Kings County (Brooklyn) Church Records Since 1783

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A previous article covered "Kings County's Colonial Church Records" now in the NYG&B Collection at the New York Public Library. The present article focuses on the Collection's holdings in this area since the end of the colonial period in 1783.


In the course of the 19th century Brooklyn expanded from a small village to a city which covered the entire county (see maps in "Before the Five-Borough City"). Most of the churches listed below were located in the City of Brooklyn, but some were in the old towns of Kings County prior to their annexation by the city.


Before its merger with New York in 1898, Brooklyn was the fourth-largest city in the United States (after New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia), and it was often called the "City of Churches" because of its numerous houses of worship. The WPA's 1942 Guide to Vital Statistics in the City of New York: Borough of Brooklyn: Churches identifies (and gives locations and record holdings for) 633 Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and other churches. Although two-thirds of these churches were Protestant (the largest number Methodist, then Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Reformed, Congregational, and various smaller denominations), by the end of the 19th century Brooklyn's Catholic population outnumbered the Protestants, the average Catholic parish having many more members than the typical Protestant congregation.


While the NYG&B Collection (catalog.nypl.org, items with call numbers prefixed NYGB) includes copies, transcripts, or abstracts of records from many Brooklyn churches, these holdings represent only a few of the records that survive. Some holdings available elsewhere are mentioned below. The Collection has finding aids, also noted below, which will help the researcher access resources outside the Collection, including those still held by the churches themselves. Denominational archives often hold records of defunct congregations, and may be able to direct the researcher to other locations. Online searches will lead to digitized versions of many titles listed in this article as well as other Brooklyn/Kings County church records. Researchers should also search online catalogs of other libraries, starting with the Family History Library or FHL.


This article does not cover records of church-related cemeteries, most of which are described in Carolee Inskeep, The Graveyard Shift, A Family Historian’s Guide to New York City Cemeteries (Ancestry, 2000).


Denominations are listed in alphabetical order.


Baptist


  • "Marriages by a Brooklyn Baptist Minister 1866-1887," Record 116 (1985): 94-99, 132-40, 220-28. The minister was H.M. Gallaher of the First Baptist Church of Brooklyn. Taken from his records of marriages reported to the City (originals also in NYG&B Collection).

  • The American Baptist Historical Society, Mercer University, Atlanta, Ga. has the records of the East, Marcy Avenue, Tabernacle, and Williamsburgh Baptist Churches.

Congregational


(now United Church of Christ)


  • "Presented to Alfred Smithers, Esq., by his friends of the Clinton Avenue Congregational Church and Society, Brooklyn, New York, April 1867," c.150p., includes class lists, names of member-family groups, signatures. Also Year Book of the Clinton Avenue Congregational Church of Brooklyn, N.Y., 1893, 1897, includes current members and those deceased or dismissed in prior year.

  • Records of the Church of the Pilgrims, Brooklyn (Heights), members 1844-56, baptisms 1845-1900, marriages 1849-99; also Pilgrim Chapel, baptisms 1867-1928, marriages 1909-12, deaths 1908-11, members 1906-21 [all on NYPL Milstein Division microfilm *R-USLHG *ZI-1295, from NYG&B Collection]. The Church of the Pilgrims (1869) includes members to 1869.

  • Records of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn (Heights), baptisms 1852-1940, marriages 1934-40, deaths 1866-1936, dismissals 1865-1940 [NYPL Milstein Division microfilm *R-USLHG *ZI-1295, from NYG&B Collection]. Manual of the Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1874), list of members.

  • Brooklyn Historical Society has manuscript membership roll of Central Congregational Church, 1896.

Eastern Orthodox and Armenian


For historical sketches and record holdings of Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, and Armenian churches in Kings Co. see the WPA's Inventory of the Church Archives of New York City, vol. 1, Eastern Orthodox Churches and Armenian Church in America (1940).


Episcopal


  • For historical sketches and record holdings of all the Episcopal churches in Kings Co. see the WPA's Inventory of the Church Archives of New York City, vol. 6, Protestant Episcopal Church, Diocese of Long Island [part] (1940).

  • St. Ann's Church (Brooklyn, New York) From the Year 1784 to the Year 1845, by Francis G. Fish (1845), includes list of members/communicants 1788-1845 with some deaths; also clergy, vestry. Index by Marion LoPresti (1997), NYPL Milstein Division call no. NYGB N.Y. L B792.62 E6 S24 INDEX.

