PARISH BAPTISM REGISTERS OF
TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH
211 Walnut Street
Muscatine, Iowa 52761
Submitted by Eleanor B. McCleary on October 31, 2001
At the time the town of
Bloomington (now known as Muscatine) was platted in 1839, the Parish of
Trinity Church was being
organized. In 1841 the first church building was a constructed. It was
a simple
frame structure which
stood on the rear end of the same lot where the stone church now stands,
on the
corner of East Second
Street and Walnut. This was the first church in Muscatine County and the
first
Episcopal Church consecrated
in Iowa.
The original Parish Register
books are kept in the church office at 211 Walnut Street, Muscatine. They
are very fragile, and
in many places the handwriting has faded. Interpreting the different styles
of
spidery handwriting was
quite a challenge. Several entries were scratched out, indicating that
person
had stopped coming to
this church. Anytime a person moved out of the area or died, their name
was
“removed” from the parishioner
roster. In most cases I was able to decipher the name underneath.
The Parish Register of
1853 to 1863 is the first known volume of church records. It contains records
of
Holy Baptism, Confirmation,
Communicants, Families & Single Persons connected to the church,
Marriages, Deaths and
some other notations of special church events.
Volume Two of Trinity
Church covers the period of January 1864 to 15 April 1899. This record
book
has pre-printed headings
and page numbers. There is a set sequence of chapters recording parishioners’
events in church life.
The chapters include; Families Connected to the Church, Holy Baptism,
Comfirmation, Communicants,
Marriages and Burials.
The following are transcribed
HOLY BAPTISM records from Volume One and Two Registers
prepared by Eleanor B.
McCleary, Trinity Church Historian. Written permission to share this
information on this web
site has been given by Richard E. Simpson, Rector of Trinity Parish, September
4, 2001.
For additional information
on the Parish of Trinity Church records, you may email Eleanor McCleary
at
[email protected]
Book 1 Trinity Baptism Records (1853-1863)
Book 2 Trinity Baptism Records (January 1864 to 15 April 1899)
2001
These records are the exclusive property of the Trinity Episcopal Church,
Muscatine IA and were transcribed by Eleanor B. McCleary, Church Historian,
by permission of Richard E. Simpson, Rector
of Trinity Parish, and may not be reproduced in any form without expressed
permission.