South Dakota Church Records

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Historical Background
Before 1900, the largest religious groups in South Dakota were the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist Episcopal, and Congregational churches.

Information Found in the Records
To effectively use church records, become familiar with their content. Click on these links to learn about a specific record type:

Look for online records.
'''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.


 * , index and images, incomplete.
 * Germans from Russia parish register collection

Look for digital copies of church records listed in the FamilySearch Catalog.

 * The Family History Library (FHL) has a substantial collection of original church records and transcripts on microfilm for churches in the United States.
 * Online church records can be listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under the state, county, or town.
 * If you find a record that has not yet been digitized, see How do I request that a microfilm be digitized?
 * 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, South Dakota.
 * b. Click on Places within United States, South Dakota 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, South Dakota [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.

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Consult available finding aids.
These aids generally provide lists of records that are known to exist and information on their location.

Correspond with or visit the actual churches.
Some records are still held in the local churches. Contact the current minister to find out what records are still available. Also, see Church Angel Address List for a comprehensive list of South Dakota churches.
 * Make an appointment to look at the records. Or ask the minister of the church to make a copy of the record for you.
 * To find church staff available, you might have to visit on Sunday.
 * Ask for small searches at a time, such as one birth record or a specific marriage. Never ask for "everything on a family or surname".
 * A donation ($25-$40) for their time and effort to help you would be appropriate.
 * If the church has a website, you may be able to e-mail a message.
 * See the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters.
 * Each denomination page offers an online address directory of local churches for that denomination.

Check the church records collections in archives and libraries.
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. '''Here you will find archive information unique to the state. Many more archives are kept by denomination. For denominational archives, go to  Searching for Church Records by Denomination.

Lutheran
ELCA Region3 Archives 2481 Como Avenue Saint Paul, MN 55108-1496 Phone: (651) 641-3205 E-mail:pdaniels@luthersem.edu
 * Archives hold records for closed churches. For open churches write directly to the local church.

Odessa3.org - This site contains German-Russian emigrant ancestry in pocket settlements in mid-west states of North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. Contains transcribed minutes of meetings, membership lists (some with parentage listed), birth, deaths, and marriages.]

Methodist
Archives and History Library Dakotas Conference United Methodist Church 1331 West University Boulevard Mitchell, SD 57301 Phone: (605) 996-6552 Fax: (605) 996-1766 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 460 Mitchell, SD 57301

Episcopal
The Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota 500 South Main Avenue Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57104-6814 Phone: (605) 338-9751 Fax: (605) 336-6243
 * Episcopal archives only keep records for closed churches. For all open churches, '''contact the parish.]

Roman Catholic
Diocese of Rapid City 606 Cathedral Drive Rapid City, SD 57709 Phone: (605) 343-3541
 * Archives
 * "So far, all parishes within our diocese of Rapid City’s sacramental record books have been scanned, cumulating a 5+ year diocesan wide project. This backup of sacramental records is paramount for security in case of a disaster such as flood or fire, in which some of our parishes have found a total loss to their records. Our archives space is very limited, yet we do our very best to accommodate all research requests for those seeking their sacramental records or genealogical research."

The diocese includes the counties of: Bennett, Butte, Corson, Custer, Dewey, Fall River, Gregory, Haakon, Harding, Jackson, Jones, Lawrence, Lyman, Meade, Mellette, Pennington, Perkins, Shannon, Stanley, Todd, Tripp and Ziebach
 * Also, the local parish will have details about existing records and their location: Parish Finder

Diocese of Sioux Falls 523 N. Duluth Ave. Sioux Falls, SD 57105 Phone: (605) 334-9861
 * Archives
 * Archives instructions are to contact the local parish for research requests: Parish Directory
 * Sacramental Records Locations includes locations of both active and closed parishes.

The diocese includes the counties of: Aurora, Beadle, Bon Homme, Brookings, Brown, Brule, Buffalo, Campbell, Charles Mix, Clark, Clay, Codington, Davison, Day, Deuel, Douglas, Edmunds, Faulk, Grant, Hamlin, Hand, Hanson, Hughes, Hutchinson, Hyde, Jerauld, Kingsbury, Lake, Lincoln, Marshall, McCook, McPherson, Miner, Minnehaha, Moody, Potter, Roberts, Sanborn, Spink, Sully, Turner Union, Walworth and Yankton

A dissertation about the history of the Catholic Church is Mary Claudia Duratschek, The Beginnings of Catholicism in South Dakota (Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1943; and