Henry Z. "Hank" Jones Jr. was born and raised in San Leandro, California. His interest in genealogy began at the age of eight when he discovered an old trunk in his parents' basement filled with family letters, tintypes, and newspaper clippings. He wrote his first genealogical work, "A Few More Left: The Story of Isaac Hillman," while still in high school.
Hank continued to pursue his genealogical interests while attending Stanford University, where he graduated in 1963. He began researching his colonial-American Crippen, Whiting, and Dibble lines, and later discovered that he descended from Abraham1 Bergmann, a German immigrant who arrived in Ireland in 1709.
This discovery sparked Hank's interest in the Palatine families who arrived in Ireland and later in colonial America. He exhaustively researched the archives in Germany, London, and Ireland, gathering data on the families who arrived with his ancestor in 1709. He published his findings in "The Palatine Families of Ireland" in 1965, which was later revised and expanded in 1990.
Hank's research on the Palatines led him to investigate the families who settled in colonial New York in 1710. He spent years extracting information from church records and other sources, and his two-volume set, "The Palatine Families of New York--1710," was published in 1985. The book won several awards, including the Donald Lines Jacobus Award and the Award of Merit from the National Genealogical Society.
Hank has also written articles on the Palatines for various genealogical publications and has served on the boards of several genealogical organizations. He has also co-authored a book with Annette K. Burgert on the German origins of 250 families who arrived in Philadelphia between 1740 and 1753.
In addition to his work in genealogy, Hank has had a long career in the entertainment industry. He began his career as a co-star on the daytime TV show "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show" and later appeared in numerous films and TV shows, including "Blackbeard's Ghost," "Herbie Rides Again," "The Shaggy D.A.," and "The Cat from Outer Space." He has also appeared in numerous TV commercials and has been featured on several TV game shows, including "Jeopardy!"
Hank retired from on-camera acting in 1981 to devote more time to his genealogical research and writing. He has written several books on genealogy, including "Psychic Roots: Serendipity & Intuition in Genealogy" and "More Psychic Roots: Further Adventures in Serendipity & Intuition in Genealogy."
