Tulpehocken Genealogy

Tulpehocken is the eighteenth century name used to describe the region in which Conrad Weiser and other settlers lived. It is the corruption of a Delaware Indian word that means “land of the turtle.” Today the Tulpehocken Creek, a tributary of the Schuylkill River, still bares this early place name.

The first European settlers came to the Tulpehocken from the Schoharie region of New York in 1723. Over a dozen families followed the Susquehanna River and the Swatara Creek to settle near present day Womelsdorf. Many other German families, including the Weisers, took the same route. By 1730 other German settlers, who traveled through the port of Philadelphia, made their way into the backcountry settlement of Tulpehocken.

Originally, the entire Tulpehocken region was located within Lancaster County. In 1752, Berks County was founded out of parts of Chester, Lancaster, and Philadelphia Counties. A part of the new county included some of the Tulpehocken region while some of it remained in Lancaster County. In 1785 Lancaster County again was divided and the northern portion became the new County of Dauphin. The Tulpehocken region was then located within Berks and Dauphin Counties. In 1813, Dauphin County was divided and the southeastern portion became Lebanon County. Today the Tulpehocken region is located in Berks and Lebanon Counties.

Some Resources for Tulpehocken Genealogy:

Tulpehocken Settlement Historical Society
116 N. Front Street, P.O. Box 53
Womelsdorf, PA 19567
Telephone: 610-589-2527

Berks County Genealogical Society
GoggleWorks Center for the Arts
201 Washington Street, Room 413
Reading, PA 19601-4040
Phone: 610-921-4970
website: www.berksgenes.org
Email: berksgenes@dejazzd.org

Register of Wills/Clerk of the Orphans' Court
Berks County Services Center
633 Court Street
2nd Floor
Reading, Pennsylvania 19601
Telephone: (610) 478-6600
Email: rwills@countyofberks.com
Website: www.berksregofwills.com

Historical Society of Berks County
940 Centre Avenue
Reading, Pennsylvania 19601
Telephone 610 375-4375
Email: society.library@verizon.net
Website: www.berkshistory.org

Lancaster County Historical Society
230 N. President Ave.
Lancaster, PA 17603
Telephone: 717-392-4633
Email: lchs@ptd.net
Website: www.lancasterhistory.org

County of Lancaster
Office of Records and Archives Services
50 N. Duke St
P.O. Box 83480
Lancaster, Pa. 17608-3480
Telephone: 717-299-8319
Website: www.co.lancaster.pa.us/courts/cwp/view.asp?a=474&Q=262027

Lebanon County Historical Society
924 Cumberland Street
Lebanon, PA 17042
Telephone: 717-272-1473
Email: mailto:staff@lebanonhistory.org
Website: www.lebanonhistory.org
 
Lebanon County Courthouse
400 South Eighth Street
Lebanon, PA 17042-6794
Telephone: 717 274-2801

The Historical Society of Dauphin County
219 South Front Street
Harrisburg, PA 17104
Telephone: 717-233-3462
Email: hsdc@paonline.com
Website: www.dauphincountyhistoricalsociety.org

Dauphin County Courthouse
Front & Market Sts
Harrisburg, PA 17101-2012
Telephone: 717-255-2711

Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission
Pennsylvania State Archives
350 North Street
Harrisburg, PA 17120-0090
Telephone: 717-783-3281
Website: www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/overview.htm

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Telephone: 215-732-6200
Website: www.hsp.org

The Philadelphia City Archives
3101 Market Street 1st. Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Telephone: 215-686-1581 prior to 1915
Telephone: 215-560-3054 after 1915
Email: archives@phila.gov
Website: www.phila.gov/records
 

Conrad Weiser Homestead
28 Weiser Lane
Womelsdorf, PA 19567
610-589-2934
info@conradweiserhomestead.org

The site is administered by the PHMC and aided by the Friends of the Conrad Weiser Homestead.

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