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From: "Charles E. Tucker" <>
Subject: Re: American Baptist Historical Society
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999 21:17:07 -0400


The more rewarding approach to Baptist records in a city the size of
Rochester requires at least some sense of what church you ancestors might
have attended specifically. The, you could possibly arrange to visit and
search the parish's archives on site. A small consideration would be good.

We have actually done this, and it was most rewarding. We found mention of
baptism, acceptance into the church and a notation on the rolls indicating
the date of death. Although we did not note anything else specifically
relating to our ancestors, we did note that the trustees books were very
interesting if you were fortunate enough to have an ancestor that ran afoul
of the church, e.g., keeping company with papists, cussing on a regular
basis, and such other terrible crimes. In such cases, there may well be
notations of disfellowshipping, depositions of witnesses and complaintants,
tesimony of official church investigators/visitors, etc.

Not sure if any of this is usful info for you, but maybe you can determine
what Baptist Churches are the likely candidates by having a check run in the
city directories for your period of interest, and then following up with the
individual churches as I mentioned.

Regards,

Charles


-----Original Message-----
From: Jay A. Nellis <>
To: <>
Date: Sunday, October 17, 1999 8:43 PM
Subject: Re: American Baptist Historical Society


>Gary,
>
> Following are some excerpts from an information sheet provided to me by
>the ABHS in 1996. It does not look like a resource that would be high
>on my list of places to visit.
>
>"Only a very small percentage of Baptist churches have placed their
>records in research facilities..."
>
>"This library collects original records only from those congregations
>affiliated with the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. (formerly
>the Northern Baptist Convention) and churches affiliated with the
>following predecessor organizations: Free Will Baptist General
>Conference of America, Danish Baptist General Conference of America, and
>Norwegian Baptist Conference of America."
>
>"Persons join the Baptist churches as adults. Baptismal or church
>membership records do not include a person's birth date, birthplace, age
>or parent's names. ....Marriages are not recorded in Baptist church
>minutes. Although some ministers may have kept private logs of marriages
>they performed."
>
>Hope this is helpful in planning your research time in Rochester.
>
>Jay
>
>
>On Sun, 17 Oct 1999, Gary Welch wrote:
>
>|Is anyone familiar with the American Baptist Historical Society, which is
>|located at Colgate Rochester Divinity School? I was wondering whether
they
>|have many records useful for genealogy. One of my ancestor families
>|(Crosman/Crossman) appears to have been very devout Baptists with several
>|deacons but no ministers that I know of. Several family members settled
in
>|Onondaga and Cayuga Counties around 1800. Earlier they were probably in
MA
>|and CT.
>|
>|I'll be in the Rochester area for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The ABHS
web
>|site suggests making an appointment so they can have staff and microfilm
>|readers available. I prefer not to bother them during the holidays if
they
>|are unlikely to have the type of information I'm looking for.
>|
>|
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>|
>
> Jay A. Nellis
> Rockford, IL USA
>
> Those who give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary
> safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin
>
>
>
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>
>

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