INVENTORY OF THE CHURCH ARCHIVES OF DELAWARE 6- f/;e HISTORICAL RECORDS SURVEY \i \¥' ~ PRELIMINARY DRAFT NOW BEING '· . CHECKED FOR FINAL ACCURACY ~ MARCH 1940 . :. WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION DIVISION OF PROFESSIONAL AND SERVICE PROJECTS OLD POST OFFICE BLDG-. WILMINGTON, DELAWARE \ TAEILE OF CONTENTS Section Page I. Rei ig ion in Delaware -----------------------------------------------------------------­ 3 II. Explanatory Notes --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 Ill. Wilmington Council of Churches --------------------------------------------------- 10 IV. Adventist, Seventh Day --------------------------------------------------------------- 11 V. American Rescue Workers ----------------------------------------------------------- 13 VI. Assemblies of God --------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 VII. Eiaptist ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 Primitive Northern German Northern (Colored) Unaffiliated (Colored) VIII. El rethe rn (Dun ka rd s) ------------------------------------------------------------------­ 33 Conservative Progressive IX. Catholic, Roman ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 34 Wilmington Diocese Ukranian Diocese X. Christian and Missionary A Ilia nee -------------------------------------------------­ 57 XI. Church of Christ, Scientist-----------------------------------------------------------­ 58 XII. Church of God in Christ--------------------------------------------------------------­ 59 XIII. Church of the Nazarene--------------------------------------------------------------­ 60 XIV. Gong reg atio na I and Christian -------------------------------------------------------- 62 XV. Disci pies of Christ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 63 XVI. Eastern Orthodox ---------------------------------------------------------------r---1___ _ 64 1 XVII. F ri e nd s ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------1---­ 66 XVIII. Ho Ii n e ss ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 82 Pilgrim Unaffiliated XIX. Jewish -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 85 Orthodox Reformed Unaffiliated Conservative XX. Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) ----------------------------------------------------------- 90 XXI. Lutheran ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 91 Early churches Evangelica United XXII. Mennonite ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 99 Conservative Old Order Amish XXIII. Methodist Episcopal --------------------------------------------------------------------- 102 Wilmington Conference Delaware Conference (Colored) African Union American (Colored) Reformed Union American (Colored) African, Zion Colored XXVI. INDEXES Entries herein have been arranged alphabetically by names of the denominations to which they pertain and chronologically under each denomination. ' The following indexes are arranged. i. Alphabetically by names of churches or other religious organizations. ii. Alphabetically by names of towns where located. iii. Chronologically by dates of organization. Space requirements have necessitated abbreviating some demoninational names, these being as follows: Adventist Advent. American Rescue Workers Am.R.W. Assemblies of God Assem. Of G. Christian and Missionary Alliance Chr. & Miss. All. - Church of Christ, Scientist Chr.Sci. Chruch of God in Christ Ch.ofG.inC. Church of Nazarene Ch. Of Naz. Conareaational and Christian Cona. Disciples of Christ ··- . Disc.ofC. Eastern Orthodox E.Ortho. Latter Day Saints, Church of Jesus Christ Mormon Methodist EPiscopal ME ~ri_c:an ME AME African ME Zion AMEZ Union American ME UAME Reformed Union American ME RUAME Colored ME CME Methodist Protestant MP African Union MP AUMP Weslevan Methodist Wes. M. Pentecostal Pentecos. Presbvterian Presby. Protestant EPiscoPal PE Reformed Church in America Ref.Ch. Reformed Episcopai Ref.Ep. Salvation Ar~ Sai.Armv Spiritualist Spirit. Swedenboraian Swedbora. Unitarian Unitar. Undemoninational Undemon. i. Alphabetical Index by Church Names *Names marked with an astrisk are obsolete, most of threse organizations having since incorporated under a new name. The latter name will, of course, be found in the heading of any such entry. Name Denomination Location Dates Entry Nos. TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page XXIV. Methodist Protestant ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 169 African Union First Colored Maryland Conference XXV. Methodist, Wesleyan ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 182 XXVI. Pentecostal ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 183 Pentecostal Assemblies Mount Sinai Holy Church Unaffiliated XXVII. Presbyterian -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 186 Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. United Presbyterian Church of N.A. Presbyterian Church of America Unaffiliated XXVIII. Protestant Episcopal --------------------------------------------------------------------- 214 XXIX. Reformed Church in America ---------------------------------------------------------- 240 XXX. Reformed Ep i scopa I ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 4 2 XXXI. Salvation Army ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 244 XXXII. Spiritualist ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 245 Christian National Universal Hagar XXXIII. Sweden borg ian --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24 7 XXX IV. U nita ria n ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2 48 XXXV. Volunteers of America ------------------------------------------------------------------- 249 XXXVI. Undenominational and other demonimnations ----------------------------------- 250 XXXVII. Indexes------------------------------------------------- i. Alphabetical ii. Geographical iii. Chronological Appendixes ------------------------------------------ a. Obscure incorporation and deeds records b. Foreign Religious Corporations, incorporated in Delaware RELIGION IN DELAWARE In spite of numerous changes of government during the period of early settlement, freedom of worship was never seriously threatened within the territory that forms the State of Delaware. The first Christian religious services on this soil were probably informal ceremonies of the (Dutch) Reformed Church conducted in the whaling colony (Swanendael) planted at the site of the Lewes in 1631. It had been organized by the Dutch navigator, David Petersen de Vries of Hoorn for the company of Dutch patrons. Similar services may have been held on the bay at Paradise Point where legend says the Swedes first landed on their way up the Delaware in the spring of 1638, and were undoubtedly held at the site of Wilmington where they made final landing. The leader of the expedition, Peter Minuit, of French Waloon extraction was a man of deep religious feeling who had been either a deacon of the Dutch or an elder of the French Protestant church at Wesel, in the Duchy of Cleves, his home town on the Rhine, and had been an elder of the Dutch Reformed church in Amsterdam, while he was governor of New Netherland. Because he was now in Swedish service and at least a part of his soldiers were Swedes, ceremonies of the Swedish Lutheran Church must also have been conducted. With the arrival of the second expedition the Swedish Lutheran Church was firmly established on the Delaware. Although the companies which promoted the colonizing of New Sweden were chiefly commercial in purpose, opportunity for the spread of the Gospel had been among the original considerations that appealed to leaders in Sweden. When the Swedes surrendered to the Dutch in 1655, the terms concluded between Governor Johan Rising and Director-General Peter Stuyvesant of New Netherland included permission to continue worship according to their own faith. And this promise was kept, although the Swedish Lutherans in New Amsterdam during the same period suffered from the persecution of Stuyvesant. At the time of the Dutch conquest, a reader of the Dutch Reformed faith was appointed to serve at Fort Casimir (New Castls) and a church was organized in that settlement then called New Amstel, in a657, after the region about the fort had come into possession of the city of Amsterdam. That year, a house on the southeast side of the Market Place was made into a small wooden church. Upon surrender of the Delaware River territory to the English Duke of York in 1664, the articles of capitulation provided for liberty of conscience in church discipline, as formerly. The Dutch church at New Castle may have continued well into the last decade of the cnetury, but dwindled in importance as the population became predominantly English. Although no extant records are available the presumption would be that it became defunct, but a creedal similarity and the experiences undergone by other Dutch Reformed churches would indicate that the congregation might have formed the nucleus for a later Presbyterian church. 4 The Swedish church at Fort Christina (Wilmington) lost importance when the capital of New Sweden was moved up the river by Governor Johan Pritz in 1643. But