User:Hanna5974/sandbox/Alabama3

Methods and Tips for Finding Church Records
See U.S. Church Records Class Handout for a complete introduction to U.S. Church Records.

Online Resources
'''Ancestry.com, FindMyPast.com, and MyHeritage.com can be searched free of charge at your local family history center or the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.


 * 1807-1947 - Alabama miscellaneous church records, 1807-1947 at FamilySearch - images
 * 1831-1994 - at FamilySearch Historical Records - index and images
 * 1881-1930 - at FamilySearch Historical Records - Index only. Coverage Table
 * International Genealogical Index (IGI): Many church christenings and marriages (such as the Congregational, Dutch Reformed, and Lutheran) have been listed in the International Genealogical Index (IGI). IGI data is now found by searching FamilySearch Historical Records.

The Drouin Collection

 * Early U.S. French Catholic Church Records, 1695-1954 Ancestry ($). This database only contains the French Catholic parish records from the United States, includomg Alabama. It is the U.S. part of the U.S. and French-Canadian Drouin Collection. For more details see The Drouin Collection: Six databases.  They are written mainly in French, as well as English, Latin, and Italian.

Anglican/Episcopal Collections

 * Alabama Episcopal Church Records. 1830's to 1970's. Index.
 * 1832-1972 - Web: Alabama, Episcopal Church Registers Index, 1832-1972 at Ancestry.com - index.
 * 1837-1970 - Alabama, Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, Church Records, 1837-1970 at Ancestry.com ($) - index and images.
 * 1830s-1970s - Alabama Episcopal Church Records at the Birmingham Public Library - index

FamilyTree: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church Records
Online information is available to current members, for deceased members and immediate family members who are still living. Sign in to FamilySearch and then select Family Tree in the drop-down menu.

Methodist Collections

 * 1830-1920 - Methodist Episcopal Church, 1832-1920, Alabama at FamilySearch - images
 * 1836-1928 - Circuit Methodist Episcopal churches in Alabama, 1836-1928 at FamilySearch - images
 * 1836-1919 - Circuit Methodist Episcopal churches, 1836-1919, Alabama at FamilySearch - images
 * 1830-1934 - Methodist Episcopal Church records, 1830-1934, Alabama at FamilySearch - images

Finding Aids

 * Finding Aid for Church and Synagogue Records Collections, 1805-2008 Browsable list. This collection contains the records of major denominations within Alabama, including Baptist, Catholic, Church of Christ, Episcopal, Jewish, Methodist and Presbyterian.
 * Catalog of church records in Samford University libraries
 * A list of the Episcopal congregations in Alabama before 1939 is: Inventory of the Church Archives of Alabama: Protestant Episcopal Church. Birmingham, Alabama: Alabama Historical Records Survey Project, 1939. ; digital version at FamilySearch Books. This gives the location of each church with a brief history and describes the types and years of records that existed for each congregation in 1939.
 * List of Baptist churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama - to find churches that existed in earlier times.
 * Hall, James H.B. "The History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Alabama Prior to 1826," Transactions of the Alabama Historical Society, Vol. 4 (1904):365-394. Digital version at Internet Archive - free. Identifies minute books available for early Presbyteries. The early Presbyteries did not keep records of baptisms, marriages, and burials.
 * PERSI is the Periodical Source Index and is available at FindMyPast.com:PERSI. PERSI is an index to family and local history periodicals from 1847 to the present. Many of these periodicals publish church records.
 * IGI Batch Number Chart for Alabama: Reference information only  Use this chart to see whether some church records for your ancestors' town have been indexed in the International Genealogy Index (IGI). The links will no longer take you to a working search engine. Use this only as a reference to find whether records were extracted and added to the index. IGI data is now found by searching FamilySearch Historical Records.

Historical Background
Alabama is located in the middle of the Bible Belt, a region of numerous Protestant Christians. Alabama has been identified as one of the most religious states in the United States, with about 58% of the population attending church regularly. A majority of people in the state identify as Evangelical Protestant. As of 2010, the three largest denominational groups in Alabama are the Southern Baptist Convention, The United Methodist Church, and non-denominational Evangelical Protestant. Many Baptist and Methodist congregations became established in the Great Awakening of the early 19th century, when preachers proselytized across the South. The Presbyterian churches, were strongly associated with Scots-Irish immigrants of the 18th century and their descendants.

