Protestant Records

Index to Methodist Ministers

1 May By Dwight

The Methodist Church in Ireland spread rapidly after separating from the Church of Ireland in 1817-18. Methodists called for the individual to experience Jesus personally. This radical message in essence bypassed the professional clergy in the Anglican parishes throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Tracing Ministers

Pivotal to spreading the Methodist message were ministers who would preach to all classes in societies making no distinction. For this reason, the common people would find the message appealing, as it provided hope in often desperate circumstances.

If you have a Methodist minister in your family, you will be interested in the “Index to Methodist Ministers” database hosted by The University of Manchester library. The database covers 1819-1968. The source is “Ministers and Probationers who Have Died in the Work” which appeared in the back of the 1968 edition of Ministers and Probationers of the Methodist Church, printed by the Methodist Publishing House in London. A link from Ancestry.com under the database “UK, Methodist Ministers Death Index, 1800-1963” sends you to the Manchester database.

This serial was published periodically with updated ministerial lists in each edition. The periodical ran from 1819 to 1968. The database acts as a finding aid to Methodist clergy in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The Codes Used in the Ministerial Database

The index is alphabetical and although it provides only basic information, it is enough to allow research to continue. The names in the index are coded as follows: P (Primitive); U (United) and W (Wesleyan). Other codes include: Est. (Clergymen of the Established Church); I (Ministers in the late Primitive Wesleyan Methodist Conference in Ireland before the Amalgamation in 1878); W1 (Died in the 1914-18 War); and WW2 (Died in the 1939-45 War).

This list is similar to the “Index of Methodist Ministers Who Served in Ireland” being compiled online by the Methodist Historical Society of Ireland. Their codes include: M (Methodist); MNC (Methodist New Connexion); P (English – Primitive); PW (Primitive Wesleyan); W (Wesleyan); WMA (Wesleyan Methodist Association); Est. (Clergymen of the Established Church); WW1 (Died in the 1914-18 War); and WW2 (Died in the 1939-45 War).

Using the Information from the Database

Once you have identified a minster contact the Methodist Historical Society of Ireland or The University of Manchester for more biographical information.

If you would like help with your genealogy please call 385-214-0925.

American and Baptist: What Kind? (Part 2)

21 Jan By Dwight Leave a Comment

Baptists often divided over cultural, racial, political, polity and doctrinal issues. The listing below will outline major traditions, both white and black.

Major Baptist Denominations in the United States

American Baptist Churches USA: Considered Mainline Protestant, it has historically been known as “Northern Baptists.” The American Baptist Churches traces back to the first Baptists, but the convention itself back to 1814. This multi-ethnic denominations is concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast.

Free Will Baptists: Concentrated mainly in the South and Midwest, although at one time it was strong in New England, the largest organization, the National Association of Free Will Baptists traces its lineage from two different lines dating to 1727 and 1780.

General Baptists: Located mainly in the Midwest, the General Association of General Baptists is rooted back to 1823 in Indiana.

Independent Baptists: Independent Baptists began in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in reaction against liberalism and modernism. Congregations nationwide maintain their autonomy.

National Baptists: An African American denomination founded in 1880, the National Baptist Convention, USA is the world’s second largest Baptist denomination.

Primitive Baptists: Historically known as Hard Shell, Anti-Mission, or Old School Baptists, the Primitive Baptists formed in the early 1800s mainly in and the mountainous regions of the Southeast. The white Primitive Baptists have Internet websites where you can find more general information Primitive Baptist Church as a whole. The African American denomination is the National Primitive Baptist Convention, USA.

Seventh Day Baptists: Coming out of English Baptists, the first congregation was formed in Newport, RI in 1671. The Seventh Day Baptist General Conference worships on Saturday.

Southern Baptist Convention: The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Baptist denomination in the world. Founded in 1845 over slavery issues; it is heavily concentrated in the South. Historically, it was predominately white.

Each tradition generated a paper trail and wove itself into the local and national experience, helping define what it meant to be an American.

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American and Baptist: What Kind? (Part 1)

17 Jan By Dwight Leave a Comment

The Baptist tradition is so interwoven into American history that it cannot be separated out. This alone makes Baptist Studies an important part of your family history research. For your Irish Studies, vast numbers of Scots-Irish and their descendants joined the Baptist Church in America as did many Irish Catholics after immigrating.

