Family Branches
Non-Amish Families
The Yoder lines that are not part of the Amish community — the Conrad Yoders of North Carolina, the Reformed and Lutheran Yoders of the Oley Valley, the Great Swamp Mennonite Yoders, the Yetter/Yotter families, and the Melchior Yoder line — together with the European research notes that trace them back to the Swiss-Alsatian Joder roots.
Conrad Yoder of North Carolina
The Conrad Yoder family of North Carolina — descendant register and a narrative history compiled from the notebook of Col. George M. Yoder.
European Research Notes
Yoder / Joder / Jotter records and research from Europe — Alsace, and the Chronik der Familie Joder compiled by Karl Joder and Ottmar Jotter.
- Alsatian Yoder Documents — notes collected by Edith Joder
ALSACE.DOC - Chronik der Familie Joder / Jotter
CHRONIK.DOC
The Oley Valley Yoders
The Reformed / Lutheran Yoders who settled in the Oley Valley, Berks Co., Pennsylvania — the lines of the brothers Hans and Yost Yoder.
- Descendants of Hans Yoder of the Oley Valley (2 parts) PDF
OLEYHAN1.DOC - The Descendants of Yost Yoder (brother of Hans) PDF
OLEYYOST.DOC - Oley Reformed Yoder Stories — scanned documents & photographs by Dick Yoder
- Oley Yoder Chapter — “Fragments of the Past,” by Peter Bertolet, 1860 PDF
- Yoder Chapter from Annals of the Oley Valley, by Rev. P. C. Croll, D.D., 1926 PDF
- The Banfield Brothers of Oley, by Joseph Mitchell, Nov. 2025 (ref. for YNL 87) PDF
The Great Swamp Mennonite Yoders
The descendants of Hans Joder of Great Swamp, progenitor of the Mennonite Yoder line in the United States — including the Karolyn Roberts research pages.
Yetter, Yotter & Yeater Families
Yoder families that carry the Yetter / Yotter / Yeater spellings — including the Samuel Yetter descendants of Columbia Co., Pa. (in three successive versions).
- John Yetter, 1750–1823 (by Mark J. Serfass)
- Johann Yotter and Agnes Goebels Descendants (Eppstein, Germany immigrants) PDF
- Yotter Immigrants to Lee Co., Iowa PDF
- The Yetter Family, beginning with Jost Yetter (b. about 1740)
YOSTYETT.DOC - Descendants of Christian Yotty, Woodford County, Illinois
YOTTY.DOC - Descendants of Samuel Yetter of Columbia Co., Pa. — 2001 version, Part 1
- Descendants of Samuel Yetter of Columbia Co., Pa. — 2001 version, Part 2
- Descendants of Samuel Yetter of Columbia, Pa. — 1997 version (4 parts)
YETTER.DOC - Descendants of Samuel Yetter of Columbia Co., Pa. — earliest version
YT.DOC
The Melchior Yoder Line
Melchior Yoder of Montgomery and Snyder Co., Pennsylvania, and his known or suspected descendants. Expanded by Donald G. Honeywell (2011); the M-line is now coordinated and further expanded by Emily Coffman Richardson (from Aug. 2023).
- Part 1: M1–M23 PDF ZIP
- Part 2: M24–M25 PDF ZIP
- Part 3: M26 PDF ZIP
- Part 4: M27–M29 PDF ZIP
- Part 5: M3–M7 PDF ZIP
- Part 6: Unlinked Yoders of Southwest Pennsylvania PDF ZIP
- Part 7: Melchior Updates (M222–M223) PDF
- Melchior updates — M1: John Yoder (Richardson, 2023)
- M2: Jacob Yoders
- M3: Benjamin Yoder
- M4: Henry Yoder
- M5: Melchior Yoder Jr.
- M6: John Peter Yoder
- M7: Catherine Yoder Leist
- Descendants of Nickolaus Yoder (Melchior line) — working files of Mary Lou Cook external ↗
Other & Unlinked Families
Miscellaneous Yoder families not yet tied to a major line — our “missing links.” Help is wanted to identify any connections.
Compiled by volunteers of the Yoder Newsletter, preserving original spelling and notation. If you can correct or extend a family line, please get in touch.