Preparing for SLIG 2020: Part 4

In the previous posts of this "Preparing for SLIG 2020" series,  I discussed finding resources to help me develop a base knowledge for the course I am taking at SLIG: Early U.S. Church Records,  coordinated by Rev. David McDonald, DMin, CG. I have been fairly successful in finding print resources on many topics related to religion in the early United States. You can see my previous post here.

Last June I prepared for an Advanced DNA course at GRIP by reviewing many videos and webinars on DNA topics and tools. You can see the links to those blog posts and the results of my preparations here. I have not been as successful in finding videos and webinars on religion and church records. However, I did find several.

Ancestry Academy has a variety of videos on genealogical research. In one video, the SLIG 2020 course coordinator, Rev. David McDonald, DMin, CG, discusses "Church & Religious Records: Their Use in Genealogical Research." A search for the term "church" at Ancestry Academy results in a list of 40+ other videos that discuss church records as part of a larger topic. For example, a video on vital records is in the results, which makes sense since church records can provide a great substitute for local and state vital records. Ancestry Academy is free with an Ancestry login; I don't believe you need to have a paid membership, just a login.

One of my favorite webinar resources, FamilyTreeWebinars, now has over 1000 webinars on genealogical topics. There is an annual fee of $49.95, discounts are available most weeks with codes made available from the free live webinars. Most webinars are free for 7 days after their live debut so discount codes can be seen on most recent videos.

Using the search terms, "church" and "register" separately, I found 12 webinars. Since all webinars are older than 7 days, you will need a subscription to view them but the links allow you to read about them and see a preview.
Finding Your Roots in Catholic Records, presented by Lisa Toth Salinas

Foundations of Irish Genealogy 4 of 6: The Major Records III, Church Records, presented by John Grenham 

England and Wales - Rummaging in the Parish Chests, presented by Kirsty Gray

Zigzagging through German Church Records, presented by James Beidler

Using Church Records to Identify Ancestors, presented by Mary Hill, AG

The Three Cs of Irish Research: Civil Registration, Church Records, and Census, present by Judith Eccles Wight, AG

Online Resources for French Genealogy part I: Compiled Records, Church Records and Civil Registration, presented by Paul Woodbury

Ohio and the Early Gathering of the LDS Church, presented by Peggy Clemens Lauritzen, AG

Locating and Accessing Eastern European Church Records, presented by Lisa Alzo

Irish Church and Civil Registration, presented by Maurice Gleeson

Introduction to the Swedish Church Books, presented by Kathy Meade

Quebec Civil and Parish Registers, presented by Micheal J. Leclerc, CG

You'll note that several of the above webinars do not seem to pertain to US records. The reason that I included them is that I found the Norwegian parish registers that were online before their American Lutheran counterparts, were very similar to the U.S. versions. In fact, most of the late 19th century and early 20th century U.S. church records that I found for my Norwegian ancestors, were in their mother tongue. I am assuming that similarities also follow for other country and religious origins.

From RootsTech videos - free online:

Finally! German Church Records and How to Use Them on FamilySearch, presented by Trish Melander

Unlocking Roman Catholic Records: presented by Brian Donovan

Cross the Atlantic with Religious Records, presented by Jen Baldwin

From FamilySearch.org - Many videos free online with free registration and login
Links to videos available with search term, "church records."

Many state and national genealogical societies also host their own webinars. These are a few I found at societies where I have a membership. Webinar links are not included as membership is a requirement. I have included links to the societies' homepages.

Illinois State Genealogical Society

Online German Church Registers, Duplicates and Substitutes, presented by James M. Beidler

Southern California Genealogical Society

Translating Latin Records of German (and other) Catholic Churches, presented by Jean Wilcox Hibben, PhD, MA

Faith of Our Fathers: United States Church Records, presented by Peggy Clemens Lauritzen, AG

Another source for finding vidoes is YouTube. Here is a link to the results when searching for "genealogy and church records." When choosing a YouTube video, pay attention to the speaker's name or organization presenting the webinar. Choose those with names that are recognized as reputable speakers and organizations.

A wonderful source to review for upcoming webinars is GeneaWebinars. Our "friend in genealogy," Dear Myrtle, has created this calendar for speakers and organizations to contribute information regarding their future webinars.

While creating this list, I realized there are many more webinars and videos available than I thought. I have a lot of webinar viewing to do ahead of me! If you know of other can't-miss webinars on early U.S. church records, please provide the information and link in the comments section below.

Preparing for SLIG 2020: Part 2

SLIG 2020! ¹

As I started planning my preparations as a learner in the Early US Church Records course at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) next January, I took a step back and started thinking about what kinds of records I might already be familiar with.

