Congregational Church Records in Connecticut
Posted: May 22, 2000
Thomas Hooker founded Connecticut Colony, and John Davenport founded New Haven
Colony. Both men were important ministers in the Puritan movement. Church
records from those early times until recently -- particularly Congregational
Church records -- are a rich source of genealogical information. Connecticut
was created by Congregationalists especially to incorporate their worldview.
The Puritan viewpoint also drove
many of the concerns of the legislature. The legislature, for example, was able
to control church growth. A church couldn't be gathered unless it had
permission from the legislature and the surrounding churches. Each church
raised taxes for its minister from all residents in the town, church members or
not. The intertwined nature of church and state was informal. The Fundamental
Orders, which served as the first constitution of the colony, actually mandated
that the church and the state government would go about their business
independently.
Connecticut's history until 1818
was closely entwined with that of the Congregational Church. It was only at
that late date, long after the United States Bill of Rights separated church
and state, that Connecticut's Congregational Church was disestablished by a new
state constitution. Until then, the Act of Toleration of 1708 prevailed. This
act permitted those people who were not Congregationalists to so declare
themselves. They could then attend services of their own churches, but they
still had to pay taxes to support the Congregational minister. Beginning in
1727, Episcopalians could opt out of taxes and Baptists and Quakers could do so
starting in 1729. In spite of this toleration of other religious views, until
1818 Connecticut residents still had to pay taxes to support Congregational
ministers unless they could prove they were supporting other ministers.
Other Protestant churches did
make in-roads in Connecticut. The first Anglican (today Episcopalian) church
was established at Stratford in 1707. The first Methodist Episcopal (today
Methodist) missionary appeared in Connecticut in 1767. The first Baptist church
was established in Groton in 1704. Although Scottish ministers were found in
early Congregational churches, the first church established as a Presbyterian
church was founded in 1839 in Thompsonville. Unitarianism was also espoused by
some ministers within the Congregational churches, but it wasn't until
Brooklyn's church voted to become Unitarian and evict the Congregationalists
that the group had a foothold in Connecticut. A Universalist
society was organized in 1792 in Southington. The early Quakers in Connecticut
were a part of Annual Meetings in New York and Rhode Island. The Catholic
Church appointed its first pastor to Connecticut in 1829 and later saw great
growth with the immigrations of the 1880s.
Today Connecticut is a fully
pluralistic society. There are many religious faiths and many institutions to
support them. In fact, a full discussion of church and synagogue records in
Connecticut is beyond the scope of this column, which will serve as a brief
guide to the records left by the established Congregational Church.
Where to
Find Church Records
Because the Congregational Church was essentially a state church until 1818,
its earliest records are, for the most part, deposited at the Connecticut State Library (CSL). Where the state library lacks the
original record, it often has a photocopy of records stored elsewhere.
Microfilm copies of these records are available at CSL or through Family History Centers.
Not every church had a record
book to microfilm. And not every church followed the decree to submit their
record books to the Hartford facility. For example, the Thompson Congregational
Church kept its book. The church later brought the book to the Utah
Genealogical Society's microfilm team [then in New Hampshire] to be filmed. No
microfilm copy of the Thompson book is available at CSL, only a later
transcription of some events. However, a team is now working on indexing those
events in the church book that are not included in the Thompson vital records.
This will be published in a future issue of the Register.
Early
Connecticut Marriages as Found on Ancient Church Records Prior to 1800. The records of each church are arranged
chronologically. The marriages covered in this book also appear in the
International Genealogical Index (IGI).
The Church Records Slip Index
Records of some Connecticut churches have been indexed and combined into one
large statewide index. CSL estimates that about one-quarter of its church
records are included in the statewide church records index, which includes
other materials as well. There are "private records" held by the
Connecticut State Library. These records include Bible records and journals kept
by residents and covering events on a town-wide basis. The church records slip
index is also available at NEHGS and at Family History Centers on microfilm.
The original slips are at CSL.
The slip index covers only the
following churches. Note that the old towns of New Haven and Stratford are not
covered in the index even though many records exist.
1. Congregational Church
Records, 1748-1930
2. Haddam Neck
Congregational Church in Middle Haddam Records, 1740-1944
1. Congregational Church
Records, 1718-1932
2. Pautipaug Hill Congregational
Church Deaths, 1763, 1784-1802
1. First Church of Christ
Records, 1731-1924
2. South Glastonbury
Congregational Church Records, 1836-1950
1. Christ Episcopal Church
Records, 1744-1909
2. First Congregational
Church Records, 1717-1921
1. Church of the Holy
Trinity Records, 1750-1947
2. First Congregational
Church Records, 1668-1871
1. First Church of Christ
(First Congregational Church) Records, 1639-1926
2. Plymouth (formerly
Second) Congregational Church Records, 1747-1926
1. Brunswick Separate Church
Records, 1746-1846
2. Congregational Church
Records, 1732-1915
1. First Congregational
Church (the Road Church) Records, 1674-1925
2. Second Congregational
Church Records, 1809-1929
1. First Congregational
Church Records (Welles copy), 1706/7-1733
2. First Congregational
Church List of Members (Tillotson copy), 1694-1908
1. First Congregational
Church Records, 1727-1783
2. North Woodstock (Third) Congregational
Church Records, 1727-1900
3. West Woodstock
Congregational Church Records, 1743-1937
Copyright � 2000, New England Historic Genealogical Society