This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/3EC.2ACE/639.3 Message Board Post: Historical Stroll Through Churches of Marquette County, ISBN: 1-57502-795-x, a project of the Home and Community Educators of Marquette County, (c)1998, has a section about St. John's Lutheran Church in Montello, pp104 -119, and St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Montello on pp 142 - 159. St. John's Lutheran was formally organized in 1878; prior to that year, Montello area families had been served by Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Town of Mecan...until 1881 the St. John's records were co-mingled with the records of St. John's at Princeton. (p104) Missionaries served the Catholic population until the first church building was built in 1856 in Montello (p144), so records probably begin after that, though it would be typical if the earliest records are either lost or record-keeping was sparse, since the first Catholic families were served by itinerant missionaries who visited the area. You might try writing to the churches with a SASE and ask whether records are available and if they would check them for you, for a donation to their church. It is also possible the records have been transferred to a church archives, and they could provide the contact information needed. The Historical Stroll through churches book is still available for purchase through the Marquette County UW-Extension Office, as of late summer 2002. Their phone number if you would like to inquire about buying a copy, is 1.800.947.3529 Joan Coordinator Adams Co. WIGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~wiadams/adams.htm and Marquette Co. WIGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~wimarque/wimarque.htm