Locating Church Records

Advice from Rosa "Birde" Rediger

Where do you look?

New Hampshire religion has long been dominated by Congregationalism. Virtually every New Hampshire town contained at least one Congregational parish. Also present, but fewer in number, were the Quakers, Anglicans, and Presbyterians.

After the Revolution the dominance of Congregationalism was challenged. Meetings in the hill country soon produced new sects. These grew in numbers and threatened the position Congregationalists held.

The Freewill Baptists were organized by Benjamin Randel at New Durham in 1780; Universalism; Christian Connection, in 1803 Elias Smith formed the first congregation of at Portsmouth. The Shakers, gathered substantial numbers of converts to their charismatic way of thinking. Methodism did not arrive in New Hampshire until 1790, and grew steadily in the state thereafter. The largest non-conforming group was The Separate-Baptists, started in New Hampshire during the Revolution by Chaplain Hezekiah Smith of Haverhill. By 1800 the Separate-Baptists had organized several churches in New Hampshire and approached parity with the Congregationalists in the hill country.

The availability of church records will differ from town to town, but some general guidelines are:

1. Considering the Congregationalists were so amassed in numbers the first records to seek are those. These will likely be the most extensive records available in the community. Congregationalist records typically contain several documents:

2. Convenants of the church which will state the beliefs and practices of the parish. These will usually be signed by all members in full standing.

3. The vital statistics were kept by the pastor. These records were kept on the citizens who maintained membership in the parish.

4. A membership list. Congregationalist lists often distinguished between two levels of membership: "full covenant" and "halfway." The "halfway" were members who had made a public testimony of their religious experience and were admitted by vote of the other full convenant members to partake in communion; the "full" were those who agreed only to abide by the doctrinal teachings and moral authority of the church, but made no personal admission of faith.

5. Pew rentals were also an important consideration as lists of these arrangements provide a picture of economic and social status in the town: the wealthiest families usually rented the most prominent and expensive pews. This was of great consequence as parishes built a new meetinghouse or repaired an old one, funds were raised either by assessment or by rental of pews.

6. Church records books contain votes of the parish on significant matters ranging from salary and support arrangements with ministers. To how the community would chastise members of a rebellious nature.

7. Records of the other denominations will also contain the same kinds of information, but with much less extensiveness. However, one should try to obtain at least some documentation from these dissenting communions to realize a sense of religious division at the local level and its impact the community and decisions that were made. The particular form of records is less important than the kind of information one can find in them; but in any case you may have to clarify the language of the records in order to use them fully.

8. Each denomination had its own form of record-keeping. The Presbyterians were governed by a board of Elders, the Quakers held monthly meetings. However all basically faced the same sort of decisions as the Congregationalists did, noting however that the Baptists and Quakers did not pay their ministers.

9. Finding these church records is usually a matter of good detective work, especially if the church is no longer in existence. First be sure your check the local and county histories to establish the religious history of the community. It was quite common for the churches to deposit their early records with the local or state historical societies. Sometimes these records are mixed in with the town records and will be found on the microfilms that are available from the State Libraries or State Archives. In searching for religious documentations one must resort to outside sources like denominational libraries, which is considered a standard procedure. Assume information exists and consult as many sources as possible.

Church Documents

Congregational Church (Bridgewater, N.H.)
Records, 1818-1865.
1 v. (1 folder).
Church organized ca. 1818; formed branch of Holderness Congregational Church.
Extinct ca. 1865.
Manuscript copy.
Forms part of: Congregational Library Small Collections (RG 160).
Copied by Rev. George H. Ketchum at New Hampshire Antiquarian Society.
Received at an unknown date. Source unknown.
No access restrictions.

First Parish Church (Dover, N.H.)
Records, 1614-1862 [microfilm].
2 microfilm reels: positive; 35 mm.
Church gathered in 1638; Mass. town from 1642-1679. Extant as Dover First Parish Congregational UCC in 1996.

Parish records, 1614-1917; Jeremy Belknap (1744-1798) letters and miscellaneous papers.
Microfilmed at: Dover, N.H. by the Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1967.
Deposit.
No access restrictions.

Congregational Church (Epsom, N.H.)
Records, 1784.
1 item (1 folder).
Church organized in 1761 as Union Congregational of New Rye, formerly Congregational at Short Falls.

Church reorganized in 1886 and joined the United Church of Christ in 1977. Extant as New Rye Union Congregational Church UCC in 1996.

Letter missive for a council to ordain Mr. Ebenezer Hazeltine, Jan. 21, 1784.

Written to the church in Atkinson, Dec. 15, 1783.
Forms part of: Congregational Library Small Collections (RG 160).
Received at an unknown date. Source unknown.
No access restrictions


Union Congregational Church (Greenfield, N.H.)
Records, 1791-1991.
1 linear ft. (2 boxes, 1 v.).
Church gathered in 1791; town incorporated in the same year.
Formerly the Second Church or Congregational Church; formerly Christian Society until 1833.
Church called its first minister, Timothy Clark, in 1799.

