Alabama Church Records: Difference between revisions

Alabama is located in the middle of the Bible Belt, a region of numerous Protestant Christians. A majority of people in the state identify as Evangelical Protestant. As of 2010, the three largest denominational groups in Alabama are the Southern Baptist Convention, The United Methodist Church, and non-denominational Evangelical Protestant. Many Baptist and Methodist congregations became established in the Great Awakening of the early 19th century, when preachers proselytized across the South. The Presbyterian churches were strongly associated with Scots-Irish immigrants of the 18th century and their descendants.^[1]

Prepare by Collecting Background Information[edit | edit source]

You will possibly find many different people with the same name as your ancestor, especially when a family stayed in a locality for several generations, and several children were named after the grandparents or aunts and uncles. Be prepared to find the correct church records by organizing in advance as many of these exact details about the ancestor as possible:

name, including middle name and maiden name
names of all spouses, including middle and maiden name
exact or closely estimated dates of birth, marriage, and death
names and approximate birthdates of children
all known places of residence
occupations
military service details

Carefully evaluate the church records you find to make sure you have really found records for your ancestor and not just a "near match". For more instruction in evaluating evidence, read the Wiki article, Evaluate the Evidence.

Look for online records.[edit | edit source]

Some records have been digitized and posted online, where they are easily searched. These are listed at the top of this page and on the Alabama Online Genealogy Records page.

Ancestry.com, FindMyPast.com, and MyHeritage.com can be searched free of charge at your local family history center or the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Online databases are incomplete. This can lead to two common errors:

Near matches: Researchers might mistakenly accept an entry very similar to their ancestor, thinking it is the only one available. Only use information that matches your ancestor in date, place, relationships, and other details.
Stopping research: Researchers might assume the database proves church records do not exist. Actually the record is still out there, just not in this incomplete collection of records. Keep searching!

1807-1947 - Alabama miscellaneous church records, 1807-1947 at FamilySearch - images
1831-1994 - Alabama, Church Records, 1831-1994 at FamilySearch Historical Records - index and images
1881-1930 - Alabama, Births and Christenings, 1881-1930 at FamilySearch Historical Records - Index only. Coverage Table
1816-1957 - Alabama Marriages, 1816-1957 at FamilySearch Historical Records - Index. Coverage Table
Links to nationwide collections are listed in United States Online Genealogy Records.

Anglican/Episcopal Collections[edit | edit source]

Alabama Episcopal Church Records. 1830's to 1970's. Index.
1832-1972 - Web: Alabama, Episcopal Church Registers Index, 1832-1972 at Ancestry.com - index.
1837-1970 - Alabama, Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, Church Records, 1837-1970 at Ancestry.com ($) - index and images.
1830s-1970s - Alabama Episcopal Church Records at the Birmingham Public Library - index

Methodist Collections[edit | edit source]

1830-1920 - Methodist Episcopal Church, 1832-1920, Alabama at FamilySearch - images
1836-1928 - Circuit Methodist Episcopal churches in Alabama, 1836-1928 at FamilySearch - images
1836-1919 - Circuit Methodist Episcopal churches, 1836-1919, Alabama at FamilySearch - images
1830-1934 - Methodist Episcopal Church records, 1830-1934, Alabama at FamilySearch - images

Look for digital copies of church records in the FamilySearch Catalog.[edit | edit source]

The Family History Library (FHL) has a substantial collection of original church records and transcripts on microfilm for churches in the United States. These include records of many denominations, particularly the Society of Friends (Quaker), Presbyterian, Congregational, Lutheran, Reformed, and Roman Catholic churches.
Online church records can be listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under the state, county, or town.
If you find a record that has not yet been digitized, see How do I request that a microfilm be digitized?
Some records might have viewing restrictions, and can only be viewed at a Family History Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations.
To find records:

a. Click on the records of United States, Alabama.

b. Click on Places within United States, Alabama and a list of counties will appear.

c. Click on your county if it appears.

d. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.

e. Click on Places within United States, Alabama [COUNTY] and a list of towns will appear.

f. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish which served your town or village.

g. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.

h. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record.

. The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the records.

Consult available finding aids.[edit | edit source]

These aids generally provide lists of records that are known to exist and information on their location.

