York County, Pennsylvania, 1764-1800: Strayer's (Salem) Reformed Church

Located in Dover Township in York County, Pennsylvania, Strayer's Reformed Church, also called Salem Church, was organized in 1757. Both Lutheran and Reformed congregations once met in the building. The Lutheran church register dates from 1762, and the Reformed church register dates from 1764. The late William J. Hinke originally translated the Reformed records from German to English in 1939, and his manuscript has been microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah. The records in this database span the years 1764-1800 and include the names of more than 5,900 individuals. Records for the years 1800-1921 will be published in a subsequent Ancestry.com database. For researchers of German immigrant ancestors who settled in Pennsylvania, this database can provide valuable vital statistics not available in other records.

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.