Genealogical Research in Connecticut

Connecticut as we know it today was first settled by Europeans when the Dutch built a small fort on the site of modern day Hartford. As English settler began to move into the area the Dutch abandoned their post and members of the Plymouth colony established a settlement on the site of Windsor in 1633.

European settlement was resisted by the Native Pequot tribe which led to their defeat by the English in the Pequot War of 1637. In 1643 the New England Confederation, an informal union for mutual defences was formed when New Haven and Connecticut colonies united with the Massachusetts Bay colony. Connecticut won its legal right to exist as a corporate colony when Governor John Winthrop secured a royal charter in 1662.

Connecticut continued to grow through the seventeenth century, yet by the mid 18th century a bitter feud had developed between conservatives and radicals in the colony. During the Revolutionary War Connecticut served as the chief supply area for the continental Army, and several towns such as Danbury, New Haven, New London, and Fairfield were attacked by the British.

After the Revolutionary War Connecticut prospered, its ports bustling with business and textile mills thriving. In 1788 Connecticut became the 5th US State, even though opposing the foreign policy of presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Connecticut opposed the War of 1812, going as far as refusing to allow its militia to leave the state. The War 12 severely hurt exports, though the end result promoted rapid growth of industry.

Connecticut had very strong anti-slavery sentiments, enacting legislation that any slave that every black born after 1 March 1784 would be free at age 25. The state finally abolished slavery in 1848. There was no question about supporting the union cause during the Civil War, and Connecticut sent almost 60,000 troops into battle. Perhaps the state’s biggest role during the Civil War was the manufacturing of much needed rifles, ammunitions, and uniforms, which inevitably signaled Connecticut’s emergence as a manufacturing giant.

The state continued to donate its manufacturing resources to the war efforts of both World Wars, and the state prospered by supplying munitions, weapons and other supplies. Manufacturing began to decline during the 1970’s as the growth of the financial, real estate, insurance, and service industries took root. Wealth was limited to the suburbs however, while central cities such as Bridgeport have failed to the point of bankruptcy. The 1990’s saw the development of Native American casinos, which have since supplanted defense industries as the state’s main economic engine.

Famous Battles Fought in Connecticut

Several battles between the Revolutionary forces and the British took place in Connecticut. Additionally there are many accounts of the battles fought during the Pequot War. These battle accounts can be very effective in uncovering the military records of your ancestor. They can tell you what regiments fought in which battles, and often include the names and ranks of many officers and enlisted men. Following are some of the most famous battles fought in Connecticut and links to useful information about them.

• Pequot War
• Battle of Ridgefield, 1777
• Battle of Norwalk, 1779
• Battle of New Haven, 1779
• Battle of Groton Heights, 1781

Boundary Changes: Boundary changes are a common obstacle when researching Connecticut ancestors. You could be searching for an ancestor’s record in one county when in fact it is stored in a different one due to historical county boundary changes. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries can help you to overcome that problem. It provides a chronological listing of every boundary change that has occurred in the history of Connecticut.

Name Changes: Surname changes, variations, and misspellings can complicate genealogical research. It is important to check all spelling variations. Soundex, a program that indexes names by sound, is a useful first step, but you can't rely on it completely as some name variations result in different Soundex codes. The surnames could be different, but the first name may be different too. You can also find records filed under initials, middle names, and nicknames as well, so you will need to get creative with surname variations and spellings in order to cover all the possibilities. For help with surname variations read our instructional article on How to Use Soundex.

Genealogical resources include not only records, but the organizations that house them, or can direct you to them. These institutions include: Archives, Libraries, Genealogical Societies, Family History Centers, Universities, Churches, and Museums.

Following are links to their websites, their physical addresses, and a summary of the records you can find there.

Marriage Indexes: 1959 – present
CT Department of Public Health
Vital Records Office
410 Capitol Ave. MS#11VRS
Hartford, CT  06134-0308
Tel: (860) 509-7700
Fax: (860) 509-7964

231 Capitol Avenue
Hartford, CT 06106
Tel: 860-757-6500

University of Connecticut Libraries
369 Fairfield Way
Storrs, CT 06269
Tel:860 486-2518

One Elizabeth Street
Hartford, CT 06105
Tel: (860) 236-5621

175 Maple Street
East Hartford, CT 06118-2634
or
PO Box 435
Glastonbury, CT 06033-0435

Thomas Darling House
1907 Litchfield Turnpike
Woodbridge, CT 06525
Tel: (203) 387-2823

196 Main Street
PO Box 6000
Danielson, CT 06239
(860) 779-7250

8 Lyle Road
New Britain, CT  06053-2104
Tel: 860-229-8873
Email: pgsctne@yahoo.com

134 Newfield St.
Middletown, CT 06457
Email: info@jgsct-jewish-genealogy.org

Connecticut Family History Centers

The Family History Centers run by the LDS Church offer free access to billions of genealogical records for free to the general public. They also provide classes on genealogy and one-on-one assistance to inexperienced family historians. Here you will find a Complete Listing of Connecticut Family History Centers.

