This October 2004 update is the first since July 2002. I apologize for the delay, but as announced, I was in Germany under circumstances where I could receive corrections and additions via email but could not update the website file. I appreciate everyone's patience during these two years. We enjoyed Germany and our activities immensely. We're happy to be home again but miss the friends and experiences we had there.

This computer file is focused on members of two families that immigrated fromthe Palatine area of Germany in the early 1700s and settled in the Mohawk Valley of New York. Those two Snell and Zimmerman/Timmerman families had large numbers of children who intermarried frequently. My wife has several lines of descent from those two families, so many that I could not keep the many similar names straight without a computer program. Other SZT descendants have similar experiences. My personal interest in our SZT genealogy led eventually to this broader effort to place all known descendants of these two immigrant families into one family tree or pedigree. The master file now contains over 40,000 names, and it grows weekly. I upload that file periodically to this SZT website.

Our initial goal was to extract all names from SZT published books authored by David Kendall Martin and Carolyn Timmerman Sidenius. (See list of books below.) These were our "gold standards." Each entry shows the name of the book (or books) in which the name was found, plus the page and entry number. We have not tried to include all of the sources that were used by the authors. If necessary, that information can obtained by reading the books.

We did not want to create a database that would compete with or contradict published SZT data. However, if errors are found in the published data, we gladly correct them and we coordinate those corrections with the authors of the SZT publications. Of course, some errors are simply the result of the tired eyes of our volunteer extractors. Errors of either kind should be brought to my attention.

We also are interested in adding names of SZT descendants who were not included in the SZT publications. This data also should be sent to me. I will share it with SZT staff. Ideally, extensive data should be sent in a GEDCOM file, but I will accept it in any readable form. Every brand of genealogy software can produce a GEDCOM file. This reduces my workload and the chance of keystroke errors. Records added to the file from non-SZT sources will show the name of the person who submitted the data.

Since this database focuses on descendants of Snell and Zimmerman immigrants, we do not attempt to add the ancestral lineage of spouses. Otherwise this file would become far too large. However, we make exceptions in a few cases where the spouse is a descendant of another 18th century immigrant family that often intermarried with our two focus families.

Please note that the SZT publications contain birth dates and places and other personal information submitted to the organization. While we have extracted all of that data for our master file, we do not upload any personal data on living persons to the web site. Only the person's name is shown for individuals still living or who are less than 100 years of age without a known death date. Names too can be excluded upon request.

Some SZT descendants are listed in more than one SZT book, either as a result of intentional overlap between the books, or because of intermarriage among SZT descendants. We attempt to identify and merge those duplicate entries as we compile this pedigree. However, it is not always possible to identify duplicates when persons are not clearly defined by birth date or parentage. If in doubt, we prefer to err on the side of leaving duplicate entries rather than merging the wrong people. If you find duplicate records that should be merged, please bring them to my attention. And if you think we have incorrectly merged individuals who should not have been merged, please let me know.

When we merge duplicate entries, we attempt to resolve any discrepancies between data found in the different books. When such discrepancies cannot be resolved, we often cite the alternative data in the notes field. Thus, the data in the merged file often is more complete than that found in any one book.

Names from the SZT books are identified by the following abbreviations:

Zimmerman DKM - - The 18th Century Zimmerman Family, by Martin
Snell DKM - - The 18th Century Snell Family, by Martin
Failing DKM - - The 18th Century Failing Family, by Martin
DPAKS - - Descendants of Peter and Anna Kilts Snell, by Sidenius
DHT - - Descendants of Henry Timmerman, by Sidenius
DGT - - Descendants of George Timmerman, by Sidenius
DLT - - Descendants of Lawrence Timmerman, by Sidenius
DDT - - Descendants of David Timmerman, by Sidenius
(See SZT Publications for more details concerning these books.)

"Descendants of David Timmerman" has not yet been fully extracted. We hope to complete it soon. We also will be adding additional names collected by Carolyn Sidenius that extend SZT lineages beyond those published in her books.
With the author's permission, our file also contains a few additional records from the excellent publications of Henry Z. Jones, Jr., which focus on the German origins of these two families, ie., The Palatine Families of New York, 1710, (two volumes) and More Palatine Families (one volume). They are cited as: Jones I, Jones II, or Jones III.

If you have questions directly relevant to the database or wish to correct or add information, please contact me at: Raymond Kuehne.

Questions about the Snell-Zimmerman-Timmerman Reunion, Inc. and its activities should be directed to one of the SZT staff/officers whose names and email addresses can be found on the site's home page.

I hope you will continue to find the database and the entire SZT web site interesting and valuable.