Your Guide to Finding Quaker Ancestors

(The Religious Society of Friends)

Consider yourself fortunate if you discover ancestors who were members of the Religious Society of Friends. They kept very good records, many of which have been extracted and published.

 

General Guides * Finding and Using Quaker records * Transcripts & Abstracts * Record Repositories * Other Websites & Links*

General Guides to Researching Quaker Ancestors:

Berry book cover

Our Quaker Ancestors: Finding Them in Quaker Records (find in a library)
by Ellen Berry and David Berry

If you have ancestors who were members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), you may want to spring for this book. It costs under $20 and only covers the United States, but it serves as a good, basic reference to research. N.B. It was published in 1987, so will not contain references to the internet. You can buy if from GPC. I recommend it.

Finding and Using Quaker Records

The Religious Society of Friends kept excellent records of the many meetings. Of most importance to the genealogist are the records of the monthly meetings. You must both find the records and learn to use them.

These articles can help you get started:

And these guides can give you a more in-depth understanding

Most records of genealogical significance are kept by the Monthly Meetings, so you must find the meeting that has the records you seek.

When searching for Quaker records in the Family History Library catalog, do a place search of country or state as well as county or town. They will be found under church records. Search also under the subjects Quakers and Society of Friends.

Published transcripts and abstracts: (Hinshaw and Heiss)

Major Quaker Record Repositories in the United States:

Very Helpful Websites

Find more online at Cyndi's List : Quaker

 

Return to Bobbie's Genealogy Classroom
This page last updated April 29, 2016