Circuit Book of 1850 Includes McKinney Methodist Episcopal Church
Brenda Kellow
December 4, 2011
It is always good to attend lectures and network with attendees. Speaker Kelvin Myers of the Dallas Library, speaker for the Genealogy Friends Workshop told me of a recent acquisition by the Texas Dallas Collection at the Dallas Public Library. They acquired the Circuit Book for the Dallas Circuit of 1850. The contents are for this area not just for Dallas. The Dallas Circuit was part of the East Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
One page he gave me included the names of the McKinney Methodist Class of November 2, 1850. Some of the names on the page are Andrew and Mary May, the Mariah Martin family, Virginia White, Samuel and Rachel Bogart, John Lovejoy Sr., Francis Lovejoy, Francis B. Moore, Andrew Moore, Sarah E. Moore, Wiley Ellis and Nancy Coleman to name only a few.
Kelvin transcribed the two inscriptions at the front of the book.
“Circuit Book for Dallas Circuit, in which all the names [of the] members belonging to the Circuit [shall] be recorded annually, show all the changes [that] take place from year to year. Record [all] the names of all the children baptized each [year] so as to make a class exhibit of all the successor. (sic)”
“Church Book Dallas Circuit East Texas Conference, To record every members name every year any that die or move make a note of same, and keep a regular record of all the members. Write a new [list] every year and leave them for your successor. Andrew Cummings.”
This is a great source to document family who moved into McKinney and attended the Methodist Church there after the 1850 census was taken. I would not be surprised to find several of my Collin County Methodists listed in that register.
BUREAU OF REFUGEES, FREEDMEN, AND ABANDONED LANDS OF TEXAS, 1865-1869: Cheryl Smith of the Plano Genealogy Library announced that 78 reels of microfilm on the Records for Texas Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1890, are now in the library. Her blog says the film includes the records of the assistant commissioner for the state of Texas including records of the Field Officers, 1865-70; Superintendent of Education, 1865-1870. More about this general collection is on the National Archive site, www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/freedmens-bureau/. You can find information on each of these individual records on the following Internet links. www.archives.gov/research/microfilm/m821.pdf, www.archives.gov/research/microfilm/m1912.pdf and at www.archives.gov/research/microfilm/m822.pdf.
MEXICAN WAR SERVICE RECORDS, 1845-1848: Fold3.com, previously Footnote.com, continues adding new military service records. The Mexican War determined the southwest border of the United States, as we know it today. It began in 1845 with Texas annexation and ended on February 2, 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The territory gained by this became the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Texas and Colorado, with portions contributing to Wyoming and Kansas.
The Mexican War Service Records has information about battles, troop movements, officers and soldiers. Although Texas had a standing army at the time, the majority of men fighting in this war were volunteers from Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and the Mormon Battalion. Fold 3 has five sets of records on 44 units. This includes muster rolls, unit information and company locations.
Compiled service records consist of a jacket-envelope for each soldier labeled with his name, rank and unit. The card abstracts were created from original muster rolls, payrolls, hospital rolls and other regimental information. Included are images of particular soldiers. There is a cross-reference of individual soldiers appearing in the record with more than one spelling.
The Mexican War records are important for such a geographic specific conflict. www.fold3.com.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].