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United States

Church Records in the U.S.
The United States is a country of religious diversity. Unlike many other countries, there has been no “state church,” except for a few periods in some of the early colonies.

Church records in the United States began in the early 1600s. Unfortunately, the United States did not require a civil registration or recording of births, marriages, and deaths until into the 20th Century. Sometimes church records are the only records containing that information about individuals and therefore, are a valuable substitute when vital records do not exist.

Your ancestor may have changed denominations for reasons of convenience or by conviction. When the family moved to a new community, they may have sarted attending a church located there, or they may have changed denominations by conversion.

To learn more about the church records and their repositories in a state, click on a state below.

Information found in Church Records
The information kept by a specific church depended largely on the denomination of the church and the record keeper. Each denomination had guidelines (or lack of guidelines) on what the minister or other church clerks were to record.

Many denominations recorded christenings, baptisms, marriages, and burials of members of their congregation, which consequently recorded birth, marriage, and death dates. However, the information recording these events varies greatly from church to church. Additional information was often recorded when recording events such as parents’ names of couples getting married, god parents and witnesses (often family members and close friends), and even town of birth for some immigrants.

Other church records include communion, admissions and removals, financial records, Sunday Schoool lists, an annual church census, church-related newsletters and other church publications.

How to search for Church Records
Church records are kept at local churches, in church archives, at historical and genealogical societies and in libraries. Many church records have been pulbished in books and periodicals.

To locate your ancestor in church records you must know:


 * Denomination
 * Where they lived

Determining the Denomination: With the religious freedom in the United States, many different churches have thrived throughout the Country’s history. This may make it difficult to determine the denomination of your ancestor. If you know the country of origin before the family came to the United States, it can give you a clue as to the religion they may have belonged to. If your family originally came from England, they may have belonged to the Church of England and therefore, belonged to the Episcopal Church in the U.S. Be aware that some individuals immigrating were avoiding religious persecution and therefore, may have belonged to a church not popular or common in their home country.

Records that help in determining denomination:


 * 1) What country did your family come from?
 * 2) Look in home sources for church certificates such as a baptism certificate or a marriage certificate. Also search for funeral notices to see what church the funeral took place in.
 * 3) Obituaries may mention the church where the funeral took place for your ancestor.
 * 4) Locate the marriage record or certificate for a couple. If they were married by church authority it will state the name of the clergyman and sometimes the church he was from.
 * 5) Look for the cemetery they were buried in. Some religions have their own cemeteries. If they were buried in a church cemetery, they belonged to that church at one point.
 * 6) Family Bible might reveal which church the family belonged to.
 * 7) County histories may contain information about the local churches in the area that the family may have belonged to.
 * 8) If your ancestor lived in a large city, check the city directory to see what churches were in the same neighborhood her ancestor lived in.
 * 9) Contact the local genealogical society or public library for information on churches in the area.

Where they lived: It is necessary to know the town or at least the county your ancestor lived in to locate their church records. This will help you in narrowing down the possible churches that your ancestors may have gone to.

From the Church
If you know the church your ancestor went to, contact the current minister to find out what records are still available at the church. Some churches keep their records and provide a way for your to make a search or research the records yourself.

From the Denomination Headquarters
When a church closes or the church records are no longer held at the church, often the records of their congregation go the Denomination archives or their church headquarters. Many larger denominations have centralized records and provide a way for the records to be accessed by genealogists. Some denominations still keep their records private and give no access to church records. It is important to contact the church organization and ask concerning the church records to see what is available.

From the Family History Library (FHL) and Family History Center (FHC)
The Family History Library has microfilmed records of church records for churches across the United States, especially for large cities like New York City and Chicago. These microfilms can be loaned to Family History Centers located around the world. Locate a Family History Center.


 * 1) Make a search of the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) to see what records are available on microfilm to order to your local Family History Center, do the following:
 * 2) Go to Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) online.
 * 3) In the “Place Search” of the FHLC, type in the town or city your ancestor lived in.
 * 4) The FHLC will give you a list of possible places that match what you typed. Click on the correct match.
 * 5) Church records are located under the topic of: Church Records. Click on this topic and you will see a list of all the church records available for this particular place in the FHLC.
 * 6) Scan the list of church records available and determine if the church is the right denomination and covers the time period of when you ancestor lived.
 * 7) Click on link for the church record you want to search.
 * 8) Click in the right hand corner button, "View Film Notes."
 * 9) This screen will tell you the film number for the record you want to search.
 * 10) With the appropriate microfilm number, you can now order the microfilm from a Family History Centernear you.

