Dauphin County was erected in 1785, from the northern townships of Lancaster County. Most of the early settlers were Scotch-Irish, and established Presbyterian Churches in Derry, Paxtang, and Hanover. The first German Church was Hill Lutheran, established in Derry Township in the mid 1750s; it was to be the only German church in the county for almost a decade.

This book contains data from the following records: Salem Reformed Church, Harrisburg (baptisms, marriages, and burials); Reformed Church, Hummelstown (baptisms and burials); Shoops Reformed Church (baptisms); Wenerich's Reformed Church (baptisms); Zion (Klinger's) Church (baptisms); Middletown Church (baptisms); Fredericktown Church, Hummelstown (baptisms); Hoffman Reformed Church (baptisms, and communicants); Lykens Valley Lower Church (baptisms, burials, and communicants); Paxtang and Derry Churches (marriages); Fetterhoff's (St. Peter's) Lutheran and Reformed Church (baptisms); and, Saint Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church (baptisms). A full-name index adds to the value of this work.