Maine Church Records
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Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. Records may include names of other relatives who were witnesses or members of the congregation. The members of some churches were predominantly of one nationality or ethnic group.
Dunham-Wilcox-Trott-Kirk indexes church, cemetery, probate and other early New England, New York and New Jersey records with links to abstracts of the records.
Before 1900 the largest religious groups in were the Congregational, Baptist, Roman Catholic, and Methodist Episcopal churches.
Some denominations have their records in central repositories. You can contact the following to learn where their records are located:
Contents
Baptist[edit | edit source]
American Baptist Historical Society
3001 Mercer University Dr.
Atlanta, Georgia 30341
Telephone: (678) 547-6680
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)[edit | edit source]
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Early church records, for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for Maine wards and branches can be found on film and are located at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The film numbers for each ward can be located through the FamilySearch Catalog or by referring to:
- Jaussi, Laureen R., and Gloria D. Chaston. Register of Genealogical Society Call Numbers.... 2 vols. Provo, Utah: Genealogy Tree, 1982. These volumes contain the film numbers for many (but not all) membership and temple record films. FHL book 979.2258 A3j; fiche 6031507
Roman Catholic[edit | edit source]
Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland
P.O. Box 11559 (mailing address)
510 Ocean Avenue
Portland, Maine 04104-7559
Phone: (207) 773-6471
Sacramental records (baptism, marriage, etc.) are kept by the individual parishes.
The diocese includes the counties of: Androscoggin, Aroostook, Cumberland, Franklin, Hancock County, Maine, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Oxford, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Sagadahoc, Somerset, Waldo, Washington and York
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 in French (mainly) as well as English, Latin, and Italian.
Congregational[edit | edit source]
The Congregational Library
14 Beacon Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02108
Phone: (617) 523-0470
Episcopal[edit | edit source]
Archives of the Diocese of Maine
Attn: Archivist
143 State Street
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: (207) 772-1953, ext. 137
Methodist[edit | edit source]
Boston University School of Theology Library
745 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
Phone: (617) 353-1323
Additional Sources[edit | edit source]
- Maine Historical Society - Collections include many Unitarian, Baptist, Quaker, Methodist, and Congregational church records.
A helpful list of churches existing in 1940 is:
- Historical Records Survey (Maine). Directory of Churches and Religious Organizations in Maine. Portland: Maine Historical Records Survey Project, 1940. These records show locations of over 1,700 churches and religious organizations in Maine and give a brief history of the beginning of the various religions in Maine. FHL book 974.1 K24h; film 1035515 item 13
Church histories from the Lewiston Daily Sun and Evening Journal. Maine Genealogy Network
Wiki articles describing online collections are found at:
- Maine Births and Christenings - FamilySearch Historical Records
- Maine Deaths and Burials - FamilySearch Historical Records
- Maiine Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records
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