= Churches =

Baptist
American Baptist - Samuel Colgate Historical Library 1106 South Goodman Street Rochester, NY 14620-2532 Telephone: 716-473-1740 Internet: http:www.sbhla.org

National Association of Free Will Baptists

Executive Office 5233 Mt. View Road Antioch, TN 37013-2306 Mailing Address: FWB Executive Office P.O. Box 5002 Antioch, TN 37011-5002

Internet: http://www.nafwb.org/

Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archive 901 Commerce Street, Suite 400 Nashville, TN 37203-3630 Telephone: 615-244-0344 Internet: www.sbhla.org

Church of the Brethern
Brethren Historical Library and Archives 1451 Dundee Avenue Elgin, IL 60120 Phone: 847-742-5100 Ext. 294 Fax: 847-742-6103 (Be sure to include Brethren Historical Library and Archives on the fax) http://www.cob-net.org/fobg/library.htm

Congregational
Congregational Library 14 Beacon Street Boston, MA 02108 Telephone: 617-523-0470 Fax: 617-523-0470 Internet: www.congregationallibrary.org

Episcopal
Archives of the Episcopal Church 606 Rathervue Place P.O. Box 2247 Austin, Texas 78768 Phone: (512) 472-6816 Fax: (512) 480-0437 Email: research@episcopalarchives.org http://www.episcopalarchives.org/

Greek Orthodox
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America 8-10 East 79th St. New York, NY 10075 Tel: (212) 570-3500 Fax: (212) 774-0251 Internet: http://www.goarch.org/arachdiocese/about

Jewish
American Jewish Archives 3101 Clifton Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45220 Telephone: 513-221-1875 Fax: 513-221-7812 Internet: www.americanjewisharchives.org

American Jewish Historical Society Library 2 Thornton Road Waltham, MA 02154 Telephone: 617-891-8110 Fax: 617-899-9208 Internet: www.ajhs.org

Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
Family History Library 35 N. West Temple Street Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400 Telephone: 801-240-2364 Fax: 801-240-1584 Internet: www.familysearch.org

Other archives and libraries also have records. For information about records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints see the LDS Records Research Outline.

Lutheran
Concordia Historical Institute The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod 801 De Mun Avenue St. Louis, MO 63105 Telephone: 314-505-7900 Fax: 314-505-7901 Internet: http://chi.lcms.org/

Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA Archives) 8765 West Higgins Road Chicago, IL 60631-4198 Telephone: 773-380-2818 Internet: www.elca.org/archives/

German-Russian Lutheran Ancestry

Odessa3.org - This site contains German-Russian emigrant ancestry in pocket settlements in mid-west states of North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. Contains transcribed minutes of meetings, membership lists (some with parentage listed), birth, deaths, and marriages.]

If a local church is still active, it will be able to help find their records. The records of disbanded U.S. churches are at the ELCA Archives in Chicago. The archives has records of many congregations; those on microfilm can be borrowed for a small fee. Partial lists of church records in its collection are:


 * American Lutheran Church (ALC) Archives. ALC Congregations on Microfilm. Dubuque, Iowa: The Archives, [197-?]. (Family History Library fiche 6330690-93.) Arranged by state and city of congregation. The ALC Archives are now part of the ELCA Archives.
 * American Lutheran Church Shelf List Index to Their Church Records Microfilmed as of 1987. N.p., 1988. (Family History Library book 973 K2aL.)
 * A guide to most Lutheran churches and addresses is:
 * Lutheran Church Directory for the United States 1982. New York, New York: Lutheran Council in the USA, 1981. (Family History Library book 973 K24L.)

Methodist
United Methodist Archives Center Drew University Library P.O. Box 127 Madison, NJ 07940 Telephone: 201-408-3189 Fax: 201-408-3909 Internet: www.gcah.org

Mennonite
Mennonite Obituaries Index 1930-2001 online. Index is from The Mennonitische Rundschau. Index covers the world and includes the following: • Surname • Given Name • Maiden Name • Birth Year • Death Year • Place of death • Country • Issue • Page

There is also a Mennonite Immigrants list for the years 1872-1904 The Index provides the following information: • Surname • Given Name • Sex • Estimated Birth Date • Arrival Age • Stated Occupation • Individual RIN • Spouse RIN • Parent RIN • Ship Name • Ship Code

Presbyterian
Southern Region

Presbyterian Church (USA) Dept. of History 318 Georgia Terrace Box 849 Montreat, NC 28757 Telephone: 704-669-7061 Fax: 704-669-5369 Internet: http://www.upress.virginia.edu/epub/pyatt/mont01.html

Northern Region

Presbyterian Historical Society 425 Lombard Street Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516 Telephone: 215-627-1852 Fax: 215-627-0509 Internet: www.history.pcusa.org

For their obituaries, news clippings, ministerial service, genealogies, histories, and biographical sketches see:


 * Presbyterian Historical Society (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). Miscellaneous Biographical Collection. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1967. (On 69 Family History Library films starting with 506383.)
 * Benedetto, Robert. Guide to the Manuscript Collections of the Presbyterian Church, USA. New York, New York: Greenwood Press, 1990. (Family History Library book 973 A3ben.) Indexed.

