Missouri Church Records

United States   Missouri    Church Records

Roman Catholic churches were established in Missouri in the colonial era. Records for St. Louis, for example, date from 1765. Many other denominations came after 1800 with the arrival of various immigrant groups. By 1900 the largest religious groups in Missouri were the Roman Catholic, Baptist, Christian (Disciples of Christ), and Methodist Episcopal (now United Methodist).

The Family History Library has some collections of church records for Missouri, including Catholic, Baptist, and Presbyterian records. These include a unique collection of 13 films of alphabetized parish register transcripts from the Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City for the years 1830 to 1900.

For information on church records see:


 * Guide to Vital Statistics: Church Records in Missouri. Washington, DC: Historical Records Survey, 1942. (not available at the Family History Library)

Many denominations have collected their records into central repositories. You can write to the following for more information about their records.

Non-Denominational
Ruth E. Browning abstracted names and events from The Christian Messenger and created an every name index. The Christian Messenger was a religious newspaper during the 1800's which included "letters with information about the churches, obituaries, death notices, names of subscribers, letters from preachers, etc." The information abstracted from this newspaper came from several counties in Missouri.

Baptist
Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives 901 Commerce Street, Suite 400 Nashville, TN 37203-3630 Phone: (615) 244-0344 Fax: (615) 782-4821 Website: Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives

Missouri Baptist Historical Commission William Jewell College 500 College Hill Liberty, MO 64068 Phone: (816) 781-7700 ext.5468 Fax: (816) 415-5027 Website: Missouri Baptist Historical Commission

American Baptist Historical Society 1106 South Goodman Street Rochester, NY 14620-2532 Phone: (716) 473-1740 Website: American Baptist Historical Society

An 1899 directory of Baptist ministers lists biographical details about many ministers born or serving in the state:


 * The Ministerial Directory of the Baptist Churches in the United States of America. Oxford, Ohio: Ministerial Directory Co., 1899. Digital version at Google Books.

An inventory of some Missouri Baptist records at the American Baptist Historical Society is:


 * Records of American Baptists in Missouri and Related Organizations. Rochester, New York: American Baptist Historical Society, 1982.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
Early church records, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for Missouri Wards and Branches can be found on film and are located at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The film numbers, for each ward, can be locate through the Family History Library Catalog. Or by refering to Jaussi, Laureen R., and Gloria D. Chaston. Register of Genealogical Society Call Numbers. 2 vols. Provo, Utah: Genealogy Tree, 1982. (FHL book 979.2258 A3j; fiche 6031507). These volumes contain the film numbers for many (but not all) membership and temple record films.

Disciples of Christ (Christian Church)
Disciples of Christ Historical Society 1101 19th Avenue S Nashville, TN 37212-2196 Phone: (615) 327-1444 Fax: (615) 327-1445 Website: Disciples of Christ Historical Society

Methodist
Central Methodist College Library 411 Central Methodist Square Fayette, MO 65248 Phone: (816) 248-3391 ext. 292 Fax: (816) 248-3045 Website: United Methodist Archives

Centenary United Methodist Church 55 Plaza Square 16th &amp; Pine Street St Louis, MO 63103 Phone: (314) 421-3136 Fax: (314) 421-4625 Website: Centenary United Methodist Church

Commission on Archives and History P.O. Box 127 36 Madison Avenue Madison, NJ 07940 Phone: (201) 408-3590 Fax: (201) 408-3909 Website: Commission on Archives and History United Methodist Church

A useful history is:


 * Seaton, Richard A. History of the United Methodist Churches of Missouri. Missouri Methodist Historical Society, 1984;

Roman Catholic
Diocese of Jefferson City 2207 West Main Street P.O. Box 104900 Jefferson City, MO 65110-4900 Phone: (573) 635-9127 Website: Diocese of Jefferson City

The diocese includes the counties of: Adair, Audrain, Benton, Boone, Callaway, Camden, Chariton, Clark, Cole, Cooper, Crawford, Gasconade, Hickory, Howard, Knox, Lewis, Linn, Macon, Maries, Marion, Miller, Moniteau, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Osage, Pettis, Phelps, Pike, Pulaski, Putnam, Ralls, Randolph, Saline, Schuyler, Scotland, Shelby and Sullivan

'''Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph''' 300 East 36th Kansas City, MO 64111 Phone: (816) 756-1850 Website: [http://www.diocese-kcsj.org/content/diocese/archives/ Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph]

Mailing Address P.O. Box 419037 Kansas City, MO 64141-6037

The diocese includes the counties of: Andrew, Atchison, Bates, Buchanan, Caldwell, Carroll, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Daviess, DeKalb, Gentry, Grundy, Harrison, Henry, Holt, Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette, Livingston, Mercer, Nodaway, Platte, Ray, St. Clair, Vernon and Worth

Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau 601 S. Jefferson Ave. Springfield, MO 65806 Phone: (417) 866-0841 Website: Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau

The diocese includes the counties of: Barry, Barton, Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Cedar, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Dent, Douglas, Dunklin, Greene Howell, Iron, Jasper, Laclede, Lawrence, Madison, McDonald, Mississippi, New Madrid, Newton, Oregon, Ozark, Pemiscot, Polk, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, Shannon, Stoddard, Stone, Taney, Texas, Wayne, Webster and Wright

Archdiocese of St. Louis 4445 Lindell Boulevard St. Louis, MO 63108-2497 Phone: (314) 533-1887 Fax: (314) 533-1889 Website: Archives of the Archdiocese of St. Louis

Most of the St. Louis Archdiocesan records have been microfilmed and are available at the St. Louis County Library. A list of their holdings is too large to publish on their website. Instead, they have published a 348 page guide Guide To St. Louis Catholic Archdiocesan Parish Records detailing their holdings. The book contains the SLCL and FHL film numbers. A very small number of records were not microfilmed and must be obtained through the Archives of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

The Archdiocese includes the counties of: Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Perry, St. Charles, Ste. Genevieve, St. Francois, St. Louis City (Independent), St. Louis County, Warren and Washington

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 in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, and Pennsylvania. It is the U.S. part of the U.S. and French-Canadian Drouin Collection. For more details see "The Drouin Collection: Six Databases"

The types of records include baptisms, marriages, and burials as well as confirmations, dispensations, censuses, statements of readmission to the church, and so on. They are written mainly in French, as well as English, Latin, and Italian.