Connecticut Mailing Lists

Mailing lists are internet based facilities that use email to distribute a single message to all who subscribe to it. When information on a particular surname, new records, or any other important genealogy information related to the mailing list topic becomes available, the subscribers are alerted to it. Joining a mailing list is an excellent way to stay up to date on Connecticut genealogy research topics. Rootsweb have an extensive listing of Connecticut Mailing Lists on a variety of topics.

Connecticut Message Boards

A message board is another internet based facility where people can post questions about a specific genealogy topic and have it answered by other genealogists. If you have questions about a surname, record type, or research topic, you can post your question and other researchers and genealogists will help you with the answer. Be sure to check back regularly, as the answers are not emailed to you. The message boards at the Connecticut Genealogy Forum are completely free to use.

Connecticut Newspapers and Periodicals

Many genealogy periodicals and historical newspapers contain reprinted copies of family genealogies, transcripts of family Bible records, information about local records and archives, census indexes, church records, queries, land records, obituaries, court records, cemetery records, and wills. The following sites have historical Connecticut newspapers and periodicals that you can search online or on-site.

Historical Connecticut Maps and Gazetteers

Maps are an integral part of genealogical research. They help us to locate landmarks, towns, cities, parishes, states, provinces, waterways and roads and streets. They also help us to determine when and where boundary changes might have taken place, and give us a visualization of the area we’re researching in. For locating place names, a gazetteer is the best possible resource for any genealogist. Gazetteers are also sometimes called “place name dictionaries”, and can help you to locate the area in which you need to conduct research.

Birth, Death, Marriage and Divorce Records

Birth, Death, Marriage and Divorce Records – Birth, death, and marriage records are the most basic, yet most important records attached to your ancestor. They are generally referred to as vital records as they record vital life events. The reason for their importance is that they not only place your ancestor in a specific place at a definite time, but potentially connect the individual to other relatives.

Census Reports

Census records are among the most important genealogical documents for placing your ancestor in a particular place at a specific time. Like BDM records, they can also lead you to other ancestors, particularly those who were living under the authority of the head of household.

Connecticut census records exist from 1670 and many images and indexes can be viewed online.

Connecticut Church Records

Church and synagogue records are a valuable resource, especially for baptisms, marriages, and burials that took place before 1900. You will need to at least have an idea of your ancestor’s religious denomination, and in most cases you will have to visit a brick and mortar establishment to view them.

Most church records are kept by the individual church, although in some denominations, records are placed in a regional archive or maintained at the diocesan level. Local Historical Societies are sometimes the repository for the state’s older church records. Below are links archives that maintain church records, as well as a few databases that can be viewed online.

The Family History Library contains many church records from a variety of denominations on microfilm.

The Connecticut State Library holds the records of more than 600 Connecticut churches

Connecticut Military Records

More than 40 million Americans have participated in some time of war service since America was colonized. The chance of finding your ancestor amongst those records is exceptionally high. Military records can even reveal individuals who never actually served, such as those who registered for the two World Wars but were never called to duty.

Connecticut Cemetery Records

As convenient as it is to search cemetery records online, keep in mind that there are a few disadvantages over visiting a cemetery in person. They are:

• Tombstone information is not always accurately transcribed
• The arrangement of the graves in a cemetery can be crucial as family members are often buried next to each other or in the same grave. This arrangement is not always preserved in the alphabetical indexes that are found online.

With that information in mind, the following websites have databases that can be searched online for Connecticut Cemetery records.

Connecticut Obituaries

Obituaries can reveal a wealth about our ancestor and other relatives. You can search our Connecticut Newspaper Obituaries Listings from hundreds of Connecticut newspapers online for free.

Connecticut Wills and Probate Records

The documents found in a probate packet may include a complete inventory of a person’s estate, newspaper entries, witness testimony, a copy of a will, list of debtors and creditors, names of executors or trustees, names of heirs. They can not only tell you about the ancestor you’re currently researching, but lead to other ancestors. Most of these records must be accessed at a county court or clerk’s office, but some can be found online as well. You can obtain copies of the original probate records by writing to the county clerk.

Connecticut State Library – early Colonial probate records dating from 1635 to early 20th century.

Connecticut Archives – estates of deceased persons, 1649-1820

Connecticut Probate Courts – directory of county probate courts to which you can write for records

Connecticut Immigration and Naturalization Records

The naturalization process generated many types of records, including petitions, declarations of intention, and oaths of allegiance. These records can provide family historians with information such as a person's birth date and place of birth, immigration year, marital status, spouse information, occupation, witnesses' names and addresses, and more.

