Genealogy - What You Need to Know

The staff of the Pitts Theology Library are happy to assist genealogists in their quest for information regarding ancestors; however, we cannot conduct in-depth genealogical research. It should be noted, however, that genealogy is not a priority mission for the Pitts Theology Library, and the collections are not built for this purpose. We are happy to make our resources available to those who are able to search archival material and published resources for themselves. A brochure on "Methodist Family History Resources in the Pitts Theology Library" is available for all family history researchers who visit the library. A careful study of this brochure and the finding aids noted on this website may be useful in determining whether the library maintains resources that will be beneficial to your research.

If you cannot visit the library

For a fee of $25 per name, the archives staff will conduct a general search of basic resources in the collection and advise on the likelihood of further information. Requests of this nature may be submitted by U.S. Mail, using a Genealogy Research Request Form.

What we have and do not have

The Pitts Theology Library is the repository for the records of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church (U.S.). If you are seeking information on a Methodist church or individual located in a state other than Georgia, please contact:

The General Commission on Archives and History
The United Methodist Church
P.O. Box 127, 36 Madison Avenue, Madison NJ 07940
Phone: (973) 408-3189
FAX: (973) 408-3909

In 1867 the Georgia Conference divided into the North and South Georgia Conferences. The records of the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church (U.S.) are maintained at Arthur J. Moore Methodist Museum, Box 20407, St. Simons Island, GA 31522, (912) 638-4050.

Prior to 1830, Georgia was part of the South Carolina Conference. The records of the South Carolina Conference are housed at Archives, The Sandor Teszler Library, Wofford College, 429 North Church Street, Spartanburg, SC 29303-3663; (864) 597-4309. The Archives at the Sandor Teszler Library also maintain an on-line Methodist Obituary Archive that indexes obituaries in the Southern Christian Advocate.

Methodist records that are not maintained by the Conference archives:

Ordination records
Marriage records
Baptismal records
Death records
Cemetery records

Membership records are maintained by each individual church. The records of an active church usually remain with the church. The records of closed churches are sometimes transferred to the Pitts Theology Library. For a list of the churches for which we have records, go to the Subject Guide to our archival collections. For a list of the churches about which we have some historical information, go to the finding aid to our collection of local church histories. Information may be available in some of the published resources noted in the "Methodist Family History Resources" brochure. Published resources may be available through your local library via Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

We have no index that identifies Methodist churches in North Georgia by county or town. If you do not know the name of the church with which your ancestor was affiliated, we have no easy way of providing this information.