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How To Learn About Your Family History From US Church Records

Finding Information About Religious Baptism, Marriages, And Burials

What Are Church Records?

Church records are documents kept by church clergy that detail important events in the parish. For example, baptisms, marriages, and burials were often recorded in these religious records.

State churches were in charge of keeping track of the population in many nations, and each church reported key occurrences to the central church authority. After the Constitution of 1787 separated the power of the church and the state, each parish retained its own set of records.

Types Of Church Records

A priest often prepares the different church records, which include information on important events and persons within a given parish, church, or congregation. These records include:

Marriage Records

These are documented after church wedding events. Marriage records contain the following details:

  • Marriage dates
  • Names of spouses
  • Age of spouses
  • Residence address
  • Employment status
  • Names of witnesses 
  • Names of the clergyman

Baptism Records

The church clergy documents baptisms, including the following details:

  • Date of the baptism
  • Child’s name
  • Parents’ names
  • Sponsors’ or godparents’ names 
  • Clergyman’s name 
  • Home address

Burial Records

Burials are documented when a church member passes away. They contain:

  • The name of the deceased 
  • The date of burial
  • The location of the burial
  • The age of the deceased 
  • The date and place of death 
  • The name of the deceased’s spouse
  • The names of the deceased’s children
  • The names of the deceased’s parents

The Value Of Church Records

For historical and genealogical researchers, church records are a valuable source of information. Church records provide essential details about births, marriages, and deaths that may have otherwise been forgotten. Church records can also detail a family’s position in the community, the relationships between individuals, and other important contextual information.

How To Find Church Records

Most church records pre-date the civil war and aren’t easy to find or access. Here are helpful tips to make this task easier.

1. Identify Your Ancestor's Church

When you know the right denomination, it’s a lot easier to identify your ancestor’s church. Carefully review the records you already have on your ancestor’s religious background. You can find this information in documents like obituaries, memoirs, and county histories. 

You can find hints even if these records don’t explicitly name a church. For example, an obituary could mention a particular faith, say Catholicism. You can then narrow your search down to nearby Catholic churches in particular.

2.Find Church Location

Once you’ve identified the church, look for the physical address location of the church and its contact details. You can start by looking at municipal directories, histories, or maps from that era to find nearby churches of that denomination.

Alternatively, you can Google the church name to find the address and see whether the church is still in operation. If the church is still active, you’ll probably find a website, Facebook page, or other contact details online. 

If the church isn’t listed online, it could have closed, joined with another church, or undergone a name change. Keep these possibilities in mind when searching.

3. Contact The Relevant Church Organization

Once you get contact information on the church, get in touch with the church organization online or in person, if possible. Ask the minister if they still have records of the specific era you’re interested in. Explain why you need access to the documents, and make sure you specify whether you’re looking for a baptism, marriage, or death record. 

If they have the records, ask the minister to make a copy for you.

4. Resort To Online Resources

If you find it difficult to check with the physical church, you can always use online resources to further your search. Thankfully, some church records have been digitized. 

The Family History Library is an excellent place to start looking for church records since it has millions of microfilmed records from churches in the United States and Europe. Most localities have a Family History Library branch nearby, and you may request that microfilms of the documents you need be sent over to your local branch for you to look at.

Additionally, you can also check out Ancestry.com and the USGenweb Project, as they may contain small sets of church records for specific towns and counties. There are also plenty of books and compilations of church records you can find online that can help you in your genealogy search.

What Clues Are Found In Church Records?

In addition to the typical marriage and baptism information on church records, here are other clues you can find in those documents;

  • Your ancestor’s leadership position in the church
  • Your family status in the community
  • Burials, particularly in cemeteries run by churches
  • Enrollment of new members
  • Membership transfers from the church
  • Introduction letters from an old church to a new church in the same denomination

Drawbacks Of Using Church Records

Here are some disadvantages of using church records for genealogy research:

Damaged Or Missing Records

Because many church records go decades or centuries back, most are destroyed or missing due to poor handling and storage. Additionally, the records could be missing simply because your ancestor never went to church.

Syntax/Transcription Error

Keep in mind that your ancestor’s information may have been fudged or recorded incorrectly by a careless clerk many years ago. We recommend using wildcards to circumvent such errors. Wildcards are symbols you can use in place of unknown letters or when you don’t know the exact spelling of specific entries.

Migration

In the 18th century, urbanization led to the development of roads and expansion in different industries. Your ancestors might have moved to other towns in search of better living standards and probably repeatedly changed churches. 

This created inconsistencies across different church records, so systematically tracking your ancestral religious affiliation through time can be confusing. In such a case, find your ancestor’s last or recent church location and focus on that.