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

Collection Time Period
New Jersey, Calvary United Methodist Church Records, 1821-1895

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.

Record Content
Genealogical information in church birth and christening records is:


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

Genealogical information in church death and burial records is:


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

Genealogical information in church marriage records:


 * 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

Once 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.

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.

If you do not find your ancestor, try these suggestions:


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

Be aware of the following:


 * 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.

Record History
The church began keeping records as soon as it was organized.

Why the Record Was Created
The church kept records to know who were members, to track important events in their lives, and to protect their legal interests.

Record Reliability
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.

Related Websites
Researching Your United Methodist Ancestors

Related Wiki Articles
New Jersey Church Records

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should 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: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection

 * “Delaware Marriage Records,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed 4 March 2011), entry for William Anderson and Elizabeth Baynard Henry, married 23 November 1913; citing marriage certificate no. 859; FHL microfilm 2,025,063; Delaware Bureau of Archives and Records Management, Dover.


 * “El Salvador Civil Registration,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed 21 March 2011), entry for Jose Maria Antonio del Carmen, born 9 April 1880; citing La Libertad, San Juan Opico, Nacimientos 1879-1893, image 50; Ministerio Archivo Civil de la Alcaldia Municipal de San Salvador.

Sources of information for This Collection
"New Jersey, Calvary United Methodist Church Records, 1821-1895." Images. FamilySearch, (FamilySearch.org). Calvary United Methodist Church (formerly known as Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church), Keyport, New Jersey. FHL digital images. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

The suggested format for citing FamilySearch Historical Collections is found in the following article: How to Create Source Citations For FamilySearch Historical Records Collections.