Guide to Historical Records and Genealogical Resources of Nantucket, Massachusetts
Churches
The following is not a complete list of all the churches on the island but only those that have historical records. All records, unless otherwise noted, are at the Nantucket Historical Association. Records are described briefly as detailed inventories of many church records exist in the NHA. Most churches are open year-round for worship.
African
Meeting House
Museum of Afro-American History
29 York Street; P.O. Box 2637
Nantucket, Massachusetts 02554
508/228-2933.
The African Meeting House was constructed in the 1820s to serve the African Baptist Congregation as a school and meeting house, and throughout the years, has hosted a wide variety of events from antislavery meetings and community dinners to the administering of small pox vaccinations. The exact date of its construction is not certain, however, the land for the school was legally obtained on March 25, 1825, when Jeffrey Summons, a successful black laborer, sold the land and a standing structure to the Trustees of the African School. (Nantucket Town Records, Book 20: 208) The area surrounding the Meeting House was established as a black community by the second quarter of the 18th century, and like similar neighborhoods in other towns, became known as Newtown and New Guinea. The building served as the center of this community until 1911 when the building was boarded up. In 1989 the Museum of Afro-American History in Boston and Nantucket purchased the building. With the support of the Friends of the African Meeting House on Nantucket, the Museum completed a meticulous restoration, with a grand reopening in 1999. Today, the Museum presents cultural programs and interpretive exhibits on the history of African Americans on Nantucket, operates the Black Heritage Trail® and makes the African Meeting House available for special events.
Few original documents pertaining to the church exist. Early handwritten town records including land ownership records, minute book, court records, and cemetery documents are located at the town clerk's office. Photocopy of minute book (1848-1858) located at the Nantucket Historical Association Research Library (MS 84, folder 29).
First
Baptist Church
1 Summer Street; Mail to 4 Trotter's Lane, Nantucket,
MA 02554
508/228-4930; 228-5738
The First Baptist Church, which was originally built as the Baptist Meeting House, was designed by Frederick Coleman Brown and completed in 1840. A tower was added in 1841 and rebuilt in 1962 without the steeple. The current steeple was erected in 2000. The common designation, "Summer Street Church," was added in 2000. Records span the years 1839 to 1981 and include minutes, accounts, financial records, membership lists, service programs, articles of faith, and correspondence. Annual reports from 1981 to 1997 are held at the church.
First
Congregational Church
62 Centre Street, P.O. Box 866, Nantucket, MA 02554
508/228-0950
The Congregationalists erected the first church building on Nantucket in 1711. The "Old North Vestry" was situated out of town and moved to its present site in 1765. In 1809 the church split into separate congregations. The new (South Church) called itself the Second Congregational Meeting House Society. In 1834 the vestry was relocated at the rear of the church lot to make room for a larger meeting house, the present structure. The building's original steeple rose to a height of 123 feet above the tower but was later declared unsafe and removed. In 1968 a thirty-three foot steeple was placed atop a newly built tower. Records for the First Congregational Church span the years 1761 to 1998. The records include minutes, accounts, financial reports, tax records, sermons, membership lists, service programs, pew plans, deeds of pew, as well as records for church organizations, most notably the Ladies Union Circle, a church service group, the oldest such group in the United States.
Siasconset
Union Chapel
18 New Street, Box 201, Siasconset, Nantucket MA
02554
508/257-6616
The Siasconset Union Chapel was incorporated in 1882. Since the completion of the building in 1883 a Union Service for all denominations has been held in the chapel. Roman Catholics began to have separate services in 1887. In 1922 African American people of Siasconset were allowed to use the chapel for services on Sunday evening (services continued until 1932 when it is assumed that the two groups decided to worship together). In 1951 the chapel employed a regular minister. The NHA library holds minutes, which span the years 1882-1954 and 1979-1996; treasurers' reports, which span the years 1886-1967; programs of services; and plans showing architectural details of the chapel. The chapel is open only during the summer.
Society
of Friends-Quaker Meeting House
7 Fair St.; Secretary, Lyn Danforth, 121 Main St.,
Nantucket, MA 02554
In 1701 Mary Coffin Starbuck became interested in the faith of the Quakers (also referred to as the Society of Friends) and it was in her home that early meetings took place. Meetings began in 1704 and monthly meetings for business began in 1708. A "Yearly Meeting for Worship" was held in Nantucket from 1711 to 1829. In the years after 1708 the Meeting outgrew a series of meeting houses, the largest being the Great Meeting House at the corner of Pleasant and Main streets. Quakerism declined in the nineteenth century as a result of a number of divisions, the Nantucket Meeting breaking into three different sects: the Hicksite, the Guerneyite, and the Wilburite. Each group held separate meetings. Eventually regular meetings on the island ceased.
