Virginia Church Records

United States   Virginia   Church Records

The Church of England (now Protestant Episcopal) was the established church in Virginia from 1624 to 1786. Between the time of the American Revolution and the year 1900, the largest religious groups in Virginia were the Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches. The Family History Library has histories of the Baptist, Christian, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Reformed, United Brethren, and other groups.

The Family History Library also has many parish records of the Episcopal Church and some church records for other denominations, notably minutes of various Baptist conferences, Society of Friends meeting minutes, and German Reformed and Lutheran parish registers.

The Library of Virginia also has many church records. These are described in:

• Clark, Jewell T., and Elizabeth T. Long. A Guide to Church Records in the Archives Branch, Virginia State Library. Richmond, Virginia: Virginia State Library, 1981. FHL Collection 975.5 K23c Includes the history, location, and record inventory of 11 denominations and congregations. In 2002, an updated edition entitled A Guide to Church Records in the Library of Virginia was published. FHL Collection 975.5 K23g

Many denominations have collected their records into central repositories. You can write to the following addresses to learn where their records are located, or read more about them in the following publications.

Baptist

Virginia Baptist Historical Society
Boatwright Memorial Library
28 Westhampton Way
University of Richmond, VA 23173
Telephone: (804)289-8669

Bibliography

• Howell, Robert Boyte Crawford and American Baptist Historical Society. The Early Baptists of Virginia: An Address, Delivered in New York, Before the American Baptist Historical Society, May 10th, 1856. Press of the Society, 1867. Digital book at Google Books (full-view).
• Semple, Robert Baylor and George William Beale. A History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia. Pitt and Dickinson, 1894. Digital book at Google Books (full-view). Includes histories of the oldest Baptist churches in the state.
• Taylor, James Barnett. Lives of Virginia Baptist Ministers. 2nd ed. Richmond: Yale & Wyatt, 1838. Digital book at Google Books (full-view).
• Taylor, George Braxton. Virginia Baptist Ministers: 3d Series. J.P. Bell Company, Inc., 1912. Digital book at Google Books (full-view).
• Taylor, George Braxton. Virginia Baptist Ministers: 4th Series. J.P. Bell, 1913. Digital book at Google Books (full-view).
• Taylor, George Braxton. Virginia Baptist Ministers: 5th Series, 1902-1914, with Supplement. J.P. Bell, 1915. Digital book at Google Books (full-view).

Church of England (Anglican, Protestant Episcopal)

Before the American Revolution, the state church of Virginia was the Church of England (also called Anglican, and later Protestant Episcopal). Besides keeping parish registers, the church kept many records of a civil nature in their vestry books. In many instances, parish registers containing baptism, marriage, and death records have not survived when vestry books have.

Some early parish registers are incomplete or missing. Those still existing are available at the Library of Virginia and many copies are at the Family History Library. Many have been published. Baptisms and marriages from most colonial Virginia parishes are indexed in the International Genealogical Index, see: Hugh Wallis's IGI Batch Numbers for Virginia, USA.

You may need to study parish boundaries to determine which parish an ancestor attended. There are three excellent sources, which include maps, written by Charles Francis Cocke:

• Parish Lines, Diocese of Southern Virginia. Richmond, Va.: Virginia State Library, 1996. FHL Collection 975.5 K2co 1996
• Parish Lines, Diocese of Southwestern Virginia. Richmond, Va.: Virginia State Library, 1960. FHL Collection 975.5 K2c
• Parish Lines, Diocese of Virginia. Richmond, Va.: Virginia State Library, 1967. 1978 reprint: FHL 975.5 K2cf 1978

Freddie Spradlin has analyzed references to the formations and boundary changes of Church of England parishes found in Hening's Statutes at Large. His notes are available online at Parishes of Virginia (part of VAGenWeb Project).

For images and brief histories of Virginia's colonial churches, see:

• Colonial Churches: A Series of Sketches of Churches in the Original Colony of Virginia: With Pictures of Each Church. Richmond, Va.: Southern Churchman Co., 1907. Digital versions at Google Books; Internet Archives; 1990 reprint: FHL Collection 975.5 K2cc.

The following sources also have information on churches, officials, and members of the Church of England:

• Axelson, Edith F. A Guide to Episcopal Church Records in Virginia. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Publishing, 1988. FHL Collection 975.5 K27a. Includes parish register and vestry book inventories.
• Goodwin, Edward L. The Colonial Church in Virginia: With Biographical Sketches of the First Six Bishops of the Diocese of Virginia, and Other Historical Papers, Together with Brief Biographical Sketches of the Colonial Clergy of Virginia. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Morehouse Pub., 1927. FHL Collection 975.5 K2g.
• Meade, William. Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia. 2 vols. 1857. Reprint, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing, 1966. Digital versions of volume 1 at Ancestry ($) and Internet Archive. Digital version of volume 2 at Internet Archive. FHL Collection 975.5 K2m 1966. Mostly histories of early parishes but includes 6,900 names of individuals.

To learn more about the origins of Church of England ministers sent to Virginia from England during the colonial period, start with these books:

• Fothergill, Gerald. A List of Emigrant Ministers to America, 1690-1811. London: E. Stock, 1904. Digital versions at Ancestry ($); Google Books; Internet Archive, 1965 reprint: FHL Collection 973 W2f 1965
• Weis, Frederick Lewis. The Colonial Clergy of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Boston, Mass.: Society of the Descendants of Colonial Clergy, 1955. FHL Collection 975 D3wc; digital version at World Vital Records ($).

Church of England ministers sent to Virginia were often educated at the English universities of Cambridge and Oxford. The website Expert Links: English Family History and Genealogy contains links to many of these university's records available online under the "Occupations" section.

The Clergy of the Church of England website (work in progress) also contains details of many of their ministerial careers before departing for America.

Huguenot

See The Huguenot in Virginia Periodicals.

Methodist and Methodist Episcopal

The Library of Virginia has some Methodist church records in manuscript form and some on microfilm. See the guide by Jewell Clark mentioned previously.

Presbyterian

Presbyterian Church Archives
Union Theological Seminary in Virginia
3401 Brook Road
Richmond, VA 23227
Telephone: (800)229-2990 or (804)355-0671
Fax:(804)355-3919

Bibliography

• Rachael, William M.E. "Early Minutes of Hanover Presbytery," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 63, No. 1 (Jan., 1955):53-75; Vol. 63, No. 2 (Apr. 1955):161-185. FHL Collection 975.5 B2v v. 63; digital version at JSTOR ($). [The Hanover Presbytery covered Virginia.]

Quaker

• Gilpin, Thomas. Exiles in Virginia: With Observations on the Conduct of the Society of Friends during the Revolutionary War; Comprising the Official Papers of the Government Relating to that Period. 1777-1778. 1848. Digital book at Google Books (full-view).