USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > History of Newton, Massachusetts : town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880 > Part 45
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84
30
466
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Pliny Bosworth, Joshua Gardner, William Cargill, George W. Keyes, Samuel P. Skinner,
Stephen Putnam, Richard Boynton, John Kingsbury, Martin Hunting,
Horace Whitney,
Lewis H. Partridge,
Thomas Nealy,
William Lyon,
Ebenezer Kingsbury,
Henry Billings, Beriah Billings,
James Barney, Jason Brayman,
William H. Nichols, William Fairfield,
Lyndall Grover,
Harding Partridge.
The first and only pastor was the Rev. Samuel P. Skinner, who was settled after the dedication of the church edifice, and con- tinued in office till October, 1845. The pulpit was then supplied by A. S. Dudley, a dentist by profession, till July, 1847 ; and then by William F. Teulon, from the British dominions, who was also a practising physician, and after a few months left the pulpit and devoted himself exclusively to the medical profession. The Society, after an existence of only six or seven years, was dis- solved, and their church edifice became a useful structure for vil- lage uses, taking the name of Elliot Hall. In 1879 the building was sold to Mr. John Howe, and converted into a private residence.
SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH.
The Baptist church at Newton Upper Falls received the title of the Second Baptist church. The mother-church at Newton Centre, like a " fruitful vine, whose branches run over the wall," sent forth this, its first colony, stronger and more prosperous at its beginning than afterwards. It is said that the Rev. Mr. Grafton, the pastor of the First Baptist church, hesitated as to the wisdom of the movement. He dreaded lest the original church might be left too feeble in pecuniary ability to sustain the ordinances of religion. To those who acted as leaders in the project, he remarked, " When bees swarm, they always leave in the hive honey enough for the old ones. If you swarm, brethren, I hope you will leave honey enough in the old hive."
They proceeded, however, with great deliberation. The meet- ing-house was erected and preaching was maintained in it nearly two years before the church was organized,-apparently, a period sufficiently protracted to decide the twofold question, whether the
23
SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH, NEWTON UPPER FALLS.
467
SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH.
original church, situated two miles away, could support its own religious ordinances, after the transference of these members to form a new body, and whether the new church had in it strength enough to stand on an independent foundation. The circum- stances of the village were, at that period, very different from what they came to be afterwards. The population was then chiefly American, and the people prized the ordinances of Protestant. worship. At a later date, the native was displaced by a foreign element, of other tastes and different religious associations. Many of the earlier members died, and the infant church, which began in strength, waxed feeble, as if by premature decay.
In 1832, eleven persons, mostly members of the First Baptist church, associated together and built a new meeting-house at the Upper Falls. The property was divided into twenty shares. Jonathan Bixby owned seven shares ; Jesse Winslow, Isaac Keyes and John Nicholson owned two shares each, and Lauren Kings- bury, Asa F. Smith, Ira M. Bullen, Samuel Scott, John Bullough, jr., Martin P. Sturtevant and Thomas Nicholson, one each. The meeting-house was dedicated March 27, 1833.
The church was organized February 8, 1835. The following are the names of the original members :
Jonathan Bixby, Isaac Keyes,
Lauren Kingsbury, Asa F. Smith, Sylvester Smith, Lucius Smith, James Taylor, David Scott,
Eliza H. Bixby, Sarah S. Kingsbury, Catherine Hyde, Matilda Libby, Betsey S. Smith, Clarissa Smith, Hannah Scott,
Angelina Bixby, Martha F. Newhall, Elizabeth E. Keyes, Louisa Peak, Sarah Richards,
Abigail B. Clapp, Cleora F. Smith,
Hannah Fisk, Olivia Fisk,
Thomas Nicholson,
Samuel Floyd,
Sally Kingsbury,
Samuel Scott,
Charles Scott,
Rosanna Woodward, Sally Nickerson, Belinda Smith, Susan Willis, Sylvia Jones, Lucy Taylor, Levina R. Bullens, Mary S. Cheney, Abigail Cheney, Nancy L. Gardner,
Eliza Kingsbury, Hannah Bond,
Ira M. Baptams, Amariah Bullens,
Charlotte H. Smith, Sarah Priest,
Francis T. Keyes, William Bullough, Samuel Nicholson, Lydia Bixby, Eunice Bixby,
Martha H. Taylor, Susanna Nickerson,
Mary Ann Keyes.
