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Although
few histories for Tennessee churches have been published, there
are church records for almost every county in the state.
Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist were the principal religions
of early settlers in the state, and documents from these
groups make up the largest number of records available. Other
representative religions include Lutheran, Church of Christ,
Episcopal, Roman Catholic, and Jewish. Most early Tennessee
churches only kept minutes and membership records.
Church records could, however, include records of baptism, marriage,
burial, membership, or removal, but it is rare to find all or
several of these categories maintained by one church. Some Presbyterian
churches kept registers with some genealogical information in
the session minutes or in a separate register. Each Baptist
congregation is usually self-governing, and there is no set
procedure for recording data for its members. Methodist ministers
were charged with maintenance of permanent records of marriages,
baptisms, and dismissals. The Episcopal and Roman Catholic churches
maintain registers that contain genealogical data for all members.
A published guide is Historical Records Survey, Guide to Church
Vital Statistics in Tennessee (Nashville, Tenn.: War Services
Section, Service Division, WPA, 1943). Thirty-nine counties
compose this historical records survey of Tennessee church records.
This reference details records for certain churches, varying
from three to 349 per county. .
As with cemetery records, the DAR has collected church records
for Tennessee, available at the DAR Library in Washington, D.C.,
and through the FHL.
Many compilations of church records have been compiled and/or
published for the state. The Tennessee
State Library and Archives
has records of over one hundred churches that pre-date 1900.
Microfilmed records and manuscripts of several churches in the
state are described in the card catalog and published by the
Tennessee
State Library and Archives' Guide to the Microfilm
Holdings.
The McClung Collection of the Lawson McGhee Library in Knoxville
holds microfilm of Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian church
records. The Burrow Library in Memphis also has Presbyterian
church records. The Historical Commission of the Southern Baptist
Convention, Disciples of Christ Historical Society, Catholic
Diocese of Nashville Archives, and Archives of the Jewish Federation
of Nashville and Middle Tennessee, all located in Nashville,
hold representative collections.
History of the Catholic Church
{Source:
From History of Tennessee From the Earliest
Time to The Present,
Goodspeed Publishing Co.
Nashville, TN 1887
On May 10, 1821, Rt. Rev. Bishop David, accompanied by Rev.
Father Robert Abell, arrived in Nashville, and was received
by M. De Munbreun, who entertained them at his house. The
following day the first mass offered in Tennessee was said. Previous
to this time but four missionary visits had been made to
the State since the early French settlements, and the number of
Catholics in the State did not much exceed 100. Tennessee
then formed a part of the diocese of Bardstown, Ky., which also
included Kentucky and an extensive territory to the west,
and which constituted the bishopric of Rt. Rev. Bishop Flaget.
During the visit of Bishop David a proposition to establish
a congregation in Nashville was made, and met with hearty
approval from both Catholics and Protestants. Rev. Father Abell, who
accompanied the bishop, preached every evening during his
stay in the city, and a wide-spread interest was aroused. It was
not, however, until 1830 that a church was erected on the
north side of what now constitutes the Capitol grounds. Father Abell
proceeded to Franklin, where there was one Catholic family
and where he held services. He also went to Columbia and
delivered a sermon at that place.In 1834 the diocese was reduced to Kentucky
and Tennessee, and in 1836 the latter was made a separate
diocese, known as the diocese of Nashville, of which the Rt. Rev. Dr.
Richard Pius Miles was consecrated bishop September 18, 1838.
He was a native American and descendant of a Maryland family. Congregations
had already been organized at several points in the State, and mission
work was pushed forward with the energy and zeal characteristic of the
Catholic Church. In 1859 the work, having considerably increased, became
too arduous for the failing strength of Bishop Miles, and in May of that
year Rt. Rev. Bishop James Whelan was appointed his coadjutor, with right
of succession. On the death of Bishop Miles, which occurred February 1,
1860, he entered upon his duties, and remained until his resignation in
1863. He was succeeded as administrator of the diocese by the Rev.
Father Kelly, a Dominican priest, who remained until November,
1865. He was then relieved by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Patrick
A. Feehan, of St. Louis, who was consecrated in that city on the
first day of that month. He continued in charge of the diocese
until June, 1883, when he was succeeded by the Rt. Rev. Joseph
Rademacher. While the Catholic Church in Tennessee does not
embrace so large a membership in proportion to population
as many other States, it is due rather to the small foreign element
than a lack of prosperity or wise management. The Catholic population of
the State at the present time is estimated by the bishop
of the diocese at from 20,000 to 25,000 of which about 8,000 are
residents of Nashville, and 10,000 or 12,000 of Memphis.