In 1822, a large number of members withdrew to form their own church, a branch of the Peterborough Presbyterian Church. In 1834 the differences were reconciled and the two joined as the Evangelical Church. The members who refused to join organized the First Congregational Church in 1839, which met in the meeting house on the town green. In 1864 the Evangelical and Congregational Churches began meeting together; in 1867 Greenfield Second Evangelical, a Presbyterian church, and the Congregational Church joined together to form Greenfield Union Congregational. Extant as Greenfield Union Congregational Church UCC in 1996.

Church records, including baptisms, marriages, deaths, and membership information, and minutes of the Union Congregational Church and its predecessors. In part, typescript. Deposit, 1992.
No access restrictions.
Finding aid in the Congregational Library. Finding aid published in: National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United States, microfiche 3.144.37

Union Congregational Church (Greenfield, N.H.)
Records, 1791-1969 [microfilm].
1 microfilm reel : positive ; 35 mm.
See entry for records, 1791-1991.
Church of Christ records, 1791-1822;
Congregational Church (Church of Christ) records, 1823-1834;
Evangelical Church of Christ records, 1833-1867;
Congregational Church records, 1839-1860;
Union Congregational Church records, 1867-1912;
Union Congregational Church business meeting minutes, 1885-1898;
Union Congregational Church records, 1913-1969;
Union Congregational Church register, 1946-1957.
Microfilmed at: Harvard University Reprographic Services, 1992.
Church of Christ records, 1791-1822;
Congregational Church (Church of Christ) records, 1823-1834; Evangelical Deposit, 1992. No access restrictions.


Congregational Church (Jaffrey, N.H.) See United Church of Jaffrey (United Church of Christ) (Jaffrey, N.H.)

Federated Church (Jaffrey, N.H.) See Jaffrey, New Hampshire. United Church of Jaffrey, United Church of Christ.

First Baptist Church (Jaffrey, N.H.) See United Church of Jaffrey (United Church of Christ) (Jaffrey, N.H.)

First Universalist Church (Jaffrey, N.H.) See United Church of Jaffrey, United Church of Christ (Jaffrey, N.H.)

United Church (Jaffrey, N.H.) See United Church of Jaffrey, United Church of Christ (Jaffrey, N.H.)


United Church of Jaffrey, United Church of Christ (Jaffrey, N.H.)
Records, 1844-1980 (gaps).
2 linear ft. (4 boxes).
Town incorporated in 1773; a meeting house was built in 1775 and church was gathered ca. 1780.

The first settled minister, Rev. Laban Ainsworth, was ordained in 1782; Ainsworth served until his death in 1858.

The brick Congregational Church was built in 1831; by 1849, the community of East Jaffrey was thriving and a group of 23 individuals requested letters of dismission to join the new church in East Jaffrey. In 1850 an ecclesiastical council convened and the Jaffrey East Orthodox Congregationalists formed; a new building was completed in that same year.

In 1890 a new building was completed and a vestry was built under the church building.
Rev. Myron L. Cutler was pastor from 1887-1930 of the First Congregational Church of Jaffrey; when he died, many members attended the Jaffrey East Congregational Church.

First Universalist Society organized 1822; church formed in 1858 and incorporated in 1875.
Baptist Church formed in 1814; society formed in 1820.
Second Orthodox Congregational Society formed in 1850;
Federated Church formed by Baptists and Congregationalists in 1949. Rev. Richard
Stoughton was the pastor of the Federated Church for 1949-1961.
United Church of Jaffrey incorporated in 1959 and in 1960 the ground was broken for a new building. Extant as United Church of Jaffrey UCC in 1996.

Records of:
First Baptist Church, 1844-1959;
Congregational Church, 1882-1928;
First Universalist Society, 1893-1939;
Federated Church, 1950-1959;
United Church, 1969-1977.
Records are fragmentary and incomplete.
Finding aid includes a list of ministers.
Deposit, 1989, 1992.
No access restrictions.


Finding aid in the Congregational Library. Finding aid submitted to: National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United States February 1997.P


Congregational Church (Temple, N.H.)
Records, 1782-1974 (gaps). [microfilm].
2 microfilm reels : positive ; 35 mm.
Church gathered in 1771; the Congregational Society formed in 1831. In 1832 a smaller group named the Union Society was formed by local Universalists; little was known of this group except that it was still in existence in 1875. Church incorporated in 1966; the Congregational Society dissolved the same year. Extant as Temple Congregational UCC in 1996.

Church records, 1782-1966;
annual reports, 1971-1974;
society records, 1832-1966;
treasurer's records, 1832-1952;
Sabbath School records, 1863-1941;
Union Society records, 1832-1875;
misc. contracts, deeds to land and water rights, historical material.

Microfilmed at: Harvard University Reprographic Services, 1987.
Records are owned and held by the church.
Deposit, ca. 1987.
No access restrictions.
Finding aid in the Congregational Library. Finding aid submitted to: National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United States February 1997.

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