How to Trace Family Genealogy Through Churches

Genealogists spend a lot of time walking around old churches' graveyards, discovering the headstones of family members from long ago. Churches are also repositories of genealogical records, which often date back to before the time public institutions were recording vital statistics. Here's how to research your genealogy through church records.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Christening or blessing certificates
• Birth certificates
• Marriage certificates
• Obituaries
• Funeral programs
• Maps
• Death certificates

1. Determine the religious denomination of your ancestor. Search through family records, including christening, baptism, confirmation and marriage certificates, funeral programs, obituaries and family Bibles to find clues to religious affiliation.

2. Determine the geographical location of your ancestor, including the state, county and town or city and the years during which he or she lived there. Church records may be held in the local church that existed in the town at that time.

3. Visit the town where your ancestor lived and look for churches of his or her denomination. Go into the church and inquire about church records kept on-site, and walk through church burial grounds looking for headstones of your ancestors.

4. Do an online search for church records by entering the location or denomination or both--for example, "New Mexico Protestant church records" or "Dayton Ohio Catholic church records."

5. Check historical societies and state or city libraries that may contain copies of local church records.

6. Visit the nearest Family History Center run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Here, thousands of church records are preserved on microfilm. For information on how to find a Family History Center near you, see Tips and Resources below.

Tips & Warnings

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is famous for its genealogical resources housed in the main Family History Library at 35 North West Temple Street, Salt Lake City. Nearly all resources are available at branches of the Family History Center, which are located in many major cities.
• Some Early American towns had only one church, and most of the town's residents attended it, regardless of their formal religious affiliation. If you can locate the church that existed when your ancestor lived nearby, you may be able to find the family name in the records.
• Not all churches kept good records, and some of them may have been lost or transferred to private hands.