Church Record Sunday is an ongoing series developed by Gena Philibert Ortega at Gena’s Genealogy. Participants should describe a specific church record or a set of records held by a church or denomination and how they can assist genealogists. [Information from Geneabloggers Daily Blogging Prompts.]
If you had an ancestor who was a minister in a specific denomination, you should seek to find the minutes of the denomination he ministered. I had several ancestors who were Primitive Baptist preachers. I discovered by chance some years ago a photocopy of the Minutes of the Contentnea Baptist Association. The the minutes contain a daily account of the annual meeting, detailing church business and answering questions about religious doctrine. Sometimes a copy of the sermon preached during the annual meeting is included with the minutes. Often, a list of the churches in the association is included with some statistical information about the churches (number of members, number baptized, number died, etc.). The information also includes the names of delegates that attended the annual meeting. The delegates often were not preachers, so you may be able to find the name of a relative there as well. Sometimes, if no delegates were sent to the annual meeting, a notation that the church was represented by letter, but still included statistical information about the church.
Often, at the end of session minutes, if a minister had died during the year (sometimes longer), an obituary would be included. One such obituary of my ancestor James Griffin is found in the October 1856 minutes of the Contentnea Baptist Association. That obituary is included in its entirety below. It is rather lengthy, but includes some genealogical information that could not be found elsewhere.
A great place to search for Church Association Minutes for North Carolina is the Religion in North Carolina digital project spearheaded by Duke University and including religious items from colleges and universities around the country. All items are on the Internet Archive at this link: https://archive.org/details/ncreligion, check Meetings, Proceedings, and Conference Reports for printed copies of Annual meetings of the various denominations. Don’t overlook the Newsletters, Newspapers, and Serial Publication section, too, as they may contain printed copies of the association minutes.
Here is the obituary of James Griffin as mentioned above:
A Short Biographical Sketch of Elder James Griffin
Elder James Griffin one of the sons of Mr. Josiah Griffin of Pitt County, N.C., the subject of this sketch was born on the 7th day of March AD 1804 near Greenville where he was reared a very moral man and received only a limited education—trained up in the way he should go, and he never departed from it as is well known to all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. The writer of this has often heard him say he could not bear to tell a falsehood for his mother who was a very pious member of the Baptist church had impressed it upon his infant mind that he must not tell a lie.
It was the Lord’s will to convince him in the 18th year of his age that morality alone would not justify his soul by showing him that he was a poor lost sinner by nature; which brought him to an evangelical repentance [p. 296] and gave him that faith which works by love and purifies the heart, and enabled him to look to the Lord Jesus as his Saviour and feel his sins forgiven.
After which he joined the church at Red Banks, Pitt County, and was baptized on the 22d of February 1823 by Elder Amariah Biggs.
He soon felt that he had a call from the Lord to preach his Gospel, and he obeyed the call.
In 1825 he commenced the exercise of his gift and on the 11th of Feb 1827 was licensed by the church to preach, and on the 2d Sabbath in May 1827 was selected by the church for that purpose and was afterwards called by that church to her pastoral charge which he accepted.
About this time a cold and gloomy feeling pervaded the churches in consequence of the Missionary institutions which greatly disturbed their peace and harmony and the love of many waxed cold; in consequence of which many of the churches were riven asunder.
Elder James Griffin was at that time quite young in the ministry and he used every exertion he could consistent with the word of truth to prevent the separation But it nevertheless came—when the missionaries greedy of the spoils took the liberty to enrol[l] his name among themselves without his consent when he took a calm but decided stand on the primitive ground and was called to and accepted the pastoral care of three other churches in his native county.
The precise time of his several calls and acceptances the writer is not acquainted with, but he filled them all and visited the churches of his care to the glory of God, and honor of his Christian character, and with great satisfaction to the brethren.
He occasionally travelled among the other churches and in destitute sections of the Country preaching the Gospel, and the Lord blessed his labors by adding many [p. 297] souls to his ministry.
