Nebraska Church 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!

Nebraska Monthly Meeting: Quaker Records, ($), index
1875-1899 - Nebraska, Church Records, 1875-1899 at FamilySearch — index

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, STATE.

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

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

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.

Nebraska State Historical Society

The Nebraska State Historical Library has an extensive collection of Protestant church records. These are listed in the reference leaflet Nebraska Church Records at the Nebraska State Historical Society. Library research services are fee-based. Some materials are available for loan via Interlibrary Loan through your local public library.

Lutheran

Archives of the Nebraska Synod
4980 South 118 Street, Suite D
Omaha, NE 68137-2220
Phone: (402) 896-5311
Fax: (402) 896-5354
E-mail: office@nebraskasynod.org

Early congregations and pioneers are described in Charles F. Sandahl, The Nebraska Conference of the Augustana Synod. (n.p.: Nebraska Conference, 1931); FHL Collection film 1036240 item 3

Abstracts of records relating to German immigrants can be found in:

German Immigrants in Nebraska Protestant Church Records.

Odessa3.org - This site contains German-Russian emigrant ancestry in pocket settlements in mid-west states of North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska . Contains transcribed minutes of meetings, membership lists (some with parentage listed), birth, deaths, and marriages.

Methodist

Nebraska Wesleyan University
Historical Archives United Methodist Church
5000 St. Paul Avenue
Lincoln, NE 68504
Phone: (402) 465-2400
Fax: (402) 465-2189

United Methodist Historical Center
Nebraska Conference
P.O. Box 4553
Lincoln, NE 68504-0553
Phone: (402) 465-2175

Presbyterian

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

Hall's Index of American Presbyterian Congregations briefly summarizes information published as part of General Assembly minutes, annual denomination yearbooks, and related sources. The index contains the organization and dissolution dates of churches, denomination and location changes, mergers, etc. Search Hall's Index to see if a Presbyterian congregation existed in a town or city, and then search CALVIN, the on-line catalog, to learn what registers, minutes, and other records are available in the Presbyterian Historical Society Archives.

Roman Catholic

Diocese of Grand Island
P.O. Box 153
2708 Old Fair Road
Grand Isle, NE 68802
Phone: (800) 652-0004

There are no records at the above site.

The diocese includes the counties of: Arthur, Banner, Blaine, Box Butte, Brown, Buffalo, Cherry, Cheyenne, Custer, Dawes, Dawson, Deuel, Garden, Garfield Grant, Greeley, Hall, Hooker, Howard, Keith, Keya Paha, Kimball, Lincoln, Logan, Loup, McPherson , Morrill, Rock, Scotts Bluff, Sheridan, Sherman, Sioux, Thomas, Valley and Wheeler.^[2]

Diocese of Lincoln
P.O. Box 80328
Lincoln, NE 68501-0328
Phone: (402) 488-0921

The diocese includes the counties of: Adams, Butler, Cass, Chase, Clay, Dawson, Dundy, Fillmore, Franklin, Frontier, Furnas, Hamilton, Harlan, Hayes, Hitchcock, Jefferson, Johnson, Kearney, Keith, Lancaster, Lincoln, Nemaha, Nuckolls, Otoe, Pawnee, Perkins, Phelps, Polk, Red Willow, Saline, Richardson, Saunders, Seward, Thayer, Webster and York.^[2]

Chancery Office
Archdiocese of Omaha
100 North 62 Street
Omaha, NE 68132-2795
Phone: (402) 558-3100
Fax: (402) 558-3026

For a helpful history see Henry Weber Casper, History of the Catholic Church in Nebraska, Three Volumes (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Catholic Life Pub., 1960-66); FHL Collection book 978.2 K2c. A brief History of the Archidiocese of Omaha is available as part of the Catholic Encyclopedia.

The Archdiocese includes the counties of: Antelope, Boone, Boyd, Burt, Cedar, Colfax, Cuming, Dakota, Dixon, Dodge, Douglas, Holt, Knox, Madison, Merrick, Nance, Pierce, Platte, Sarpy, Stanton, Thurston, Washington and Wayne.^[2]

References

↑ Sydney E. Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the American People (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1972). FHL Book 973 K2ah.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Map of the Roman Catholic Dioceses in the United States of America, Office of Catholic Schools Diocese of Columbus, accessed 3 Nov 2010.

[1] Sydney E. Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the American People (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1972). FHL Book 973 K2ah.

[rome-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 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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