Abia Keyes, Chloe Ray,
The whole number was fifty-five,- all dismissed from the First Baptist church for the purpose of uniting in this new organization.
468
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
At the service of the public recognition, Rev. James D. Knowles, then Professor in the Newton Theological Institution, preached the sermon. Rev. Mr. Grafton gave the right hand of fellowship, and addressed the church on their new relations. Isaac Keyes and Lauren Kingsbury were appointed deacons.
The following sketch, written under the dictation of a daughter of Mr. Bixby, herself an original member of the church, and an eye-witness of all the proceedings which eventuated in its estab- lishment, will here be of interest.
The Second Baptist church in Newton grew out of the special religious interest that pervaded the village at the Upper Falls, during the years 1830-1. Deacon E. F. Woodward and Mr. Asa Cook, members of the First Con- gregational church, commenced holding union prayer-meetings in private houses on Saturday evenings. During the autumn of 1830, meetings for preaching were held in the school-house, and supplied alternately by Congre- gational and Baptist ministers. One Sabbath morning, when the people had come together to hear the Rev. Mr. Bates, colleague pastor with the Rev. Dr. Homer, the person who, as committee-man of the district, had charge of the school-house, refused to give up the key of the house, affirming that he did not deem it his duty to open the building on the Sabbath for religious services. Under these circumstances, Mr. D. L. Brayton, a member of the Theological Institution, afterwards missionary to Burmah, being present, in order to meet the exigency immediately applied to Mr. Jonathan Bixby, who at once opened his doors to the people. The incident naturally awakened an interest in the village, and the more, inasmuch as Mr. Bixby was just recovering from a rheumatic fever, and unable to leave his room; so that the privilege of enjoying the services of weekly religious worship was brought, without his seeking it, to his bedside. For months afterwards, Mr. Bixby's house . was a house of worship for both religious societies on the Sabbath evenings.
In the spring of 1831, Mr. Bixby fitted up a room in an adjoining build- ing, which had been occupied as a store, for a place of religious worship, and the room was used for this purpose till ampler conveniences were provided. In the summer and fall of 1831, members of the Congregational Society built a vestry, and during the following year, the Baptists erected their cliapel, which was dedicated in March, 1833. Before they erected their chapel, the Baptist members attempted, but without success, to purchase the church building of tlie "Upper Falls Religious Society," which the majority of the church-going people of the village did not find to be, to them, a con- genial religious home. There were, in the village, a considerable number of members of the First Baptist church at Newton Centre, whose convenience would be greatly promoted by having religious services of their own denomi- nation, in the village where they resided. For this purpose, they erected their chapel, and commenced their public services on the Sabbath. They did not, at the outset, contemplate a separate organization; they attended worship on the communion Sabbaths at Newton Centre, with the church of.
469
REV. ORIGEN CRANE.
which they were members, and delayed the organization of a Second Baptist church till nearly two years after the dedication of the chapel.
The persons most active in the erection of the chapel were, besides Mr. Jonathan Bixby, Isaac Keyes, Lauren Kingsbury, Asa F. Smith, Samuel Scott, Ira Bullens, Martin Sturtevant and Jesse Winslow. Mr. Bixby fur- nished one-third of the means requisite for building the chapel. In the fall of 1835, the chapel was enlarged and improved.
