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 February, 2020; recently added links are in BOLD):
- Amicable Congregational Church, History, 1746-1946
- Annals of Newport Churches, 1698-1821
- East Providence, First Baptist Church, Births or Christenings, 1794-1875
- Hopkinton, Seventh-day Baptist Church, Record of Marriages, August 15th, 1804 to January 1st, 1838
- Marriage Records of Rev. Charles M. Winchester in Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts
- Narragansett, Saint Pauls Church, Births or Christenings, 1718-1875
- New Shoreham, Church Records 1784-1927
- Providence, First Baptist Church, Historical Catalogue of the Members
- Rhode Island Births and Christenings, 1600-1914
- Rhode Island, Miscellaneous Church Records, by County
- Seekonk, Pawtucket and Newman Congregational Church Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths
- Warwick, Historical Sketches of the Churches
- Westerly, Christ Church Marriages
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
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