What Kind of Baptist Church Did Your Ancestors Belong

In documenting a Baptist family, the first question to ask is: What kind of Baptist? Today, all Baptists combined comprise the second largest religious grouping in the country; with the Southern Baptist Convention being the largest Protestant denomination.

Baptists congregations range from militantly independent conservatives on the right to socially oriented and ecumenically minded on the left. There are those who worship on Saturday or Sunday; small groups in almost compound-like settings and mega churches hosting tens of thousands of worshipers at a time. Congregations also can change their allegiance to a larger convention or association or establish their own governing body or none at all.

The Roots of Baptists in America

The earliest Baptists came from England with the first congregation founded in Providence, Rhode Island in 1639 by William Rogers. If you do not find an ancestor, for example, in the predominant Congregational Church in New England, then they may have been Baptists.

During the Second Great Awakening (1790-1830), Baptists would spread into new areas and people. It was also the Baptists, along with the Methodists who would win the hearts of African Americans. So whether you are tracing a white, black or even a mixed-blood Indian lineage; chances are you will come across Baptist ancestors along the way.

In Part 2 of this blog, I will discuss the major Baptist denominations in the United States as they all left behind records from which to document an ancestor.

If Your would like some help in tracing your Baptist ancestors Contact Us.

The Difference Between Catholic and Protestant Research

2 Jun By Dwight Leave a Comment

The first question I ask in research is “Were they Catholic or Protestant?” This is important because of the different research approaches to each. If you don’t know, then chances are they were Protestant. Catholicism is a culture as well as a religion. So something usually passes down in some form. Protestantism is different. Loyalty is not necessarily to a particular denomination, but more individual. In other words, one could switch denominations, often as simple as transferring membership. Salvation isn’t based in church or ritual, but in the personal faith. Catholics held church and ritual to be very important, so they should appear in the registers. The question then is: How complete are those registers?

In Irish research, you will find Protestants documented more in the leases, marriage bonds and wills. However, saying this, most Protestants were still poor tenant farmers, just like their Catholic neighbors. Catholics of the upper class did appear in these records, but there were often legal restrictions, for example on how long they could hold a lease.

If you have spent much time in Irish church registers of all denominations, you already know there was conversion both ways. Mixed marriages were more common than you would think. In another twist, beginning in the 1840s, it was mainly Protestants who converted to Mormonism. A religion that was neither Catholic nor Protestant. That began to change after the partition of the country in 1921; then it became Protestants in the north and Catholics in the south.

Just be aware that knowing the religion of your ancestors is important. Whether they practiced may even be beside the point. The emphasis is on what records would document that particular culture at that particular point in time.

The Congregational Union of Ireland

22 May By Dwight Leave a Comment

The Congregational Church known as “Independents” began as a Separatist movement from the Church of England after 1558. They rejected many Anglican practices, suffering greatly for their convictions. They believed in liberty of conscience, and the independence of each congregation. They first appeared in Ireland in 1646-7 and returned in force with Oliver Cromwell. English Separatists would be be the founders of New England for their own religious freedom (not anybody else’s).

In Ireland, they survived as a minor dissenting sect, and in 1695 there were six Independent congregations. They remained a small church, being depleted through emigration and death. This changed during the Ulster Revival of 1859, brought over from Scotland. At that time many congregations were founded. The Mother Church for all of Ireland is the Donegall Street Congregational Church in Belfast, even though other congregations are older. By 1901 there were 10,000 Congregationalists in Ireland.

Church registers can be sketchy with many registers surviving only from the 1880s. Others do start early, but have gaps. Other records have been disposed over the years. Still others in Ulster were destroyed in the World War II bombing raids. The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI): www.proni.gov.uk houses many Congregational Church registers.

The earliest extant records for the Congregational Union of Ireland: www.cuofi.com date from 1829 to 1843. This archive of records has been inventoried in the PRONI online guide Introduction: Congregational Union of Ireland (2007). Other records include the denominational magazine The Irish Congregational Magazine (1861-76) with copies at the Linen Hall Library in Belfast: http://www.linenhall.com

Palatine Germans in Ireland

18 May By Dwight Leave a Comment

If may be surprised to learn your Irish ancestor actually had German roots. This is a fascinating story.

