Another under utilized genealogy resource is Church Records. We tend to focus our research on civil records, but need to be aware that often church records pre-dated civil records and are a great resource as well. In the BMD Records section of this website there are about 15,000 collections of civil records that are available online. Yes, that's a lot, but we need to also search church records as well.
What can we find in church or synagogue records? Here's just a shortlist of what nuggets we can find:
- Baptisms and Christenings
- Marriages
- Deaths
- Burials
- Confirmations
- Membership lists
- Church Minutes
- Church Directories
- Transfer Letters
- Bar or Bat Mitzvahs
- Sunday School lists
- Church newsletters
In addition, many folks also documented important events in family bibles, so they need to be searched as well if the event information has been digitized.
Here are a couple of articles that you might find useful:
- U.S. Church Records Research Guide
- United States Church Records
- A Genealogist’s Guide to Using Catholic Records in Genealogy Research
There is a large number of Free Online Church Record collections; the links accessible by state below:.
Note: Some of the links listed below take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections' images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital.
(Updated January, 2020; recently added links are in BOLD):
- Amherst, Congregational Church Baptisms, 1741-1826
- Belknap County Church Records
- Boscawen, Second Church of Christ Genealogical abstracts from the Records
- Cheshire County Church Records
- Claremont, Union Congregational Church, Card file index, 1739-1938
- Dover, First Parish Church, Records
- Dover, First Congregational Church Parish Records 1614-1917
- Epsom, Ecclesiastical Records 1761-1774
- Exeter, First Church, 1638-1888, 1698-1898
- Exeter, Second Church, Baptisms and Marriages 1818-1870
- Fitzwilliam, Church of Christ Church Book of Records, 1771-1905
- Grafton County Church Records
- Greenfield, Union Congregational Church Church Records : series I, Minutes, 1791-1969
- Hampstead, Abstracts from the Church Records 1752-1866
- Hanover Center, First Congregational Church Catalogue of the Members
- Hillsborough County Church Records
- Keene, First Congregational Church List of Members.
- Kingston, Births and Christenings, 1681-1823
- Madbury Parish and Town Records, 1755-1827
- Merrimack County Church Records
- New Hampshire Births and Christenings, 1714-1904
- New Hampshire, Church Records, 1771-1905
- New Hampshire, Inventory of the Roman Catholic Church Records in New Hampshire
- New Hampshire, Somersworth Parish and Town Records, 1729-1829
- North Conway, Congregational Church Church Records, 1778-1886
- Plymouth, Congregational Church Catalogue of Members
- Portsmouth, North Church, Baptisms, 1779-1796
- Portsmouth, 3d or Independent English Church, Abstracts from the Records 1758-1831
- Portsmouth, St. John's Church Marriage Records, 1795-1884
- Portsmouth, St. John's Church, Baptismal Records, 1795-1884
- Rockingham County Church Records
- South Hampton, Marriages and Baptisms, 1743-1801
- Strafford County, First Church of Dover, Baptisms
- Strafford County, First Church of Dover, Members
- Strafford County Church Records
- Strafford County, 1st Congregational Church Baptisms, 1792 - 1853
- Villages of: Westville, Plaistow, Atkinson, Newton, Hampstead & Kingston, Holy Angels Parish, Marriages
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
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