Geneology Requests

We receive many requests from geneology researcher who come across a United Brethren references, such as:

• An ancestor who was a United Brethren minister.
• A marriage certificate from a United Brethren church.

Since we are the only denomination with "United Brethren" in the name, they contact us to see if we can help track down further information.

The United Brethren Historical Society, located at Huntington University, contains all of our historical records. For a fee, they can conduct geneology research for you.

But chances are, you really need to check the United Methodist archives, located on the campus of Drew University in Madison, N. J.

Most geneology requests don't involve the current United Brethren in Christ denomination. Our group descends from maybe 15,000 people who, in 1889, broke away from a denomination of over 250,000 people. In the process, we lost almost all church properties and, basically, started over.

Until the 1940s, two denominations used the same "Church of the United Brethren in Christ" name. The other (much larger) group, in 1946, became the Evangelical United Brethren Church, and in 1968 merged into what is now the United Methodist Church. We are the only group still using the "United Brethren" label, which is why so many people come to us when they discover an ancestor attached to that label. But usually, their ancestor was part of the other group.

Here are three United Methodist Church links that might be helpful.

Researching Your United Methodist Ancestors.
Archives Research Request Form
Historical Society of the United Methodist Church