What were the English Civil Wars, and how did they impact Connecticut?

In the 1640s, England fell into Civil War over the rule of Charles I. After much conflict, Charles was executed in January 1649. Oliver Cromwell took over, essentially pushing England into a military dictatorship. The monarchy was restored in May 1660, with Charles II.

The Wars impacted Connecticut in two ways. First, some of those who had signed the death warrant of Charles I fled to New Haven after the Restoration, hiding out for fear of execution. The Colony hid them. Second and more importantly, they resulted in Connecticut receiving a royal charter for the first time. That charter, among other innovations, absorbed New Haven Colony into Connecticut Colony.

Want to learn more? All links lead to reference resources.

Tax list or grand list?

Tax lists of all kinds can provide a valuable resource for documenting residency, particularly in colonial or early American Connecticut. Because Connecticut collects property taxes on the town level, finding someone in the tax lists is a good indication that they lived or at minimum owned property in that area. Yet, it’s important to realize that Connecticut towns often kept two types of lists.

The most familiar to out of state genealogists will be the lists kept by the tax collectors, which list how much someone paid in tax. These lists are retained inconsistently but may be found both within the town meeting minutes and as separate volumes. They may be found on FamilySearch; at the Connecticut Library; and onsite at the town hall. (Historic tax records are typically held by the town clerk, not by the tax collector.)

Connecticut also keeps something called the “grand list.” The grand list is the list of assets considered taxable. If you ever wanted to know if your ancestor was being taxed because they owned a home or just a cow, this is how you find out. These records are typically held – if they survive – at the town clerk. Some will go back as far as the Revolutionary War era. Retention is very inconsistent for older records.

If you’re having a hard time parsing through the various types of taxes, be sure to check out “As True as Taxes.”

Happy hunting!

Westmoreland County, Connecticut

Founded in 1753, the Susquehanna Company sought to permit European settlement near the Susquehanna River using an argument that the area was granted in Connecticut’s 1662 charter. (Jackson Kuhl, “The Incredibly Convoluted History of Westmoreland County, Connecticut,” Journal of the American Revolution, 29 October 2014 (https://allthingsliberty.com/2014/10/the-incredibly-convoluted-history-of-westmoreland-county-connecticut/: accessed 18 April 2024). Settlement in the area began – after much conflict – in 1769. (Kuhl, “The Incredibly Convoluted History”.) In 1773, Connecticut was given Royal permission for the settlement. (“Connecticut’s Susquehanna Settlers,” CT State Library (https://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/hg/maps/susquehanna: accessed 19 April 2024)).

However, Connecticut was not the only colony with a claim to the area: Pennsylvania had one as well. (“Connecticut’s Susquehanna Settlers.”) The two sides were involved in a series of skirmishes that lasted from 1763 to 1799 that came to be known as the Yankee-Pennamite Wars. (Thomas Verenna, “Connecticut Yankees in a Pennamite’s Fort,” Journal of the American Revolution, 20 February 2014 (https://allthingsliberty.com/2014/02/connecticut-yankees-in-a-pennamites-fort/: accessed 20 April 2024)).

Only in 1799 did the two states come to an agreement allowing the settlers from Connecticut to remain – although the land would belong to the state of Pennsylvania. (“December 28: When Eastern Pennsylvania Belonged to Connecticut,” Today in Connecticut History, 28 December 2023 (https://todayincthistory.com/2023/12/28/december-28-when-eastern-pennsylvania-belonged-to-connecticut-4/: accessed 20 April 2024)).

Resources:

“Connecticut’s Susquehanna Settlers,” CT State Library (https://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/hg/maps/susquehanna: accessed 19 April 2024).

What is historiography, and how might it impact your Connecticut genealogy research?

Historiography’s definition is much debated, but those definitions proposed all have some overlap. In a library guide, Princeton librarian for History and African American Studies Steven Knowlton explains historiography as “In the broadest sense […] the study of the history of history (as it is described by historians). ” In 2007 article, Caroline Hoefferle explained “Like most historians, I previous valued it [historiography] as a way to explore the methods and theories of other historians who have studied the topics I am researching; to gain a better sense of where my own research fits in and to see more clearly where there are gaps in the scholarship. ” (Hoefferle, Caroline. “Teaching Historiography to High School and Undergraduate Students.” OAH Magazine of History 21, no. 2 (2007): 40–44. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25162115.) To summarize, historiography might be considered the analytical study of the writing of history.

