Bless Your Research with Church Records
Claude Monet's
Street in Sainte-Adresse (1867) famous painting. Original from the
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Digitally enhanced by
rawpixel.
"Most family history researchers turn first to civil records to begin the documentation of important events in an ancestor's life. These are frequently accessible, often digitized, and usually can be found on major websites such as Ancestry or FamilySearch.
Church records, on the other hand, are a sometimes overlooked resource that can greatly enhance your genealogical research. They can fill in the blanks in your ancestor's timeline and have other benefits as well."
Read more about the benefits of church records, tips on finding them, in my article "Bless Your Family History Research by Delving into Church Records." The article was published in the September 2024 issue of Stirpes, and is available here by permission of the Texas State Genealogical Society.
Be sure to drop a comment on church records you have found useful or other tips for finding or working with them.
Until next time...
© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2025. All rights reserved.
Can't wait to read it!
ReplyDeleteA great grandfather and great grandmother were married in New Jersey and I have a lovely form that has the signatures of all of the attendees. But it is not a marriage certificate and I wanted that. I could not find it so I contacted the New jersey vital records; they searched but found nothing. About a week later, I received a call from the archivist. She had done some searching using the minister's name (also on that form). He had been a visiting minister from an Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. I looked for the church but found that it was no longer active. Being Episcopalian, I knew that the records of former churches went to the diocese so I contacted them. They had the marriage certificate and provided me with a copy.
ReplyDeleteThis is great! It's really key to know the jurisdictions and where the records are kept, isn't it. Awesome detective work!
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