Colorado, Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
The collection consists of an index to selected church records, mostly from Antonito, Colorado. We do not have rights to publish the images associated with these records.

Record Content
The information varies between sects and records. You may find any of the following:


 * Name of church or congregation
 * Location of the church
 * Event dates and places (birth, baptism, marriage, death or burial)
 * Names of parents, children, other family members, and witnesses
 * Ages
 * Residence
 * Previous residences

How to Use the Record
To begin your search you will need to know the following information:


 * The religion or sect
 * The location of the congregation or parish
 * The ancestor’s name
 * The approximate date of the event such as the christening or baptism

If you do not have this information you will need to look for clues in other records. These suggestions may be helpful to you.


 * Look at the officiator at your ancestor’s wedding or burial. They are often clergymen. Check with local congregations or a local historical society to see if they help you determine the sect from clergyman’s name.
 * Many individuals attended the closest Christian church. This is especially true in small, rural communities where there may be only one church in the area. Search the records of that church.
 * Immigrants usually kept the same religion after migrating and may have banded together to form their own congregation. This is especially true if they did not speak English. If the country of origin is known that may also be a clue as some countries had a state church.
 * Check with local historical societies for indexes to church records. Be aware that as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

Search the Collection
To search the collection fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:
 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line video at FamilySearch Search Tips.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Save a copy of the image or transcribe the information. These pieces of information may give you new biographical. Add this new information to your records of each family. You should also use the information given to locate the full church record.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * It is often helpful to extract the information on all children with the same parents. If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families based on the names of the parents. Continue to search the birth records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who were born in the same county or nearby.
 * Church records are considered a primary source. They are usually reliable because they are kept by the minister, or a clerk appointed by the minister, who usually recorded an event at or very near the time it occurred.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names.
 * Check the records of other congregations in the area or nearby communities.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from record to record.

Related Websites

 * Church and Bible Records
 * Colorado Genealogy

Related Wiki Articles
Colorado Church Records

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should also list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.