He was for 18 or 20 years almost the only primitive Baptist Minister who travelled and preached between Neuse and Pamlico Rivers where were situated those of the old churches, one of which has become entirely extinct, the other two were in a cold and shattered condition in consequence of the aforesaid Missionary institutions. But he lived to outride the storm, and with the blessings of God upon his labors saw two of the aforesaid old churches warmed into life, and blessed with large ingatherings; and was called to, and accepted the pastoral care of them. He was also the instrument in the hand of the Lord to assist in constituting of the church at Milton, Craven County, on the 18th of January 1851, and was called to, and accepted the pastoral care of it, and also the Church at South Creek, Beaufort County, was Constituted by his assistance on the 1st Saturday in March 1855 he was chosen and accepted the pastoral care of it also. He could say with the Psalmist They that saw in tears shall reap in joy, and he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him. He was sometimes heard to say in private conversation, that only a few years ago he travelled alone down the country without any ministerial help, but now he felt the Lord had raised up others to help and fill his place when he should be removed.
He was Married to a Miss Rebecca Ann Smith of his native county on the 15th of March 1827 who was a very kind and affectionate wife by whom he had six children, five daughters and one Son four of which still survives. His first wife deceased the 15th of Oct 1840 and he was again married to a Miss Margaret Ann Whitehead of Edgecombe County on the 28th of Dec 1841 who also was a very dutiful, kind, and affectionate wife by whom he had four Sons.
Some years since he had a desire to move to the [p. 298] western country, but was as he afterwards expressed himself providentially prevented, for every attempt he made to move West, he contrary to his own expectation went Eastward until he became fully convinced that the hand of the Lord was in every one of his attempts to remove to the West and carried him Eastward till in January 1852 he purchased a tract of swamp land on Bay River in the lower part of Craven County and that too, down in the same destitute section of Country where he had for so many years travelled as a stranger and a pilgrim on Earth in the cause of his Lord and Master. On April following he moved to it with his family. The new place was a vast wilderness of fertile land which required hard labor to cultivate.
Elder Griffin was a poor man as regards to this world’s good, and of a very weak constitution; and all the help he had was a Son of his first wife, and the four little boys by his last wife and it necessarily required his time at his home where he was very industrious, and labored hard and broke in, drained and partially cultivated a small plantation where he had the prospect of a comfortable living. In Oct 1855 the Son of his first wife, James, a very promising young man, a dutiful Son, deceased; the father felt the Shock and mourned the loss, but did not pine at the dispensation of providence, but resigned to it with that fortitude which becomes the servants of God.
After moving to his last mentioned place he resigned his several pastoral charges in his native county Pitt, but continued his several pastoral cares in Craven and Beaufort Counties to the day of his death. He had several severe attacks of diseases at his new residence, the last of which proved fatal. He departed this life on the 18th of Sept. 1856 leaving a widow and four orphan children and [p. 299] four children from his first wife, with an extensive church relationship and worldly acquaintance to mourn their loss. But, O; brethren that which is our loss is his eternal gain for our sorrow is not as the sorrow of the world which worketh death. His manner of preaching was simple and plain conveying great ideas by the simplest metaphors addressing his discourses to the understanding of the weak as well as the strong in an impressive style, So that he might well be called a son of consolation, industrious in the ministry filling his appointments punctually when not providentially prevented and earnestly contending for the faith once delivered to the saints.
Thus lived and died this man of God, But, Alas! the places that have known him, shall know him no more forever. He is gone from his wife and children, from his friends and acquaintances from his brethren and churches below from a world of sin and temptation and pain, to a world of joy where the wicked cease to trouble, and his poor weary soul is at rest, where he as joined those who have gone before him, to sing and ascribe praises in nobler and higher strains to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in a world without end. Amen.
[From Minutes of the Twenty Sixth Annual Session of the Contentnea Baptist Association held at Rose of Sharon M.H. Lenoir County, N.C. on the 25th, 26th and 27th days of Oct 1856., pages 295-299 in the manuscript version of the minutes microfilmed by the North Carolina State Archives on reel number R.900.1034.]