Resources for researching the history of your Connecticut Home

Historic homes were witnesses to Connecticut’s history. Connecticut’s oldest known home dates to 1639. Other buildings saw the American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and more. Telling the history of your home can help place it in the context of your community. It may even earn you tax credits!

Land Records:

Architectural Resources

Tax Credit Programs:

What sources do you need to check to answer a question about an ancestor in colonial Connecticut?

If you’ve done genealogy for long enough, you’ve probably heard mention of the “Genealogical Proof Standard” and the idea of “reasonably exhaustive research.” That standard is designed to help genealogists ensure that their conclusions are well reasoned and based on an accurate reading of the evidence. Reasonably exhaustive research means that you’ve checked all of the sources reasonably likely to answer a question.

What does that actually mean when you’re researching an ancestor from colonial Connecticut? There are some common sources you should consider when you’re trying to answer a research question.

Date and place of birth:

Reasonably Exhaustive:

  • Town vital records. This is one of the few sources likely to list a full date of birth.
  • Church baptismal records. Anglican records may list a full birth date; Congregational records are likely just to indicate if the person was still a child.
  • Gravestone: The age at death can often be used to calculate a birth.

Worth Checking:

  • Freeman’s Oath: Only “of age” white males were eligible, so it provides a good starting point.
  • Guardianship: If the parent died when the child was a minor, they could choose their own guardian at 14.

Marriage Record:

Reasonably exhaustive:

  • Town marriage records
  • Church marriage records
  • Parental probate
  • Interfamily land transfer

Death:

Reasonably Exhaustive:

  • Town death records
  • Gravestone
  • Church burial records
  • Probate files

Worth checking: Land sales

Military Service:

Reasonably exhaustive:

  • Public Records of the Colony and Public Records of the State: These transcriptions of the records of the state’s government will note military appointments.
  • Connecticut Archives: These records include militia appointments.
  • Connecticut Men in the Revolution: A list of state level military service

Starting Your Holiday Shopping? Favorite Connecticut Genealogy Database Providers…

Database subscriptions are always a popular gift for genealogists. So which ones do I use most?

Actually, my favorite site for Connecticut research is free! FamilySearch requires registration but does not charge. The site hosts older land records, images of church records, pre-1900 vital records, probate files, and more.

Ancestry is great for Connecticut’s probate estate papers (they’re on FamilySearch as well, but they’re easier to search on Ancestry) and the Connecticut Church Record Abstracts (this is a searchable index to the original records available on FamilySearch ). FYI to Connecticut based researchers – you can access these collections for free from home here, using your local library card number. Click on “Connecticut State Library Ancestry.com” to log in.

And finally, American Ancestors offers access to local genealogy journals so that you can review prior research on your ancestors. (It’s also wonderful for research on early settlements through the Great Migration Study Project.)

What was the 1780 quota act – and why does it matter?

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the several towns within this State shall forthwith choose a committee who shall divide all the inhabitants thereof, who give in a list or are included in any militia roll, either of the trainband, alarm list or companies of horse, into as many classes according to their list as such town shall be deficient in number of men,and each of said classes shall on or before the first day of February next procure a good able-bodied effective recruit to serve during the war or for three years[…]

Military Obligation: The American Tradition, Special Monograph No. 1, Volume II, Part 2, Connecticut Enactments (N.P.: The Selective Service System, 1948), 174-175; digital images, Google Books (https://www.google.com/books/edition/Military_Obligation_Connecticut_Enactmen/YpxHAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22An%20act%20for%20filling%20up%20this%20state’s%20quota%20of%20the%20Continental%20Army.%22&pg=PA238&printsec=frontcover)

By 1780, the Continental Army was short handed. A request was sent to the states to supply a certain number of men. In response, Connecticut instituted what might be described as an early version of the draft. Each town was assigned a certain number of men to provide. The 1780 quota act offered a method for filling the positions.

The act’s impact was especially significant for Connecticut’s men of color. The act permitted the engagement of substitutes in order to meet the quota. Individuals held in slavery were not subject to the state’s militia laws, and therefore, were not already required to serve. Connecticut’s units were integrated, so men of color could serve. “Hiring” an enslaved individual to serve as a substitute became a common practice.

If your ancestor enlisted in the Continental Army about 1780, the quota system was likely the reason why.

My Ancestor should have a Connecticut death record, but I can’t find it. Why?

If your ancestor died after 1900, they should have a death record. Connecticut began statewide recording on 1 July 1897, so compliance improved dramatically at that point. Yet, sometimes you still can’t find a record. Very rarely, there is actually not a record. It’s more common to just miss it. Why?

There are two common reasons:

  1. The spelling of your ancestor’s name on the record isn’t the one that you’re using. This is a common problem in the early 20th century with families who immigrated to the United States. Clerks may not have spoken the same language as your ancestor and may have recorded who they thought a name was spelled instead of the correct spelling. Be sure to check “sound alike” spellings.
  2. They didn’t die in Connecticut. The fact that your ancestor was buried in Connecticut doesn’t mean they actually died here. If you can find a burial location but not a death record, consider asking the town for the burial transit permit. They’re required to be filed if the body is moved into the town for burial and should list the date and place of death.

Still stuck? Contact us with questions.

House of Hope

A trading fort rather than a colony, the House of Hope still played a major role in the settlement of colonial Connecticut. Established in 1633 by the Dutch under Jacob van Culer, the House of Hope was a trading post at the intersection of the Fresh River and the Little River.[1] The site, in today’s Hartford, is just north of the Colt Factory. Its existence likely drove English migration into the area. The fort was conceded to the English in 1650.[2]

[1] “A Tour of New Netherland: Connecticut: House of Hope,” New Netherland Institute (https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/digital-exhibitions/a-tour-of-new-netherland/connecticut/house-of-hope: accessed 25 August 2024).