The number in the latter city was greatly reduced by the yellow
fever epidemic of 1878-79. Chattanooga and Knoxville also
have large congregations. The whole number of churches in the diocese
in 1886 was thirty. The church supports a large number of
excellent schools and academies, and one college. One of the best known
institutions for young ladies is the Academy of St. Cecilia,
at Nashville. This school was established in 1860 by six
ladies from St. Mary's Literary Institute, Perry County, Ohio, and has
long enjoyed a high reputation for the excellence of its management. The
Christian Brothers College, of Memphis, was chartered in 1854. It has an
attendance of 200 pupils, and is presided over by Brother Maurelian.
History of the Christian Church in Tennessee
The formation of other Christian Churches in Tennessee
followed with great rapidity during two decades from 1830
to 1850. Following is a partial list of these churches, with
the dates of their organization, so far as could be ascertained
and the counties as early as 1816, though probably as Baptist
Churches.
- 1823, the church at Bethlehem, and at Wilson's Hill, Globe
Creek, Marshall County. Liberty Church, Marshall County,
separated from the Richland Association of United Baptists
for communing with Christians and assisting to set apart
a deacon in that church. At that time it had 126 members;
in 1846 it had 450.
- 1825, Roane Creek Church, in Carroll County was organized.
- 1828, Berea Church, in Marshall County, was organized
- 1831, Smyrna Church, Cedar Creek, in Marshall County, and
New Herman Church in Bedford County.
- In June 1832, the church at Rutland's Meeting-house, in
Wilson County, separated from the Baptists by laying aside
their abstract principles and agreeing to be governed by
the Bible alone, and the church at Tally's old field was
organized this year.
- 1833, the church at Paris, Henry County, was organized,
and in 1844 they built a very neat church edifice.
- March 30, 1834, Sylvan Church, Sumner County, was organized
with nine members; in 1844, it had 115; the church at Brawley's
Fork, Cannon County, and that at South Harpeth, Davidson
County, were organized this year.
- 1835, Rock Springs Church, Rutherford County, and Sycamore
Church, Davidson County were organized, the former having,
in 1844, 130 members.
- 1835, the church at Bagdad, Smith County, was organized.
- 1836, Lebanon Church was organized with nineteen members,
and reorganized in 1842.
- 1838, Lewisburgh Church, in Marshall County was organized.
- 1839, Big Spring Church, in Wilson County, was organized.
- 1840, Trace Creek Church, Jackson County, and that at Long's
Meeting-house, Marshall County.
- 1841, a church at Blackburn's Fork, and at Cane Creek, Lincoln
County, and the Torny Fork Church, Marshall County, were
also organized.
- 1842, Hartsville Church, in Sumner County, Salt Lick Church,
in Jackson County, and the church at Meigsville, on the Big
Bottom, were organized.
- 1843, the church at Teal's Meeting-house, Jackson County,
Pleasant Hill Church, Buckeye Church, Flynn's Creek, Union
Church, Richland Creek, Marshall County, and the Cave Creek
Church, Marshall County, were organized.
- 1844, and that at Murfreesboro reorganized; the church at
Rich Meeting-house was organized, and there were in existence,
date of organization not known, the following: 3 in Washington
County, with 304 members; 4 in Carter County, with 301 members;
2 in Johnson County, with 124 members, and 2 in Sullivan
County with 252 members; in Rutherford County, besides Rock
Springs Church, the date of the organization of which has
been given above, there were the Spring Creek Church with
40 members, Cripple Creek Church with 130 members, and Big
Creek Church with 60; in Warren County Hickory Creek and
Rockey River Churches; in Wilson County Liberty Church, on
Stone River; besides small congregations at Cypress Creek,
Blue Water and Bluff Creek; in Livingston County there were
8 churches with 970 members; in McMinn County 4 churches
with 150 members.
From 1845 and 1850 churches of this denomination continued
to be organized at about the same rate, since which time
their numbers do not seem to have increased so rapidly. In
1872 there were in the United States 500,000 Disciples or
Christians, of which number Tennessee could not have had
over 15,000. Since then, this sect has grown and prospered,
especially in the Southern and Western States, but recent
statistics as applicable to Tennessee, are not easily obtainable.
For about thirty years the Christians had a flourishing college
of high grade five miles east of Nashville in Davidson County,
named Franklin College which has now ceased, most of the
advanced students of the denomination finding Bethany College,
in West Virginia, better prepared to meet their wants. Since
1844 a valuable periodical has been published at Nashville
under the different names of The Christian Review, Christian
Magazine and Gospel Advocate, the latter name having been
in use since 1855.