  • "Birth, Marriages, Deaths from the Original Records of St. Ann's (Episcopal) Church at Brooklyn, New York," by Josephine C. Frost (1917), typescript, vols. 3-5 (baptisms 1834-70, marriages 1828-70, funerals 1835-70, confirmations 1831-33, members admitted 1835-66, NYPL Milstein Division call no. NYGB AZ Loc 09-190 v. 3-5. Note: the NYG&B Collection does not have vols. 1-2 of this series, which contain records as early as 1780; they may be accessed at the Brooklyn Historical Society.

  • Parish Register of Holy Trinity (Protestant Episcopal) Church, Brooklyn (baptisms 1846-1920, marriages 1847-1920, funerals or burials 1847-1939), NYPL Milstein Division microfilm *R-USLHG *ZI-1325, from NYG&B Collection. A Commemorative Discourse on the Completion of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, L.I., by Rev. T. S. Drowne (1868), includes histories of other Brooklyn Episcopal churches.

  • Statement and Appeal of The Trustees of St. Thomas's Church, Brooklyn (1853), includes names connected with controversy over church finances.

  • "An Index to the Parish Register of St. Paul's Church, Flatbush," by Thelma E. Smith, 8 vols. (1972-77), abstracts all records in one alphabetical series, NYPL Milstein Division call no. NYGB AZ Loc 09-87 v. 1-2 (1837-1904), NYGB AZ Loc 09-88 v. 1-3 (1904-1923), NYGB AZ Loc 09-89 v. 1-3 (1923-1937). St. Paul's Church in the Village of Flatbush – An Historical Sketch of One Hundred Years 1836-1936, by Richard O. Chittick, 1936.

Friends


Records of Brooklyn Friends (Quakers) are included in those of the New York Monthly Meeting. For background see Records of the Society of Friends (Quakers), New York Yearly Meeting. For NYG&B Collection holdings see New York Yearly Meeting: Microfilmed Records.


Lutheran


For historical sketches and record holdings of all the Lutheran churches in Kings Co. as of 1940 see the WPA's Inventory of the Church Archives of New York City, vol. 2, Lutherans. For current locations of records of the German Lutheran churches see The German Churches of Metropolitan New York, by Richard Haberstroh (NYG&B, 2000).


No records are available in the NYG&B Collection. The German Genealogy Group has created a database of the baptism and marriage records of Zion German Evangelical Lutheran (Brooklyn Heights), 1856–1969 (with some gaps). FHL has films of the same records plus confirmations 1851-1965 and deaths 1856-1969, also records of St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran 1868-1917.


Methodist


  • For historical sketches and record holdings of Methodist Episcopal and Methodist Protestant churches in Kings Co. in 1940 see the WPA's Inventory of the Church Archives of New York City, vol. 3, Methodist Church. The M.E. and M.P. denominations merged in 1939 into the Methodist Church, now the United Methodist Church.

  • Records of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Brooklyn, formerly Sands Street M.E. Church, baptisms 1796-1877, marriages 1802-1886, members, etc., NYPL Milstein microfilm *R-USLHG *ZI-1255, from NYG&B Collection. Old Sands Street Methodist Episcopal Church of Brooklyn, N.Y., by Rev. Edwin Warriner (1885), has lists of ministers, officers and teachers; biographies of ministers; alphabetical and biographical record of members. Commemorative Brochure of First M.E. Church of Brooklyn (formerly Sands Street), lists members in 1912, NYPL Milstein Division microfilm *R-USLHG *ZI-1325, from NYG&B Collection.

  • "Records of the Bay Ridge Methodist Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, 1845-1901," typescript by Kenn Stryker-Rodda (1953), baptisms, marriages, members, deaths and removals, NYPL Milstein Division call no. NYGB AZ Loc 09-99

  • A History of the Prospect Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, by William S. Jackson (1911).

  • "Records of the Sixth Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church of Brooklyn, New York, 1884 to 1905," typescript by Kenn Stryker-Rodda (1953), baptisms, marriages, members, deaths and removals, NYPL Milstein Division call no. NYGB AZ Loc 09-98.

  • History of the York Street M.E. Church, Brooklyn, by Rev. J. L. Gilder (1876), a few names.

