Methodist Church Records. New Hampshire.

Church records normally contain membership, baptism and marriage records along with church board, quarterly conference records and occasionally other records of the church.

For many other churches, historical files are kept with miscellaneous materials, often histories or clippings about the church.

Antrim. Woodbury Memorial Methodist Church. [CH-NH A55]

Early preaching occurred in 1838 on the north side, 1840 on the south side of town, and 1851 on the east side of town. In 1852, a society was organized on the south side. A church was constructed in 1864, and a parsonage added in 1885 through a gift from Mrs. Anna M. Woodbury. Several legacies from the Woodbury family were recognized in the name of the church. Pastor supply was sporadic in the 1930s, and the parsonage was sold in 1937. The conference often reported this church as “not operating”, and in 1947 authorized the trustees to sell remaining property, which occurred in 1952.

Box 1.

Membership book, 1876-1888.

Pastors, 1874-1888.
Members, alphabetically.
Probationers, 1876-1887.
Marriages, 1877-1887.
Baptisms, 1876-1888.

Membership book, 1888-1910

Pastors, 1874-1910.
Members, alphabetically .
Probationers, 1890-1909.
Marriages, 1888-1910, 1916 .
Baptisms, 1888-1909 .

Membership book, 1909-1950

Pastors, 1874-1932 .
Members, alphabetically .
Probationers, 1909-1931.
Quarterly Conference, 1921-1922.
Marriages, 1910-1950.
Baptisms, 1910-1950.

Box 2

Official Board records, 1898-1934 .

Board of Trustees records, 1880-1895.

Board of Trustees records, 1895-1947.

Woodbury Estate ledger, 1892-1895.

Box 3

Trustees financial records, including Woodbury legacy, 1895-1937.

Trustees financial records of investments, 1939-1952 .

Church treasurer’s accounts, 1935-1952.

Envelope of historical materials

Souvenir booklet, April 1899.
Postcard.
Program, Old Home Service, September 11, 1949.
Papers on Woodbury Estate.
Photocopies of history references, include Journal reports of sale.

Bath. Methodist Episcopal Church. [CH-NH S9]

Includes: Benton and Swiftwater Methodist Episcopal Churches.

2 v. 1852-1876.

Baptisms: 1852-1867.
Deaths: 1859-1867.
Membership: 1852-1876.
Quarterly conference records: 1852-1874.

Benton. Methodist Episcopal Church. [CH-NH S9]

3 v. 1852-1895.

Baptisms: 1852-1867.
Deaths: 1859-1879.
Membership: 1852-1868.
Quarterly conference records: 1852-1895.

Bow. First Methodist Church. [CH-NH B69]

4 v. 1830-1951.

Baptisms: 1885-1940.
Marriages: 1886-1904.
Membership: 1858-1916.
Probationers: 1869-1882.
Pastors’ records: 1830-1951.
Quarterly conference records: 1858-1867, 1869-1939.

Candia. Methodist Episcopal Church. [CH-NH A1]

1 v. 1858-1907.

Baptisms, 1859-1907.
Membership, 1858-1900.
Probationers, 1876-1907.

Chesterfield. Methodist Episcopal Church. [CH-NH A1]

1 v. 1840-1926.

Baptisms: 1840-1891.
Membership: 1840-1908.
Quarterly conference records: 1862-1926.

Goffstown. Methodist Episcopal Church. [CH-NH A1]

1 v. 1895-1914.

Baptisms, 1899-1912.
Marriages, 1888-1903.
Membership, 1887-1914.
Probationers, 1895-1914.

Gorham. Methodist Episcopal Church. [CH-NH G75]

First classes were held in 1816 under Rev. Ezekiel Coffin of Shelburne Village (Gorham was called Shelburne Addition until incorporation in 1836.) Actual development of a church did not begin until 1858 when the Maine Conference appointed Rev. Asahel Moore. A large revival in 1862 under Rev. E.P. Hammond led to the growth of a church. With the appointment of Rev. W.W. Baldwin in 1862, the church was established and the building dedicated in 1863. In the early 1960’s the church was transferred to the New Hampshire Conference, and was closed in 1999 under the New England Conference.

