Introduction:
The records of the Roman Catholic Church, both in America and worldwide, represent one of the most important groups of records for genealogists. This is true because of the Church's large number of members, the detail of its records, and the existence of these records in cases when civil records are not available. In many instances these religious records precede civil records and the keeping of vital statistics and also document a population, namely immigrants, who did not always submit to record keeping.Parish Identification:
To access the vast records of the Roman Catholic Church, it is essential to determine the Catholic parishes where your ancestors worshiped. Depending on the demographics of the Catholic population and thus the number of churches, this can be either a very difficult or easy task. In some areas, like Mt. Healthy in northern Hamilton County, Ohio, only one church has served that community (in this case from 1854 till the present day). This same scenario can be found in many small towns and rural areas across the United States. In other areas, like Cincinnati's Over-The-Rhine neighborhood, there have been half a dozen churches or more serving an extremely small area. In this case it is much more difficult to determine an ancestor's place of worship.
One way of determining an ancestor's parish is to obtain that information from another record source. Such records typically giving this information include: obituaries/death notices, cemetery records, and marriage notices. If your ancestor was buried in a Catholic cemetery, those records usually list the parish name if the cemetery served those from more than one parish.
Another way to identify the parish is to determine the address of your ancestor. This can be accomplished with the aid of a city directory or other document (such as those above). Cincinnati, Ohio city directories, for instance, are available for sporadic years from 1825 to about 1850 and are continuous from 1850 to the present. They are available at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, the Cincinnati Historical Society, and on microfilm through any Family History Center. These directories typically list every head of household and give their occupation and address. Once an address is determined, it may be possible to search an atlas to see the Catholic parish which is closest. If an atlas does not exist for that area or time period it may be necessary to find out the addresses and founding dates of all the area churches. Another consideration along these lines is parish ethnicity. If an ancestor was German, he probably attended a German parish even though the closest Catholic Church might have been Irish or Italian. Refer to the following page for information on all Cincinnati and Hamilton County Catholic Churches.
Still a third way to achieve the same goal is to use Federal Census records. If you are willing to check the pages which immediately follow and precede your ancestor's entry, many times the names (or at least locations) of nearby parishes can be established. Priests and nuns were enumerated by the census taker just like everyone else and their presence will indicate a parish and location.
Records of Use to Researchers
Once the researcher has gone through the simple or arduous task of parish identification, he is ready to determine which records will help him in his research. The records of greatest value are termed "sacramental" records because they closely correspond to the seven sacraments of the Church. Not all of the seven sacraments are documented, but the majority of them are. Luckily for genealogical researchers, these sacraments are also related to life's vital events, namely birth, marriage, and death.
The Sacramental Records
The first sacrament, a sacrament of initiation, which in most cases corresponds to birth, is baptism. In recent times babies are baptized weeks after birth, but years ago due to high infant mortality it was not uncommon to baptize at the age of only one or two days. Baptismal records are usually quite informative and supply the date of baptism, the date of birth, full name of the child, parents' names (including maiden name of the mother), and sponsors' names (godfather and godmother). In many cases the child was named for one or both godparents and is sometimes related to his or her sponsors. Though more common today, adult baptisms were relatively rare. Such entries in the baptismal registers usually include the phrase "neo conversa," meaning new convert. Other notations found in baptismal registers include "illegitimus," showing that a child was born out of wedlock. Baptismal registers sometimes include a notation about the child's eventual marriage years later.
Two other sacraments occurring in childhood are First Holy Communion and Confirmation. They are grouped together here because they are of little use to genealogists. These sacraments are given most frequently to children and teenagers and are usually useful only in placing a particular family in a certain location at a certain time. Sponsors for confirmation are sometimes listed, naming friends of the family and often times relatives. On a related note, First Holy Communion was almost always documented by a photograph (at least during the last century). In some cases this is the earliest photograph of the child available. Both individual and group photographs were usually taken. Group photographs are sometimes contained in parish history books or are available in the parish archives.
The sacrament of matrimony is documented in church records just as marriages and marriage licenses are recorded in civil records. In some cases, especially when immigrant families are concerned, the church record was the only record that was kept. The format of the record varies but the essential information of bride's name, groom's name, and date of marriage are always recorded. Another piece of information that can be included is the names of witnesses. It is also not unusual for the parents of the bride and groom to be listed. Additionally, if one of the parties was from outside the parish that is sometimes stated with the other locality being given. Locally, Mr. Jeff Herbert has indexed the majority of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Catholic marriages in his series of books: Restored Hamilton County, Ohio Marriages; Volume 1, 1808-1849; Volume 2, 1850-1859; Volume 3, 1860-1869; Volume 4, 1870-1881. These books are available at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County and other research facilities.