  • "Excerpts from Minutes of the Methodist Episcopal Quarterly Conferences, Brooklyn . . . 1844-1855," by Harriet M. Stryker-Rodda, 1953 (NYG&B Manuscript File, not yet in NYPL catalog).

  • Frank Biebel, Methodist Protestants and the Union Cemeteries of Brooklyn (1844-1894) (NYG&B, 2007), NYPL Milstein Division call no. *R-USLHG *WLC-6063 [electronic resource]. History of the Methodist Protestant churches of Williamsburg/Brooklyn, and lists of burials in the cemeteries created by that denomination.

  • Haberstroh (see Lutheran, above) lists Methodist churches serving the German community. Brooklyn Historical Society has transcribed records of Sixth M.E. (Eighteenth St. Church) 1856-1893, Sabbath School of New Utrecht M.E. (later Bay Ridge and Grace M.E.) 1833-1845, Grace M.E. New Utrecht burials 1832-1901, and Fisherman's M.E. Unionville (Gravesend) 1846-1890, all by Kenn and Harriet Stryker-Rodda. Also original records of Cedar Street M.E. 1873-1893, Cook Street (Bushwick) M.E. 1841-1891, Pacific Street M.E. 1846-1890, and Throop Street M.E. 1877-1894. Queens Library, Jamaica (Long Island Division) has 1835-38 records of Williamsburg Station Methodist Protestant Church. New York Public Library (Manuscripts Div.) has an 1850 membership list of the York Street M.E. Church.

Presbyterian


  • For historical sketches and record holdings of churches of the main Presbyterian denomination in Kings Co. see the WPA's Inventory of the Church Archives of New York City, vol. 4, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (1940).

  • "Catalogue of Members, The First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, N.Y., 1822-1877," by Harriet and Kenn Stryker-Rodda, typescript (1957), includes many deaths; "Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, Communicants, The First Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1877-1897," by Harriet Stryker-Rodda, typescript (1957), NYPL Milstein Division call no. NYGB AZ Loc 09-90.

  • Fiftieth Anniversary Souvenir Program of the Cuyler Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, New York, 1886-1936, includes names of officers in 1936.

  • The Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, holds records of former Brooklyn Presbyterian churches. FHL has films of following from that repository: Ainslie St. 1854-91; Central 1847-88; Mount Olivet 1887-1900; Second 1833-50; Second United 1866-99; South 1873-75; Third 1849-73; Westminster 1854-84; and Williamsburgh 1844-1914. FHL also has films of session minutes of several other churches, which may contain relevant data.

  • Brooklyn Historical Society has Edna Huntington's typescript of records of the Second Presbyterian Church, 1832-1861. Queens Library, Jamaica (Long Island Division) has confirmations and members admitted to Bushwick Ave. German Presbyterian 1881-1887, and confirmations at Throop Ave. Presbyterian 1874-1887.

Reformed


For historical sketches and record holdings of all the (Dutch) Reformed churches in Kings Co. see the WPA's Inventory of the Church Archives of New York City, vol. 7, Reformed Church in America (1939). For Reformed churches serving the German community see The German Churches of Metropolitan New York, by Richard Haberstroh (NYG&B, 2000). For pre-1783 records in the NYG&B Collection see Kings County's Colonial Church Records. Following entries cover the period since 1783:


Brooklyn


  • First Reformed Church of Brooklyn, baptisms 1792-1875, 1881-92; marriages 1833-92 (with gaps); members 1785-1892; deaths 1881-1892, NYPL Milstein Division microfilm *R-USLHG *ZI-1325, from NYG&B Collection. Harriet M. Stryker-Rodda, Indexes of the Microfilmed Records of the "Old First" Reformed Church of Brooklyn, N.Y., NYPL Milstein Division call no. NYGB AZ Loc 09-126. See also "Extracts from Acmon P. Van Gieson's Journal," by Kenn Stryker-Rodda, Record 114:29-35.

  • Records of the Reformed Dutch Church on the Heights 1851-1930: communicants 1851-1929, dismissals and deaths 1852-86, baptisms 1851-1916, pewholders 1851-73 [NYG&B microfilm, not yet in NYPL catalog]; index (except to pewholders) by Harriet M. Stryker-Rodda (1964), NYPL Milstein Division call no. NYGB AZ Loc 09-123.

