St. John’s Church has been blessed with a rich history, predating the formation of the United States. Two of the prominent source documents for our Parish are

  1. Suffolk Parish Vestry Book 1749 – 1856
  2. St. John’s Register ca. 1844 – 1960

There are sub pages that provide greater details and excerpts for each document to provide context for our Parish’s history.

In the Vestry Book there are entries for the business of the Parish. Everything from collection of tithes, how many titheables were in the Parish, distribution of tithes collected (whether those tithes were in tobacco or currency), property surveys, and other legal functions of the Vestry.

In the Register there are entries for Baptisms, Confirmations, Communicants, Marriages, and Burials within the Parish. One portion of each section is a complete accounting for the Parish beginning in 1889 until approximately 1960. Each section also contains a reconstruction of the records for the Parish beginning in 1849. This reconstruction is not complete because many of the original records were destroyed between 1849 and 1889.