Washington Church Records
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Historical Background
Before 1900 the largest religious groups in Washington were the Baptist, Roman Catholic, Methodist Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches.[1]
Catholic and Protestant faiths were in Washington State from its earliest days. Other American traditions such as Mormonism and the Seventh-day Adventist churches soon followed. The Methodist Episcopal Church] was the first Protestant group to organize a local church east of the Cascades. Methodism arrived in Vancouver in 1848 and in Olympia and Seattle in 1853. The Roman Catholic Church in the United States|Roman Catholic Church is one of the oldest denominations in the state and remains today one of its largest. The [[Presbyterian Church in the United States|Presbyterian] faith arrived in Oregon Territory in 1838. Missionaries from the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were sent to the Pacific Northwest as early as 1850, although missionary efforts did not begin seriously until the 1880s and 1890s. The church has emerged today as one of the largest denominations in the state. Also, missionaries from the Missouri-based Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Community of Christ) arrived in Washington State in the nineteenth century. Seventh-day Adventists arrived in Washington Territory in the 1860s, with a strong presence in the state today. The Episcopal/Anglican faith arrived in Washington in 1851 at Cathlamet as a mission outreach from Portland. The Lutheran faith arrived in Washington as the result of migration by Scandinavians to the Puget Sound area.[2]
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:
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.
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Online databases are incomplete. This can lead to two common errors:
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FamilySearch
- Washington Deaths and Burials, 1810-1960, index and images.
Dutch Reformed
- 1856-1970 - U.S., Dutch Christian Reformed Church Vital Records, 1856-1970, index and images, incomplete.($)
- 1856-1970 - U.S., Dutch Christian Reformed Church Membership Records, 1856-1970, index and images, incomplete.($)
Presbyterian
- 1701-1970 - U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970, index and images, incomplete.($)
Look for digital copies of church records listed in the FamilySearch Catalog.
- 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.
Baptist
American Baptist - Samuel Colgate Historical Library
1106 South Goodman Street
Rochester, NY 14620-2532
Phone: (716) 473-1740
Fax: (716) 473-1740
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Lutheran
ELCA Region 1 Archives
Archives and Special Collections
Mortvedt Library
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447
(253) 535-7586
E-mail: archives@plu.edu
- Archives hold records for closed churches. For open churches write directly to the local church.
Methodist
United Methodist Church
Collins Memorial Library
University of Puget Sound
1500 North Warner
Tacoma, WA 98416
Phone: (253) 756-3669
Fax: (253) 756-3670
This library has records of ministers but not of church members.
For a history of the Methodists in Washington see Howell, Erle. Methodisim in the Northwest. Nashville, Tenn.: Pacific Northwest Conference Historical Society, 1966. FHL Collection 979 K2h
Presbyterian
Presbyterian Historical Society
Presbyterian Church U.S.A.
425 Lombard Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516
Phone: (215) 627-1852
Fax: (215) 627-0509
For a history of the Presbyterians in Washington, see Boyd, Robert. History of the Synod of Washington of The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America 1835-1909. Seattle, Wash.: The Synod, [1910?]. FHL Collection 979.7 K2p; film 1321456 item 4; digital versions at Ancestry ($); Internet Archive.
Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Seattle
Chancery Office
910 Marion Street
Seattle, WA 98104
Phone: (206) 382-4560
Fax: (206) 382-4840
The archdiocese includes the counties of: Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum and Whatcom.[3]
Diocese of Spokane
P.O. Box 1453
1023 W. Riverside Ave.
Spokane, WA 99210-1453
Phone: (509) 358-7300
The diocese includes the counties of: Adams, Asotin, Columbia, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Stevens, Spokane, Walla Walla and Whitman.[3]
Diocese of Yakima
5301-A Tieton Drive
Yakima, WA 98908-3493
Phone: (509) 965-7117
The diocese includes the counties of: Benton, Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat and Yakima.[3]
Historical Missions
- St. Francis Regis Mission - Jesuit 1845-1945
- St. Ignatius Mission- Jesuit 1845-1855
- St. Mary's Mission - Jesuit 1886-1960
- Tsimshian Mission 1838
- St. Paul's Mission - Jesuit 1845-1865
- Whitman Mission (near Walla Walla)
References
- ↑ Sydney E. Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the American People (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1972). FHL Book 973 K2ah.
- ↑ Dwight A. Radford for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 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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