Another useful parish record, which is not specifically a sacrament, is the death or burial record. When a Catholic dies, a Mass of Christian Burial is almost always celebrated in their parish church. Records of this event rarely contain more than the name of the deceased, age at death, and date of death and burial. Occasionally such details as cause of death, spouse's name, number of children, parents' names, and even place of birth are recorded. Catholics were not only buried from their respective church but also frequently were laid to rest in a church-run cemetery. In more rural areas, these frequently were adjacent to the church and remain there today. They are termed "parochial cemeteries" because they accepted burials only from one church's membership. In urban areas, several parishes, an ethnic group (such as the Germans or Irish), or the diocese, frequently established cemeteries. In this case the records are usually separate from the parish level but can contain similar information. Both sources should be checked where available.
Finding and Accessing the Records:
In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Ohio, as in other diocese around the country and throughout the world, there are two ways to access the sacramental records. The first is to locate the original record books of the parish and ask for those records to be searched by the staff who have custody of the records. The second way is to work through the diocesan archives which typically has copies of all records for a single diocese.
The option of going through the parish is in many ways preferable if you are certain that your ancestors' attended a certain parish. There are, however, instances when it would be preferable to work with the Archives. If the exact parish or location of the record books is unknown it would be best to contact the Archives. Since they have access to all the records, they are able to search the books of more than one parish if need be. The Archives also provides photocopies of the desired records whereas the parish frequently abstracts the information and types it on a form. Additional information on the Archdiocese of Cincinnati Archives and parish records in Cincinnati is available.
Language Difficulties:
Language difficulties come into play for both the researcher trying to read the record and the priest that tried to obtain the information to create the record. In early days the records of the Church were almost always kept in Latin, the official world-wide language of the Church. However, the native language of the priest was sometimes used. This can complicate matters since the priest could have been German, Polish, Hungarian, or if you are lucky he was just Irish! Many genealogical how-to books deal with handwriting and document translation which should give some general help to researchers. In extreme cases, it may be necessary to hire a professional translator. Sometimes language problems also occurred when the record was being recorded. Many times an English-speaking priest had German parishioners and the German-speaking priest had Poles in his congregation. For this reason, names on documents may be misspelled. Often they were spelled out phonetically. One final language caution concerns the spelling of first names. For instance, the common English name William would be recorded in a Latin entry as Guilielmus, in a German or Polish entry as Wilhelm, and in a French entry as Guillaume. Likewise, John could be recorded as Johann (German), Joannes (Latin), Jean (French), and Jan (Polish).
Miscellaneous Catholic Records:
Beyond the "sacramental records" there are various other records of use to genealogical and historical researchers. These records can be just as valuable as those discussed above but the extent of them varies greatly from parish to parish. One valuable resource is the parish history or anniversary book. The content of these vary greatly but most parishes have published one or more usually to commemorate the fiftieth or one hundredth anniversary of the parish's founding. A history may include parish membership lists, group photographs, as well as a general history of the church, school, and priests of the parish. These books may be found at the church itself, at the local library, or historical society. One excellent collection of such histories is the one found at The Archives of the University of Notre Dame and The Theodore M. Hesburgh Library at Notre Dame. The Library collection contains printed parish histories and newspaper accounts of more than 1,300 Catholic parishes and the parish history collection in the Archives contains information on more than 2,000 parishes. The major portion of the Archives collection documents parishes in the midwest and the Ohio River Valley. A guide to the collection which lists specific parishes and years by state and city may be found on-line. Such parish history books exist for a number of Cincinnati, Ohio parishes with specifics also available on the internet.
There are still other records which may have been created on the parish level. These include parish censuses, records of contributors, and church society membership lists, among others. Finding such records may take some digging and when they exist they are almost always kept by the church.
It is also wise to remember that the Catholic Church has operated schools, hospitals, and orphanages for centuries. These institutions created records regarding the people they served. Many times these records are confidential in nature and not open to public inspection. However, they but may be useful and provide the information to solve a difficult research problem.
Another mainstay of the Catholic Church has been the existence of religious orders. Throughout history many Catholics have chosen the the life of a priest, nun, or religious brother. Each religious order and each province or local group of religious kept records on their members. The Archdiocese of Cincinnati, for instance, maintains files of all diocesan priests who have served within its boundaries. These files often include photographs and a complete record of the individual's service to the Church.
Final Note:
I hope you have found this information on Catholic research to be helpful. Please keep in mind that this is a general guide with emphasis on the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Specific procedures for obtaining records and the existence and breadth of the actual records varies from diocese to diocese and indeed from parish to parish.
© 1998-2008 by David J. Endres