Gloria Dei Church, Philadelphia, PA

Metadata

Title

Gloria Dei Church, Philadelphia, PA

Digital Identifier

Gloria Dei Church, Philadelphia, PA

Description

In the 17th century Swedish settlers landed on the banks of the Delaware River establishing churches in Wilmington, Tinicum and by the mid-17th century in Wicaco outside of what would become Philadelphia. That latter church, Gloria Dei, is Pennsylvania’s oldest congregation. The existing church was built between 1698 and 1700 and originally served a Swedish Lutheran congregation. The church today is part of the Episcopal Diocese and a national historic site. Archival records scanned as part of this project include vestry minutes, registers, financial, correspondence between the original Swedish parishes and the churches in Philadelphia, Delaware and New Jersey as well as their "miscellaneous records."

Selected Items from the Collection

Archivum Americanum contains summaries, extracts and copies of correspondence between the archbishop and consistory of Upsal in Sweden and the missionaries sent to Swedish parishes along the Delaware river, including churches in Pennsylvania,…

Record of funerals performed by Gloria Dei Church from 1822 to 1927. Entries are listed by year, with members, members' children, strangers, and strangers' children listed separately. Each entry contains the date of the funeral, name of the deceased,…

Baptisms recorded by Nicholas Collin, Director of the Swedish Churches in Pennsylvania, from 1804 to 1878. Each entry includes the date of baptism, name of the person baptized, his or her date of birth, parents' names, and other information such as…

Record of funerals performed by Gloria Dei Church from 1803 to 1822. Entries are listed by year, with members, members' children, strangers, and strangers' children listed separately. Each entry contains the date of the funeral, name of the deceased,…

Record of weddings performed by Gloria Dei Church from 1791 to 1822. Entries are listed chronologically and include the date of the wedding, names of bride and groom, and their town or county of residence.

Record of weddings performed by Gloria Dei Church from 1793 to 1799. Entries are listed chronologically, in three different sections, 1793 to 1795, 1795-1796, and 1796-1799. There is an alphabetical index at the end of each section.

Each entry…

Record of weddings performed by Gloria Dei Church from 1799 to 1856. Entries are listed chronologically, and page numbering starts over after October 1811.

Early entries span two pages and include the date of the wedding, the names of the bride and…

Record of marriages, baptisms and burials performed by Gloria Dei Church from 1750 to 1789. According to the title page, this text was "transcribed from the original records."

Marriages are listed first, ordered chronologically and include the name…

Bound manuscript containing many accounts of Swedish settlement along the Delaware River from the early 17th century to the mid-late 18th century. These accounts come from various sources, including several ministers sent to Gloria Dei by the King or…

Framed parchment signed by William Penn, Governor of Pennsylvania, granting citizenship to Reverend Andreas (Andrew) Rudman in 1701. Rudman was one of the earliest pastors at Gloria Dei, and oversaw the construction of the church beginning in 1698.

Records of baptisms, burials and marriages conducted by Gloria Dei from 1789 to 1803.

Entries for baptisms are listed chronologically, and include the name of the person baptized, their date of birth, parents' names, and sometimes godparents' names.…

Record of baptisms, burials and marriages performed by Gloria Dei from 1750 to 1789. Entries are not in strict order, and page numbering starts over several times. Records look to be batched by the pastor performing the ceremony as well as by date,…

Record of the inscriptions on tombstones in the Gloria Dei Church Yard. Inscriptions include the deceased individual's name, dates of birth and death, and other information such as place of birth, occupation, names of family members, and epitaphs.…

Meeting minutes of the vestry of the United Swedish Lutheran Churches of Wicaco (Gloria Dei), Kingsessing and Upper Merion. The book begins with a partial index of contents, then the charter of incorporation for the three churches. Meeting minutes…

A day book is used to record each day's financial transactions, for later transfer into a formal ledger. This day book records payments made both by and to Gloria Dei Church from 1811 to 1817. Transactions include ground rents and taxes, salaries for…

Record of ground rents due to Gloria Dei church from 1799 to 1806, kept by Joseph Marsh. Entries are listed by date and include renters' name, amount of rent for given length of time, and due date.

Note: The last two pages of this volume contain…

Record of financial transactions made by Gloria Dei Church from 1800 to 1817. Ground rents make up the bulk of entries, and are listed by renters' name, grouped by date, and include the payment amount. Other transactions include the purchase of…

Record of financial transactions made by Gloria Dei Church from 1819 to 1831. Ground rents make up the bulk of entries, and are listed by renters' name, grouped by date, and include the payment amount. Other transactions include salaries for…

The practice of renting pews was common in 19th century churches; members paid a fee for the right to occupy a particular pew every week. This record lists pew rents paid to Gloria Dei Church from 1813 to 1829. Entries are listed by pew number, and…

"Account of the Box-money, being collection for the Poor that belong to the Congregation, on Sundays, during Divine Service: from the beginning of the year 1800, til the beginning of May 1806."

Entries are listed by month, with each Sunday's total…

Receipt book of Samuel Wheeler, church warden, recording disbursements from Gloria Dei from 1801 to 1811. Disbursements include salaries for church employees, supplies such as wood and hay, and upkeep of building and grounds.

Record of persons buried by Gloria Dei from 1750 to 1878. Entries are listed chronologically and vary over time, but include at minimum the name of the deceased and the date they were buried, and often more extensive information such as the date and…

The manuscript begins with a transcription of the by-laws of Wicacoe Church adopted on December 3, 1838, which include the duties of the warden, secretary, and sexton, and policies for interment of members. Vestry minutes follow, including the place…
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