Virgin Islands US, Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
This collection of church records includes records for several church denominations in St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John, and covers the years 1803 to 2010.

Record Description
The collection includes birth/baptisms, marriages, and death/burials from Frederick Evangelical Lutheran Church, Reformed Dutch Church, Episcopal Church. Also included are other miscellaneous records such as communions, roll of members, license to marry, confirmations, paternity acknowledgments, refuge regulations, letters, finances, pastoral acts, pew rentals, etc.

Record Content
Key genealogical facts found in baptismal records may include:


 * Date of baptism
 * Date of birth
 * Parents’ names, age, and religion
 * Sponsors’ names

Key genealogical facts found in marriage records may include:


 * Date of marriage
 * Names of bride and groom
 * Age, marital status, occupation, and residence of bride and groom
 * Names and occupation of warrantors

Key genealogical facts found in burial records may include:


 * Date of death
 * Name of deceased person
 * Age, occupation, and last residence of the deceased person
 * Place of birth
 * Place of burial
 * Legitimacy and marital status

Key genealogical facts found in death records may include:


 * Name of deceased person
 * Place of residence
 * Cause of death
 * Date of death
 * Date of burial
 * Place of burial
 * Legitimacy and marital status

How to Use the Record
In general, it is best to begin your search by finding your ancestors in the index. Name indexes to baptisms, marriages, and death or burials make it possible to access a specific record quickly. Remember that these indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

When searching the index it is helpful to know the following:


 * The place where the event occurred
 * The name and surname of the person
 * The approximate date of the event
 * The name of the parents or spouse

Use the locator information found in the index (such as page, entry, or certificate number) to locate your ancestors in the records. Compare the information in the record to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination.

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family.

For example:


 * Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to other types of records such as employment or military records.
 * Use the parents’ birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * The name of the officiator is a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other counties.
 * Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.
 * Use the marriage number to identify previous marriages.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Keep in mind:


 * The information in church records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one record to another.

If you are unable to find the ancestors you are looking for, try the following:


 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Check for a different index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Search the indexes and records of nearby localities.

Record History
The Frederick Evangelical Lutheran Church was founded by Danes in 1666 on the island of St. Thomas; this was the official church of the Danish West Indies. Since 1917, with the transfer of the Virgin Islands to the United States, Frederick Lutheran Church has been part of the Lutheran Church in America.

Why the Record Was Created
Church records were created to record church sacraments associated with the life events of the parishioners, such as baptism, marriage, and burial.

Record Reliability
This collection of church books is a reliable and a good source for genealogical research. Accuracy in the records for such information as dates, ages, and places is dependent upon the accuracy of the person giving the information and the accuracy of the recording by the ecclesiastical officer.

Related Websites
Frederick Lutheran Church Marker

Related Wiki Articles

 * Episcopal Church in the United States
 * Dutch Reformed Church in the United States
 * U.S. Virgin Islands

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.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: Help:How to Create Source Citations For FamilySearch Historical Records Collections.

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection
"Virgin Islands US, Church Records, 1849-1950." index and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed 21 April 2011). entry for Sylvia Hunger, baptized April 7, 1907; citing Church Records. St Thomas, Charlotee Amalie, Reformed Dutch Church, Baptisms 1897-1944. Image 9; St. Thomas Reformed Church, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.

Sources of Information for This Collection

 * “US Virgin Islands, St. Thomas Frederick Evangelical Lutheran Church”, index and images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org), 2010; from Frederick Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. FHL digital folders. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

Digital copies of originals are also housed in different parish archives throughout the US Virgin Islands:


 * “US Virgin Islands, St Thomas, Charlotte Amalie Episcopal Church Records”, index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), 2011; from the Episcopal Church of All Saints, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Church records, 1785-1979. All Saints Episcopal Church, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, USA. FHL digital image folders. Family History Library, Salt lake City, Utah, USA.
 * “US Virgin Islands, St Thomas, Charlotte Amalie Reformed Dutch Church Records”, indem and images FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), 2011; from the St. Thomas Reformed Church, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Church records, 1785-1979. St. Thomas Reformed Church, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. FHL digital images, 16 folders. Family History Library, Salt lake City, Utah, USA.

The suggested format for citing FamilySearch Historical Collections is found in the following article: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.