Source Information

Lineages, Inc., comp.. York County, Pennsylvania, 1764-1936: Reformed Congregation of St. Paul's/Wolf's Church [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.
Original data: Records transcribed from Family History Library copies of church records for this locality. For more information, see the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) for FHL #Q974.841 K2hs vol. 1.

About York County, Pennsylvania, 1764-1936: Reformed Congregation of St. Paul's/Wolf's Church

West Manchester Township lies in the central area of York County, Pennsylvania, and this database contains the records from the Reformed St. Paul's or Wolf's Congregation in the township. Researchers may find records of baptisms, marriages, and burials for individuals who lived in the area between 1764 through 1936. For those interested in this southern Pennsylvania township, this will be a helpful database.

Church records rank among the very best genealogical records available worldwide, but they are one of the most under-used sources in American genealogy. Until the advent of vital statistics in the United States—a very late development in most states—church records were the primary source of birth, marriage, and death information. The sheer number of denominations and affiliate churches has made identifying and locating each one's records a time-consuming ordeal for most genealogists. Church records also vary a great deal in content and emphasis according to the basic theology of the religious group that created them.

Early immigrants from England, Scotland, and other European countries brought their religious beliefs, institutions, and customs with them, including the keeping of church books in which to record births, baptisms, confirmations, marriages, communion lists, deaths, and burials. Lutheran and Reformed Church records in Pennsylvania rank among the very best church records available.