversation turns toward sources. The show covers vital records, county biographies, compiled military service records, enrollment books, conscientious objector affidavits, desertion lists, property damage claims, and archival finding aids. It also makes room for the texture of Pennsylvania history. Jewish genealogy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania German powwowing, Revolutionary War Camp Security, and South Central Pennsylvania research all appear as living parts of the genealogical landscape. Interviews are friendly and specific. Guests are asked to explain both the institution and the researcher’s next step, which keeps the show grounded in usable detail. The solo episodes have the same bent. They sort resources into manageable lists and explain the difference between derivative sources, digitized originals, and records that still require a visit or direct contact. There is an archival patience to the series. It assumes that good genealogy depends on persistence, comparison, and a willingness to look beyond the largest websites. The show also understands that family history eventually needs to be written, shared, and preserved. Its episode on the Hybrid Genealogy Method reflects that interest in turning research into a finished book. The farewell episode frames the project as a completed archive of Pennsylvania genealogy instruction rather than a current-events feed. That makes the back catalog especially useful. It suits researchers who have Pennsylvania ancestors and need a map through the state’s records, places, and societies.
Made for: Family historians researching Pennsylvania ancestors, especially those working with county records, military service, religious communities, local societies, and archival collections. It also fits genealogists ready to turn research notes into a readable family history.
What sets it apart: The show is unusually specific to Pennsylvania’s record landscape, with sustained attention to local archives, society collections, and historical context that national genealogy shows often skim past. It pairs practical source lists with interviews from people close to the collections.
The Your Pennsylvania Ancestors podcast helps you discover your family history in PA. Join Denyse Allen for behind-the-scenes look into archives, genealogy research, and highlights of PA history. See supporting information for each episode at PAancestors.com
A Civil War enrollment book can put your ancestor on a farm the census never named.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A practical Pennsylvania genealogy conversation about Civil War-era conscientious objection records.
Conscientious objection becomes a Pennsylvania family-history problem in this episode, as Jonathan Steyer ties the topic to an undergraduate turn toward his own ancestry.
A practical, locally rooted introduction to Jewish genealogy work in Philadelphia.
Jewish genealogy in Philadelphia gets a clear, grounded introduction through Felicia Mode Alexander of the Jewish Genealogical and Archival Society of Greater Philadelphia.
A grounded, practical look at patriot-line research, older application standards, and the SAR library in Louisville.
A Revolutionary-era patriot in the family tree is not just a surname to match, and this episode treats that work with useful restraint. Set around the Sons of the American Revolution library in Louisville, Kentucky, it follows Sherry, director of library and archives, as she…
A Revolutionary War prison camp comes into focus through archaeology, research, and patient persistence.
Camp Security follows an archaeological mystery in York County, Pennsylvania, where researchers are still trying to pin down the Revolutionary War prison camp's stockade.
Genealogy clues with radio-speed curiosity.
Methodical genealogy for difficult family history cases.
Family history research, one careful record at a time.
Genealogy's tools and records, explained one site at a time.
One hobbyist's UK family tree, worked through record by record.
Kelly Kolenberg-Mahoney explains how her Hybrid Genealogy Format combines bloodlines, stories, and pictures in one family history.
["Jonathan Stayer says Pennsylvania had around 3,400 Civil War conscientious objectors in 1862, more than any other state north or south.", "He traces his interest to a Pennsylvania State Archives file containing the depositions of his third great-grandfather Adam Stare and Adam's brothers David, John, and Daniel.", "The episode explains how Mennonites, Amish, Quakers, and German Baptist Brethren treated military service as a religious problem, then follows the 1838 state constitution, the $300 commutation debate, and the 1864 restrictions.", "For researchers, Stayer points to county enrollment books, Record Group 110, the National Archives branch in Philadelphia, and the registers, correspondence files, letter registers, and telegraphs that carry the paper trail."]
Jonathan Steyer says the South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society's value lies in local discoveries that may not appear on major genealogy sites.
Felicia Mode Alexander says the Jewish Genealogical and Archival Society of Greater Philadelphia has been active for more than 40 years and now supports researchers through a website, Facebook, and international partnerships.
Sherry, director of library and archives at the Sons of the American Revolution Library in Louisville, describes an original 1914 scrapbook in the George Washington collection that tracked Washington's route from Philadelphia to Cambridge after Bunker Hill.
Jonathan Steyer says Camp Security in York County, Pennsylvania is a Revolutionary War prison camp site that has not been covered by development, which lets archaeologists still read the field.
Denise interviews Pennsylvania attorney and genealogist Justin Hauser about researching Scots-Irish ancestors whose migrations often lack surviving passenger lists.
Host Denyse Allen interviews Sherry Daniels about preparing for the RootsTech genealogy conference, discussing its history and community.
An interview with author Peter Gilmore about his book on Irish Presbyterians in early western Pennsylvania, exploring their culture and interactions.
Denyse Allen discusses setting genealogy goals for 2022 with guest Julie K.
An interview with Dr.