The Quaker (Friends) Meeting House on Fair Street was erected circa 1838 and originally served as a Friends School for the Wilburite sect. In 1864 the building was converted into a meeting house. The meeting house was purchased from the Friends in 1894 and served as the NHA's first museum. Summer meetings revived in 1938 and winter meetings in 1970. These meetings have been held in the meeting house on Fair Street.
Quaker records span the years 1708 to 1960 and include men's and women's minutes (before about 1890, most meetings were held separately for men and women); joint minutes (after 1890 most meetings met jointly); memberships; removals and denials; marriages, births, and deaths; ministers and elders; treasurer's accounts; and loose papers. More detailed descriptions of the Quaker faith, the administrative structure of the Society of Friends, and their records exist in the NHA library (some of the records are on microfilm). A small collection of more contemporary Quaker records is held by the Friends' secretary, Lyn Danforth. These records include visitors books, photographs, newsclippings, and minutes, and span the years 1970 to 1998. When examining Quaker records it is important to keep in mind that between 1708 and 1752 the first month of the year was March, not January. In 1752 the Quakers moved from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. Friends did not approve of the traditional use of "pagan" names (derived from Norse mythology) for days and months and preferred the use of such terms as "First Month" and "First Day."
The
Church of St. Mary-Our Lady of the Isle
Box 1168, Nantucket, MA 02554-1168
508/228-4852
St. Mary's Church was built in 1897. Prior to the building of the church Roman Catholic services were held in the old town hall. In 1903 a Catholic parish was permanently established. Church records are preserved in the rectory but are not available for use by the public.
St.
Paul's Episcopal Church
16 Fair Street, Box 278, Nantucket, MA 02554 508/228-0916
Trinity Church was erected in 1839 on Broad Street. The building was destroyed in the fire of 1846 and was rebuilt on Fair Street, where it remained until 1901. The existing St. Paul's building was erected in 1902 on the same site. The church's earliest records are held at the Diocesan Library and Archives in Boston. Records for Trinity Church include parish registers (1841-1845), a service register (1842-1846), and pew deeds (1840-1845). Records for St. Paul's include parish registers from 1846 to 1883; minutes of the Episcopal Society, the wardens and vestry, and the annual meeting, from 1846 to 1952, with gaps; minutes of the Parish (Ladies) Guild from 1894 to 1920, with gaps; records of the Altar Guild from 1915 to 1976; a treasurer's journal from 1940 to 1954; constitution and bylaws for 1956-1957; and miscellaneous records such as leaflets, announcements, and letters to the congregation from 1959 to 1963. Records held at the church span from 1953 to the present day and include vestry minutes, annual reports, financial records, various committee reports, baptism and confirmation certificates, pledge cards, service leaflets, newsletters, notebooks, photographs, and oral histories. Records for the Candlelight Group, a social and outreach group for women that existed from 1903 and into the 1980s, are presently missing.
Unitarian
Universalist Church
P.O. Box 1023, Nantucket MA, 02554
508/228-5466
In 1809 the meeting house was built and the Second Congregational Meeting House Society incorporated. Its bell was brought from Lisbon, Portugal, in 1812. The town clock was placed in the tower in 1823. In 1837 the Second Congregational Meeting House (also known as the South Church) officially became Unitarian. Two volumes of church records extending from 1810 to 1908 and from 1940 to 1998 list church members, births, deaths, marriages, and baptisms. Accounts and church business are also recorded in these volumes. Included is the deed for the purchase of the church land in 1808. Financial records, accounts, minutes for trustees and annual meetings exist, though incompletely, from after the Great Fire of 1846 to the present. These records are located at the church.
United
Methodist Church
Two Centre Street, P.O. Box 264, Nantucket, MA 02554
508/228-1882
The United Methodist Church was erected in 1823. Its Ionic portico was added in 1840. Restoration of the building began in 1995. Records span the years from 1815 to 1974 and include minutes; programs of services; ministers, members, and owners of pews; marriages, deaths, and baptisms; guest books; and correspondence. More recent records are in private hands but were unable to be examined in time for the guide's printing.