Godparents and Social Networks in Schenectady, New York, 1680–1800

Baptism is a social occasion as well as a religious sacrament.  When parents select godparents to sponsor a child at baptism, they negotiate a complex path that includes the requirements of institutional religion, the obligations of neighborhood and community, and the necessity to recognize kin and/or friends.  Recent studies of the use of godparents in early modern Europe have both mirrored and expanded the conclusions of various anthropologists studying compadrazgo in Latin America and Mexico from the 1950s to the 1970s.  Godparents are used to serve a variety of purposes.  On one end of the spectrum of choices, choosing non-kin or men and women beyond one’s normal religious, ethnic and social ties, extends social networks and incorporates new people into the family through the bonds of fictive kinship. These networks can be used to access hitherto unavailable resources, extend influence and build ties of patronage and clientage.  On the other end of the spectrum, choosing existing kin or friends as godparents might intensify, reinforce, or reinvigorate already existing relations.  These types of networks tend to reinforce homogeneity and build tight boundaries which surround and envelop personal, ethnic and religious communities. 

Thus far, the role of godparents in community and family life in the various regions of early North America remains largely a black hole.  This paper offers a partial remedy to this situation by analyzing such networks among the Dutch and Dutch-American inhabitants of Schenectady, New York by examining the baptismal records of Dutch Reformed congregation there.   It focuses on the identities of Schenectady parents and godparents and examines the various strategies that families employed to meet their needs.  From this data it should be possible to sketch the broad outlines of the various roles that godparents played in early New York, how they contributed to a distinctive regional culture.