In 1850 the first US census that listed everyone in every household was taken. Prior to that only the name of the head of household was listed, with other family members being recorded as mere statistics listing gender, and a range of ages, but no names. In the pre 1850 era then, other data such as the information that could be obtained from church histories and church records such as baptisms and marriages are of primary importance. But even after 1850, census records recorded events only every ten years and so church, land and other records continue to be valuable sources of genealogical information.
In Gallia County, church records have been hard to come by. Many rural churches have either closed or merged and the records have become scattered. The records of the remaining churches have not for the most part been made available to genealogy researchers. The purpose of this section of the web site will be to publish such church records as they become available. The first item presented is a church history of Clay Chapel, a Clay Township Methodist church that closed in 1954. The source from which this is taken is from one of the few remaining copies of a book that was published in 1899.
A history of Grace United Methodist Church in Gallipolis has also been recently added.
If you have information or access to information on other churches we could add to this site, please Email Us.