History of the Lutheran Church
The Lutherans are among the oldest denomination in Tennessee,
congregations of whom organized as early as 1800. The first
Lutheran church in Middle Tennessee was established about
1825 by Rev. William Jenkins. It was located near Shelbyville,
on Duck River, and was known as the "Shaffner Church." The
growth of the denomination in the State has been somewhat
slow, owing to the small foreign immigration. The number
of ministers, too has never equaled the demand, consequently
many Lutherans have united with other denominations. In 1850
there were twelve organizations in the State; in 1860 eighteen,
and 1870 twenty-two. The membership at the present time is
about 9,000 of which much the larger part is in East Tennessee.
It is divided among three district synods, as follows: Middle
Tennessee Synod, a district of the General Synod, numbering
910 members; Holston Synod, with a membership of 1,566, and
forming a district under the General Council, and the Tennessee
Synod (independent), with a membership of 8,185. Only a portion
of the last named is included in the State of Tennessee.
The Holston Synod supports a very excellent college at Mosheim,
in Greene County. It was first organized in 1869, and after
a suspension of several years was reopened in 1884.
History of the Jewish
Church
The oldest Jewish congregation in Tennessee
is the "Children
of Israel," organized in Memphis in 1852. In October 1851,
a benevolent society was organized in Nashville at the house
of Isaac Cershon, with Henry Harris as president. A room
was rented for a synagogue on North Market Street, near the
Louisville depot, and divine worship was held, the president
officiating as reader. Two years later the first rabbi, Alexander
Iser, was engaged, and soon after the first Hebrew congregation
in Nashville was formed under the name of Magen David, "Shield
of David." The next year, 1854, the organization was chartered
by the Legislature.
In 1862 the first reform congregation was
organized under the same Benij Jioshren, with Rabbi Labshiner
in charge. After an existence of about six years the two
congregations united, in 1868 under the name of K. K. Ahavah
Shoelem, "Lovers
of Peace." Soon after the Rev. Dr. Isedor Kaleish was elected
as rabbi. The congregation then, as they had done for several
years, worshiped in Douglass Hall, on Market Street, at the
corner of the public square. After three years Dr. Kaleish
was succeeded by Dr. Alexander Rosenspitz, who remained in
charge of the congregation about the same length of time
as his predecessor. In 1876 a lot on Vine Street between
Church and Broad, was purchased, and the erection of the
present handsome temple was begun. It was completed the following
year and dedicated by Dr. Rosenspitz. In 1878 Dr. Rosenspitz
was succeeded by Dr. J. S. Goldamar, a native of Vienna and
a graduate of the university of that city; also a graduate
in philosophy and Jewish theology at the Rabbinical College,
at Preszburg. He is eminent as a Hebrew scholar, and previous
to his coming to Nashville was in charge of a congregation
in Cincinnati for twelve years. He succeeded in introducing
the American ritual and mode of worship in the place of the
old Polish form, in conformity with the free institutions
of this country and the progressive spirit of the age. A
choir was also organized. It is recognized as one of the
best in the city, and renders in an excellent manner the
Jewish sacred music.
The adoption of the new ritual was displeasing to a small
portion of the congregation, who under the name of K. K.
Adath Israel formed a new society by electing I. B. Cohen,
president and L. Rosenheim, vice president. The organization
remains much the same at the present time, and continues
to worship according to the orthodox mode. In 1885, at a
cost of $12,000 a chapel and vault was erected, which is
considered the finest structure of the kind in the United
States.
In 1864 a congregation was organized at Knoxville,
under the name Beth El, or "House of God." The membership
has never been very large, and now embraces about twelve
families, with E. Samuel as president and E. Heart as secretary.
A congregation was organized at Chattanooga in 1867, and
now numbers about twenty-seven families, under the care of
Rabbi Julius Ochs. Dr. M. Bloch is president of the society;
and Joseph Simpson, secretary. The church property is valued
at $5,000. At Murfreesboro a few years ago a congregation
was organized with a membership of sixteen or seventeen families,
but owing to the removal of a large number from the town,
only three or four families remain, and the organization
is not maintained. Columbia and several other towns have
small organizations but no rabbis are employed. Almost every
town in the State has one or more Jewish families; nearly
all of whom upon the most important days especially, New
Year's day and the Day of Atonement, attend services in the
larger cities, as Memphis, Nashville or Chattanooga.
The Jewish Church throughout the State is
in a very prosperous condition, and is pervaded with spirit
of liberalty and toleration in keeping with the age. The
congregation at Nashville under the care of Rabbi Goldamer,
during the past eight years has increased from fifty-four
to 135 families. The Sabbath-school children number 108.
The annual expenses of the church are about $5,500. Its
property is valued at &25,000. The
president of the society is L. J. Loewenthal; the secretary,
M. Wertham. The congregation at Memphis numbers 110 families
under the care of Dr. M. Samfield. Its property is valued
at $40,000. Its annual expenses are $6,500. The Sabbath-school
children number 120. The president of the congregation is
E. Lowenstein; the secretary, Samuel Hirsch
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