19 v. 1862-1999.

Record book (1862-1890)

Marriages, 1875-1890.

Preachers, 1862-1890.
Members, 1862-1890.
Probationers, 1862-1890.
Baptisms, 1862-1890.

Record book (1890-1927)

Pastors, 1890-1938.

Members, 1890-1906.
Members, 1887-1923.
Probationers, 1888-1927.
Marriages, 1889-1927.
Baptisms, 1890-1927.

Record book (1924-1955)

Baptisms, 1924-1956.

Members, 1902-1953.
Marriages, 1927-1955.

Record book (1945-1970)

Baptisms, 1945-1966 .

Probationers, 1947-1965.
Members, 1912-1966, 1969-1970.
Marriages, 1956-1967.

Record Book (1970-1999)

Membership, 1970-1999.

Baptisms, 1972-1998.
Marriages, 1970-1994.
Deaths, 1970-1997.
Probationers, 1980.
Removals.

Baptismal certificate book, 1963-1992.

Financial record book, collections, 1927-1943.

Historical record book, 1918-1982 including pastors, 1862-1999.

Sunday School

Sunday School records, 1920-1923.

Sunday School financial records, 1956-1960.

WSCS

WSCS minutes, 1949-1953.

WSCS minutes, 1954-1958.
WSCS minutes, 1958-1967.
WSCS (UMW) minutes, 1970-1988.
WSCS (UMW) financial records, 1970-1982.

Guest book, 1962-1964.

Scrapbooks

Historical scrapbook, 1864-1974.

Scrapbook, steeple fund and other gifts, 1972-1977.
Scrapbook, Christmas pageant and childrens party.

Envelope

Program from 100th anniversary (1963).

Photocopy of paragraph about church from Georgia D. Merrill’s History fo Coos County, Somerworth NH, 1972.

Other misc. clippings.

Haverhill. Methodist Episcopal Church. [CH-NH H3]

8 v. 1858-1921.

Baptisms: 1858-1872.
Membership: 1858-1869.
Probationers: 1858-1872.
Quarterly conference records: 1858-1921.
Ladies’ Benevolent Society and Sewing Circle records: 1858-1884.
Ladies’ Society records: 1875-1884, 1890-1905.
Sunday school records: 1877-1916.
Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society records, 1886-1896.

Hedding. Hedding Camp Meeting Association.

See [[Local Methodist Organizations]]

Henniker. Methodist Church. [CH-NH A2]

2 v. 1888-1961.

Guest book, 1951-1961.
Treasurer’s records, 1888-1892.

Manchester. First United Methodist Church. [CH-NH M23]

3 v. 1972-1994.

Annual reports: 1972-1982.
Newsletters: 1972-1985, 1987, 1991-1994.

Moultonville. Moultonville Methodist Church. [CAH File Moultonville]

A Wesleyan Century in a Village of New Hampshire: the Moultonville Methodist Church, 1866-1966, by Grover Cleveland Loud. First edition. North Conway, NH : Reporter Press, Paul K. Blanchard, Inc., 1968. 46 p., ill., 24 cm.

Nashua. Main Street United Methodist Church. [CH-NH N25]

15 v. 1957-1988.

Annual reports: 1957, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1988.
Membership directory: 1982, 1983, 1984.
History of the Main St. M.E. Church, Nashua, N.H., 1831-1891, prepared by W.J. Cooper.
Nashua : H. R. Wheeler, 1891. 46 p., ill., 22 cm.

New Granthem. New Granthem Circuit. [CH-NH A2]

1 v. 1812-1872.

Quarterly Conference records: 1812-1872.

