Connecticut Genealogy & Ancestry Resources

Connecticut Genealogy Resources

1614 – Surx explorer Adriaen Blcok is the first European to visit Connecticut.
1634 – Wethersfield is etablished as the first permanent settlement by the Dutch.
1636 – Thomas Hooker founded the Colony of Connecticut at the city of Hartford.
1636 – The Pequot War begins.
1639 – The first written democratic constitution, the fundamental Orders, is adopted.
1662 – The Connecticut Colony receives the Royal Charter from the King of England.
1662 – New Haven Colony merged with Connecticut Colony.
1701 – Yale University is founded in New Haven.
1775 – Connecticut militiamen fight at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
1776 – Nathan Hale is hung by the British for spying.
1788 – Connecticut adopts the U.S. Constitution and becomes the fifth state.
1806 – Noah Webster publishes his first dictionary.
1843 – Charles Goodyear invents the process for vulcanizing rubber.
1848 – Slavery is outlawed.
1901 – Connecticut is the first state to establish speed limits for cars.

Marriages were recorded in Connecticut as early as 1640.
By 1650, registration of births, marriages and deaths became the town clerk’s responsibility. Since a fine was assessed for not recording an event, some industrious town clearks have excellent, fairly complete records, however, others do not.
Following the Revolution to the mid-nineteenth century, the recording is not as thorough.
By 1870, when the State Board of Health was established, recording in all towns improved.
Recording of vital events has always been the town clerk’s responsibility.
After 1 July 1897, copies of vital records from every town were sent to the Depament of Public Health, Vital Records Section.
Baptism and marriage records were frequently recorded by the church. More than 600 churches have deposited their records with the Connecticut State Library. Most of these records are on microfilm at the Family History Library. Ancestry.com also has a collection of church records for Connecticut.

Federal Population Schedules

Indexed—1790, 1800, 1810, 1830, 1840, 1850,1860, 1870. 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940
Soundex—1880, 1900, 1920 ((You can find definition of Soundex at FamilySearch.org wiki at https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Soundex).

Industry and Agriculture Schedules

Mortality Schedules

Colonial

There are a variety of inventories and enumerations of population or census substitues (with and without names). As will all such compilations, it is particularly important to check the original sources the compiler used.
Enumerations existed for 1756, 1762, and 1774, but they do not list names, only number sof people in town in the catgories of race, sex, and age groups.
Refer to Links below to see Connecticut State Library Archives 1629-1820 which includes a variety records online.

State

No state population censuses were taken for Connecticut, but a unique census was taken by the state in the twentieth century. The Military Census of 1917 listed all males between at least twenty to thirty years of age, although most towns reported those sixteen through sixty. It also includes females in key occupations, such a nursing.

The Red Book American State, County, and Town Sources – Connecticut. Once on the page, see the menu to the right for specific sections. Click on Vital Records to find a variety of online collections.
https://wiki.rootsweb.com/wiki/index.php/Connecticut_Family_History_Research

Connecticut State Library – “Connecticut Archive”, 1629-1820
https://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/hg/ctarchives/col

Genealoger – Family History and Genealogy Services – Connecticut
https://www.genealoger.com/genealogy/states/connecticut.htm

Connecticut Genealogy and History
https://connecticutgenealogy.com/

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