In the article "The Joys and Frustrations of Researching Indiana Baptist Records" in the Fall 2002 issue (Vol. 42, no. 3) of THE HOOSIER GENEALOGIST, I discuss how understanding Baptist distinctives affect church records and how to understand and locate these records.

Among the distinctives, the varieties of Baptists is presented:

"Baptist church records also vary due to the plethora of Baptist sub-groups. In his 1995 study, Albert W. Wardin lists fifty-four Baptist subdenominations in the United States. Twenty-nine of them are represented in Indiana. Due to the small number and late appearance in Indiana of most of these groups, genealogists with Hoosier Baptist ancestors need only to have a basic familiarity with only eight groups." (pages 38-39)

On pages 140-142, the article discusses briefly the American (or Northern), African-American, Primitive, Two-Seed Primitive, Progressive Primitive, General, Free Will, and Separate Baptists.

While this does not hold true for the whole country (major exceptions being the Southern, Seventh-Day, and ethnic Baptists groups), principles presented can be useful to genealogists researching nineteenth-century Baptists. Copies can be purchased from the Indiana Historical Society: http://www.indianahistory.org

Pastor Tim.