Oregon Church Records

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U.S. Church Records

Oregon

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 groups in Oregon were Roman Catholic, Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Christian (Disciples of Christ).

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.

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!

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• Oregon, Church and Cemetery Records, 1840-1965
• Oregon, Church Records, 1853-1874 - Index and images. Incomplete

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Look for digital copies of church records listed in the FamilySearch Catalog.

Family History Library
Salt Lake City, Utah

• The Family History Library (FHL) 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 Family History Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations.
• To find records:

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

b. Click on Places within United States, Oregon 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, Oregon [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.

• Directory of Churches and Religious Organizations, State of Oregon Portland, Ore.: Historical Records Survey, 1940; FHL fiche 6051178.

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. Some early Episcopal and Catholic records are available at the Oregon State Library and at other Archives and Libraries. Roman Catholic records for 1838 to 1869 have been published in:

Baptist

American Baptist—Samuel Colgate Historical Society
1100 S. Goodman Street
Rochester, NY 14620-2532
Phone: (716) 473-1740
Fax: (716) 473-1740

Jereld R. Nicholson Library
Linfield College
900 S. Baker
McMinnville, OR 97128-9989
Phone: (503) 883-2261
Fax: (503) 883-2566

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Church records for Oregon Wards and Branches can be found on film. The films are located at the Family History Library, at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City and may be sent to Family History Centers. The film numbers, for each ward, can be locate through the FamilySearch Catalog. You may find them by refering to Register of Genealogical Society Call Numbers FHL book 979.2258 A3j; fiche 6031507. 

Family History Library
35 N. West Temple
Salt Lake City, Utah 84150

Church History Library
15 E. North Temple
Salt Lake City, Utah 84150
FAX: 801-240-2804
Phone: 801-240-2745

Disciples of Christ

Disciples of Christ Historical Society
1101 19th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: (615) 327-1444
Fax: (615) 327-1445

For a history of the Disciples of Christ in Oregon, see:

• Swander, C.F. Making Disciples in Oregon (Church's of Christ in Oregon), VJohnson, 1928. On microfilm, FHL 1113877; digital version at Northwest College of the Bible.

United Methodist Archives Center
Drew University Library
36 Madison Avenue
Madison, NJ 07940
Phone: (973) 408-3189
Fax: (973) 408-3909

Mailing address:
P.O. Box 127
Madison, NJ 07940

Lutheran

• [http:/www.plu.edu/archives ELCA Region 1 Archives]
  

Archives and Special Collections
Mortvedt Library
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447

Phone: (253) 535-7586
E-mail: archives@plu.edu

Presbyterian

Oregon churches.png

Presbyterian Historical Society
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
425 Lombard Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516
Phone: (215) 627-1852
Fax: (215) 627-0509

Local Presbyteries:

Presbytery of the Cascades
Northeast/Northwest Office
0245 S.W. Bancroft Street, Suite D
Portland, OR 97239-4272
Phone: 800-495-4114
Local: 503-227-5486
Fax: 503-227-6045

Central Office
1475 Ferry Street, Suite 121-3
Eugene, OR 97401-4212
Phone: 800-926-3223
Local: 541-465-9173
Fax: 541-465-9219

South Office
P.O. Box 1145
Phoenix, OR 97535-1145
Phone: 541-535-7313
Fax: 541-535-7585

Presbytery of Eastern Oregon
1358 SW Eleventh Street
Ontario, OR 97914
Phone: 541-889-5592

To locate Presbyterian records, see:

• Inventory of Church Archives of Oregon Presbyterian Churches: 1968 Arrangement with Indexes. n.p.: Historical Records Survey, WPA, 1968; FHL film 899323.

Society of Friends (Quakers)

George Fox College
Quaker Collection
414 N. Meridian Street
Newberg, OR 97132-2697
Phone: (503) 538-8383

For a history of Oregon Quakers, see:

• Remembering 75 Years of History: Quakers in Oregon. Newberg, Ore.: Barclay Press, 1967. On film FHL film 430055 Item 6.

Roman Catholic

Diocese of Baker
P.O. Box 5999
Bend, OR 97708-5999
Phone: (541) 388-4004

No record information available.

The diocese includes the counties of: Baker, Crook, Deschutes, Gilliam, Harney, Hood River, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Wasco and Wheeler.

Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon
Chancery Office
2838 E. Burnside Street
Portland, OR 97214-1895
Phone: (503) 234-5334
Fax: (503) 234-2545

Mailing address:
P.O. Box 351
Portland, OR 97214-1895

The diocese includes the counties of: Benton, Clackamas , Clatsop, Columbia, Coos, Curry, Douglas, Josephine, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Washington and Yamhill.

Abstracted records

Harriet Duncan Munnick published a series of abstracted titled Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest. Osborn-Ryan produced cumulative baptism, marriage, and death indexes to Munnick's work:

• Osborn-Ryan, Sharon E. Cumulative Baptism Index to the Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest. n.p.: Oregon Heritage Press, 1999. FHL Book 979 K22o
• Osborn-Ryan, Sharon E. Cumulative Marriage Index to the Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest. n.p.: Oregon Heritage Press, 1998. FHL Book 979.5 K22os
• Osborn-Ryan, Sharon E. Cumulative Death Index to the Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest. Portland, Ore.: S. Osborn-Ryan, 1998. FHL Book 979.5 K22o

Here is a breakdown of the contents of each volume of abstracts:

• Munnick, Harriet Duncan. Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest; Vancouver, Volumes I & II (1838-1856) and Stellamaris Mission (1848-1860). St. Paul, Ore.: French Prairie Press, 1972. FHL Book 979.786 K2c.
• Munnick, Harriet Duncan. Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest; St. Paul, Oregon, (1839-1898). Portland, Ore.: Binford & Mort, 1979. FHL Book 979.537 K2mh.
• Munnick, Harriet Duncan. Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest; St. Louis Register (1845-1890), Brooks Register (1893-1909). Portland, Ore.: Binford and Mort, 1982. FHL Book 979.537 K2m.
• Munnick, Harriet Duncan. Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest; Oregon City Register (1842-1890), Salem Register (1864-1885), Jacksonville Register (1854-1885). Portland, Ore.: Binford & Mort, 1984. FHL Book 979.5 K2m.
• Munnick, Harriet Duncan. Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest; Roseburg Register & Missions (1853-1911), Portland Register (1852-1871). Portland, Ore.: Binford & Mort, 1986. FHL Book 979.529 K2m.
• Munnick, Harriet Duncan. Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest; Grand Ronde Register (1860-1898). Portland, Ore.: Binford and Mort, 1987. FHL Book 979.538 K2m.
• Munnick, Harriet Duncan. Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest; Missions of St. Ann & St. Rose (1847-1888), Walla Walla and Frenchtown (1859-1872), and Frenchtown (1872-1888). Portland, Ore.: Binford & Mort, 1989. FHL Book 979.5 K2mh.

Histories

• O'Hara, Edwin V. Pioneer Catholic History of Oregon. Portland, Ore.: Glass & Prudhomme Company, 1911. FHL Book 979.5 K2o; digital version at Google Books.

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:

• Society Hill List of STATE Societies
  

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.

References

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)