Series I: Church Records
This series contains collections of church records documenting early Puritan, Congregational, and Christian (denomination) history in New England. These collections describe the founding and operating of these churches, their concerns, difficulties, and triumphs. They speak to the lives of their ministers, the events and concerns of their communities, the civil affairs of the town, and the lives of the people who sat in the pews.
In this series you will find records of: church meetings and votes; births, deaths, baptisms, and marriages; church discipline, including admonitions, confessions, censures, and excommunications; ecclesiastical council minutes. Of particular note are the personal conversion narratives, called "relations", found in several of the collections. These documents, prepared by any individual seeking church membership, offer insight into many under-documented populations including women, children, Native Americans, slaves, and indentured servants.
Click on the name of the collection to go to its description page.
The Collections
Abington, Mass. First Congregational Church (1714-1877) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
Barnstable, Mass. East Parish Church (1717-1816) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
Barnstable, Mass. West Parish Church (1639-1853) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
Bennington, Vt. First Church (1752-1937) NEW!
Berkley, Mass. Congregational Church (1737-1814)
Biddeford, Maine. First Church of Christ (1742-1781) NEW!
Boston, Mass. Old South Church (1669-1882)
Boxford, Mass. First Church (1703-1823)
Boylston, Mass. First Church (1718-1859) NEW!
founded as Second/North Church in Shewsbury
Bradford, Mass. First Church of Christ (1682-1915)
Braintree, Mass. First Church (1697-1825) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
Brockton, Mass. First Parish Congregational Church (1738-1852)
founded as Fourth Church in Bridgewater
Brunswick, Maine. First Parish Church (1735-1829) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
Byfield, Mass. Byfield Parish Church (1709-1845) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
Cambridge, Mass. First Church (1638-1783) NEW!TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
Cambridge, Mass. Second Church (1739)
later First Congregational Church of Arlington
Danvers, Mass. First Church (1689-1845)
Dorchester, Mass. First Church (1727-1784)
Dover, N.H. First Parish Church (1639-1857) NEW!
Durham, Conn. First Church (1804-1904) NEW!
Essex, Mass. First Congregational Church (1681-1879)
founded as Second "Chabacco" Church in Ipswich
Falmouth, Mass. First Congregational Church (1731-1790) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
Franklin, Mass. First Congregational Church (1737-1887) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
founded as Second Church in Wrentham
Georgetown, Mass. First Congregational Church (1736-1886) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
founded as Second/West Parish in Rowley
Grafton, Mass. Congregational Church (1731-1828) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
originated as Hassanimisco Plantation
Granville, Mass. First Congregational Church (1757-1848) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
Hanover, Mass. First Congregational Church (1728-1800)
Harwich, Mass. First Congregational Church (1745-1899)
Haverhill, Mass. First Congregational Church (1719-1756)
Haverhill, Mass. West Parish Congregational Church (1734-1900)
Hopkinton, Mass. First Congregational Church (1708-1880)
later Faith Community Church
Hull, Mass. Congregational Church (1725-1767)
Ipswich, Mass. First Church (1724-1830) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
Ipswich, Mass. South Church (1747-1868)
Lancaster, Mass. First Congregational Church (1708-1846) NEW!
Litchfield, Conn. South Farms Church (1781)
Lyme, Conn. Second Church and Society (1767) NEW!
Manchester, Mass. First Congregational Church (1717-1881) NEW!
Manchester, Vt. First Church (1804-1867) NEW!
Marblehead, Mass. Old North Church (1684-1886) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
Marblehead, Mass. Second Church (1714-1850) NEW!
Marblehead, Mass. Third Church (1858-1877)
Marlborough, Mass. First Church (1704-1839)
Mattapoisett, Mass. Congregational Church (1736-1886)
founded as Second Precinct in Rochester
Medfield, Mass. First Parish Unitarian Church (1697-1880) NEW!
Medway, Mass. First Church of Christ (1730-1876)
Merrimac, Mass. Pilgrim Congregational Church (1725-1848)
Middleboro, Mass. First Church (1707-1865) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
Natick, Mass. First Congregational Church (1721-1862) NEW!TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
Newbury, Mass. First Church (1634-1828)
Newbury, Mass. Second Church (1696-1857)
Newburyport, Mass. First Religious Society (1725-1816)
Newton, Mass. First Church (1773-1827)
Northampton, Mass. First Church of Christ (1661-1846)
Northbridge, Mass. First Congregational Church (1782-1836)
founded as the Congregational Church of Christ
Norwell, Mass. First Parish Church (1642-1908) NEW!
founded as the Second Church of Scituate
Oxford, Mass. First Congregational Church (1721-1850) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
Pembroke, Mass. First Church (1711-1887)
Portland, Maine. Abyssinian Church (1835-1876) NEW!
Reading, Mass. Second Church of Christ (1720-1806)
later First Church of North Reading
Rehoboth, Mass. First Church of Christ (1785)
later Newman Congregational Church in East Providence, Rhode Island
Rowley, Mass. First Congregational Church (1664-1835) TRANSCRIPTION COMING SOON
Salem, Mass. East Church (1717-1806)
Salem, Mass. First Church (1629-1843)
Salem, Mass. North Church (1772-1831)
Salem, Mass. South Church (1774-1805)
Salem, Mass. Tabernacle Church (1743-1850)
Salisbury, Mass. First Church (1746)
Sandwich, Mass. First Church (1691-1853)
Sanford, Maine. North Parish Congregational Church (1786-1823) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
founded when Maine was part of Massachusetts
Sheffield, Mass. Second North Housatonic Parish of Sheffield (1743)
Simsbury, Conn. First Church (1697-1713) NEW!
Somerset, Mass. Congregational Christian Church (1840-1912)
Stoneham, Mass. First Congregational Church (1728-1889) TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
Sturbridge, Mass. Congregational Church (1736-1831)
Sturbridge, Mass. Separatist Church (1749-1762)
Topsfield, Mass. Congregational Church (1684-1869)
Watertown, Mass. West Church (1709)
Wendell, Mass. Congregational Church (1783-1847)
Wenham, Mass. First Congregational Church (1643-1847) NEW ITEM!TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE
West Brookfield, Mass. First Congregational Church (1754-1867)
West Stockbridge, Mass. First Congregational Church (1789-1889) NEW!
Westborough, Mass. Church of Christ (1724-1787)
Weston, Mass. First Parish Church (1709-1864) NEW!
Weymouth, Mass. Old South Church (1723-1886) NEW!
Wrentham, Mass. Second Church (1767)
later First Congregational Church in Franklin
York, Maine. First Parish Church (1731-1927) NEW!