The Rhineland Palatinate is now a part of Germany. In 1709 many left seeking a better life.Of the 10,000 Protestant immigrants, one third emigrated to New York and North Carolina. Another third went to England and the Caribbean. The last third went to Ireland. About 800 families were settled on the estates of Protestant landlords. Most were on the Southwell Estate near Rathkeale, County Limerick. Descendants would immigrate to what would become Ontario. A second colony went to County Wexford at Old Ross and Gorey.

For genealogical purposes, much reference material is available. These include: Henry Z. Jones The Palatine Families of Ireland (1990); Patrick J. O’Connor’s People Make Places: The Story of the Irish Palatines (1996) and Carolyn A. Heald’s The Irish Palatines in Ontario: Religion, Ethnicity and Rural Migration (1994), and Eula C. Lapp To Their Heirs Forever (1977). Each of these explores migrations of the Palatines in and then out of Ireland. Carolyn A. Heald’s article “Researching Irish Palatines in Ireland and Ontario” in The Irish At Home and Abroad, 4, #2 (1997): 64-71, brings together sources from which to trace these families.

The Internet is an excellent place to begin your research. The Irish Palatine Association in Rathkeale operates the Irish Palatine Heritage Centre: http://irishpalatines.org Their goal is to preserve history and culture. The Ontario Genealogical Society has a special Irish Palatine Interest Group dedicated to research: http://web.mac.com/bobfizzell/SIG-IP/HomeSIG-IP.html Use the key words “Ireland Palatine” or “Irish Palatine” and you will discover fascinating websites.

Theology and Record Keeping

27 Apr By Dwight 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.

The Genealogical Office, Dublin

5 Apr By Dwight Leave a Comment

One of the more unique repositories in Dublin is the Genealogical Office (GO). This is part of the National Library of Ireland www.nli.ie/en/intro/heraldry-introduction.aspx

Within its vast collections you will find miscellaneous extracts, histories, genealogical collections, and pedigrees. At the library many people find resources which help to circumvent the 1922 Four Courts fire, which destroyed so many primary records.

What you will find at the GO are genealogies for wealthy and landed families. Many of the genealogies include both ancient English and Gaelic families. It is mainly a Protestant source. What you will not find are genealogies for the average common tenant farmer. The exception to this will be when a more common person intermarried with a landed family. For example, a Presbyterian minister’s daughter married into a more prominent Church of Ireland family. I have seen this, so it could be properly argued that the Presbyterian family was not of the lowest tenant class to begin with.

The GO manuscripts consist of records, now destroyed, which do list the tenant class. For example, common people will be found in a GO transcript for the 1740 and 1766 census for a given parish. The GO records have been microfilmed and are at the Family History Library www.familysearch.org

If your ancestors were Protestant and moneyed, then I suggest you check the GO collections. If the ancestors were of the tenant class, I probably would not.

So You have a Plymouth Brethren Ancestor

27 Mar By Dwight Leave a Comment

Several years ago for a client, I was able to trace his ancestors who were Plymouth Brethren in Newport, County Mayo. So starting with no research guides and no clue; I dug deep. What a fascinating piece of religious history.

If you are exploring the 1901 or 1911 Census of Ireland online: www.census.nationarchives.ie you will find these families as; Christian, Christian Brethren, Brethren, Plymouth Brethren, undenominational Christian Protestant, Exclusive Brethren, or Open Brethren. In 1901, there were around 5,000 Brethren in Ireland.

I want to also refer you to an in-depth article I wrote “The Irish Plymouth Brethren” in The Septs, 32, #2 (April 2011), pp. 89-92. The Septs is the journal of the Irish Genealogical Society International in South St. Paul, Minnesota which is online: http://irishgenealogical.org/sites/default/files/memsepts/2011322.pdf

In short, in 1827, a questioning Church of Ireland minister serving in County Wicklow, named John Nelson Darby (1800-82) joined other Protestants questioning the very idea of denominationalism. Out of their Bible studies arose new insights, which would influence conservative evangelical Protestantism.

However, most are unaware ideas such as Dispensationalism and The Rapture were first developed by John Nelson Darby.

Brethren records as a whole, have not been deposited. One excellent collection is the “Christian Brethren Archive” housed at the John Rylands University Library in Manchester, England; www.library.manchester.ac.uk/searchresources/guidetospecialcollections/brethrenThis collection has many directories which can help you pin point where congregations met.

With these few resources, I promise that you are far more prepared than I ever was when I started my quest.

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