It is interesting that both the Catholics and Anglicans in the eighteenth century had no bishops in America. Without a bishop, one could not be confirmed. Without confirmation, one was not a member of the church. Nor could unconfirmed people receive communion. This all came about because there were no bishops in these churches in America. This put people in a strange position. The Rev. Muhlenberg wrote that he had buried Thomas How, a neighbor, in 1753. Mr. How had been born in England and considered himself a member of the St. James Episcopal Church. Yet Muhlenberg wrote, "...How never received Holy Communion yet he always considered himself a member of the English Church." Probably, he had not been confirmed before he left England.
As this example also shows, church records were not always in the Church one would associate with an individual.
The baptismal information to be recorded by Parish priests in Anglican Church registers was prescribed by law. Passed by Parliament in 1603, the law stated that each Parish priest and chapel was to have a parchment book, wherein the day and the year of every christening were to be written. The infant's name and his parent's names were to be recorded also. Often the birth date was added, but the sponsor's names were omitted. Many of the Anglican records suffered badly during the American Revolution. In Pennsylvania, nine of the ten Anglican ministers left America for England, Canada, or Bermuda. (The one who did not leave became the Chaplain of the Continental Congress, and ten years later he became the first American bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church.)
Many of the members of the Anglican Church were under severe stress during the Revolution. Some left for England or Canada. Probably some of the Anglican records went with them. Without ministers, and with the members under suspicion, many of the Anglican churches were simply dormant during the Revolution. Many of the record books started with the reorganization as an American Church in 1784.
The Moravian Church predates Luther, and it originated in Central Europe. It had perhaps 200,000 members by the time of Luther, but, by the end of the 1600's, it was reduced to fifteen Parishes. It was renewed in the mid-eighteenth century and incorporated some of the original ideas, plus the ideas of Count Zinzendorf. They regarded baptism as essential, but not a complete salvation. Count Zinzendorf rejected the idea that unbaptized children were doomed. Still, they baptized infants soon after birth. Sometimes the Brothers and Sisters were awakened at night to attend the baptism of infants born at night, but this policy was abandoned. Still, they waited at most a few days until the next church service. Five sponsors (witnesses) were common. They did a lot of work with Native Americans (adults), and a special form of baptism was used for them. The Moravians discouraged private baptisms, which the Catholics and Lutherans allowed them. Confirmation was required to participate in the Communion service.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.