Finding Aid for Church and Synagogue Records Collections, 1805-2008 Browsable list. This collection contains the records of major denominations within Alabama, including Baptist, Catholic, Church of Christ, Episcopal, Jewish, Methodist and Presbyterian.
Catalog of church records in Samford University libraries
PERSI is the Periodical Source Index and is available at FindMyPast.com:PERSI. PERSI is an index to family and local history periodicals from 1847 to the present. Many of these periodicals publish church records.

Baptist Records[edit | edit source]

Church Records on Microfilm: Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archive Includes information on ordering records.
List of Baptist churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama - to find churches that existed in earlier times.

Episcopal/Anglican Records[edit | edit source]

Inventory of the Church Archives of Alabama: Protestant Episcopal Church. Birmingham, Alabama: Alabama Historical Records Survey Project, 1939. This gives the location of each church with a brief history and describes the types and years of records that existed for each congregation in 1939. Information on record location usually gives the name and address of the 1939 rector, though it no longer applies. Generally, the records are stored with the current rector; so if the address given is the church itself, it still applies.

Presbyterian Records[edit | edit source]

Hall, James H.B. "The History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Alabama Prior to 1826," Transactions of the Alabama Historical Society, Vol. 4 (1904):365-394. Digital version at Internet Archive. Identifies minute books available for early Presbyteries. The early Presbyteries did not keep records of baptisms, marriages, and burials.

Research church record holdings in archives.[edit | edit source]

Some church records have been deposited for preservation in government archives or in libraries. Watch for links to digitized, online records offered by the archives. Some archives provide research services for a fee. For others, if you cannot visit in person, you might hire a researcher.

Alabama Catholic Archives[edit | edit source]

Diocese of Birmingham
2121 3rd Ave.
P.O. Box 12047
North Birmingham, AL 35202-2047
Phone: (205) 838-8322

All records are maintained in the local parishes.

The diocese includes the counties of: Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert, Coosa, Cullman , DeKalb, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hale, Jackson, Jefferson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, Randolph, Shelby, Sumter, St. Clair, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker and Winston.^[2]

Archdiocese of Mobile Archives
14 S. Franklin St.
Mobile, AL 36602
Phone: (251) 415-3850

"The records for the Cathedral parish from 1704-1739 have been published and are available for purchase by mail. Until more of our records are published, the archives will try to honor requests for individual sacramental information as staff/volunteer time is available.

Make each request in writing using this form. Print it, fill out as completely as possible for each record requested, and mail.
There is a $10 fee to search for each sacramental record requested. This is for the search, so it is payable regardless of whether we are able to find the record.
Please mail all forms with payment for the total number of requests.
We can only supply the information contained in the sacramental record (translated where applicable), not an official certificate and not a copy of the original entry.
We will not honor requests for research of general family lines." (In other words, request a specific event, but don't ask them to find everything about a family at once.)

The Archdiocese includes the counties of: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Dallas, Elmore, Escambia, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Pike, Russell, Washington and Wilcox.^[2]

Other Denominational Archives[edit | edit source]

For archives of other denominations, see Searching for Church Records by Denomination.

State Archives[edit | edit source]

Alabama Department of Archives and History
P.O. Box 300100
624 Washington Ave.
Montgomery, AL 36130

Telephone:334-242-4435

Finding Aid for Church and Synagogue Records Collections, 1805-2008 Browsable list. This collection contains the records of major denominations within Alabama, including Baptist, Catholic, Church of Christ, Episcopal, Jewish, Methodist and Presbyterian.
- Index to Churches in the Alabama Church and Synagogue Records Collection Database at the Alabama Archives - index.
Research Request Form and Instructions
Website

Collection includes: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile; family records 1700-1860, some Catholic school records, some Catholic newspapers, Catholic cemetery records, and funeral home records.

University Archives[edit | edit source]

Samford University Library
800 Lakeshore Drive
Birmingham, AL 35229

Telephone:205-726-2196
E-mail: referenc@samford.edu

Correspond with genealogical or historical societies.[edit | edit source]

Some church records have been given to historical societies. Also, historical societies may be able to tell you where the records are being held. To find a society near you, consult these lists:

References[edit | edit source]

↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Alabama", in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama#Religion, accessed May 2020.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Map of the Roman Catholic Dioceses in the United States of America, Office of Catholic Schools Diocese of Columbus, accessed 3 Nov 2010.

[1] Wikipedia contributors, "Alabama", in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama#Religion, accessed May 2020.

[rome-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Map of the Roman Catholic Dioceses in the United States of America, Office of Catholic Schools Diocese of Columbus, accessed 3 Nov 2010.

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