Index to

THE CHRISTIAN RECORD

by David McWhirter

The Christian Record was published in Bloomington, Indianapolis, and Bedford, Indiana from 1843 to 1884 with several interruptions. From 1862-1866 the editor, Elijah Goodwin, published it under the title The Weekly Christian Record. In 1866 he merged it with the Christian Standard when it began publication. The Weekly Christian Record is not included in this index. In December, 1875, James Mathes, then editor, merged it with the Evangelist. Mathes resumed publication under the original name in January 1882.

Twice the publication carried a slight change of name. In 1870 and 1871 the name became The Christian Record and Living Laborer while in 1875 it was The Christian Record and Sunday School Worker. These publications are included in this index.

Throughout its publication history the Christian Record had only two editors although others acted as assistant or joint editors. James Madison Mathes (1808-1892) was the editor from 1843 to May, 1859 and from 1866 to 1884 with the interruption noted above. Elijah Goodwin (1807-1879) was co-editor with Mathes from July, 1847 to December, 1848 and the only editor from June 1859 through 1861. Others who shared editorial responsibility included David Oliphant (during 1870 and 1871) and W. B. F. Treat (during 1873 to 1875).

The citations in this index were designed to use space as economically as possible while still being easily interpreted. The citation includes a three letter code for the month (Jan); an apostrophe before the year which are all in the 19th Century ('43, i.e.1843); and the page number.

The compiler was unable to find two months of this periodical and is not sure if the work was published for those months although the evidence would indicate it was. The months missing from this index and May and June 1885.

When two or more communities or congregations had the same name the county is included in the citation. Many times it was impossible to tell which county was being referred to so there will be a listing for the community or congregation without a county name preceding the listings with the county names. A researcher searching for that listing would be wise to check all the listings without a county name even though they will find references in which they are not interested. For instance, if a researcher was looking for information on the Mount Eden congregation in Floyd County, Indiana the listing for MOUNT EDEN, INDIANA should be referred to as well as the listing MOUNT EDEN, INDIANA (FLOYD CO.).

When a person is being referenced it would be helpful to check under the person's initials as well as their full name. For instance, if a person was looking for information on Charles A. Manker one should check the citations listed under MANKER, C A as well as MANKER, CHARLES A. Although sometimes it seems obvious that the name with initials is the same as the name listed fully the compiler had no concrete evidence they were the same person. When the evidence was conclusive the citation appears under the full name even if only initials were given in the periodical.

When evident, the state of the person's residence is given in parantheses after the person's name. One should be advised to check under the various listings for a name if one is not sure in which state a person resided. If reference is given in the periodical that a person moved from one state to another all the states are listed following the person's name. When that reference is not given the name will be repeated followed by each state or by no state at all.

The spelling of names was not as standarized in the 19th Century as it is today so it would be wise for a researcher to refer to all possible varients of spelling. When the name was evidently mispelled the citation appears under the most common spelling. Often there are cross references from the misspellings. If it was not obvious that this was a misspelling the name appears under each spelling. Cross references from one spelling to another occur when possible.

When errors are detected in this index the compiler would appreciate receiving word of these errors. A master file will be kept at the Disciples of Christ Historical Society which can be corrected for further printings.