Hi all. This is a bit of a shot in the dark, but I see the enthusiam with which this community is engaged so I figure it's worth a try!
I am working on my Coulter family who were settled in St. Paul, Minnesota by 1849. They were in New Brunswick, Canda during the 1840s. I'm unsure when they emigrated but think early 1840s, maybe late 1830s. I have one record that indicates they came from Fermanagh. I have suggestions that the parents were William Coulter and Mary Graham, and Magheraculmoney is one parish in which Coulter and Graham surnames overlap in Griffith's. They were protestant, and the most frequent denomination I see in their records is Methodist/Wesleyan.
William Coulter and Mary Graham would have been born ca. late 1790s. She died in St. Paul in 1869 but I'm not sure where he died. My gg grandfather is I believe one of their children-- Johnston Coulter. To me this given name is unusual enough that it may be a family name of a connected family.
Other Coulters in this family--Charles, William, George, Mary, Anna, Lucinda, Johnston, Mary Ann.
Thanks in advance for any tips or insights (or long lost cousins who come forward!)
Tom
Tom Clark
Friday 19th Jun 2020, 04:24PMMessage Board Replies
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Methodism took a lot longer to become established in Ireland as a separate denomination than in England. In Ireland there was considerable resistance to separating from the Church of Ireland. It was 1815 before Methodists started to conduct their own baptisms. However because of continuing loyalty and other factors, many continued to use the Church of Ireland for sacraments for years after this and it was 1871 before all Methodists routinely performed their own baptisms.
For marriages, the earliest ceremonies conducted by a Methodist Minister in Ireland that I am aware of, date from 1835 (Belfast Donegall Square, the first Methodist church in Ireland). However in the mid 1800s there were only a few Methodist Ministers in Ireland (Methodism relied heavily on lay preachers). So the shortage of Ministers contributed to the continuing practice of marrying in the Church of Ireland. In addition, in the early years, many Methodist Meeting Houses were not licensed for marriages so that too contributed to couples marrying in the Church of Ireland.
So to summarise, you are unlikely to find many Methodist baptisms before 1820. Few marriages before the 1840s and only a handful for many years after that. If there are no Methodist records in the location you are interested in, I would search the Church of Ireland instead, as that’s the most likely place to find the relevant event.
Not many Methodist Meeting Houses have graveyards and so they may be buried in public or Church of Ireland graveyards (which are open to all denominations).
Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Friday 19th Jun 2020, 07:54PM -
Thank you, Elwyn! This is helpful. I figured with that many kids, baptism records should be helpful.
Tom
Tom Clark
Friday 19th Jun 2020, 08:33PM