Founded 1906
One family. Eleven generations. Nearly three centuries in America.
To celebrate all of our blessings and our rich Glattfelder family heritage.
In 1743 a Swiss farmer named Casper Glattfelder crossed the Atlantic and settled in the hills of York County, Pennsylvania. His descendants now number in the tens of thousands, carry a dozen different surnames, and gather every summer to remember where they came from. This is their home online — the story, the Gazette, the reunion, the library, and the team that keeps the record.
Our Story
It begins with one man’s decision to leave the only village his family had ever known.
Casper (Kaspar) Glattfelder was baptized in the Reformed Church of Glattfelden, in Canton Zurich, Switzerland, in July 1709. He grew up a farmer, married Elisabetha Laufer in 1731, and had seven children. Family tradition holds that Elisabetha pressed to leave for the New World so her sons would never be conscripted and sold, as thousands of young Swiss men then were, to fight as mercenaries in foreign wars.
In 1743 six families from Glattfelden made their way down the Rhine to Rotterdam and boarded the ship Francis and Elizabeth for the crossing. Casper’s brother, Hans (John) Peter, had drowned the year before, never reaching the border. The voyage that followed took most of the summer, and it cost Casper dearly: his wife Elisabetha and their youngest son, an infant named John, did not survive it.
Casper did. He stepped ashore in Philadelphia in August 1743 — recorded, on the day he swore his oath of allegiance, as “Gasper Gladfelter,” and noted to be sick.
According to family tradition, he sought a place that reminded him of the hills of home.
Within weeks he bought 224 acres along the Conewago Creek in York County. A few years later he and his second wife, Anna Maria, moved to the south branch of the Codorus Creek and stayed. He farmed, served as road supervisor and constable, and in 1763 returned to Philadelphia to become a naturalized British subject — a step most of his German and Swiss neighbors never bothered to take.
The Family Grows
Six sons, and a name that changed as the family spread.
Casper raised six sons who lived to adulthood — Solomon, Felix, John, Henry, Michael, and a younger Casper. Their families branched out from York County across Pennsylvania and down into the Appalachian South, and as they went, the spelling of the name traveled with them and changed. Glattfelder became Glatfelter, Gladfelter, Clatfelter, Clodfelter, Glotfelty, and more. Through marriage the line runs into hundreds of other family names as well.
If your surname looks nothing like “Glattfelder,” you may still belong to this family. That is part of the story, not a break in it.
Recognized Surname Variants
How the Association Began
A doctor in St. Louis set out to record the family — and gathered it instead.
Dr. Noah Miller Glatfelter (1837–1911 and 5th generation direct descendant through Casper’s son John) grew up on a York County farm, served as a U.S. Army surgeon through the Civil War, and built a medical practice in St. Louis. In 1901 he published a remarkable genealogy of the family, documenting 861 families descended from Casper, with a supplement following in 1910.
The interest that work stirred up did something its author may not have expected: in September 1906, descendants answered a call for a general family reunion and founded the Casper Glattfelder Association of America. The family has gathered nearly every year since — most recently at its beloved Heimwald Park reunion grounds in York County, where the family still gathers every summer.
1709
Casper Glattfelder is baptized in the Reformed Church of Glattfelden, Canton Zurich, Switzerland.
1743
Six families sail on the Francis and Elizabeth; Casper lands in Philadelphia and settles in York County, Pennsylvania.
1760s–1800s
Casper’s six sons raise families that branch across Pennsylvania and into the South — and the name begins to change.
1901
Dr. Noah Miller Glatfelter publishes the family record, documenting 861 families, with a supplement in 1910.
1906
Descendants hold the first general reunion and found the Casper Glattfelder Association of America.
Today
The family still gathers every summer at Heimwald Park in York County, Pennsylvania, and the work of keeping the record continues.
Explore the Association
Four ways to be part of the family.
Weekly Stories
The Glattfelder Gazette
A free weekly email telling the stories of the family — one short, readable piece a week, drawn from nearly three centuries of records.
Read the Gazette →Every Summer
Annual Reunion
Descendants have gathered nearly every year since 1906. Join us at Heimwald Park in York County for the family’s summer reunion.
About the reunion →Books & Records
Glattfelder Family Library
The family’s published histories and records — from Dr. Noah’s 1901 genealogy to new titles — available directly from the Association.
Browse the library →Research & Lineage
Genealogy Team
The volunteers who trace, verify, and connect the family tree. Find your place in the line — or lend a hand documenting it.
Meet the team →Eleven generations led to you. Come find your place in the story.
Start with the free weekly Gazette, plan for the summer reunion, explore the Family Library, or connect with the Genealogy Team. Whatever your surname, if you descend from Casper, you belong here.
Casper Glattfelder Association of America · Founded 1906 · Glatfelter Station, Pennsylvania