Resources for early West Parish Genealogy…
Over the past months I have received several inquiries asking for assistance in tracing family genealogy. I have listed here some resources to aid in the search if you yourself are working on tracing your ancestry and locating family members who may have been early congregants since 1616 in London or descendants of West Parish families of early Scituate and Barnstable.
Congregational Library and Archives in Boston, MA
—As of June 2015, the original early church Book of Records (1668-1807) along with some earlier documents dating from 1639 and loose documents through 1853 are now permanently on loan and safely housed at the Congregational Library in Boston and have ben digitized.
—On line access can be reached at www.congregationallibrary.org and clicking on Digital Collections; New England Hidden Histories: Colonial Era Church Records; West Parish Church, Barnstable, MA. Contents include: meeting minutes and discussion notes on psalm singing, Deacon letters, Registers of Births, Deaths, Marriages…
New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in Boston, MA
—Gustavus Adolphus Hinckley, a notable Barnstable historian (1822-1905), transcribed early Church and Town of Barnstable records and his many indexed volumes were donated to NEHGS upon his death in 1905. Some volumes were compiled in CD-ROM format by Robert Dunkle and Ann Lainhart in 2002 and are presented in searchable database format for NEHGS members. Limited guest browsing is also available.
—Online access is available at www.americanancestors.org by searching:
“Barnstable, MA: Church Records, 1639-1892. Keywords: MAChurch
“Barnstable, MA Town Records, 1640-1793. Keywords: MATownRecords
“Vital Records from the NEHGS Register.” Records of births, deaths, baptisms and marriages are in the database including “Scituate and Barnstable Church Records since 1634.”
—Access to Mr. Hinckley’s full collection is on file in the R. Stanton Avery Special Collections Department at NEHGS and is available by appointment for viewing by NEHGS members.
—A printed hard copy volume from the CD pertaining to West Parish is stored in the church library in Jenkins Hall and is available for signing out per library policy. Note: pages in this hard copy are not numbered making research difficult. Hard copy contents include: church minutes beginning 1668, baptisms as recorded in book of Widow Fuller in Rev. Lothropp’s hand since arriving in Barnstable on October 11, 1639…deaths, marriages recorded thru 1835…division into West Parish and East Parish… references to early Meetinghouses…
Article: “The Roots of the Ancient Congregational Church in London, Scituate and Barnstable, Rev. John Lothropp, Minister” by Dan R. McConnell published by the Cape Cod Genealogical Society Bulletin, Fall, 2008.
— Article Summary: Describes how the “congregational gatherings” begun by Rev Henry Jacob in 1616 and then led by Rev. John Lothropp from 1625 to 1634 and then exiled to the New World in 1634 left behind a “remnant/offshoot” gathering headed by the Rev Henry Jessey around 1637 which became an early Baptist church. The author describes the lives of Rev Henry Jacob and Rev Lothropp and researches documents to compile names of those forming a church covenant, arrested, imprisoned, exiled, settling in Scituate, moving to Barnstable and /or remaining in London.
Roots of the Ancient Congregational Church text
—Online access to this article is available through the Sturgis Library website: www.sturgislibrary.org and by following the links about Rev. John Lothropp.
— A printed hard copy is available in West Parish church library in Guild Room of Jenkins Hall.
“Articles of Faith and Covenant of the Congregational Church of West Barnstable, MA with Brief Historical Sketch, Regulations, and Catalogue of Members , 1917” as compiled and revised by Rev. H.E. Thygeson, 16th Pastor of West Parish, and published by H.L. Chipman, Printer and Publisher, Sandwich, MA, 1917.
—Rev. Hanson E. Thygeson served as Pastor at West Parish from 1890 until 1894. He revised his earlier edition of 1892 to include a brief history of the church beginning in 1616, Ministers of the church through 1915, Deacons of the Church through 1908, Articles of Faith, Rules of Government, Membership Admission Rules and Discipline, photos, names of Members of the church starting January 8, 1634 through 1917. The last page is an alphabetical listing of “Family Names Represented in Membership of West Parish Church before 1775.”
Articles of Faith Thygsen 1917 text
Mindy Abbott, church historian
