Research Question

[Mr. Mojo]

Some of you know I work in land surveying, so I have no trouble finding where old farms were over a century ago. I do however, wonder if any of you research church records. I know churches keep records of births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths. I do believe that some churchs with the history might have other information, like where they held picnics and services, etc. Does or has anyone approached a church to read their records for such information? I use the county courthouse which is open to everyone, however this may be different. What are your experiences, succeses and failures, meeting with churches to do this research. I do believe that if you could, you would get a good line on a plot of land that never had a detector on it.

Chuck

 

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[BillW313]

I have never asked to check those kinds of records, but when I was researching my family histories I went to quite a few churches to check those records. It was always a hit or miss deal, if the church had a secretary and she had time she would look things up for me. If she didn't I usually had to leave a note with what I was looking for and when she had time she would look things up. Some of the best help I got was when I could talk to the pastor directly. They seemed a lot more interested in helping. I would think the stuff you are looking for would be in the minutes of the church council. The council usually takes care of making arrangements for picnics, dinners, etc. Hope this helps.

Bill

 

[Mr. Mojo]

I was mainly interested in peoples esperiences looking into church records. It seems they are the hardest to get permission to search. As for historical societies, I look for diaries, they will give the clues, but you have to be a speed reader looking for the one sentence in the whole book.