1st Baptist Church of Ionia
Compiled by Keith Bailey

     The First Baptist Church of Ionia, Michigan was formed in 1834 and dissolved in 2012. 

Records Available Online:

Church Records:

     The church records are available at the Ionia Community Library.  The records contain Church meeting minutes and Church membership lists.  They also contain articles/records of members by their individual name, which were taken from five (5) Church scrap books kept by Church members over many years.  A complete set of binders, six (6) in total, contain all of the printed records.  The recommended way to view the First Baptist Church records is by utilizing the DVD  and a computer.  The Ionia Community  Library has the information downloaded onto their computer hard drive for patron's use, which can be accessed on a computer located in the genealogy room.     

          BOOK 1    1834 - 1844 an Early Church Meetings

          BOOK 2    1834 - 1874  Early Church Meetings with records from Book 1 repeated

          BOOK 3    1879 - 1894  Alphabetical member list, additions, diminutions, officers and pastors,  and reports to     

                                        the First Baptist Church Association.

          BOOK 4    1897 - 1922  Alphabetical member list, Chronological Register and Record of Changes for the Year,

                                        officers and pastors, and reports to the First Baptist Association.

          BOOK 5    1943 - 1952   Same as Book 4.

          BOOK 6    1952 - 1970   Same as Books 4 and 5.

The books 3,4,5 and 6 are dated using the years that the reports were sent to the First Baptist Church Association contained within each of those books. Reports are missing for the years 1923-1942 but there are entries made in the Chronological Index's, Church pictures and newspaper articles for those years.

Included:

-Under the First Baptist Church heading at the beginning of the DVD are Church bulletins, Church programs, pictures, and newspaper articles sorted by date.

-First Baptist Church histories written over many years by different authors for various Church functions.

-There were five (5) Church scrap books kept by Church members over many years, which include newspaper articles, death and obituary notices, marriage records, and milestones and accomplishments of various members.  Those articles have also been sorted by member name and files created for each mentioned individual which are listed alphabetically.

Compiled by Keith R. Bailey 2013

Last update July 8, 2013