If your ancestor’s church disbanded, there are several places the records might have gone:

  • the local dump
  • the family of the last minister
  • a local church of the same denomination
  • a regional or national church organization, synod, assembly, diocese, etc.

Contact local historical or genealogical societies, local churches of the same denomination, and regional and national archives (or governing bodies) of the denomination and see if they know what might have happened to the records.

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4 Responses

  1. I ended up with some of that stuff just to save it from the dump. I can’t find anyone who wants it. I hoped the local historical society would take it but they declined. I next wrote to the main church office. I got no response. Today it’s all in a box on the bottom shelf of my mother’s branch of genealogy cupboard.

    • Well that’s too bad. Have you reached out to the state historical society? If they aren’t interested, they may have an idea of someone who might be.

  2. Check your local library to see if any branch in the county is a center for family history research. To go ‘way out there’ you might try a ‘friends of’ group for one or two cemeteries. Their members may have the info you need.

  3. A German-speaking German Reformed church in the area of Green Gardens in Will County, Illinois disbanded a number of years ago. The church no longer exists, but there is a large cemetery with German-inscribed tombs. A number of years ago I was shown an excellent genealogical finding aid at the Frankfort Public Library. A hand written book with records of births, baptisms, marriages & funerals at that church is kept in a special genealogy section in the library.

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