Lesson Overview

There are many types of records in addition to those created by governmental entities. In this lesson, we will discuss church records, fraternal organization records, and records of other societies, with a focus on the United States. The overviews presented here are a starting point for your investigative work, and you should be prepared to learn more about the history of different religious denominations and their records, differences that existed in different places, i.e. different parts of the country or in different countries, records it may have kept, disposition of records when a congregation or organization closed or relocated, and other considerations. The FamilySearch Research Wiki is an excellent starting point to learn more.

Lesson Objectives: