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Reconstructing the Membership of a Congregation

9 Jan By

Often we find the church records we need were destroyed, never kept, or begin late. There are ways around this difficulty, but you have to think in terms of documenting and reconstructing membership from other sources. It is not that much different than creating a “census substitute” for an area, knowing the first complete census was 1901.

I recently did this with a small congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon) which met from 1850 to 1854 in Gorteen Townland, Geashill Civil Parish, County Offaly (King’s County). In 1854 they all emigrated. Here was my approach:

  • In early Mormonism, converts were expected to gather with the main body of the Saints to help build the Kingdom of God; known as Zion. From 1847 Zion was the Mormon colonies in the Rocky Mountain with Salt Lake City as its capitol. By understanding the historical context, this further opens up other records to help you. It also explains why all the Gorteen Townland Mormons were gone by 1854.
  • The Dublin Conference of the LDS British Mission has membership records 1850-57, and these provide the residence of the member; when they were baptized (adult baptism is practiced); removed elsewhere or emigrated. From these chronological records, I could identify all members from my targeted geographic area around Tullamore, County Offaly.
  •  I then utilized records at the Family History Library, Church History Library and the Daughters of Utah Pioneer Library, all within walking distance of the other in Salt Lake City. I looked for journals, histories, newspaper accounts and acquired originals from references I found online.

In the end, I could reconstruct the membership and what happened to them upon immigrating, crossing the Great Plains and what they found upon entering the Mormon Zion.

I have used similar approaches with the Plymouth Brethren (Christian Brethren) to reconstruct membership for particular congregations in Ulster. I utilized the 1901 and 1911 censuses as my foundation as these do ask religious affiliation. Then I could compare my reconstructed congregation with Brethren directories and other sources.

The rule of thumb here is to not give up. When your records are scarce, be very creative and definitely “think outside the box.” You may be surprised what you discover!

If you would like professional help with your family history call us at: 385-214-0925.

 

 

Old Things Made New – Restorationism (Part 2)

18 Mar By Leave a Comment

In Part 2 of my discussion on Restorationism, I will focus on select traditions. I will briefly note what they consider to be their contributions to the Christian faith. For the deeper currents of thought, I have included at least one reference work.

Forms of Restoration Belief

Adventists: The post-Millerite Seventh-day Adventist Church is rooted in the “Great Disappointment” of 22 October 1844, when Christ’s Second Coming did not physically occur. They see themselves as a “reformation of the Reformation.” Restored ideas would include Saturday Sabbathkeeping, the gift of prophecy (through Ellen G. White), the correct interpretation of prophetic biblical writings, sleep-state of the dead, and the pre-Advent Judgment. Their status within the evangelical community is debated. For the deeper currents of mainline Adventist thought, consult the Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology (2000) edited by Raoul Dederen. For the life of Mrs. White, see The Ellen G. White Encyclopedia (2014) by Denis Fortin and Jerry Moon.

Baptists: Expressed from several directions, there is no one Baptist Church. Most would consider themselves evangelical. Others would see themselves as exclusive. Landmarkism is an example of Baptist Restorationism. Restoration ideas include believer’s baptism by full immersion after salvation, congregational government and the personal authority of the believer to interpret the Bible. Some denominations would add footwashing, Saturday Sabbathkeeping and a free-will theology. For a full discussion of the development of Baptist Thought, see James Leo Garrett’s Baptist Theology: a Four-Century Study (2009).

Christians (Disciples): Arising on the American Frontier in the 1820s and 1830s, the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement called for Christian unity. This was to be accomplished through restoring the primitive New Testament church. By 1860, they had become the fifth largest church in the United States. Variations are extreme, ranging from Liberal Protestant ecumenical thought to strictly exclusive with no compromises. Historic Restorationist ideas include believer’s baptism for the remission of sins, congregational autonomy and using no denominational names – simply Christian or Disciple. Some would add forbidding instrumental music and choirs in worship; others admit them. For all expressions of this movement consult The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement (2004), edited by Douglas A. Foster, Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant and D. Newell Williams. For some conservative theology consult Jack Cottrell’s The Faith Once for All: Bible Doctrine for Today (2002)

Holiness: Rooted as far back as the 1830s, a distinct evangelical holiness movement emerged out of North American and UK Methodism by the 1860s. Their emphasis was on John Wesley’s doctrine of Christian Perfection, termed Entire Sanctification. This constitutes a secondary experience and completes the process of salvation begun at conversion. Two excellent texts for discussing this specific concept is Diane Leclerc’s Discovering Christian Holiness: the Heart of Wesleyan-Holiness Theology (2010) and J. Kenneth Grider’s Entire Sanctification: The Distinctive Doctrine of Wesleyanism (1980).

Pentecostals: Rooted in the Wesleyan-Holiness movement at the turn of the twentieth century United States, most Pentecostals would see themselves as evangelicals. Some scholars consider Pentecostals a new branch of Christianity. They see their mission is to restore the Gifts of the Holy Spirit to the world and usher in the Second Coming of Jesus. Currently, they are the second largest branch of Christianity worldwide with some half billion adherents. The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (2002) edited by Stanley M. Burgess and Eduard M. Van Der Maas covers major movements, trends and theology.