[2] “A Tour of New Netherland: Connecticut: House of Hope.”

Five Myths about Connecticut Vital Records (colonial period)

Connecticut required the filing of birth, death, and marriage record by the mid-1600s… Yet, the reality of what was recorded and when is a bit complicated. Here are five common myths about Connecticut vital records in the colonial period.

  1. Everyone has a birth, marriage, and death certificate as applicable. Unfortunately for researchers, this is absolutely not the case. Recording was required by law, and there were penalties for not filing. However, the penalties seem to have been rarely – if ever – enforced. Town clerks were allowed to charge a fee to file, and their residences (town halls are a product of the 19th century) may have been miles from a family’s farm. An unmotivated family was likely to skip recording. Church attendance was a lot harder to skip – so Congregational records can provide a “back up” source.
  2. A family of color will not be recorded. Connecticut’s vital records laws had no restriction based on race. For a free family, the creation of a birth or marriage certificate could provide official confirmation of legal status.
  3. The vital record is the best possible documentation of birth, marriage, or death. In the colonial period, Connecticut vital records are typically kept in the family register or family group format. This format has the marriage date of the spouses at the top, followed by the births of their children, and sometimes death dates for various family members. If you take a close look, you’ll often note that the whole record is written in the same hand (or there are maybe two hands). That suggests that large sections of the record are entered at once, rather than when the event occurred. Memory is faulty; there may be errors.
  4. The Barbour Collection is a fully accurate transcription of the original birth, marriage, or death record. An early 20th century index and abstract of pre-1850 Connecticut vital records, the Barbour Collection is considered to be largely reliable. However, it is a derivative source: records were transcribed; retyped onto slip cards; and then retyped again into the bound volumes. In some cases, the “original” source was in fact a previously transcription of vital records. Derivative sources risk typos. When in doubt, check the original source.
  5. The town clerk’s copy you’re viewing is an original record. This one is sometimes a myth but not always! Paper conservation wasn’t a thing in the mid-to-late 1800s. To protect the early town clerk records, nineteenth century clerks sometimes recopied those records. Since the later transcriptions were in better shape than the originals, the transcription may be what’s microfilmed and placed online. When in doubt, you should be able to consult the original at the clerk’s.

Junior or Senior?

Today, “junior” and “senior” are used to differentiate between direct line family members of the same name, most often father and son. That was not always the case in colonial Connecticut.

In a 1979 article – George E. McCracken, “Terms of Relationship in Colonial Times,” The American Genealogist Vol. 55 (1979): 53; digital images, American Ancestors (https://www.americanancestors.org: accessed 23 November 2023) – George McCracken explains the use of the terms in colonial Connecticut:

“[…] there is present in the town more than one person of the same name, and the elder is called Senior and the younger Junior, and if there are still more, ‘III’ or ‘IV’ may also be used.”

In other words, junior and senior may not be related. The terms were simply a convenient way to identify who was who in that moment. The order may change if someone was born, died, moved into or left town.

Is the Barbour Collection a Derivative Source?

As an index and abstract to pre-1850 Connecticut vital records, the Barbour Collection is popularly used in lineage society applications as “proof” of birth, death and marriage. (For history of the collection and for information on its three “formats,” visit https://connecticutroots.org/2023/07/28/are-there-multiple-versions-of-the-barbour-collection/.) The collection is generally considered to be reliable.

Yet, as genealogists, we want to be able to make the judgment of whether a source is reliable for ourselves. One of the questions we ask is if the source is original or derivative (recopied). Working with an original source allows us to work with the information as originally provided. Working with a derivative means that we risk working with some degree of copying errors. Humans make typos, especially when copying a lot of information at once.

The Barbour Collection you’re reviewing at online is definitely a derivative source – sometimes a many degree derivative. Each new version was created by recopying a prior version. Of the online versions, the Slip Index (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2843390) is likely closest to the original.

In some towns, the sources used to create the Barbour were not the originals. For example, the volume for Durham includes only births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths that were printed in Fowler’s The History of Durham. The compiler never reviewed the original records. To determine which sources were reviewed, look to the introduction of the appropriate 1930s volume, accessible from FamilySearch at https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/295370?availability=Family%20History%20Library.

Is it a deed or a mortgage?

While there were banks in the United States as early as 1780, they didn’t become common until the late 19th century. That meant if you needed to borrow money to buy a property, you might do it from a friend, a neighbor, or the prior owner. And that can pose a stumbling block to your land records research.

This deed appears on page 13 of Volume 75 of the Waterbury, Connecticut land records (accessible at https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/360248?availability=Family%20History%20Library). At first glance, it looks like a deed. It’s actually a mortgage: Green Kendrick is being lent money by Enoch Hibbard.

How do I know? First, the amount of the sale isn’t specified. That can sometimes illustrate a family relationship, but in this case, they specified that money was exchanged – so there’s another reason.

Second, there’s another deed.

From volume 73,

It’s dated December of the same year. This deed contains information marking it as a mortgage release: it describes Kendrick as a “releasee.” Third, there are multiple transactions between the same parties in quick succession. A property might be sold multiple times in a year, but you’d be unlikely to sell it back to the same person within a few months – or less.

Pay close attention to the details of any land sales your ancestor conducted. It can be quite challenging to differentiate between a true sale and a mortgage or a mortgage release.