From the commencement of the religious interest, which resulted in the establishment of this church, the students of the Newton Theological Institu- tion rendered valuable aid in the prayer-meetings. And when the chapel had been erected, they principally supplied the pulpit, till the settlement of the first pastor. Messrs. Jennings (1834), Carpenter (1833), Sheldon (1835), Burlingame (1836) and others rendered much and useful service in the pulpit. Mr. Webb (1834), afterwards missionary to Burmah, conducted a week-evening Bible-class, commenced in the fall of 1831. He was fol- lowed, in the same service, by Messrs. Osgood (1834) and J. W. Sargent (1834). Messrs. Lawrence (1831), Crocker (1834), afterwards missionary to West Africa, Hutchinson (1834), Brayton and Stearns, D. W. Phillips (1840), Davis (1837) and others contributed much to the interest of the social religious meetings. At an earlier day, Messrs. Aldrich (1829) and Wade (1829) were active in the special season of religious awakening in 1827-8. And, after the church had settled a pastor, the students rendered considerable aid in the Sabbath School and the meetings for prayer. The church was led by successive pastors, who lacked neither prudence nor ability, and was strengthened and encouraged, in seasons of destitution, by the gifts and influence of many ministers, who, for longer or shorter periods, supplied the pulpit. The names of many devoted and useful Christians stand in the catalogue of the church. Spiritual refreshings have been experienced from time to time, most gratifying and cheering to the friends of religion and virtue. And in the end it will undoubtedly appear, that, notwithstand- ing decline and weakness, following a propitious beginning, the pious ser- vice of this church has been an important factor in the great problem which is being wrought out by the gospel, for human welfare.
The pulpit was supplied with preaching from the Newton Theo- logical Institution, until September 14, 1836, when Mr. Origen Crane was ordained the first pastor.
REV. ORIGEN CRANE was born in Mansfield, Conn., July 25, 1804. He was first a pupil, and then a teacher, in the district schools of his native town ; he became hopefully pious at the age of fourteen, and, after he was twenty years of age, decided to devote himself to the work of the ministry. He then spent five years in preparatory study, the last three in the regular classes of the Newton Theological Institution, where he graduated in 1836. He remained a faithful, loving and laborious pastor at Newton
470
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Upper Falls nearly three years. In the autumn of 1839, he removed to Weston, and was pastor of the Baptist church in that town upwards of twelve years. His influence was savory and far- reaching, and was felt very widely, beyond the limits of his own parish. His last residence was in New England Village, Mass. His death, at the age of sixty-five, was occasioned by an accident, which took place April 20, 1869. He was buried in his native town. The following inscription on his tombstone is a truthful description of his character :
He was a Faithful Minister of the Gospel, A devoted and successful Pastor, A warm-hearted and sympathizing Friend, Kind and affectionate In all the domestic and social relations of life.
The number admitted to the church during the ministry of Mr. Crane was seventy-nine.
The second pastor, Rev. Charles W. Dennison, was ordained at Oswego, N. Y., January 19, 1836 ; installed pastor at Newton Upper Falls, March, 1842, and resigned his office in February, 1843. Admitted to the church during Mr. Dennison's ministry, thirty-two.
The third pastor was Rev. Samuel Stillman Leighton, who was ordained at Andover, Mass., August 25, 1841. He became pastor February 8, 1846, and resigned July 1, 1847.
Mr. Leighton was born in Westford, Mass., October 18, 1809. At the age of twelve years, he became a member of the Baptist church in Chelmsford. He graduated at Union College, Schenec- tady in 1838, and studied theology partly at Andover and partly at Newton Theological Institution, graduating at the former in 1841. He was pastor at West Bridgewater, Mass., and Leeds, Me., and came from the latter place to Newton Upper Falls. After leaving Newton, he was pastor at Sanbornton and Bow, N. H., and Georgetown and Orleans, Mass. He died in West Town- send, Mass., July 4, 1860, aged fifty-one. He was an carnest laborer and an excellent preacher. He was buried in his native town, and, by his own request, this Scripture was inscribed on his tombstone :
" By grace ye are saved, through faith,
" And that not of yourselves,
" It is the gift of God."
471
SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH.
Five were admitted to the church during Mr. Leighton's pas- torate.
