Genealogy Today has an interesting article on “Finding and Using Church Records” that had a few surprises in it for me.
During the 1930s, the Works Projects Administration (WPA) planned an inventory of all U.S. church records. Because too many churches wouldn’t cooperate and because the amount of material was too voluminous, it never finished. The WPA did manage to publish many volumes, listing churches of the same denomination, giving the name, location, brief notes concerning the history of the congregation, its dates of founding and of combining with other churches, and the location of the records as of the 1930s. Usually, these can be found in libraries. Naturally, the data giving the location of the church records may now be inaccurate. Some denominations, realizing the genealogical and historical value of keeping church records, have set up central depositories where local churches can send their records for preservation and research.
In determining what churches existed at the time and place being researched, a genealogist should consult the county, state, and local histories that proliferated in the 1870s and 1880s, which often included at least one chapter on church history. Local historians gave a surprising amount of information about the churches and in some cases were foresighted enough to include a transcript of at least part, and sometimes all, of the vital records of the leading or earliest church in their town.
…One of the best sources for locating records today is E. Kay Kirkham’s A Survey of American Church Records, published by Everton Publishers, Inc., Logan, Utah. Included are most of the church records accumulated by the Genealogical Society in Salt Lake City covering the major denominations before 1860. This basic reference covers all the states east of the Mississippi before 1860.
I’ve just started digging into some church records for the Anderson Family research and this will really help.
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