District of Columbia Births and Christenings - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States District of Columbia

What is in the Collection?
This collection is an electronic index of births and christenings for the years 1830 to 1955 comprised of the following:


 * Indexed church records
 * Civil registrations
 * The Internet indexing project sponsored by the LDS Church

Church records and civil registration were official sources and are some of the most reliable sources of family history information.

This index is not complete for any particular place, region or time period. This collection may include information previously published in the International Genealogical Index or Vital Records Index collections.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The records in this collection usually include the following information:


 * Name of the child
 * Gender
 * Date and place of birth
 * Date and place of christening
 * Names of parents
 * Family History Library Microfilm and item numbers for the source materials

The records may also include:


 * Death date (if occurring within a few years of birth)
 * Race
 * Parents' birth places

Coverage Table
The Coverage Table shows the places and time periods of the original records in this collection. The table indicates how many records the collection has from each place. Most of the records in the collection are from the time periods listed in the table; however, the collection may have a few records from before or after the time period.

How Do I Search the Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. Before using this collection, it is helpful to know:       Name of the individual     Approximate date and or location of the event

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

For more tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Copy the citation below, in case you need to find this record again later.
 * Use the age or estimated birth date to find other church and vital records such as marriage, and death records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find land, probate and immigration records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find additional family members in censuses. Witnesses were usually family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records were kept years before counties began keeping records. They are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby town or county.
 * Try different spellings of your ancestor’s name.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Check the info box above for additional FamilySearch websites and related websites that may assist you in finding similar records.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry): Top of Page