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by Christine Human Hughes, MLS
Reference Librarian, Special Collections
Copyright
© 2004, St. Louis County Library. All
rights reserved.
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This finding aid has been created to
facilitate access to the Evangelical and United Church of Christ congregational
records available on microfilm in St. Louis County Library’s Special
Collections Department. These records include all the Missouri and Illinois
microfilmed congregational records available at Eden Theological Seminary
Archives plus records from some other states. These microfilmed records
primarily deal with those of German ancestry. Congregational histories and
published transcriptions available in the Special Collections Department have
also been noted. If the record was microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of
Utah, the Family History Library roll number(s) has been included for the convenience of
those researchers outside of the St. Louis area. The contents of the microfilm vary according to the congregation. Typically included are official acts such as baptism, confirmation, marriage and burial. Usually, baptism and confirmation records include parents’ names, but marriage records do not. Confirmation would usually occur at age 12 to 14, at which time the young adult would become a full communicant in the church. The burial or death records have a variety of information in them sometimes including date and place of birth and names or number of remaining family members. Membership rosters were also often found in these records. The records are almost all in German, particularly prior to World War I, and even later in more rural parishes. Little if any indexing was done within the registers.
History
In 1833 a group of Westphalians formed the
first Evangelical church in the St. Louis area, the Femme Osage United Church of
Christ, St. Charles County, Missouri. Two other very early influential
congregations were Holy Ghost United Church of Christ in St. Louis (1834) and
St. John’s Evangelical United Church of Christ (1838) in Mehlville, Missouri.
By 1840, seven Evangelical pastors had agreed to form Der Kirchenverein des
Westens or the German Evangelical Church Society in the West. In 1850 they had
formed their own seminary. By 1877 they had expanded to such an extent that they
renamed themselves Die Deutsche Evangelische Synode von Nord-Amerika. In
following years they united with the German Reformed Church (1934) and the
Congregational Christian Church (1957), thus becoming officially the United
Church of Christ.
Additional Clues
Since not all Evangelical and United
Church of Christ congregations have had their records microfilmed, our
collection is not all-inclusive. It might be necessary to contact some
churches directly. Another possibility is that the church was "Evangelical
Lutheran" and may belong to the Lutheran denomination. If you do not know
if your ancestor was Lutheran or Evangelical, Reverend Mark Loest, from
Concordia Historical Institute, recommends this: If a civil marriage record
lists the clergyman as "Pastor," he was probably Lutheran, but if
listed as "Minister," he was probably Evangelical.
Determining place of residence by
searching census and city directories can provide clues as to the church
attended by the family, typically in the neighborhood where they resided.The full congregational mailing address
has been included for writing directly to congregations. Zip codes have been
intentionally left off when the church was closed and therefore no longer
accepting mail. Following is the address of The Archives at Eden if it is
necessary to write to them.
The
Archives at Eden
475 East Lockwood Avenue
Saint Louis, Missouri 63119
- For more information, contact:
The Reverend Lowell Zuck
Senior Research Consultant
phone: 314-252-3140
email:
lzuck@eden.edu
Research by appointment only.
With appreciation for assistance from The Archives at Eden, and specifically Dr. Lowell Zuck and the late Rev. Dr. Clifton William Kerr.
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