Texas Church Records

Before 1900 the largest religious groups in Texas were the Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, Roman Catholic, and Christian (Disciples of Christ).

The Family History Library has some church records for Texas. For example, the library has microfilm copies of original documents from the Catholic archives in El Paso, Galveston, and San Antonio. The records from the San Antonio archdiocese include 100 microfilms for the city of San Antonio for the years 1703 to 1957.

Many denominations have collected their records into central repositories. You can write to the following addresses to learn where their records are located.

Baptist
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary A. Webb Roberts Library 2001 West Seminary Drive Fort Worth, TX 76122 Telephone: 817-923-1921 (x3330) Fax: 817-921-8754 Internet: http://www.swbts.edu/libraries/

Baylor University Moody Memorial Library Box 6307 Waco, TX 76703 Telephone: 254-710-2111 Fax: 254-710-3116 Internet: http://www3.baylor.edu/Library/LibDepts/MMLandJones/MMLandJones.html

For a history of the Baptists in Texas, see James M. Carroll, A History of Texas Baptists. Dallas, Texas: Baptist Standard Publishing Co., 1923. (Family History Library film 1000597.)

Disciples of Christ
Brite Divinity School Collection Mary Couts Burnett Library Texas Christian University 2913 West Lowden Fort Worth, TX 76129 Telephone: 817-921-7117 Fax: 817-921-7447 Internet: http://lib.tcu.edu/www/default.asp

Methodist
Center for Methodist Studies United Methodist Historical Collection Bridwell Library Southern Methodist University 6005 Bishop Boulevard P.O. Box 750476 Dallas, TX 75275 Internet: http://www.smu.edu/bridwell/methodiststudies/methodiststudies.htm

For a history of the Methodist Church, see Macum Phelan, History of Early Methodism in Texas, 1817-1866. Nashville, Tennessee: Cokesbury Press, 1924. (Family History Library film 599530.)

Roman Catholic
Catholic Archives of Texas 1600 North Congress Capitol Station P.O. Box 13327 Austin, TX 78711-3327 Telephone: 512-476-4888 Fax: 512-469-9537 Internet: http://www.onr.com/user/cat/

For a history of the Catholic Church, see Mary Angela Fitzmorris, ''Four Decades of Catholicism in Texas 1820-1860. ''Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America, 1926. (Family History Library book 976.4 A1 no. 21; film 924684 item 3.)