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)

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!

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)

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!