Another underutilized genealogy resource is Church Records. We tend to focus our research on civil records, but need to be aware that often church records pre-dated civil records and are a great resource as well. In the BMD Records section of this website, there are about 15,000 collections of civil records that are available online. Yes, that’s a lot, but we need to also search church records as well.
What can we find in church or synagogue records? Here’s just a shortlist of what nuggets we can find:
Baptisms and Christenings
Marriages
Deaths
Burials
Confirmations
Membership lists
Church Minutes
Church Directories
Transfer Letters
Bar or Bat Mitzvahs
Sunday School lists
Church newsletters
In addition, many folks also documented important events in family bibles, so they need to be searched as well if the event information has been digitized.
Here are a couple of articles that you might find useful:
There is a large number of Free Online Church Record collections; the links for the state are below:
Note: Some of the links listed below take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections’ images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital.
(Updated March 2020; recently added links are in BOLD):
- Billings, Baptisms up to 1907 copied from the Records of the three oldest churches in Billings
- Bozeman, Christening Records from First Presbyterian Church, 1872-1897
- Bozeman, First Presbyterian Church Records from the Church Register, 1872-1897
- Cascade County, First Methodist Church Marriages of Cascade, Deer Lodge and Yellowstone Counties
- Chouteau County, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Records
- Chouteau County, St Paul’s Episcopal Church Records
- Glasgow, Marriage, Cemetery and Bible Records
- Havre, Early Church and Cemetery Records of Montana
- Helena, First Baptist Church Church Record, 1886-1898
- Madison County, Church Records, 1874-1904
- Missoula, Catholic Church. Missoula Mission Church Records, 1877-1907
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
For other Free Montana Links, click on the category of interest:
Newspapers
Obituaries
BMD Records
Photos
Yearbooks
Directories
Divorce Records
Naturalizations
Church Records
School Records
Coroner Records
Voter Records
Probate and Wills
Immigration
Mortuary Records
Alumni Records
Cemetery Records
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