The next pastor, Rev. Amos Webster, was ordained at Newton Upper Falls, November 15, 1848, and resigned June 25, 1854. He afterwards preached at Needham and Hyde Park, and subse- quently was publisher of the Christian Era, Boston. During his ministry, twenty-three were admitted to the church.
The church had already declined greatly in numbers and effi- ciency. Some had removed from the town, others had died. The Society became feeble, and the members no longer able to sup- port a regular pastor. In the changes which occur in our Ameri- can society, such events often take place. Centres of business are migratory, and, often, arbitrary. People of one nationality displace people of another nationality, and transform the social and religious aspect of a community. So it has been in Newton Upper Falls. Rev. S. F. Smith preached to the church as a stated supply from May 25, 1856, till June 12, 1864. During this period, thirteen were added to the church by baptism.
In the month of April, 1865, the Rev. William C. Richards became pastor of the church. Through his efficient labors, the church edifice was repaired and improved ; the basement vestry was made more comfortable and tasteful, by dropping the floor and thus increasing the altitude ; and a fine-toned bell was procured by general subscription, at an expense of about five hundred dollars. The bell was formerly the property of the Newton and Watertown Universalist Society, whose place of worship was on the east side of Centre Street, a short distance north of the town line, and in Watertown. The latter Society was dissolved about 1866, and their church edifice transformed into a school-house. Mr. Rich- ards resigned March 26, 1871, and the church again became dependent upon casual supplies. During Mr. Richards' pastor- ship, thirty-two were admitted to the church. Such names as those of the late Thomas Jefferson Richardson and Eliza Jameson, once recorded in the catalogue, as well as others, "full of good works and alms-deeds which they did," are fragrant names. A body which enshrines such names and the deeds they recall, even though it vanish away, has not existed in vain.
The whole number who have been members of this church from the beginning till March, 1878, is three hundred and fifty-seven. Five of the members of this Society were soldiers in the civil war.
472
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
PASTORS OF THE SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH, NEWTON UPPER FALLS.
NAMES.
ORDAINED OR INSTALLED.
RESIGNED.
Origen Crane,
Sept. 14, 1836,
July, 1840.
Charles W. Dennison,
March, 1842,
Feb., 1843.
Samuel Stillman Leighton, Amos Webster, William C. Richards,
Feb. 8, 1846,
July, 1847.
Nov. 15, 1848,
June, 1854.
April 16, 1865,
March, 1871.
DEACONS.
NAMES.
APPOINTED.
RETIRED.
Isaac Keyes,
Feb. 8, 1835,
May, 1858.
Lauren Kingsbury (of Needham),
Feb. 8, 1835,
1868.
Charles Scott,
April 30, 1868,
1877.
William H. Bancroft,
Feb., 1877.
Enoch J. Pope (of Needham),
Feb.,
1877.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, NEWTON UPPER FALLS.
Many of the members of the "Upper Falls Religious Society," the first religious society which held worship in that village, main- tained a liberal faith ; but previous to the erection of their place of worship, attended divine service with the churches of Rev. Messrs. Grafton and Homer, of Newton Centre, and Rev. Mr. Ritchie, of Needham. No church organization existed in connection with this society. There was a Lower House, but never an Upper House.
A Methodist preacher, the Rev. Joel Steele, formed a Metho- dist class at Newton Upper Falls in 1826 ; but in consequence of removals, it was soon dissolved. Two years later, another class was formed, consisting of these seventeen persons :
Marshall S. Rice, Jeremiah Trull, Nathan Rice,
Mary Childs, Ann Winslow,
Mary Fogg,
Gardner Rice, Mary Rice, Sarah Livermore,
Mary Boynton, Sarah Willis, Rebecca Garfield,
Eliza Eager,
Susan Tavener,
Dorcas Smith,
Sarah Brackett.
Mary A. Morse,
.
473
METHODIST CHURCH, UPPER FALLS.
