New Hampshire Church Records

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New Hampshire

Church Records

For greater success, use all the Wiki Articles in this series: What Can I Find in U.S. Church Records? Determining the Church Your Ancestor Attended How to Find Church Records in the United States Searching for Church Records by Denomination Searching for Church Records by U.S. State

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Historical Background

Before 1900 the largest religious denominations in New Hampshire were the Baptist, Congregational, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic churches. In early New Hampshire, the Congregational church predominated.

Information Found in the Records

To effectively use church records, become familiar with their content. Click on these links to learn about a specific record type:

Baptisms or Christenings Marriages

Funerals or Burials Membership Lists

Minutes or Historical Narrative

Finding the Records

Look for online records

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!

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Online Records

FamilySearch Indexes

• 1656-1938 New Hampshire, Vital and Town Records Index, 1656-1938 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
• 1714-1904 New Hampshire, Births and Christenings, 1714-1904 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
• 1720-1920 New Hampshire, Marriages, 1720-1920 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index
• 1771-1905 New Hampshire, Church Records, 1771-1905 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images, very incomplete
• 1784-1949 New Hampshire, Deaths and Burials, 1784-1949 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Ancestry.com Indexes

• 1714-1904 New Hampshire, Births and Christenings Index, 1714-1904 ($)
• 1654-1949 New Hampshire, Death and Burial Records Index, 1654-1949 ($)

Lutheran

• 1781-1969 - U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969, index & images, incomplete.($)

Other Collections

• Dunham-Wilcox-Trott-Kirk indexes church, cemetery, probate and other early New England, New York and New Jersey records with links to abstracts of the records.

Look for digital copies of church records in the FamilySearch Catalog

FamilySearch Library
Salt Lake City, Utah

• The FamilySearch Library (FS Library) has a substantial collection of original church records and transcripts on microfilm for churches in the United States.
• 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 FamilySearch Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations.
• To find records:

a. Click on the records of United States, New Hampshire.

b. Click on Places within United States, New Hampshire 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, New Hampshire [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.

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Consult available finding aids

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

• Guide to church vital statistics records in New Hampshire

• Copeley, William. “Church Records at the New Hampshire Historical Society,” Historical New Hampshire 39 (Fall/Winter 1984): pages 153–59. (FS Catalog book 974.2 H25h.) This periodical contains articles of historical interest as well as articles about the families.
• Inventory of the Roman Catholic Church Records in New Hampshire. Manchester, New Hampshire: Diocese of Manchester, 1938. Historical Records Survey. (FamilySearch Librarybook 974.2 K2hs.)
• Inventory of the church archives of New Hampshire, Protestant Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire', e-book.
• French-Canadian Research Resources at the New Hampshire Historical Society: New Hampshire French-Canadian Catholic Parish Records by Town
  

Correspond with or visit the actual churches

• Some records are still held in the local churches. Contact the current minister to find out what records are still available.
• Make an appointment to look at the records. Or ask the minister of the church to make a copy of the record for you.
• To find church staff available, you might have to visit on Sunday.
• Ask for small searches at a time, such as one birth record or a specific marriage. Never ask for "everything on a family or surname".
• A donation ($25-$40) for their time and effort to help you would be appropriate.
• If the church has a website, you may be able to e-mail a message.
• See the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters.
• Each denomination page offers an online address directory of local churches for that denomination.

Check the church records collections in archives and libraries

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.

Here you will find archive information unique to the state. Many more archives are kept by denomination. For denominational archives, go to Searching for Church Records by Denomination.

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New Hampshire Historical Society

• New Hampshire Historical Society
  

30 Park Street

Concord, New Hampshire 03301

Telephone: 603-228-6688

• Over 160 individual congregations of Congregational, Baptist, Freewill Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Universalist, and other churches have sent their church records, 1700s through the 1900s, to the New Hampshire Historical Society. They also hold a large collection of transcribed and published church records.
• Genealogy
  
• Research Services Information and Research Services Request Form
  
• “Church Records at the New Hampshire Historical Society,”Copeley, William.
  
• Historical New Hampshire :39 (Fall/Winter 1984): pages 153–59. (FS Catalog book 974.2 H25h.)

This periodical contains articles of historical interest as well as articles about the families.

