m t <fitnesspro@juno.com> wrote: > *Were most Methodists of a certain European background > (As most Lutherans tended to be Germanic)? I think the answer to your question depends on what you mean by Methodist and during which time period? Originally the Methodists tended to be primarily the English and Scotch Irish settlers in PA. It's important to realize though that what is today the United Methodist Church is actually a fusion of a number of predecessor denominations. Primary among these was the Methodist Episcopal Church, which seems to have been primarily active among the English speaking settlers. Another predecessor of the United Methodists with Union Co. connections was the Rev. Jacob Albright's Evangelical Association. Rev. John DREISBACH of Union Co. was one of the early leaders of this church. It was originally primarily a PA Dutch (i.e., German) church. It eventually joined in 1946 with the United Brethren in Christ to become the Evangelical United Brethren. The United Brethren in Christ, founded by Rev. Otterbein and Boehm, was also primarily PA Dutch originally. The Evangelical United Brethren joined with the Methodist Church in the 1960's or 1970's to become the United Methodist Church. So the question of what the ethnic background of a Methodist congregation was depends in large part on which of the predecessor denominations that particular congregation came from. If the congregation goes back to the Evangelical Association, United Brethren in Christ, or Evangelical United Brethren, you should expect the congregation (at least in the early 1800's) to be primarily PA Dutch, in other words, German. If it goes back to the Methodist Episcopal Church, you're probably talking about mostly English speaking families (primarily Scotch-Irish, English, but also a number of English speaking PA Dutch families.) at least in the early 1800's. Remember, the Methodists were very evangelically active, so you can expect to find people of any ethnic group in Methodist churches, so the above are only general guidelines. Further complicating the issue are a number of smaller Methodist denominations that are not part of the United Methodist denomination. Among these are the Free Methodists, the Westleyan Methodists, and the African Methodist Episcopal denominations. Ed Book Union Co. surnames -- BOOK/BOOKS/BUCHS/BUCKS/BUX -- VOGAN