Ulster Ireland Presbyterian Immigrants An account of the (mainly) Ulster Presbyterians who immigrated to America in the 18th century and includes genealogical information. It also provides detail on the social and political conditions that the immigrants faced during that period. An extensive index is included.

Roman Catholic
Records of most parishes are kept in the individual parishes or in diocese offices. Guides to dioceses and parishes are:


 * Official Catholic Directory. Wilmette, Illinois: P. J. Kennedy and Sons, annual. (Family History Library book 282.025 Of2.)
 * Humling, Virginia. U.S. Catholic Sources: A Diocesan Research Guide. Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry, 1995. (Family History Library book 973 K2hu.)

For older North American church records kept by priests of the Order of the Holy Cross contact:

Holy Cross Provincial Archives P.O. Box 568 South Bend, IN 46556 Telephone: 219-631-5371 Internet: www.holycross.edu/departments/library/website/archives/jprovincials.html

THE DROUIN COLLECTION:

Drouin Collection 1621-1967 at Ancestry.ca. When searching these databases, be creative in the spellings as well as the various focuses in searching for an ancestor. The French language has many possible spellings for a name, as well as there are errors in the indexing.

This French-Canadian collection has over 15 million genealogical and vital records entries; they were microfilmed by the Institut Généalogique Drouin. In Quebec, under the French Regime, there were two sets of records kept: a copy for the civil government archives and a copy for the ecclesiastical church archives. The Drouin collection is a civil copy of these entries. Please note that the cutoff date of this collection is in the early 1940s; only a small percentage of entries were covered from 1948 to 1967.

This collection is divided into six databases: 1. Quebec Vital and Church Records, 1621-1967 2. Ontario French Catholic Church Records, 1747-1967, 3. Early U.S. French Catholic Church Records, 1695-1954, 4. Acadia French Catholic Church Records, 1670-1946, 5. Quebec Notarial Records, 1647-1942, and 6. Miscellaneous French Records, 1651-1941. For details about these six databases, see "The Drouin Collection: Six Databases" at https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/The_Drouin_Collection:_Six_databases.

Early UnitedStates French Catholic Church Records, 1695-1954: This database only contains the French Catholic parish records from the United States; in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, and Pennsylvania. The types of records include baptisms, marriages, and burials as well as confirmations, dispensations, censuses, statements of readmission to the church, and so on. They are written mainly in French, as well as English, Latin, and Italian.

Society of Friends (Quakers)
Orthodox Records

Magill Historical Library Haverford College Haverford, PA 19041 Telephone: 610-896-1175 Fax: 610-896-1102 Internet: www.haverford.edu/library/special/

Hicksite Records

Friends Historical Library Swarthmore College 500 College Avenue Swarthmore, PA 19081 Telephone: 610-328-8496 Internet: www.swarthmore.edu/library/friends/

Important guides to records include:


 * Hinshaw, William Wade. Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. Six Volumes. www.erhs.info Ann Arbor, Michigan: Edwards Brothers, 1936-1950. (Family History Library book 973 D2he; film 432597-606; fiche 6051371-79.)
 * Hill, Thomas C. Monthly Meetings in North America: An Index. Second Edition. Cincinnati, Ohio: N.p., 1993. (Family History Library book 973 K22h 1998; film 1698282 item 11.) Alphabetical by monthly meeting. Gives address and sometimes location of records.

United Church of Christ
(Merger of the Evangelical and German Reformed churches and some Congregational churches)

Evangelical and Reformed Historical Society and Archives 555 West James Street Lancaster, PA 17603 Telephone: 717-290-8711 or 717-393-0654 Internet: www.erhs.info

The Family History Library has a substantial collection of original church records and transcripts on microfilm.

These include records of many denominations, particularly the Quaker, Presbyterian, Congregational, Lutheran, Reformed, and Roman Catholic churches in the eastern, southern, and midwestern states.

The library also has an extensive collection of records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This includes membership records, temple records, and church censuses. Although these records pertain to all states and many countries, they are described in more detail in the Utah Research Outline and in the LDS Records Research Outline.

Church records are generally found in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under [STATE], [COUNTY], [TOWN] - CHURCH RECORDS. Histories of churches are listed under [STATE], [COUNTY], [TOWN] - CHURCH HISTORIES.

Many christenings and marriages listed in the records of some churches (such as the Congregational, Dutch Reformed, and Lutheran) have been listed in the International Genealogical Index (IGI). This index is available online at:


 * www.familysearch.org.