“The German Settlement of North Carolina: Palatine & Mennonite settlements of the 1700’s”
On Saturday, April 21, 2018 at 10 a.m. (free registration at 9:30 a.m.) the North Carolina Palatines To America Chapter will hold their free and open to the public Spring Conference in the New Bern-Craven County Public Library’s Hayden H. Jones auditorium, 400 Johnson Street, New Bern, NC. Their featured speaker will be Victor T. Jones, Jr., head of special collections and reference at the New Bern-Craven County Public Library’s Kellenberger Room. He is also a founding member of the North Carolina Palatines To America chapter.
Mr. Jones’ presentation “The German Settlement of North Carolina: Palatine & Mennonite settlements of the 1700’s” will give a better understanding of the many contributions that Germans have brought to the culture of North Carolina for over 300 years.
Victor is an excellent presenter and always has interesting info to share from his research. Sandy Scott Girton and her local committee, who are NC PalAm founding members, have been instrumental in coordinating this event. More info is available at PalAm.org/northcarolina-palam-chapter.php. A little local history, the first known Palatine Society in America was formed here in New Bern in 1914 with assistance from Miss Sybil Hyatt (1877-1951) and her sister, Miss Cordelia Hyatt (1882-1964), from Kinston. The group disbanded sometime after Miss Sybil’s passing.
Mr. Jones participates in many historical and genealogical organizations. He has self-published genealogies on the Toler family (1992) and the Whitford family (2001). He is a past President of the North Carolina Genealogical Society. He is the current editor of Pamteco Tracings (the journal of the Beaufort County Genealogical Society) (2010-present).
He has also authored various articles which have been published in the Encyclopedia of North Carolina (edited by William Powell), New Bern Historical Society Journal, North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal, North Carolina Libraries and Pitt County Genealogical Quarterly. He is a graduate of Mount Olive College with Bachelor of Arts in History and from East Carolina University with Master of Library Science degrees. He began work with the New Bern-Craven County Public Library in December 1992 and was hired as their first full-time Local History and Genealogy Librarian in September 1993. For more info about the excellent resources available in the Kellenberger Room, please visit NewBern.cpclib.org/research.
Victor is the go to gentleman in Craven County when you need to know something about family history and the history of Eastern North Carolina. For more info about the NC PalAm free Spring Conference, please contact Sandy Scott Girton at (252) 876-7390.
Submitted by: David French