have you ever looked at church records to find your ancestors if not you're missing
out on a valuable genealogical resource on today's episode of the ancestral findings
podcast I'll show you what you need to know when researching church records in the US
if you haven't looked into church records in your genealogy research you're missing out
on a valuable resource the vast majority of our early colonists from Europe went to church they
also converted groups from other nations to their religion such as Africans and Native Americans all
of these groups form their own church records sometimes they worship together and sometimes
separately but they always kept records some churches kept better records than others but
they are definitely a resource you shouldn't ignore you may find a lot of information or
you may only find a little whatever you may find it will tell you new things about your ancestors
the lives they led and who they were here are the things you need to know about researching
church records in the United States look in areas where your ancestors lived this is a good way to
start researching church records particularly if you don't know your ancestors religion or
denomination searching all of the available church records from where you know they lived during the
time period you know they live there may reveal the religion they followed as well as important
vital statistics and relationship information for them most church records in the United States
don't go back beyond the early 1700s this is because most of the religious immigrants prior to
this were Puritans or pilgrims those who came to Virginia were either not religious or members of
the Church of England in the New England colonies where the Pilgrims and Puritans came only those
who were official members of the church could own land be a public officer or vote if you don't see
your ancestors name in any official town records prior to 1700 in New England they were probably
not church members though everyone who lived in the colonies in New England was required to
attend church whether or not they were members in Virginia you will also likely find municipal
rather than church records on your ancestors prior to 1700 around 1700 many denominations
of Christianity have become common in all of the American colonies some of these groups were
smaller and closer knit than the others Quakers anabaptists Presbyterians Catholics Mennonites and
more began collecting church records and many of these early records still exist as welcome
resources to genealogists and historians you can find them at local historical societies sometimes
at the actual churches if they're still around and with microphones of the records from the
Family History Library in Salt Lake City Utah which you can have delivered on loan to your
local branch look at patterns of immigration once American history gets past the colonial
period immigration really starts to happen in larger numbers you may have to follow the trail
of your ancestors family through time to discover the next place they lived that has church records
available at first people moved into other New England states then they started moving into the
newer colonies of Pennsylvania Maryland and New Jersey eventually they made their way down into
the Carolinas and Georgia with African churches in America the migrations happened largely after
the Civil War and many of these immigrations were northward many went to the new Midwestern states
like Ohio Indiana in Illinois where others headed to western territories there were some who also
went to the mid-atlantic and New England states their church records will be wherever they went or
where they stayed look at the various sources for church records once you know where your ancestors
were and where they went you can look at the various sources for church records to locate
theirs the best place to begin looking for church records is with the family history library as they
have millions of microfilm records of churches in the United States and Europe most communities have
a family history library branch somewhere nearby and you can order the microfilms of the records
from Utah to be sent to your local branch on loan for you to look at you can also look at websites
like ancestry.com the us gen web project these often have small collections of church records
for certain towns and counties there are also books of collections of church records you can
find by searching online on Google or amazon.com finally check local Historical Society's archives
and libraries in the places where your ancestors lived to find any church records they left if the
church they attended still exists you can even check with the actual church what will you find
in church records when you find church records pertaining to your ancestors what can you expect
to find in them it all depends on the church and the type of records are kept as well as the time
period in which the records were created some of the things you are most likely to find include the
following births deaths marriages baptisms burials especially in church owned cemeteries admissions
of new members transfers of memberships out of the church letters of introduction an old church
wrote for someone leaving to join a new church within the denomination but in a different area
disciplinary actions against members various other types of church business often administrative in
nature but sometimes with interesting details on individual members don't overlook Church
newsletters even when Church records don't exist there may be a church newsletter that is kept at
an archives building or library somewhere Church newsletters were common in the late 1700s and the
1800s they kept members of the same denomination connected with each other even when they lived
long distances apart from each other members who moved usually had family and friends who
still attended their old church back home by subscribing to the church newsletter everyone
got all the news on everyone else no matter where they lived and kept congregations close
and in touch regardless of moves and migrations as an example ancestry.com now has an index of
obituaries that were published in the Southern Christian Advocate a Methodist Church newsletter
published in South Carolina and Georgia in the mid to late-1800s the originals are kept at a
South Carolina University an ancestry provides the contact information to get the full obituary
this newsletter not only provides important information on members it acts as a vital
records substitute for many counties in South Carolina and Georgia where the courthouse is
burned taking important information on their 18th and 19th century inhabitants with them
do you have Hessian soldiers in your ancestry do you suspect you might on the next episode
of the ancestral findings podcast I'll talk about what you need to know about them and how
to research their origins to learn more about genealogy and sign up for our weekly giveaway
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