I have been doing “a lot” of
research into NC Baptist Church records recently for several projects.
Though we often
talk of how county boundaries have changed, have you considered that the
“boundaries” of the people served by a church may have changed? Or that the
churches included within an “association” (or similar regional grouping) may
have changed? Or that churches are often “splintering” off of other churches?
It’s amazing how
complex a church’s history might be!
This might greatly affect “where” you will find records of your
ancestors in terms of church and association records.
In North Carolina
I love this tool for a couple of reasons:
1. It provides links to published resources freely available via Internet
Archive – most of which are church histories
2. It provides you
a geographical context for “some” of the churches found in North Carolina
Especially in the
early years, when “physical” churches were far apart – individuals either
traveled far to attend a “meeting,” worked hard to find a spiritual leader, met
casually in place of organized meetings, and much more. In NC, as people moved west, as new counties
were created, as new congregations evolved, Baptists would request to be
dismissed from one church and assigned to another, often near where they
lived. If enough individuals now lived
in another location, a new church would come into existence. Similarly, as populations moved on and the need for a church diminished to the point of it not being feasible to continue to exist, it would disband.
Never mind those
who belonged to a particular church who eventually became disenfranchised with
the tenets practiced by their preacher and then with other like-minded
individuals established a new church.
And, in the early
years, it was common for North
Carolina
The aforementioned
tool helps to get a handle on some of the geography involved and the linked to
volumes are rich in history.
Additionally, at
least as far as NC Baptist church and association records, there is no single
repository for records! I have so far
identified Baptist archives located in NC, GA and TN which have records for NC
churches. I have found church records at
the NC archives, UNC (Chapel Hill) and Duke University
Never mind those
churches which may still have possession of all their records. Unfortunately, as with all kinds of records,
some records are just no longer extant.
Is there a similar resource for your state or locale?
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