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| Family Religion Tracing Genealogy through Church Records |
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| Written by Chad Cook | |
| Sunday, 17 December 2006 | |
Family Religion Tracing Genealogy through Church RecordsUtilising church records to track genealogical information is a major resource that is quickly being discovered by those who are researching their family trees. Your church, or the church that included your family in a past congregation, may have extensive records relating to your family. Many do. The most well known church records for genealogy research are those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Mormons. The LDS church maintains extensive records and several web sites, and you don't have to be a member of their church to access the records, as they regard genealogy records to be part of the mission of their church. They have a free genealogy search engine, as well as links to many other sites that can aid in research. Links include US, British and Canadian census records online. The LDS church also offers a free workbook for researchers and other tools, either free or very inexpensively, that can prove helpful. Many other churches also keep records of membership, marriages, births, confirmation, baptism, death, anniversaries and other important events in the lives of their members. If your church is part of a large denomination, there may be a main record center where this information is held. If you or your family were members of a smaller church, you may have to go to the church or correspond with the pastor to get this information. Often, the logs or journals of pastors will be passed down from one to another. If logs or journals are not to be found, church records will usually, at least, document attendance and that can validate whether your family members were at this particular church during the years in question. In rural areas many churches have adjoining cemeteries and accompanying burial records. One family researcher has taken to hanging out at cemeteries reading the inscriptions on grave stones in his search for long lost relatives, and has turned up some good results. Other researchers have been fortunate with the records of church affiliated associations. For instance, the Knights of Columbus is a Catholic organization for men that has been around for ages and keeps records of membership. This is a group formed to provide men of the parish with a meeting place for fellowship and an organizational structure through which to do charitable works for the community. The various chapters of the Masonic Lodge has always maintained a similar thrust and has been affiliated with many Protestant churches. One genealogic researcher found out that many of her male ancestors were members of a particular lodge, which led her to check with that lodge and ask for assistance in unearthing records of her ancestors. The lodge members were very obliging. It turned out that in the small town where the lodge was located, most of the members also attended the same area churches, and many of the records coincided. As luck would have it, one of the churches also had a nearby cemetery and so she was able to find the resting places of many ancestors by visiting there, as well as pictures of two grandfathers and two great grandfathers who had been Lodge Masters in the past. This was an extraordinary find, and emphasised the value of seeking documented facts through churches, cemeteries and fraternal orders. Family bibles often contain much valuable information, and while most families hold on to the family bible, some donate them to churches thus providing yet another resource for information. Perusing the family bibles of other families in the area can present clues to what may have been transpiring in your own family during that period. Bear in mind that if your family is from a farming community or a small town, there may be less dedication to record keeping than might be found in a larger or older city. Boston, for instance, has many churches and cemetaries and most of them maintain excellent records. Conversely, a small town in Arizona may not have been settled that long ago in comparison and may not have such detailed records. You never know until you check it out though, and part of genealogical research is following clues to see where they lead. While a trail may dry up, it could also split off instead, and take you in a new and more productive direction. |
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