Saturday, February 26, 2011

Church Record Sunday: Canadian Methodist Women

Sometimes books can provide us with an idea of the everyday lives of our ancestors. They can provide some social history as well as names of those our ancestor's knew or even the ancestor themselves.

The book, Canadian Methodist Women, 1766-1925: Marys, Marthas, Mothers in Israel is a good example of a book that can provide you some information about the life of your female ancestor in Canada. I would also recommend checking out the Notes and Sources section of this book for other resources that can assist you in your research.

According to the Book News Synopsis (2004): "They were missionaries, mothers, musicians, suffragists, Proverbs wives, scholars, and teachers, but mainly they were the women of Methodism, drawn by vocation or family to the new land of Canada. Informed by the tradition of the itinerant preacher, they provided hospitality for visitors, founded churches in which they could preach, and served as the foundation of the parsonage. Some led the vanguard for equal rights, and some stayed home and waited; but the Methodist take on grace and purpose sustained them until the first Methodist woman was ordained in 1936. Independent scholar Whiteley drew on periodicals, biographies, autobiographies, early histories of Methodism, and records of women's groups across Canada to present this study for those interested in the history of women in religion and in Canadian society."

You can see a preview of this book through Google Books . To find a library with this book, see WorldCat.

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