Penacook. First United Methodist Church. [CH-NH P46]

31 v. 1845-1951.

Baptisms: 1862-1874, 1876-1895, 1892-1939, 1939-1943.
Marriages: 1862-1874, 1879-1896, 1897-1939, 1939-1943.
Membership: 1845-1876, 1863-1894, 1865-1939, 1939-1943.
Probationers: 1862-1875, 1876-1895, 1888-1928.
Quarterly Conference records: 1948-1984, 1955-1978.
Official Board records: 1948-1951.
Church Stewards’ records: 1881-1914, 1921-1922.
Epworth League: 1889-1890, 1889-1897, 1902-1903.
Guest book records: 1946-1955, 1955-1974, 1961-1973.
Library records: 1887-1904.
Sunday School records: 1897-1899, 1899, 1900-1901, 1911, 1921, 1927-1934, 1928-1935, 1929-1933, 1949-1950.
Sunday School treasurer’s cash accounts: 1919, 1921-1925, 1927.
Scrapbook: 1887-1957. [C.A.H. F-11]

Pittsburg. Farnham Memorial United Methodist Church. [CAH File Pittsburg]

Headwaters Harvest: a history of Methodism in Pittsburg, New Hampshire, by Robert Gray with Margaret Bickford.
Pittsburg, NH : Farnham Memorial United Methodist Church, 1997. 43 p., ill., 22 cm.

Rumney. Methodist Episcopal Church. [CH-NH R7]

2v. 1866-1922.

Baptisms, 1868-1903; 1904-1920.
Marriages, 1872-1922.
Membership, 1868-1899; 1903-1920.
Probationers, 1866-1914.

Stratford Hollow. United Methodist Church. [CH-NH S76]

Early preaching occurred around 1820, then a Stratford Circuit of six to eight towns was created in 1835. A church was built in 1854, rebuilt and expanded in 1896. Some windows suffered damage in 1922 from a fire in the next building. A church hall was built across the road in 1947 and names in honor Rev. Clyde Kimball, from a local family, former pastor at the church, and an army chaplain who died during World War II. The church had long been partnered with Groveton and Stark, and was closed in 2002.

Box 1.

Membership list and cards, 2000.

Directories, 1991, 1997.

Building papers — deed copies, drawings, structural study (1994, 2000), tax surveys.

Annual reports, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000.

Newsletters, “Headwaters Herald” (issued by “The Parish of the Headwaters” including Pittsburg, Colebrook, Groveton, Stratford, Stark, Milan, West Milan and Dummer NH, and Canaan, Beecher Falls, and Bloomfield VT) scattered issues, 1955-2001.

Historical file–140th anniversary bulletin and history (1994), resolution on discontinuance and re-use plan (2002), typed historical memoir, newspaper clippings, photocopies from various town histories, misc. other papers.

Box 2

Adminstrative council minutes, 1991-2001.

Photographs.

Poem bookets by Judith Lunney Merriam: Holy Scents, and Witnesses to Grace.

Suncook. Methodist Episcopal Church. [CH-NH A2]

2 v. 1869-1891.

Quarterly conference records, 1869-1882.
Official board records, 1882-1891.

Swiftwater. Methodist Episcopal Church. [CH-NH S9]

5 v. 1861-1925.

Deaths: 1868-1879.
Membership: 1861-1876.
Quarterly conference records: 1872-1925.
Epworth League records: 1896-1900.
Ladies’ Methodist Benevolent Society records: 1903-1909.
Ladies’ Union Circle records: 1909-1913.

Wendell. Methodist Episcopal Church. [CH-NH A2]

1 v. 1839-1851.

Conference meeting records: 1839-1851.
List of members: 1841-1849.

Weston. Weston Circuit. [CH-NH A2]

1 v. 1828-1862.

Quarterly Conference records: 1828-1862.

Wiers. Winnepesaukee Camp Meeting Association.

See [[Local Methodist Organizations]].