We recommend you begin your research using the following resources:
Birth, marriage, or death (i.e.: vital) records
The Waterman Research Center has access to the Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, an index containing transcriptions of most towns’ vital record listings from the beginning of the town to about 1850. This collection is accessible in both microfilm (by surname or town) and hard copy (by town only) formats in our open stacks. Additional published vital records for towns not included in the Barbour Collection (e.g.: Bolton, Vernon, etc.) can also be accessed in our open stacks.
Most original records are maintained in the Connecticut towns where the event occurred. Consult a town clerk for access to vital records (such as the Connecticut Town Clerk Directory), or Connecticut’s Department of Public Health.
From 1897 on, copies were sent to the State Department of Public Health, Vital Records Division. To obtain a copy of a current or 20th century birth, marriage, or death record, please contact the individual town hall or clerk, or the Connecticut Department of Public Health.
Information on vital records access laws for the state of Connecticut is available through the Connecticut General Assembly (Chapter 93, Section 7-51: Registrars of Vital Statistics).
Gravestone research
The Waterman Research Center has access to the Hale Collection of Cemetery Inscriptions, which includes handwritten transcriptions of Connecticut headstones that survived as of the early 1930s. This collection is accessible on-site via microfilm (searchable by surname or by town), and online via Ancestry.com. The Connecticut State Library contains card files for both the cemetery inscriptions and newspaper notice collections, dating from 1639-1934.
Select gravestone research and published gravestone inscriptions can be found in our historical manuscripts and family file collections, and in our open stacks (consult HistoryCat for details).
For further study, you may consider consulting Godfrey Memorial Library’s subscription suite for access to gravestone research and photographs, as well as free sites including Findagrave and Billion Graves.
Historic preservation
Connecticut Historical Society does not provide property assessments.
For such assistance, contact the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) or the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation. The SHPO’s Historic Property Database is now available, and the Connecticut Trust offers various resources including the Historic Properties Exchange and information on Historic Designations.
Land records and deeds
While Connecticut Historical Society has a select portion of deeds and land records (typically filed with town records; search HistoryCat for holdings), we are not the official repository for these records. See the Connecticut State Library for information on access and their holdings.
Probate records
The Connecticut Historical Society is not the official repository for probate records, with some exceptions (consult HistoryCat for research files containing probate abstracts or select original probate records). Probate records (containing information on heirs, property inventories, and more) are housed at the Connecticut State Library, and many of the microfilmed records have been digitized for public access through Ancestry.com. Consult their website for additional information about access to their collection of probate estate papers.
Town records
The Connecticut Historical Society is not the official repository for town records, with some exceptions (consult HistoryCat). Records for your town (if still in existence) may be held with the individual town clerk (see list of Connecticut’s Town Clerks), town historical society, or the Connecticut State Library; consult ahead to determine their location.
