New Jersey, Calvary United Methodist Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
Church records of the Calvary United Methodist Church (formerly known as Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church) in Keyport, New Jersey. This collection is being published as images become available.

The church began keeping records as soon as it was organized. The church kept records to know who were members, to track important events in their lives, and to protect their legal interests.

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.

For a list of records by document type and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

Record Content
Information in church baptism records is:


 * Birth and christening dates and places
 * Names of parents and children, witnesses and godparents

Information in church funeral records is:


 * Names of persons, their parents, spouses and children
 * Birth, death and burial dates and places
 * Ages of persons
 * Places of residence

Information in church marriage records is:


 * Names of husbands and wives, parents and witnesses
 * Birth, marriage and divorce dates and places
 * Ages of husbands and wives
 * Places of residence

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


 * The ancestor’s name
 * The approximate date of the event such as the christening or baptism

Search the Collection
To search the collection ⇒ Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page ⇒ Select the "Record Type, Volume, and Year Range" category which takes you to the images

Search the collection by image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination

As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor in a church record 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.

Carefully evaluate each piece of information in the record. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. For example:


 * Use christening and birth records of christenings (baptisms) to identify a person’s birth date and place. These are an excellent substitute for civil birth records.
 * Use confirmation records to identify a person’s birth date and place and his or her age. If only the age is given, use it to calculate the person’s death date.
 * Use death or burial records to identify a person’s birth date and place. Use age at the time of death or burial to calculate the person’s birth date. These are an excellent substitute for civil death records.
 * Use marriage records to identify a couple and the marriage date and place and to begin compiling a family group. These are an excellent substitute for civil marriage records.
 * Use church records in general to identify other family members who may have served as witnesses to an event.
 * Use the date of the event along with the locality to find the family in census records and land records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.

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.
 * An infant’s christening may have happened within a few days or few weeks of the birth.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from record to record.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names.
 * Check the records of other congregations in the area or nearby communities.

Related Websites
Researching Your United Methodist Ancestors

Related Wiki Articles
New Jersey Church 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.