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[[Image:Virginia churches.png|thumb|right|500px]] Before the American Revolution, the state church of Virginia was the Church of England (also called Anglican, and later Protestant Episcopal (P.E.). Besides keeping parish registers, the church kept many records of a civil nature in their vestry books. In many instances, parish registers containing baptism, marriage, and death records have not survived when vestry books have. Colonial vestries largely ceased functioning in 1786, when local overseers of the poor took charge of some of the vestries' main responsibilities.<ref>John Frederick Dorman, "Review of ''Albemarle Parish Vestry Book,"'' in ''The Virginia Genealogist,'' Vol. 49, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 2005):320. Digital version at [http://www.americanancestors.org/ American Ancestors] ($); {{FHL|33159|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 B2vg v. 49 (2005)}}.</ref><br> | [[Image:Virginia churches.png|thumb|right|500px]] Before the American Revolution, the state church of Virginia was the Church of England (also called Anglican, and later Protestant Episcopal (P.E.). Besides keeping parish registers, the church kept many records of a civil nature in their vestry books. In many instances, parish registers containing baptism, marriage, and death records have not survived when vestry books have. Colonial vestries largely ceased functioning in 1786, when local overseers of the poor took charge of some of the vestries' main responsibilities.<ref>John Frederick Dorman, "Review of ''Albemarle Parish Vestry Book,"'' in ''The Virginia Genealogist,'' Vol. 49, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 2005):320. Digital version at [http://www.americanancestors.org/ American Ancestors] ($); {{FHL|33159|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 B2vg v. 49 (2005)}}.</ref><br> | ||
'''Colonial Parishes'''<br> | |||
Some early parish registers are incomplete or missing. Rivah Research charts the survival of Virginia's Church of England records in [https://web.archive.org/web/20151231223255/http://www.rivahresearch.com/westmorelandcty/vitals/resources/religion/parishregister.htm Virginia Parish Registers Information & Location]. Many have been published. | Some early parish registers are incomplete or missing. Rivah Research charts the survival of Virginia's Church of England records in [https://web.archive.org/web/20151231223255/http://www.rivahresearch.com/westmorelandcty/vitals/resources/religion/parishregister.htm Virginia Parish Registers Information & Location]. Many have been published. | ||
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'''''Information is included on [[:Category:Virginia Parishes|Virginia Parish Wiki pages]]''''' | '''''Information is included on [[:Category:Virginia Parishes|Virginia Parish Wiki pages]]''''' | ||
=== Newspapers === | |||
''The Southern Churchman'' was a newspaper published by the Episcopal faith. Abstracts of marriages were prepared by The Historical Records Survey of Virginia: | |||
*''Index to Marriage Notices in The Southern Churchman, 1835-1941.'' Baltimore, Md.: Clearfield Company, 1996. {{FHL|113539|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 V22i}}. | |||
'''Histories and Guides'''<br> | |||
During the last half of the eighteenth century, the Church of England in Virginia lost much of its membership to dissenting religions. Many of the grand church buildings fell into disrepair. In the nineteenth century, "Many Virginians had a deep sense of living among the ruins of a more glorious past."<ref>Rhys Isaac, ''The Transformation of Virginia 1740-1790'' (Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 1982), 417.</ref> | |||
*Anderson, J.S. ''The History of the Church of England in the Colonies and Foreign Dependencies of the British Empire''. 3 vols. London: Rivington, 1856. Digital versions at Internet Archive: [http://www.archive.org/details/historyofchurch01ande Vol. 1], [http://www.archive.org/details/historyofchurcho02andeuoft Vol. 2], [http://www.archive.org/details/historyofchurcho03ande Vol. 3. [All three volumes include material on the history of the Church of England in Virginia.] | |||
*Axelson, Edith F. ''A Guide to Episcopal Church Records in Virginia''. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Publishing, 1988. {{FHL|384322|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 K27a}}. Includes parish register and vestry book inventories. | |||
*Bryden, George MacLaren. ''Virginia's Mother Church and the Political Conditions Under Which It Grew''. 2 vols. Richmond, Va.: Virginia Historical Society Press, 1947-1952. {{FHL|72441|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 K2bg v. 1-v. 2}} | |||
*Goodwin, Edward L. ''The Colonial Church in Virginia: With Biographical Sketches of the First Six Bishops of the Diocese of Virginia, and Other Historical Papers, Together with Brief Biographical Sketches of the Colonial Clergy of Virginia''. Milwaukee, Wisc.: Morehouse Pub., 1927. {{FHL|72470|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 K2g}}. | |||
