New Paltz Reformed Church Records

Historic Huguenot Street

First Church Register of the New Paltz Reformed Church, page 5 - Image Source

Collection Facts

Extent:

Historical Context

Founded in 1683, the Reformed Church was the first place of worship established in New Paltz, New York, where French-speaking Protestants had settled in 1677. Records of the church were recorded in the French language for the first fifty years of the congregation. For about the next seventy years, the records were kept in Dutch. Finally, they were kept in English.

The first church on Huguenot Street was constructed of wood and was followed, in 1717, by the first stone church. A replica of the first stone church was completed in 1973 on land adjacent to the church’s original location near the community’s burial ground. As the congregation grew, a larger stone church was constructed in the 1770s farther north on Huguenot Street in the area adjacent to the 1839 brick church, which stands today.

Scope of Collection

The collection includes two record books containing baptismal and marriage records. The first volume was written in French, Dutch, and Latin. Only the French records in the first volume have been fully translated. Personal names have been noted for searching capability. Vital records were transcribed by Dingman Versteeg and published by the Holland Society of New York in 1896, but not all records were included in the book.