Bushwick–Eastern District


  • Bushwick Reformed Church Records, 3 vols., baptisms 1792-1917, marriages 1821-1911, deaths/funerals 1887-91, 1897-1910, members 1789-1916, NYPL Milstein Division call no. *R-USLHG *ZI-1251, from NYG&B Collection.

  • South Bushwick Reformed Church Records, marriages 1852-1900, baptisms 1852-1900, deaths 1853-1901, dismissions 1864-1901, NYPL Milstein Division call no. *R-USLHG *ZI-1251, from NYG&B Collection; Marriage Records of Rev. J. M. Himrod, Reformed Dutch Church of South Bushwick . . . 1852-1859, 3 p. typed [NYG&B Manuscript File, not yet in NYPL catalog].

  • A Witness in the City: Greenpoint Reformed Church 1848-1983 (1983), useful comments on religious history of Greenpoint.

  • The Reformed Dutch Church in Williamsburgh, a Historical Discourse, by Elbert Stoothoff Porter (1866).

  • Roll Book and Absentee Register No. 1, Primary Dept., Sabbath School of the Reformed Dutch Church, Lee Avenue cor. Hewes St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 1856-1857. Also same for Male Dept. NYPL Manuscripts Division call no. MssCol NYGB 18045  v. 1-2. [advance notice required]

Flatbush and New Lots


  • Frank L. Van Cleef, transcriber/translator, "Records of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Flatbush," typescript by Josephine C. Frost, 5 volumes (1915), including baptisms 1792-1872, marriages 1787-1866, members 1784-1872, NYPL Milstein Division call nos. NYGB AZ Loc 09-94 v. 1-2 (Baptisms); NYGB AZ Loc 09-93 v. 1-2 (Marriages); NYGB AZ Loc 09-95 (Members). Holland Society has photocopies of original church records and the full Van Cleef transcriptions/translations.

  • "Coordinated Records of Marriages and Baptisms from the Flatbush Reformed Dutch Church Consistory Books, and Registers of its Daughter Church at New Lots, Kings County, Long Island, New York," by Richard Alan McCool and John G. Storm, manuscript (1996), Flatbush marriages 1787-1872 and baptisms 1792-1872, New Lots marriages and baptisms 1824-1906, NYPL Milstein Division call no.  NYGB AZ Loc 09-2.  Also available at www.olivetreegenealogy.com.

  • Records of the New Lots Reformed Church, baptisms, marriages, members 1824-1906 (1938) [NYG&B microfilm, not in NYPL catalog, but see previous item].

  • History of the Reformed Church, Flatbush, by Gertrude Lefferts Vanderbilt (1890); also anniversary booklets published in 1904 and 1954.

Flatlands


  • "Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of Flatlands 1737-1914," by Harriet and Kenn Stryker-Rodda, typescript, 3 vols. baptisms [1747]-1914, marriages 1825-1914, deaths 1870-1914, members 1788-1914. NYPL Milstein Division call no. NYGB N.Y. L B792.62 D8 F552. Holland Society has a transcript of the same records 1747-1802 by Dingman Versteeg, also available on FHL film, and indexed to 1802 at www.olivetreegenealogy.com.

  • Miscellaneous Accounts and Receipts for Expenses of the Dutch Reformed Church of Flatlands [1726]–1837, copied by Harriet M. Stryker-Rodda, n.d. [NYG&B Manuscript File, not yet in NYPL catalog]

  • History, Year Book, and Register of the Dutch Evangelical Reformed Church of Canarsie, Brooklyn, New York : 1873-1903 (1903), contains list of members 1876-1903. This was a German congregation.

Gravesend


History of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Gravesend, Kings County, N.Y., by William H. Stillwell (1892), baptisms [1714]-1890, marriages 1832-1890, deaths 1801-1890, communicants [1763]-1890. Indexed to 1805 at www.olivetreegenealogy.com.


New Utrecht


  • "Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of New Utrecht," by Frances Bergen Cropsey, Record vols. 113-115 (1982-84), baptisms 1776-1802, 1835-1880, marriages 1835-1880.

  • NYG&B File New Utrecht, NY–Churches [not yet in NYPL catalog] contains transcripts of records of the Reformed Dutch Church of New Utrecht not published in the Record: baptisms 1909-1935, marriages 1905-1930, deaths and burials 1795-1943, members 1787-1934, baptisms copied by Frances Bergen Cropsey, Harriet M. Stryker-Rodda and the Rev. Arthur C. Roosenraad, other records by Frances Bergen Cropsey.