*Goodwin, Wm. A.R. ''History of The Theological Seminary in Virginia and Its Historical Background.'' 1923. Digital versions at [https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/392083-history-of-the-theological-seminary-in-virginia-and-its-historical-background?viewer=1&offset=1#page=2&viewer=picture&o=info&n=0&q= FamilySearch Digital Library]-Vol. 1, [https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/380116-history-of-the-theological-seminary-in-virginia-and-its-historical-background?viewer=1&offset=2#page=2&viewer=picture&o=info&n=0&q= FamilySearch Digital Library]-Vol. 2. | |||
*Hawks, Francis Lister. ''A Narrative of Events Connected with the Rise and Progress of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Virginia: To Which is Added an Appendix, Containing the Journals of the Conventions in Virginia from the Commencement to the Present Time''. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1836. Digital version at [http://books.google.com/books?id=2p89AAAAYAAJ Google Books]. | |||
*Meade, William. ''Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia''. 2 vols. 1857. Reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing, 1966. Digital versions of volume 1 at [https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/509913-old-churches-ministers-and-families-of-virginia-vol-01?offset=1 FamilySearch Digital Library], [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=48592 Ancestry] ($), [http://www.archive.org/details/oldchurchesminis01meaduoft Internet Archive]. Digital version of volume 2 at [http://www.archive.org/details/oldchurchesminis003253mbp Internet Archive], [https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/461500-old-churches-ministers-and-families-of-virginia-vol-02?offset=2 FamilySearch Digital Library]-Vol. 2. {{FHL|218395|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 K2m 1966}}. Mostly histories of early parishes but includes 6,900 names of individuals. | |||
*Upton, Dell. ''Holy Things and Profane: Anglican Parish Churches in Virginia.'' Yale University Press, 1997. | |||
For images and brief histories of colonial churches where your ancestors worshipped, see: | |||
*''Colonial Churches: A Series of Sketches of Churches in the Original Colony of Virginia: With Pictures of Each Church.'' Richmond, Va.: Southern Churchman Co., 1907. Digital versions at [http://search.ancestry.com/iexec/Default.aspx?htx=BookList&dbid=28949 Ancestry] ($); [http://books.google.com/books?id=TSISAAAAYAAJ Google Books]; [http://www.archive.org/details/colonialchurches00rich Internet Archive]; 2nd ed. (1908): [http://books.google.com/books?id=MjFLAAAAMAAJ Google Books]; 1990 reprint: {{FHL|521948|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 K2cc}}. | |||
*Wigmore, Francis Marion. ''Old Parish Churches of Virginia: A Pictorial-Historic Exhibition of Photographs in Colors Lent to the Library of Congress''. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1929. Digital version at [http://archive.org/details/oldparishchurche00wigm Internet Archive] - free. | |||
'''Clergy'''<br> | |||
To learn more about the origins of Church of England ministers sent to Virginia from England during the colonial period, start with these books: | |||
*Fothergill, Gerald. ''A List of Emigrant Ministers to America, 1690-1811''. London: E. Stock, 1904. Digital versions at [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=4760 Ancestry] ($); [http://books.google.com/books?id=lVgEAAAAIAAJ Google Books]; [http://www.archive.org/details/listofemigrantmi00fothuoft Internet Archive], 1965 reprint: {{FHL|283621|item|disp=FHL Book 973 W2f 1965}}. Addendum published in ''Caribbeana'', Vol. 3 (1914):312-313. Digital version at [http://dloc.com/UF00075409/00003/336j?search=caribbeana dLOC] - free.<br> | |||
*Weis, Frederick Lewis. ''The Colonial Clergy of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina''. Boston, Mass.: Society of the Descendants of Colonial Clergy, 1955. {{FHL|291278|item|disp=FHL Book 975 D3wc}}; digital version at [http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/indexinfo.aspx?ix=gpc0806307315_fredericklewisweis1955 World Vital Records] ($). | |||
[http://colonialclergyorg.blogspot.com/ The Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy] points researchers to many valuable resources. | |||
Church of England ministers sent to Virginia were often educated at the English universities of Cambridge and Oxford. The website [http://www.pricegen.com/english_genealogy.html Expert Links: English Family History and Genealogy] contains links to many of these university's records available online under the "Occupations" section. | |||
[http://www.theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/search/index.jsp The Clergy of the Church of England] website (work in progress) also contains details of many of their ministerial careers before departing for America. | |||
Very few of Virginia's colonial glebe houses (residences of Church of England ministers owned by the parish) survive today.<ref>John Frederick Dorman, "Review of ''The Glebe Houses of Colonial Virginia,"'' in ''The Virginia Genealogist,'' Vol. 47, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 2003):313. Digital version at [http://www.americanancestors.org/ American Ancestors] ($); {{FHL|33159|item|disp=FHL Book 975.5 B2vg v. 47 (2003)}}.</ref> | |||
===Correspond with or visit the actual churches.=== | ===Correspond with or visit the actual churches.=== | ||
edits