Louisiana Church Records

Before statehood in 1812 the Roman Catholic Church was dominant in Louisiana. Few Protestant churches flourished. From 1812 to 1900, the largest religious groups in Louisiana were the Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches.

The earliest church records were Roman Catholic marriage records that began in 1720 and baptism records that began in 1729. Most records are kept at the local churches. The Family History Library has a small collection of Louisiana church records, including Roman Catholic and Baptist sources. Also see the 45 volumes of civil and church records from southern and southwestern Louisiana published by Donald J. Hebert (see the “Vital Records” page).

Guides to help you locate Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish records are:

Hebert, Donald J. A Guide to Church Records in Louisiana, 1720-1975. Eunice, Louisiana.: D. J. Hebert, 1975. (Family History Library book 976.3 K23h fiche 6051420 or 6010583.)

Guide to Vital Statistics Records of Church Archives in Louisiana. New Orleans, Louisiana: Louisiana State Board of Health, 1942. (Family History Library book 976.3 V2w; film 1305374 items 2-3; fiche 6051101.)

You can also write to the following addresses to learn where their records are located:

Roman Catholic
Drouin Collection 1621-1967 of French Canadian records indexed at Ancestry.com. This collection has over 15 million entries for French Canadian genealogical and vital records. Be sure to search for spelling variations of the ancestor's name. This index includes Quebec notarial, vital, and church records, Acadian Catholic records, Ontario French Catholic records, early French Catholic records in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, and Wisconsin.

Archdiocese of New Orleans Archives 7887 Walmsley Avenue New Orleans, LA 70125-3496 Telephone: 504-861-9521 Fax: 504-866-2906 Internet: http://www.archdiocese-no.org/archives/page5.htm

This archdiocese includes the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Plaquemines, and Washington.

Diocese of Alexandria-Shreveport 4400 Coliseum Boulevard Alexandria, LA 71303 Telephone: 318-445-2401 Fax: 318-448-6121 Internet: http://www.dioshpt.org/archives/history.htm

Diocese of Baton Rouge Archives 1800 South Acadian Thruway Baton Rouge, LA 70808 Telephone: 504-387-0561 Fax: 504-336-8789 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2028 Baton Rouge, LA 70821-2028 Internet: http://www.diobr.org/archives/archives-main.htm

This diocese has collected all parish registers in its area and indexed them.

Baptist
Historical Commission Southern Baptist Convention 901 Commerce Street Nashville, TN 37203-3630 Telephone: 615-244-0344 Fax: 615-782-4821 Internet: http://www.sbhla.org/links.htm

Methodist
Centenary College of Louisiana Magale Library, Cline Room Shreveport, LA 71134-1188 Telephone: 318-869-5170 Fax: 318-869-5004 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 41188 Shreveport, LA 71134-1188 Internet: http://www.centenary.edu/

Lutheran
University of New Orleans Earl K. Long Library—Archives and Manuscripts Division Lake Front New Orleans, LA 70148 Telephone: 504-286-6556 Fax: 504-286-7277 Internet: http://library.uno.edu/