• [https://www.nhhistory.org/NHHS/media/NHHS-Media-Library/PDFs/Finding-Aids/French-Canadian-Research-Resources-at-the-New-Hampshire-Historical-Society.pdf
• French-Canadian Research Resources at the New Hampshire Historical Society: New Hampshire French-Canadian Catholic Parish Records by Town]
  

American-Canadian Genealogical Society Library

• American-Canadian Genealogical Society Library
  

1 Sundial Avenue, Suite 317N

Manchester, New Hampshire 03103

Telephone: (603) 622-1554

• Research Services
  
• Library Holdings Parish Repertoires and Vital Records
  

Baptist

• American Baptist Churches of Vermont and New Hampshire
  

P.O. Box 1206

Lebanon, NH 03766

Telephone: (603) 643-4201

Fax: (603) 228-6129

They have a quarterly newsletter of the Baptist churches in New Hampshire

• American Baptist Historical Society
  

3001 Mercer University Dr.

Atlanta, GA 30341

Telephone: (678) 547-6680

This society has some Baptist church records from New Hampshire.

Episcopal

• The Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire
  

63 Green St.

Concord, NH 03301

Telephone: (603) 224-1914

The diocesan archives at the above address has records of churches that have closed. It also contains bishops’ official acts, such as confirmation records. The New Hampshire Historical Society has the church records of several New Hampshire Episcopalian congregations, which are held in the archives.

• For records of open churches not at NHHS', contact
• the local church
  
• Inventory of the church archives of New Hampshire, Protestant Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire', e-book

Roman Catholic

• French-Canadian Research Resources at the New Hampshire Historical Society: New Hampshire French-Canadian Catholic Parish Records by Town
  
• Inventory of the Roman Catholic Church Records in New Hampshire. Manchester, New Hampshire: Diocese of Manchester, 1938. Historical Records Survey. (FamilySearch Librarybook 974.2 K2hs.)

• Diocese of Manchester
  

153 Ash Street

P.O. Box 310

Manchester, NH 03105

Telephone: (603) 669-3100

Fax: (603) 669-0377

• Sacramental Records
  

In the Diocese of Manchester, each individual parish keeps records of baptisms, first communions, confirmations, marriages, and deaths. These records are not centralized in the Diocese of Manchester.

To contact the parishes in the State of New Hampshire, please utilize our online directory

Parishes that have been merged or unified with another parish are listed under closed churches and will indicate where the sacramental records are maintained (namely, in the unified or merged parish).

• Many Catholic marriage and baptismal records have been published, particularly for larger parishes.
• New Hampshire Historical Society and the American-Canadian Genealogical Society have the best collections.
  
• As the Diocese of Manchester was not established until 1884, it is possible that some records may be maintained by predecessor dioceses (the Diocese of Portland, Maine or the Archdiocese of Boston).
• In addition, some limited sacramental records are maintained in the Diocese of Manchester archives. See the Archives Listing for a records held. The Archives Office makes its materials available to researchers within the parameters of canon law, and state and federal laws, and diocesan policy. Contact the Archives Office for more information. The diocese includes the counties of: Belknap, Carroll, Cheshire, Coös, Grafton, Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham, Strafford and Sullivan

Correspond with genealogical or historical societies

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:

Next, go to the Wiki article for your ancestors' denomination

There are frequently additional, nationwide or regional archives and online collections for each denomination. Find the article for your ancestors' denomination and follow the instructions there to access these sources.

Major U.S. Religious Denominations
Adventist Amish Anabaptist Anglican Apostolic Christian Armenian Catholic Armenian Evangelical Armenian Orthodox Assemblies of God Baháʼí Baptist Buddhist Catholic Apostolic Church of the Brethren Community of Christ Confucianism Congregational	Coptic Orthodox Disciples of Christ Dutch Reformed Episcopal German Reformed Greek Orthodox Hinduism Huguenot Hutterites Jehovah's Witnesses Jewish The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) Lutheran Maronite Catholic Church Melkite Greek Catholic Methodist	Mennonite Moravian Muslim Orthodox Church in America (OCA) Pentecostal Presbyterian Roman Catholic Russian Orthodox Schwenkfelders Serbian Orthodox Sihkism Society of Friends (Quakers) Syriac Orthodox Church Ukrainian Orthodox United Church of Christ United Brethren in Christ Unitarian/Universalist

Carefully compare any record you find to known facts about the ancestor

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". If one or more of the details do not line up, be careful about accepting the entry as your ancestor. There are guiding principles for deciding how to resolve discrepancies between records that are seemingly close. For more instruction in evaluating evidence, read the Wiki article, Evaluate the Evidence.

To access available information, first log into FamilySearch.

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