In a message dated 1/24/2004 7:00:47 PM Eastern Standard Time, kevrik@spamcop.net writes: I am starting to think the main advantage of being Methodist was the complete absence of records. Kevin, if there was not an established Methodist church in the area at the time of the baptisms, they more than likely were performed by the itinerant preacher - circuit rider who would pass through the area on a periodic basis. Many Methodist meetings at that time were held in the homes of laymen until there were enough members to necessitate a larger meeting house, then a church would have been constructed. When a circuit rider would come through town, he would preach and administer the sacraments. Many circuit rider preachers carried their own records and only recorded those which were required, i.e. marriages, when they eventually reached the county clerk's office and then did so as a group, often much after the event. I've found marriages recorded all in a group in the clerk's record book in Kent Co, DE - even with established churches in the area at the time. The key would be to determine which circuit riders were working in or passing through the area and then determine if the preacher's personal records have been saved or archived. The Greater New Jersey Methodist Conference has a conference historian: www.gnjumc.org and the United Methodist Church Archives are located at Drew University in Madison, NJ: www.gcah.org. From their website: "Where are baptismal and membership records? Local church records, such as baptismal and membership records, are not kept by the General Commission on Archives and History. Local church records are kept at the local church. If that church closes and merges with another church, then the records go to the new church. If the church closes and there is no sucessor church, then the records are usually transferred to the annual conference archives. You will need to contact the conference archives to learn more about the status of the church and how to go about finding its records. Feel free to use our on-line conference directory to locate the person you need to contact. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us." That is correct - unless the UMC Archives has any personal records of some of the early circuit riders. I'm still looking for records for the Red Lion, DE Methodist Church without much success - and it was established during the timeline I'm researching. - Dave Green

There was a methodist congregation established "before 1840" in nearby Bloomingdale. They built their church in 1842. Eventually, another church as built in Butler around 1884 with a split in the congregation. Then the Bloomingdale church closed. Later, around 1902, a new Methodist church in Bloomingdale was built (the current one in use). The church & congregation in Butler is still active, might they know of the location of any old records? Dave --- GreenDavid@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 1/24/2004 7:00:47 PM Eastern Standard Time, > kevrik@spamcop.net writes: > I am starting to think the main advantage of being Methodist was > the complete absence of records. > Kevin, if there was not an established Methodist church in the area > at the > time of the baptisms, they more than likely were performed by the > itinerant > preacher - circuit rider who would pass through the area on a > periodic basis. > Many Methodist meetings at that time were held in the homes of laymen > until there > were enough members to necessitate a larger meeting house, then a > church > would have been constructed. When a circuit rider would come through > town, he > would preach and administer the sacraments. > > Many circuit rider preachers carried their own records and only > recorded > those which were required, i.e. marriages, when they eventually > reached the county > clerk's office and then did so as a group, often much after the > event. I've > found marriages recorded all in a group in the clerk's record book in > Kent > Co, DE - even with established churches in the area at the time. > > The key would be to determine which circuit riders were working in or > passing > through the area and then determine if the preacher's personal > records have > been saved or archived. The Greater New Jersey Methodist Conference > has a > conference historian: www.gnjumc.org and the United Methodist Church > Archives are > located at Drew University in Madison, NJ: www.gcah.org. From their > website: > "Where are baptismal and membership records? Local church records, > such as > baptismal and membership records, are not kept by the General > Commission on > Archives and History. Local church records are kept at the local > church. If > that church closes and merges with another church, then the records > go to the > new church. If the church closes and there is no sucessor church, > then the > records are usually transferred to the annual conference archives. > You will need > to contact the conference archives to learn more about the status of > the > church and how to go about finding its records. Feel free to use our > on-line > conference directory to locate the person you need to contact. If > you have any > questions please feel free to contact us." That is correct - unless > the UMC > Archives has any personal records of some of the early circuit > riders. > > I'm still looking for records for the Red Lion, DE Methodist Church > without > much success - and it was established during the timeline I'm > researching. - > Dave Green >