New York Church History
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Church Development
The first churches established in New York during the seventeenth century were the Dutch Reformed, French Protestant (Huguenot), and Lutheran churches. As New Englanders continued to migrate to New York, the Congregational Church (Puritans) and Society of Friends (Quakers) grew. Many New Yorkers joined both the Baptists and Presbyterians. By 1775 the Presbyterian Church was the largest denomination in New York.
In the mid-1800s, the Methodist Church was the largest, followed by the Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Dutch Reformed, Congregational, Roman Catholic, Society of Friends (Quakers), Universalist, Lutheran, Union, Christian, Unitarian, and Jewish.
Since then, the Roman Catholic Church has been the largest denomination (particularly in the larger cities) due to the large number of immigrants from Ireland and eastern and southern Europe.[1]
Historical Records Survey
- Guide to Vital Statistics Records of Churches in New York State (Exclusive of New York City). 2 volumes
- Historical Records Survey. (New York City.) Guide to Vital Statistics in the City of New York, Borough of [Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, or Richmond] Churches. 5 vols. New York, N.Y.: Historical Records Survey, Work Projects Administration, 1942. At various libraries (WorldCat);
- Inventories of the Church Archives of New York' (various denominations) Denominations include:
- Eastern Orthodox and Armenian
- Lutheran
- Methodist
- Presbyterian: New York City
- Presbyterian excluding New York City
- Protestant Episcopal (Manhattan, Bronx, Richmond)
- Protestant Episcopal (Brooklyn and Queens)'
- Protestant Episcopal (Rochester)
- Protestant Episcopal (Western New York)
- Reformed Church in America
- Roman Catholic Church, archdiocese of New York. vol. 2
Baptist
- Eltscher, Susan M. The Records of American Baptists in New York and Related Organizations. The book is available in the FS Catalog Collection. For a copy nearest you, use WorldCat.
Dutch Reformed
The Year Book of the Holland Society of New York, available in the FS Catalog Collection, contains historical material as well as church record abstracts and passenger lists. To use the year books, first consult the Index to Publications listed under the periodical De Halve Maen described in the "Periodicals" section. It indexes publications by name, subject, and locality. Most of the church records in these year books have been extracted for the International Genealogical Index (IGI).
Lutheran
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
ELCA Archives
321 Bonnie Lane
Elk Grove Village, Illinois 60007
Phone: (847) 690-9410
Moravian
- 1755-1756 - Scott, Kenneth. "Quakers and Moravians in New York in 1755 and 1756," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 58 (1970):253-257. FS Library Book 973 B2ng v. 58 (1970).
Presbyterian
- Hotchkin, James H. A History of the Purchase and Settlement of Western New York: and of the Rise, Progress and Present State of the Presbyterian Church in that Section. New York: M.W. Dodd, 1848. Digital version at [https://www.archive.org/details/historyofpurchas00hotc Internet Archive; FS Catalog book 974.7 K2h; film 808352 Item 2
Society of Friends (Quakers)
- Bowden, James. The History of the Society of Friends in America. 2 vols. London: W. & F.G. Cash, 1850-1854. Digital version of Vol. 1 at Google Books; FS Catalog Collection 973 F2bj v. 1 [Volume 1 includes New York.]
References
- ↑ Sydney E. Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the American People (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1972). FS Library Book 973 K2ah.
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