Other


The Archives of the Reformed Church in America at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, New Brunswick, New Jersey, holds the original records of dissolved churches. For further details see Russell L. Gasero, Guide to Local Church Records in the Archives of the Reformed Church in America (1979). The NYG&B Collection does not have copies of these records but they are available on FHL film as follows: East Church 1854-73, renamed Bedford 1876-1903; Emmanuel 1898-1907; Grace 1872-1903; Greenwood Heights 1892-1972; Middle 1846-87; Ocean Hill 1885-1934; Twelfth Street 1849-1967; First of Williamsburg 1830-1938.


Roman Catholic


  • The records of Brooklyn's Catholic parishes constitute an enormously important genealogical source, but except as noted below these records can be accessed only at the parish (or in a few cases a successor parish or the diocesan archives). The listed finding aids should help the researcher to identify parishes and records locations.

  • Diocese of Brooklyn, Brooklyn Parishes by Neighborhood and Alphabetical Listing of Churches of Brooklyn, published by the Diocese, 1999. For each parish includes address where records are presently available.

  • Chronological List of Churches in the Diocese of Brooklyn – Brooklyn Parishes, revised by Patrick J. McNamara, 2001. Published by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn Archives, 7200 Douglaston Parkway, Douglaston, NY 11362. List of parishes by starting date, giving current address or other location of records.

  • "Roman Catholic Parishes in Brooklyn, New York," by Gerard C. Karcher, Irish Family History Forum, vol. 6 no. 4 (Dec. 1996), pp. 2-6. For each parish gives date established and present location of records (address and phone); also map showing parish locations.

  • Parochial Boundary Map of Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, by Rev. Harry M. Culkin (acquired by NYG&B 1994). NYPL Map Division call no. NYGB Map Div. 10-1291.

  • Bishop Laughlin's Dispensations, Diocese of Brooklyn, Genealogical Information from the Marriage Dispensation Records of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn: Kings, Queens and Suffolk Counties, New York, by Joseph Silinonte, Volume 1 1859-1866 (1996). Details on couples who sought a dispensation, most often to allow marriage without reading of banns, but also for marriage of cousins, marriage to a non-Catholic, etc. Record frequently gives county of birth in Ireland. [The compiler intended to continue the series to 1890, but died without completing any more volumes.]

  • St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church, Court Street, Brooklyn, New York (1996), baptisms and marriages 1839-1857 of Brooklyn's second-oldest parish.

  • Diamond Jubilee, St. Teresa's [of Avila] 1874-1949, includes history of parish and long list of "patrons" and "boosters" of the jubilee.

  • For identification of Roman Catholic parishes serving the German community in Kings Co. see The German Churches of Metropolitan New York, by Richard Haberstroh (NYG&B, 2000). The German Genealogy Group has created indexes to the registers of two defunct parishes that served the German community in Brooklyn's Eastern District (Bushwick): St. Leonards of Port Maurice (baptisms and marriages 1872-1978, first communions 1920-1978), and Our Lady of Sorrows (baptisms and marriages 1890-1942). The indexes may be accessed online and the site also has instructions for obtaining copies of records.

Unitarian


The First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn, One Hundred and Fifty Years, by Olive Hoogenboom (1987), lists of clergy and officers, description of memorial windows.


Jewish Congregations of Brooklyn


  • An article devoted to church records only covers part of the religious records of Brooklyn. A significant portion of the borough's population has been of the Jewish faith. The first congregation began in 1848 in Williamsburgh and founded Temple Beth Elohim in 1851. See History of Brooklyn Jewry, by Samuel P. Abelow (1937), especially Chapter 2 (pp. 14-72), "The Development of Temples and Synagogues."

  • Despite its title, the 1942 WPA Guide to Vital Statistics in the City of New York: Borough of Brooklyn: Churches also lists 112 Jewish congregations with locations, founding dates, and brief descriptions of records. The NYG&B Collection does not have copies of any of these records. For relevant holdings of other repositories in New York City see Genealogical Resources in New York, ed. Estelle M. Guzik (New York: Jewish Genealogical Society, 2003).

 


by Harry Macy Jr., FASG, FGBS


Originally published in The NYG&B Newsletter, Summer 2000


Updated June 2011


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