The church was organized November 11, 1832, and consisted of fifty-three members. The following preachers have been stationed here as pastors :
*Charles K. True,
Newell S. Spaulding,
John Parker,
*James Mudge,
Nathan B. Spaulding.
*Joseph A. Merrill,
*Charles S. Macreading,
Joseph W. Lewis,
D. K. Bannister,
William Pentecost,
Joseph Dennison, .
Augustus F. Bailey,
James W. Morey.
*Jacob Sanborn, M. P. Webster,
Jonas Bailey,
*Chester Field,
Ralph W. Allen,
Mr. Putnam,
William B. Toulmin,
Z. A. Mudge,
William J. Pomfret,
John Paulson,
Franklin Furber,
Edward Otheman,
Charles T. Johnson.
In all, twenty-six. Three of these preachers served a second term in the pastorate, viz., Charles S. Macreading, Charles K. True and Z. A. Mudge. In 1879 they were all living except six, whose names are starred.
The meeting-house erected previous to the formation of the Methodist church, for the use of the "Upper Falls Religious Soci- ety," was used by that Society about one-half the Sabbaths, the preachers being of the Unitarian denomination. The late Marshall S. Rice, Esq., of Newton Centre, offered to supply the pulpit, without expense to the Society, with the services of a Methodist preacher the other half of the time, or whenever it was not otherwise used. The "Religious Society" accepted the pro- posal of Mr. Rice, with but one dissentient vote. The late Rev. Charles K. True, of Boston (H. C. 1832), commenced preaching in the church on the alternate Sabbaths, and his labors were appre- ciated and crowned with success.
When the engagement had expired with the clergyman who was employed to preach for the "Religious Society " one-half the time, Mr. Rice was informed that he and his friends would be permitted to fill the pulpit every Sabbath ; and Mr. True removed to the vil- lage, taking the responsible position of first pastor of the Metho- dist church of Newton Upper Falls.
The Sabbath School was commenced in connection with the Methodist church in July, 1832. A Sabbath School had previously existed in connection with the "Religious Society," under the
474
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
superintendence of Dr. Alfred Hosmer. But the school was sub- sequently disbanded, and many of the members of it joined the Methodist school. Dr. Hosmer, in behalf of the old organization, presented their valuable library to the new school.
Mr. Rice, the most liberal benefactor of the church, says, --
Before the year 1832 was ended, after we were permitted to occupy the house every Sabbath, and saw it well filled, the question arose about owning it. I had partly paid for my home only ; but I concluded to purchase it for the Society, if my wife would give her consent. The Elliot Manufacturing Company owned the land and 61-100 of the house, and Mr. Rufus Ellis owned 39-100 of the house. I explained it to my wife, and asked her what she would do with our three little ones, if I should give my obligations for the house, and should then die? She answered, " Buy the house! I don't believe you will soon be called to die, if you do; and should it be so, I will support our children by going into the factory to work, if necessary." The answer settled the question. I first purchased the 61-100 of the Elliot Manu- facturing Company, and soon afterwards the 39-100 of Mr. Ellis; the amount paid for the whole was $2,660.
After the house had been enlarged and otherwise improved, the property was conveyed to the Trustees of the First Methodist Episcopal Society of Newton, in the year 1836.
In 1833 a bell was first placed in the tower. After being in use twenty-eight years, the bell was cracked, but replaced, in 1861, by a much finer one. On the new bell is engraved the text,- "O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker."- Psalm XCV : 6.
The church building was enlarged in 1836 ; the walls were sawed in two, the rear end moved back, and twenty pews inserted in the centre. The interior of the church was also much improved. The large clock in the church was given by Mr. Joseph C. Everett, in 1847. The vestry was added to the church in 1855, and in 1860 the internal arrangements of the church were wholly renovated. In 1863 the organ was introduced, in place of the orchestral accompaniment which had aided the singing ever since the erec- tion of the church. The parsonage was purchased in 1865. The two rock-maple trees which have long stood in front of the church edifice, in the year 1835, or not far from that date, were pulled up out of the grass under a large maple in New Ipswich, N. H., being then about six inches high, and brought to Newton by Mr. Rice in his chaise-box. Three similar trees, in front of Mr. Rice's dwell- ing-house at Newton Centre, have the same history.
