Kansas Church Records

Before 1900 the largest religious groups in Kansas were the Methodist-Episcopal, Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Disciples of Christ. A brief history of the establishment of the various denominations is in Edward R. DeZurko, Early Kansas Churches. Manhattan, Kansas: Kansas State College, 1949. (Family History Library book 978.1 A1 no. 35; film 928360 item 4).

Missions

 * Osage Mission (Catholic) 1837
 * Shawnee Mission (Methodist)
 * Ottawa Mission
 * Sugar Creek Mission (near Osawatomie, Linn County)
 * Osage Mission
 * Potawatomie Mission
 * Kickapoo Mission

The Methodist came to the area in the 1830, the Baptist and Presbyterian in 1837.

The Family History Library has a few original church records for Kansas, such as files from the Jesuit missions and microfilm copies of records at the Presbyterian Historical Society. Many denominations have collected their records into central repositories. You can write to the following addresses to learn where their records are located:

Baptist
American Baptist—Samuel Colgate Historical Society 1106 South Goodman Street Rochester, NY 14620 Telephone: 716-473-1740 Fax: 716-473-1740 Internet: http://crcds.entrexp.com/orgMain.asp?orgid=165&amp;storyTypeID=&amp;storyID=&amp;sid =&

Disciples of Christ
Disciples of Christ Historical Society 1101 19th Avenue South Nashville, TN 37212 Telephone: 615-327-1444 Fax: 615-327-1445 Internet: http://www.discipleshistory.org/

Methodist
Baker University Library 606 Eighth Street Baldwin City, KS 66006 Telephone: 913-594-8414 Fax: 913-594-6721 Internet: http://www.bakeru.edu/index.php?module=articles&amp;func=view&amp;catid=51

Memorial Library Southwestern College 100 College Street Winfield, KS 67156 Telephone: 316-221-8225 Fax: 316-221-2499 Internet: http://www.sckans.edu/library/

Presbyterian
Presbyterian Historical Society United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. 425 Lombard Street Philadelphia, PA 19147 Telephone: 215-627-1852 Fax: 215-627-0509 Internet: http://www.history.pcusa.org/

Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas Chancery Office 12615 Parallel Parkway Kansas City, KS 66109 Telephone: 913-721-1570 Fax: 913-721-1577 Internet: http://www.archkck.org/