The Blogging from A to Z Challenge is to post everyday (except Sunday) in the month of April 2016 starting with the letter A and going all the way to Z. The theme I chose is Genealogy Tips. At the end I will give a related post from my blog Genealogy: Beyond the BMD.
D is for Donors
While the wealthy donated money to build hospitals museums and schools, even the poorest families tried to donate to the church fund. A church was the center of a community and many people had to travel far if there was none in their village. Some of my friend's ancestors even had to travel by boat to have their children baptized or to get married or buried.
Look for histories of the church your ancestor may have attended or a history of the village or parish itself, often there is a list of people who donated money, labour or objects to their new church.
I have found church magazines can contain mention of family e.g. As members of the choir, Sunday School, Women's Guild or as church officials, plus the announcements of baptisms, marriages and funerals.
ReplyDeleteGood point Sue. I will have to see if my ancestor's churh had a magazine.
DeleteSo true! Donors list and mentions are a great way to find information about what was important to people in their lives. I recently found the marriage record of a relatively contemporary cousin of my grandmother by googling her town and name which landed me at a Donor list at a church which lead me to her burial record. Great post.
ReplyDeleteGreat find Magda. If only they were all that easy, eh?
DeleteGood idea. I have visited churches where pews had brass plates attached naming a family that donated. Also bibles and hymnals might carry a donor's name.
ReplyDeleteVisiting from AtoZ
Wendy
Jollett Etc.
Thanks Wendy. There are also pew lists. My 2x great grandparents paid $15.25 a year for 2 pews, each seating 6. You can see my post about it at The Family Pew
DeleteSomewhere else to try to find family history :D
ReplyDeleteWonder how many people were embarrassed into donating more than they could afford lest they appear mean on these lists.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree. Although in one I found a bunch of people had pooled their money to buy one small thing and all their names would be listed without amounts - I thought that was pretty decent.
DeleteGood idea
DeleteI've had fun with genealogy before. Traced my great great grandfather back to Germany. After that, I'm not so sure.
ReplyDelete