Information Recorded in the Records
Different denominations, different time periods, and practices of different record keepers will effect how much information can be found in the records. Sometimes, you will only find a simple membership list. This outline will show the types of details which might be found in the best case scenario. Denominations following practices learned in Europe, where there are state churches (such as the Anglican/Episcopal, Catholic, and Lutheran), are more likely to have full records.

Baptisms
In Catholic and Anglican records, children were usually baptized a few days after birth, and therefore, the baptism record proves date of birth. Other religions, such as Baptists, baptized at other points in the member's life. Baptism registers might give:

Marriages
Marriage registers can give:

Burials
Burial registers may give:

Step 1: Look for Online Records Both in the Listing at the Top of This Page and Under Individual Archives and Religions.
Many records have been digitized and posted online, where they are easily searched. These are listed at the top of the page and on the Alabama Online Genealogy Records page,. Archives will sometimes post online databases of records.

Step 2: Look for Digital Copies of Church Records in the FamilySearch Catalog.

 * Online church records can be listed in the FamilySearch Catalog state-wide, county-wide, or for a town.
 * Watch for digitized copies of church records to be added to the collection of the FamilySearch Library.
 * Some records might have viewing restrictions, and can only be viewed at a Family History Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations.
 * To find records:
 * a. Click on the records of United States, Alabama.
 * b. Click on Places within United States, Alabama and a list of counties will appear.
 * c. Click on your county if it appears.
 * d. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Click on Places within United States, Alabama [COUNTY] and a list of towns will appear.
 * f. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish which served your town or village.
 * g. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * h. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the records.

Step 3: Research Church Record Holdings in Person or by Correspondence in Archives.
Some church records have been deposited for preservation in government archives or in libraries. Watch for links to digitized, online records offered by the archives. Some archives provide research services for a fee. For others, if you cannot visit in person, you might hire a researcher.

State Archives
Alabama Department of Archives and History P.O. Box 300100 624 Washington Ave. Montgomery, AL 36130 Telephone:334-242-4435


 * Finding Aid for Church and Synagogue Records Collections, 1805-2008 Browsable list. This collection contains the records of major denominations within Alabama, including Baptist, Catholic, Church of Christ, Episcopal, Jewish, Methodist and Presbyterian.
 * Index to Churches in the Alabama Church and Synagogue Records Collection Database at the Alabama Archives - index.
 * Research Request Form and Instructions
 * Website

University Archives
Samford University Library 800 Lakeshore Drive Birmingham, AL 35229 Telephone:205-726-2196 E-mail: referenc@samford.edu
 * Catalog of church records in Samford University libraries
 * Alabama Genealogical Society AGS RESEARCHERS LIST

Denominational Archives
For archives of a particular religion, go to Major Religious Denominations and Their Archives.

Presbyterian Archives
Presbyterian Historical Society 425 Lombard Street Philadelphia, PA 19147 Phone: (215) 627-1852 Fax: (215) 627-0509

Catholic Archives

 * Diocese of Birmingham 2121 3rd Ave. P.O. Box 12047 North Birmingham, AL 35202-2047 Phone: (205) 838-8322

The diocese includes the counties of: Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert, Coosa, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hale, Jackson, Jefferson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, Randolph, Shelby, Sumter, St. Clair, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker and Winston.

Archdiocese of Mobile Archives 14 S. Franklin St. Mobile, AL 36602 Phone: (251) 415-3850

The Archdiocese includes the counties of: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Dallas, Elmore, Escambia, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Pike, Russell, Washington and Wilcox.

Step 4: Correspond with Genealogical or Historical Societies.
Some church records have been given to historical societies. Also, historical societies may be able to tell you where the records are being held. To find a society near you, consult this list:
 * List of Alabama Societies

Step 5: Correspond With or Visit Local Churches.

 * Some denominations centralize storage of church records in archives.
 * The most recent records are still held in the local churches. For addresses for these, see listings under each denomination.

How to Write a Letter

 * See the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters.

Address Lists
Because there are so many different denominations with congregations in Alabama, the address lists merit their own page in the Wiki. To find addresses for churches, for each denomination, next go to Alabama Church Directories.