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Archiver > METHODIST > 2003-05 > 1053021379


From:
Subject: RE: Methodist ancestors
Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 17:56:19 GMT


--- Elizabeth Whitaker <> wrote:

At 12:18 AM 5/15/2003 +0000, wrote:
>You can at least find out where he was when by going to the Methodist
>National Archives at
>
>www.gcah.org/
>
>There you will find a list of current Annual Conferences (a geographical
>designation) in the United Methodist Church, with a street or email
>address for the archivist. Sometimes the boundaries of the Annual
>Conferences have changed (usually they've gotten smaller) but the
>archivists can tell you that if you tell them the detail you've given
>here. They can tell you exactly where Rev. Lane was appointed while he
>was in that Conference, and the dates, at bare minimum. They may be able
>to tell you more. I was able to birth and death dates, but I don't think
>places. Not parents or children. They might charge for much beyond this,
>but if you can do it via email, maybe not. I have found all archivists
>extremely helpful. They appear glad that someone else is interested in
>the material they so carefully take care of.

You can also get to the archives' contact info by going to
http://www.umc.org. Conference archives' material can vary: if you can
get a copy of your ancestor's obituary, there usually won't be anything
about the different conferences or places your
ancestor served, or much about their family, other than maybe a wife's
first name.

As in the case of requesting information from any sort of archives, the
more information you can give, the more likely it is
that the archives will be able to locate your ancestor. In the case of
Methodist clergy -- it does seem to run in families,
and, in some 1800s families, especially in the South (so it seems), it
wasn't unusual for more than one grandson to
be named after a grandfather.

Elizabeth Whitaker
Easley, South Carolina
greatgranddaughter of the Rev. George Robert Whitaker (1855-1935),
greatgreatgranddaughter of lay minister David L. Whitaker (1823-1906)
greatgreatgreatgranddaughter of class leader Hugh Hardy Whitaker (ca.
1765-1849)


I never thought to go through the umc site. The archive site has obituaries on all who were ministers when they retired. They didn't have mine, because he left the Methodist church. So it looks like both sites should be checked, because they might have different info.

Doris

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