I quickly realized my knowledge of religious record types is very limited. I am somewhat familiar with the Norwegian Lutheran church records from the early settlements in the states of Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and Iowa. I have found hundreds of baptismal, confirmation, marriage and death records from churches in those areas.

Two sources have been especially helpful for me in finding the churches where my Norwegian Lutheran ancestors may have attended.

Map of church congregation growth in Brookings Co., South Dakota ²

The first source is a two-volume set called, "Norske Lutherske Menigheter i Amerika, 1843-1916."3 It is a listing of Norwegian Lutheran churches by state and county. It is in Norwegian but it is possible to glean a lot of information from it. For example, there is often a map drawing showing when churches split it two, perhaps due to size and location, and when they merged, for probably the same reasons.

Lake Sinai, Brookings Co, SD ⁴

Frequently, the description of each church includes the pastors and dates they served, the building date, any rebuilds due to fire or other destruction, founding members, and a photo of the church. The entry for the Lake Sinai church at right includes the founding members, among them is my great-grandfather, Ole Eken.

The two volumes are available as free digital downloads.  I found Volume 1 at Archive.org and Volume 2 at Google Books.

The second source is a book of Norwegian Lutheran ministers, "Norsk Lutherske Prester i Amerika, 1843-1915."5 If you know the minister's name, perhaps from a marriage license or signed certificate, you could look him up in this book to see where he might have served. It was quite common for a minister to have served in several churches at once which can complicate look-ups. But often, the same record book was used for all churches served and the church name was indicated in each record or record-set.

Anders Nilsen Stover ⁶

This book can also be found at Google Books here.

I was lucky enough to find a photo of my great-great-grandfather's brother, Anders Nilsen Stover (listed in the index as Nilsen, Anders), who served in several churches in eastern South Dakota. The information included indicates he was born 13 Sept. 1842 to Niels Olsen and Kari Knudsen, was ordained in 1883 and served in Watertown, SD from 1883 - 1892. He died 25 Nov. 1892. His wife was Magnild Olsen.

I've learned in going through some of the early Norwegian Lutheran Church records that in addition to baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and deaths, the church sometimes took a "census" of church members. If you can find one with your ancestors, you are really in luck. I found two with my great-great-grandfather's family, Knud Nilsen Stover and his wife, Guri Kristoffersdottir.

The information included in the "census" can contain birth and baptism dates and locations, confirmation date, date the family transferred to another church,  and even the maiden name of the wife. The record below shows my great-great-grandfather, Knud Nilson Stover, his wife Guri Kristoffersdatter, and their children Nicolai, Kari, Kjersti, Anna, Karl, Maria, and Mina. The first column with dates is the birth date for that person, the next column is birth location: either Norway or America, the next column with dates is the baptismal dates of two of the younger children and the last column shows when they left the church to join a new church closer to home.

Church family census information for Knud Nilsen Stover7

Knowing which church your ancestors attended can be very helpful when searching for the records. Many record sets are online at Ancestry.com and can be found here. The title of the collection is "U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969."8 While it doesn't contain all Lutheran Church records, I've found hundreds of records for my extended family.  The two-volume set previously mentioned can help you find the state and county the church was in. Ancestry allows you to search the set globally for your ancestor or to browse the set by searching for the church by state and county. Once I have found the correct church, I personally prefer to browse to the church and to page through the book online rather than search globally. The records are handwritten and so the indexing isn't perfect.

You can tell I like the resources that I use for my Norwegian Lutheran ancestry. And that's why I need to learn about other resources from other religions. I have identified the religious preferences of many of my other ancestors. I've found Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, Episcopalians, Latter-Day Saints, and others. I need to find out what types of records may have been created and where I might be able to find them.

1. Facebook SLIG Attendee Group image, used with permission. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php fbid=10214455937699943&set=oa.2100166473624041&type=3&theater&ifg=1. Accessed 30 August 2019.

2. Norlie, Olaf Morgan, et al. Norske Lutherske Menigheter i Amerika, 1843-1916. Augsburg, 1918. Archive.org, https://archive.org/details/norskelutherske00tologoog/. Accessed 30 August 2019.

3. Ibid., p. 926. 

4. Ibid., p. 930.

5. Norlie, Olaf Morgan, et al. Norske Lutherske prester i Amerika, 1843-1913. Augsburg, 1915. Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?id=7VhHAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Norsk+Lutherske+Prester+i+Amerika&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi_tpbK8arkAhXBY98KHbS-Dv4Q6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=nilsen&f=false. Accessed 30 August 2019.

6. Ibid., p. 197.

7. Singsaas Lutheran Church (Lincoln, Minnesota). Church Registers, 1874 - 1923, page 79, Knut Nilsen Stover and Guri Christoffersdatter; digital images. ancestry.com: U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969: accessed 30 August 2019.

8. Ancestry.com: U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969: accessed 30 August 2019.