Wyoming Church Records

Before 1900 the largest religious groups in Wyoming were the Latter-day Saint, Methodist Episcopal, Protestant Episcopal, and Roman Catholic churches. The History of Wyoming, Vol 1, available online, has a detailed account of the establishment of each denomination beginning on page 476. While church services were held earlier, the building of churches began with the arrival of the railroad and influx of settlers in 1868.

Most records are kept with the local congregation, although some may have been transferred to other repositories, such as a church archives, a local genealogical or historical society, or a college library. For additional sources, understanding how to use valuable church records and guides for discovering which church your family may have belonged to, see United States Church Records.

For help locating Wyoming church records see:


 * A Directory of Church and Religious Organizations in the State of Wyoming. Cheyenne, Wyoming: Historical Records Survey, 1939. book 978.7 K22h; film 908039 item 5
 * Guide to Vital Statistics Records in Wyoming: Church Archives. Cheyenne, Wyoming: Historical Records Survey, 1942. 978.7 K23g

The Family History Library has a few original Wyoming church records. Many denominations have collected their records into central repositories. You can write to the following to learn where their records are located:

Lutheran
South West California Synod / ELCA Region 2 Archives 1300 E. Colorado St. Glendale, CA 91205 Phone:(818) 937-4761 E-mail: archives@socalsynod.org
 * Archives hold records for closed churches. For open churches write directly to the local church.

Methodist Episcopal
United Methodist Archives Center Drew University Library P.O. Box 127 Madison, NJ 07940 Phone: (201) 408-3189 Fax: (201) 408-3909

Presbyterian
Presbyterian Historical Society United Presbyterian Church in the U.S. 425 Lombard Street Philadelphia, PA 19147

The Family History Library has microfilmed many of the records in the archives of the Presbyterian Historical Society. Others are described in:


 * Inventory of the Church Archives of Wyoming Presbyterian Churches: 1968 Arrangement with Indexes.'' n.p.: Historical Records Survey

Roman Catholic
Diocese of Cheyenne 2121 Capitol Avenue Cheyenne, WY 82001 Phone: (307) 638-1530 Fax: (307) 637-7936

The diocese includes the counties of: Albany, Big Horn, Campbell, Carbon, Converse, Crook, Fremont, Goshen, Hot Springs, Johnson, Laramie, Lincoln, Natrona, Niobrara, Park, Platte, Sheridan, Sweetwater, Sublette, Teton, Uinta, Washakie and Weston.