National Archives New England Region – naturalization and immigration records for Connecticut from 1842-1973

Connecticut State Library – Naturalization records from 1791-1906

Connecticut Railway Records

Railroads played an important role in the settlement of Connecticut. The records of railway employees can be a valuable genealogical source, especially if your ancestor was a railway employee. Following are places both online and off where you can search railway records for Connecticut ancestors.

University of Connecticut Libraries – a variety of railroad resources and records

Connecticut City Directories

City directories are similar to telephone directories in that they list the residents of a particular area. The difference though is what is important to genealogists, and that is they pre-date telephone directories. You can find an ancestor’s information such as their street address, place of employment, occupation, or the name of their spouse. A one-stop-shop for finding city directories in Connecticut is the Connecticut Online Historical Directories which contains a listing of every available city and historical directory related to Connecticut.

Connecticut Native American Records

Access Genealogy – Native American census records, tribal histories, and much more

Midwest Genealogy Center – a wide variety of records from the vast majority of Native American tribes in the United States on microfilm
Midwest Genealogy Center
3440 S. Lee’s Summit Road
Independence, Missouri

The National Archives - information about American Indians who maintained their ties to Federally-recognized Tribes (1830-1970).

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Marriage and Divorce Records

The earliest marriage records were recorded by the towns and often mixed with land records. It wasn’t until 1849 that town and probate clerks were ordered to record marriages. In addition to original town records, the following indexes can be found at the Connecticut State Library:

• Barbour Index to Vital records, (film 0002887 ff.)
• Hale Collection of Vital records (film 0003076 ff.)

Divorces were first recorded in the General Court of Connecticut Colony, and in the Court of Magistrates in New Haven Colony. The Superior Court was given jurisdiction in 1711, and later records are held by the Clerk of the Superior Court in the county where the divorce was granted. Many records of divorce have been filmed at the Connecticut State Library and are as follows:

• Fairfield County, 1720-1799 (film 1673219 ff.)
• Hartford County, 1725-1849 (film 1637917 ff.)
• Litchfield County, 1752-1922 (film 1664674 ff.)
• Middlesex County, 1786-1797 (film 1639454 ff.)
• New Haven County, 1712-1899 (film 1672069 ff.)
• New London County, 1719-1875 (film 1638067 ff.)
• Tolland County, 1787-1910 (film 1637443 ff.)
• Windham County, 1726-1907 (film 1638582 ff.)

Bibliographies

• A Sampler of Lifestyles: Womanhood and Youth in Colonial Lyme, Mary Sterling Bakke (Advocate Press, 1976)
• Property and Kinship: Inheritance in Early Connecticut, 1750-1820, Toby L. Ditz (Princeton University Press, 1986)
• Connecticut Women in the Revolutionary Era, Catherine Fennelly (American Revolution Bicentennial Commission for Connecticut, 1975)
• Connecticut’s Divorce Mechanism, 1639-1969, Henry S. Cohn (American Journal of Legal History 14 (1970) pgs 25-54)
• Connecticut Sources for Family Historians and Genealogists, Kip Sperry (Everton Publishers, 1980)

Selected Resources for Connecticut Women’s History

Institute for Study of Women and GenderUniversity of Connecticut
U Box 181
417 Whitney Rd
Storrs, CT 06269-1181

Litchfield Historical Society
South and East Streets
PO Box 385
Litchfield, CT 06759-0385

Prudence Crandall Museum
PO Box 47
Canterbury, CT 06331

Common Connecticut Surnames

The following surnames are among the most common in Connecticut. The list is by no means exhaustive. If your surname doesn’t appear in the list it doesn’t mean that you have no Connecticut connections, only that your surname may be less common.

Abel, Ackart, Adams, Alford, Allen, Alling, Allyn, Alvord, Bancroft, Barber, Barker, Barnard, Barnes, Bartlet, Bartlett, Baysey, Beach, Beckwith, Beers, Bemis, Bennett, Benton, Bird, Bishop, Bissell, Brown, Buell, Burr, Carter, Case, Chapman, Clark, Coe, Cornish, Cornwel, Crow, Curtis, Dibble, Dickerman, Dickinson, Dill, Drake, Eggleston, Ellsworth, Eno, Foote, Frisbie, Gaylord, Gilbert, Gillette, Goodwin, Grant, Gray, Griffin, Griswold, Hall, Harris, Harrison, Hayes, Holcombe, Hoskins, Hubbard, Hubbell, Hull, Humphrey, Judd, Judson, Keeler, Linsley, Loomis, Lord, Marshfield, Merrell, Mills, Moore, Morris, Northrop, Northrup, Olmstead, Osborn, Peck, Pettibone, Phelps, Pinney, Prudden, Ranney, Reed, Rogers, Rose, Sanford, Scott, Seeley, Shepard, Smith, Spencer, Starr, Stebbins, Stilson, Thompson, Thrall, Wilcox, Williams, Winston, Winton, Woodford, Wright