In 1931, the Tarrytown Historical Society transcribed and indexed the fragile volume called the “First English Record Book” which was actually the Second Record Book of the Dutch Reformed Church in Sleepy Hollow (what would become Tarrytown, New York), the first having been fully in Dutch. Their transcription includes a list of memberships from 1785-1817, 351 marriage records from 1787-1836, and 1338 baptisms from 1785-1836.
The first book, written in Dutch, was translated and published in 1901 by the Reverend David Cole, D.D., under the title First Record Book of the “Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow”. That volume contains entries of membership, baptisms, and marriages extending from 1697 through the Revolution (1785). Click on the title of the book above to access that volume.
The succeeding record book, written in English soon after the close of the war, continued the record for more than fifty years. This manuscript had long been difficult to read, the ink faded and the handwriting uncertain, when in 1931 the Tarrytown Historical Society undertook its transcription and indexing, the society having previously become custodian of this fragile volume. The typed and indexed copy was issued that year as the Society’s principal publication. The only entries omitted from publication were a few memoranda of elders’ meetings relating to private affairs of members, judged to be without general historical value. Judged wrong in my genealogical opinion.
First English record book of the Dutch Reformed Church in Sleepy Hollow
Table of Contents
- Memberships 1785-1817, page 5
- Marriages 1787-1836, page 11
- Baptisms 1785-1836, page 20
- Alphabetical Index of Church Members, page 93
- Alphabetical Index of Marriages – Men’s names, page 99
- Alphabetical Index of Marriages – Wives’ names, page 103
- Alphabetical Index to Baptisms, page 107
Source
Bacon, Edgar Mayhew, First English record book of the Dutch Reformed Church in Sleepy Hollow, Tarrytown, NY : Tarrytown Historical Society, 1931.