Church records
Church records are great substitutes for missing vital records, particularly before county-level records were recorded.
- Read the genealogical value of church records (below).
- Records published for BAPTIST, METHODIST and UNITED CHURCH of CHRIST by SCCGS (join us).
Limited titles payable by check | all titles available for purchase in the online store.
Articles in the SCCGS Quarterly include churches and their records. Use keywords with the site search to find Quarterly articles, e.g., st. paul or catholic or methodist.
On the Member website
St. Peter’s Catholic Church 1859-1909 burials (Belleville). Abstracts from Latin include name, age, date buried, date died, date buried, spouse (if married), and, if a child, the parents.
On this website
Bethel Baptist Church Minutes Index 1809-1909.
Belleville’s Methodist church histories and surname index to baptisms, marriage, and death registers, 1840-1998.
Catholic parish records
German Catholic Clergy in Illinois 1892 (PDF 128KB)
A finding aid and introduction to microfilmed records of 140 parishes in 28 southern Illinois counties.
BELLEVILLE
- Blessed Sacrament Catholic
(May 2021) - St. Elizabeth Hospital Chapel
- St. Luke
- St. Henry
- St. John Orphanage
- St. Mary (new 12 March 2021)
- St. Peter
- St. Teresa
EAST ST. LOUIS
- Holy Angels
- Immaculate Conception
- Sacred Heart
- St. Augustine Mission (May 2021)
- St. Cyril Catholic
- St. Elizabeth
- St. Henry
- St. Joseph
- St. Patrick
- St. Regis (Marriages 1909–1932)
SMALL TOWNS
- Corpus Christi (Shiloh) (May 2021)
- Holy Rosary (Fairmont City) (June 2021)
- Immaculate Conception (Centerville)
- Sacred Heart (Dupo) (June 2021)
- St. Agatha (New Athens) (May 2021)
- St. Albert the Great (Fairview Hgts) (May 2021)
- St. Clare (O’Fallon)
- St. John (Smithton) (May 2021)
- St. Joseph (Freeburg) (May 2021)
- St. Joseph (Lebanon)
- St. James (Millstadt) (May 2021)
- St. Liborius (St. Libory)
- St. Martin of Tours (Washington Park)
- St. Michael (Paderborn) (May 2021)
- St. Pancratius (Fayetteville) (June 2021)
- St. Stephen (Caseyville)
Genealogical value of church records
- The baptism, marriage, death, or confirmation is recorded at or very close to the time of the event and written by the officiant who was present at the event. The information then scores as highly reliable in genealogy proof arguments.
- Baptisms often cite a birth date and parental names. Statewide recording of that information was mandated in 1916.
- Sponsors and witnesses are often related to the recipient.
- Marriages provide parental information for the bridal couple and occasionally provide the age and place of residence, some from other counties or states. It wasn’t until circa 1878 that county-level marriage applications recorded the parents.
- Death and burial dates are often found in church burial records, as the decedent’s age, spouse, cause of death and cemetery where buried.
St. Clair County Genealogical Society, PO Box 431, Belleville, IL 62222-0431.
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