This book—Familie Allwein: Volume III: Western Migrations—is volume three of a series of books about the history of the Allwein family in America, a family descended from an eighteenth-century German immigrant Johannes (Hans) Jacob Allwein and his wife, Catharina. Familie Allwein: Volume III: Western Migrations builds upon earlier volumes of Familie Allwein, which dealt with the Allwein family’s emigration from Germany to America and their settlement in colonial Pennsylvania. The first volume, Familie Allwein—An Early History, set the stage for later volumes. The second volume, Familie Allwein—Journeys in Time and Place, covered Allwein descendants living east of the Allegheny Mountains over the seventy-year period from about 1870 through 1940. Part 1 of Journeys in Time and Place focuses on those families that settled in southeastern Pennsylvania, particularly in Lebanon, Philadelphia, and the Berks Counties. Part 2 of Journeys in Time and Place focuses on those families living in Dauphin, Lancaster, Adams, York, and Blair Counties in south central Pennsylvania. This third volume of Familie Allwein—Western Migrations—covers families who moved to western Pennsylvania and those who migrated farther west. Not only is the present volume an update on the families covered in earlier volumes of Familie Allwein but it also extends the coverage of Allwein families by tracing their paths west—not only to the western counties of Pennsylvania but also to Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, and places farther west, including California. As in earlier volumes of this series, the author’s careful documentation of all sources and attention to detail make it possible to reproduce his findings and re-examine his conclusions.

Despite the great interest in &"plain&" groups in recent years, comparatively little has been written about women and the particular role they play in preserving traditional religious and cultural values in the modern world. In Plain Women, Margaret C. Reynolds portrays the women of the Old Order River Brethren, a significant branch of the Brethren in Christ located mainly in Pennsylvania. The members of this conservative offshoot of the Brethren are often confused with the Amish because of their plain attire, but, unlike the Amish, they have made some notable concessions to the modern world&—including the use of automobiles, computers, and home appliances. Noting these accommodations to modern American life, Reynolds examines the ceremonies and traditions that allow the Old Order River Brethren to remain &"separate&" from other plain groups and from contemporary mass culture. She describes, for example, the love feast communion, a service that involves footwashing and a breadmaking ritual (one unique to the Old Order River Brethren and solely performed by women). Reynolds focuses in particular on the gendered customs of dress, hair, and domesticity that shape women&’s lives and, in so doing, preserve the minority faith itself. Plain Women is the first volume in the new Pennsylvania German History and Culture Series, published in cooperation with the Pennsylvania German Society. This series is a continuation of the Society&’s annual volumes on Pennsylvania German scholarship in disciplines such as history, religion, folklore, literature, and arts.