Canada Church Records: Difference between revisions

Canada Church Records (view source)

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 [STATE], [COUNTY], [CITY] - CHURCH RECORDS <!--{12085430960483} --><!--{12085430960484} --><!--{12085430960485} -->
+== Research Strategies ==
+===Step 1. Identify where your ancestor was living at a given time. ===
+Identify the town where your ancestor was living at a given time, such as when he or she was born, was a child, was married, had children, or died. Your ancestor probably attended a church in a town or city where the family lived.
+For help in identifying the town of residence of your ancestor at a given time, see [[How To Locate Your Ancestor in Canada|How To Locate Your Ancestor in Canada]].
+===Step 2. Determine which denomination your ancestor attended during that time. ===
+To determine which denomination your ancestor belonged to, consider:
+*Family traditions and artifacts.
+*Which country your ancestor came from.
+*Family histories.
+For the relationship between national origin and religious denomination, see '''Tip 1'''.
+For further suggestions on how to determine which church your ancestor attended, see '''Tip 2'''.
+===Step 3. Find the records of your ancestor's church. ===
+For records available at the Family History Library, search the Family History Library Catalog. Many church records have been assigned to the town level in the Catalog. To find town records:
+*Click on the Town tab.
+*Select the town of your ancestor.
+If you do not find church records for the town, check for church records for the county (if the Province has counties) by clicking the County tab. You may also need to check for records for the province.
+===Step 4. Search the church records. ===
+Look at a few pages to determine how the church records are organized. Church records may be organized by:
+*Date
+*Event and then by date
+*Event and then in alphabetical order by surname
+Once you determine how the records are organized, search the records for your ancestor and for other people in your ancestor's life. See [[Your Ancestor Had A FAN Club|Your Ancestor Had A FAN Club]] for an explanation of this research principle.
+===Step 5. Copy the information from the record. ===
+Make a photocopy of the page(s) with the information about your ancestor. By copying the entire page(s), you can study the record in depth and save it for future reference. You can analyze the handwriting and note other details you may have missed when you first looked at the record. You may find other relatives of your ancestor.
+Be sure to document the source of the information by writing the title, author, book or film number, and page number on the copy, or photocopy the title page at the front of the book or film. Also write the name of the library, archive, etc., where you found the church records.
+===Step 6. Analyze the information you found. ===
+Study the document. Compare the information to what you already knew about your ancestor.
+*What new information did you find about your ancestors or their in-laws?
+*Notice the names of witnesses and bondsmen, since they were often relatives or close friends. See [[Your Ancestor Had A FAN Club|Your Ancestor Had A FAN Club]] for information on this research principle.
+*Did the records mention the church where they formerly lived or moved to?
+*Does the information fit with what you already know about the family?
+:Use a Timeline to compare what you already knew about your ancestor with the information you found.
+For more help on comparing new information with what you already knew about your ancestor, see [[How to Recognize your Canadian Ancestor|How to Recognize your Canadian Ancestor]].
+==Tips==
+===Tip 1. The country of origin may help learn the church they attended ==
+Persons from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the Latin American countries were often Roman Catholic and usually attended that church. If your ancestors were from one of these countries and were Protestant, sometimes they were very loyal to their denomination. Other times they may have attended the Protestant church closest to their home.
+*French Huguenots were Protestant.
+*Persons from the Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden) were generally Lutheran, because the Lutheran church was the state religion in Scandinavia. Immigrants from Scandinavia very likely attended the Lutheran church in Canada.
+*Scottish ancestors very likely attended the Presbyterian church in Canada. The Church of Scotland was the state church in Scotland. It is known in Canada as the Presbyterian church.
+*English ancestors may have attended the Church of England. Also, many ancestors from England belonged to one of the dissenting groups, such as the Quakers.
+===Tip 2. How can I determine the denomination of my ancestor? ===
+Consider the following, and relate the information to what you know about your ancestor:
+*Some communities only had one church, so most residents would have attended that church.
+*Sometimes an ancestor preferred to attend a church close to his or her home and was not so concerned about what denomination he or she attended.
+*Sometimes an ancestor was strict about which denomination he belonged to and may have traveled some distance to attend his church. Check where persons of that denomination met.
+*In large cities there may have been many churches of an ancestor's denomination. Use city directories together with maps, inventories, and directories of churches to identify which churches of your ancestor's denomination were in your ancestor's neighborhood.
+*It may be necessary to look at the records of all the churches near your ancestor's home to locate your ancestor's church records.
+[[Previous Research for Canada, Part 1|Previous Research for Canada, Part 1]] may give you further suggestions on how to identify the denomination of your ancestor.
 [[Category:Canada]]