Plymouth Brethren: Rooted in Dublin in 1827-8. Its largest impact has been in the UK, Ireland and in British Commonwealth countries. They see themselves as a restoration of the New Testament Church, with some Brethren seeing themselves as the only true church. There are varieties of “Open Brethren” and “Closed (Exclusive) Brethren.” They see their contribution as helping to restore and develop the Rapture Theology. A standard history is A History of the Brethren Movement: Its Origins, Its Worldwide Development and Its Significance for the Present Day (2001), by F. Roy Coad and F. F. Bruce. The enormously popular Scofield Study Bible (1909) building upon the Brethren approach has embedded Rapture Theology firmly into Evangelical Thought, especially in the United States.

Mormons: Founded in 1830 there developed several Latter Day Saint denominations. The largest is the Utah LDS Church. Their historic impact was in the development of Western North America with colonies stretching from southern Alberta down to northern Mexico. They see the New Testament church went completely apostate and needed a restoration through modern-day prophets, apostles and scripture. While Mormons consider themselves Christian, they are not Protestants. Scholars debate whether they are a new branch of Christianity or an emerging new world religion. The Utah church’s restored theology concerning “work for the dead,” including baptism for the dead, affects family history to no small degree. One contemporary work for Utah Mormon Thought is LDS Beliefs: A Doctrinal Reference (2011), edited by Robert Millet, Camille Fronk Olson, Andrew C. Skinner and Brent L. Top. For an in-depth academic treatment of founding prophet-president Joseph Smith, see Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (2005) by Richard Lyman Bushman.

If you would like to learn more about your Restorationist ancestors Contact Us.

American Frontier Religion

2 May By Leave a Comment

The frontier population was un-churched, with few ministers and priests. Do not automatically assume your Kentucky Catholic ancestors remained with the church, or your Tennessee Scots-Irish ancestors were ever baptized Presbyterian. The “Second Great Awakening” (1790-1830) began to change the un-churched frontier. Congregations were organized, ministers ordained, schools and seminaries established. From these fires were birthed an American Christianity, such as the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement (Disciples/Christians), and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Both had a heavy Scots-Irish membership. In Upstate New York, the revival fires lingered birthing Mormonism (1830), Adventism (1844) and Spiritualism (1848).

Record keeping was affected by the education of the ministers. Among Baptists, the only qualification to preach may have been a “called of God,” and the minister may have been barely literate. Church organization affected records. Some were not organized outside the local congregation, as with Disciples/Christians. Others were home-based such as Spiritualism, where the medium, was often the woman of the house. All of this may or may not have created a paper trail.

Some solutions were brilliantly devised to address frontier life. The Methodists pioneered the circuit rider who would have a set route on horseback. Various communities knew where they fell on the schedule, at which time everybody would turn out. This concept was mimicked by the Swedenborgians and Catholic priests. Circuit riders kept scattered records.

Theology also influenced records. Baptists, Disciples/Christians, Mormons and Adventists, baptized believers eliminating the need for an infant christening. Separate births may or may not have been kept. Membership was counted at the time of the baptism.

In frontier research, tax and land records are usually consulted prior to church registers. This does not mean you don’t look at them, they may be just a little further down on the research list.

Theology and Record Keeping

27 Apr By Leave a Comment

There is a connection between theology and records. When people ask me what a christening record is, I understand they either are not churched in theology, or they were raised in a church which practices believer’s baptism only.

Each church varies on its theology, and these differences are also reflected in the records. For example, a Roman Catholic child is usually christened within a few days of birth by a sprinkling of water over the head. A Methodist could receive baptism at any age by sprinkling, pouring or full immersion. A Baptist would only baptize in a believer’s baptism upon a profession of faith by full immersion. Quakers (Society of Friends) would not baptize at all, and Mormons practice baptism for the living and on behalf of the dead. All practices create records.

These theological differences are further reflected in the records through church transfers, and who is allowed to partake of communion. When a person switches church membership, does an infant baptism transfer over to a believer’s baptism church? How are visitors screened for a communion service? Does a church practice open or closed communion? Again, it all reflected in the records.

Church discipline is another matter for the records. Some church minutes provide all the gory details, while others are vague at best. I’ve read Presbyterian session minutes involving discipline which made me want to go wash my eyes in the sink!

In your research, don’t hesitate to purchase a good “systematic theology” book. A non-genealogical source such as this can go a long way in helping you understand what you are seeing in the records.

And I Would Look at Mormon Records, Why?

6 Apr By Leave a Comment

Often we can’t find our ancestor’s origins in Ireland, no matter how hard we try. In these cases, we have to begin researching our ancestor’s sibling.

If you have an indication that an ancestor’s brother or sister joined the Mormons (LDS) in the mid-nineteenth century, then you definitely need to research that line. That branch may be your most important, especially if they immigrated to a Mormon colony in the Rocky Mountains. Since genealogy is a part of the Mormon faith, at some point, the member will have been asked where they, parents or grandparents were born. This may literally be the only place this is preserved!

Although there have been Mormon missionaries in Ireland since 1840, most Irish did not join there until the latter part of the nineteenth century. The typical convert was from a Presbyterian or Anglican background, and joined upon having already immigrated to Scotland, England or Wales. Some of the early LDS congregations in Scotland and England had large percentages of Irish born members.

This search will take you into repositories with large Mormon collections. This includes the Family History Library www.familysearch.org; the Church History Library www.lds.org/churchhistory/libraryboth in Salt Lake City.

You will find many resources available to help guide you through the vast collections of diaries, histories, genealogies and LDS Church registers. In LDS research, the problem is not that there aren’t enough records, but there too many. May we all have such problems in our research!

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