475
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
ST. MARY'S CHURCH (ROMAN CATHOLIC).
In the absence of any early and authentic records, we are indebted to the Rev. Michael Dolan, in charge of St. Mary's church, Newton Upper Falls, for the following records of its history :
Rev. Father Strain, of Waltham, was, so far as I ean learn, the first priest to celebrate mass at Newton Upper Falls. It was about the year 1843 or 1844. Others had come before him, to attend to the siek; but he seems to have been the first to hold religious service here on Sunday. His chapel was a room in the house of Mr. James Cohill, residing still (1878) at the Upper Falls. Father Strain is no longer among the living.
He was suceeeded in this parish by Father Patrick Flood, who also held his services in the same room as his predecessor. His first visit was made about the year 1850, and the last about two years afterwards. During his administration, the Catholics of the place began to colleet funds for the eree- tion of a church. They had not made mueh progress in this direction before the inauguration of Father Bernard Flood, as missionary of the Upper Falls. This was about the year 1852, as Father Bernard was ordained October 19th of that year. It does not seen that he came very often, or held religious ser- vice very frequently on Sundays, before 1860. About that time, his eongre- gation began to assemble on Sundays in Elliot Hall. They numbered about three hundred, and were generally zealous and generous. The most eon- spicuous among them and the most efficient workers were Timothy Flanna- gan, Patrick Hurley, Michael Begley, James Cohill and Michael Daley.
Father Bernard relinquished this mission about the year 1863 or 1864, organized the mission of Concord, built the Catholic church of West Newton, and enlarged and decorated the church in Waltham. Just as the freseoing of the last was being finished, he stood in the gallery and gave some last directions to the arehiteet, took a last, loving look at the house which he had prepared for his Creator, and, as if his work was finished, bent down, and never rose again. His death occurred December 20, 1876.
Father John McCarthy was his sueeessor. In 1867 the church fund amounted to about seven thousand dollars. With this sum and three thou- sand dollars raised on mortgage, on an aere of land bought during the pas- torate of Father Bernard Flood, a church was built of wood, forty by seven- ty-six feet. It was dedieated by Bishop Williams, November 17, 1867. The supervision of this ehureh was the last work of Father MeCarthy in this par- ish, which he resigned about the close of 1870.
Father Michael Dolan was appointed to the parish December 4, 1871. He celebrated his first mass at the Upper Falls December 6. He also took charge of a congregation of about two hundred persons, holding serviee at the Lower Falls, in Boyden Hall. In 1874 and 1875, through their united liberality he built the ehureh which stands on Washington Street, Lower Falls, near the Railroad Station. The cost was about fifteen thousand dollars.
476
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
In 1875, the church at Newton Upper Falls being too small for the grow- ing wants of the congregation, it was enlarged by building a transept forty by eighty feet, having a gallery on each end. This addition secured a seat- ing capacity of one thousand persons, besides the accommodations in the organ loft. A basement was constructed under the whole church, which was handsomely frescoed and furnished, and the roof slated. On the 30th of April, 1876, the church was dedicated by Archbishop Williams. Right Rev. James A. Healy, bishop of Portland, Me., preached on the occasion on "the sacrifice of the mass." Rev. Bernard Flood was celebrant of the mass, Rev. William Byrne, of Charlestown, deacon, Rev. L. J. Morris, of Brookline, sub- deacon, and Mr. Hugh Mulligan, of St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, Md., master of ceremonies. The organ in the church was built by Hook, Hast- ings & Co., Boston, April, 1873. Cost, $1,550. The last improvements on the church building cost about $15,000. The average attendance is about 750. The parish includes about 1,000 or 1,200 Catholics, aud embraces Need- ham, Upper and Lower Falls, and Newton Centre, as far as Beacon Street.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.