How might historiography influence your Connecticut genealogy research?

\When we study our ancestors, one of the things we look at is historical context. What was going on around them? What experiences might they have had? What might they have lived through or seen? What laws or experiences might have shaped the sources we have about them? Oftentimes, we’re drawing the context material from some sort of reference text, whether it be a professional genealogist’s website or a history book.

We don’t often think about what approach the text’s writer might have taken in writing the material, what they might have chosen to emphasize or what they might have left out – but perhaps we should. Those gaps can sometimes prove crucial to better understanding our ancestors’ lives.

Just to provide an example, the experiences of families of color in Connecticut has been the focus of much recent scholarship. Many of the references texts focus on the pre- and post-Antebellum period, by which they mean the Civil War. Yet, in 1792, the Connecticut militia was restricted to white males, while had it been integrated prior. What changed in 1792? And is that some thing that might have impacted the life of an ancestor? Would it make more sense to our individual study to take a different approach and focus on a different timeline?

Connecticut Congregational Church Records

Because the Congregational Church was the “state church” of Connecticut until the Constitution of 1818, many Connecticut ancestors were Congregational by default. As a result, Congregational Church records should be part of your search.

In the early 20th century, the Connecticut State Library began a project to preserve church records. They asked churches to submit their older records and made a photostat copy of each book. In some cases, the Library retained the originals and returned the photostat; in other cases, they did the opposite. The bulk of churches that participated were Congregational. The full list can be found here.

Approximately 25% of these records were indexed and abstracted into the Connecticut Church Records Abstract collection. Those not indexed were still microfilmed. Digital images of that microfilm can be found on FamilySearch, typically through the catalog search.

If you do not find your ancestor listed, it’s important to confirm that you haven’t missed a church. While the Congregational Church is well represented in the State Library’s collection, the collection does not include every Congregational church in the state. Some still have their records available only onsite.

Resources for finding the burial of a veteran ancestor in Connecticut

Looking to discover where a veteran ancestor is buried? Connecticut and national repositories maintain resources that can help.

The Nationwide Gravesite Locator lists veterans buried in national cemeteries or in a private cemetery with a military headstone.

The SAR has a cemetery search option that includes Revolutionary War ancestors they consider qualifying.

The State Library holds a copy of the veteran grave survey that formed the basis of the Hale Collection (not digitize).

The State Library holds a veteran’s death index that was maintained until 1982 (not digitized).

These resources specifically cover veterans. Your veteran ancestor may also be included in the general resources for gravestones and headstones.

Do I need an affiliate to access these Connecticut records on FamilySearch?

FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/en/united-states/) has done an amazing job of making images of older Connecticut records accessible for free through the website. However, not everything will be accessible from home. When FamilySearch signs a contract to digitize records, they receive different levels of permission to share. Some of their contracts permit sharing from home, some from an affiliate organization, some from a Family History Center, some from the library in Salt Lake, and finally, some only to LDS members.

In general, Connecticut records are available either from home or from an affiliate. While there were will be some variation, these are the general categories:

Accessible from home: vital records, some probate, church records

Accessible from an affiliate: some probate, land records

To find an affiliate, go to https://locations.familysearch.org/en/search.

How do I find a professional genealogist to assist with my Connecticut genealogy research?

Is one of your New Year’s Resolutions hiring professional help to finish your Connecticut genealogy research project?

There are four organizations with directories you can use to find professional genealogists who specialize in Connecticut research. (The membership of the New England Chapter Association of Professional Genealogists overlaps with that of APG.)

Things to consider when you choose who to hire.

  • What’s their training and/or background? While accreditation/certification provides a measure of the genealogist’s background, the lack of certification or accreditation does not necessarily do so. There are skilled genealogists who – for various reasons – just haven’t done the process yet. Alternate measures: what courses have they taken? Have they been published? What subjects do they lecture on?
  • Is the person onsite or remote? Many Connecticut records are available online on FamilySearch and Ancestry, but there are many that have yet to be digitized. Depending on what you need, you may need someone onsite (or who goes through the vaults often enough to know what they need to request).
  • What’s their research focus? Even in a state as small as Connecticut, genealogists may have a stronger in a specific county or town that can be key for the deep dive needed into your family’s history.
  • What’s your budget and project goals? You may not want to hire a genealogist for your entire project but just for sections. You may be time or money limited. Knowing that going in will be helpful.
  • What communication do you prefer? Do you need regular updates? By phone, email, something else? Asking first will help.
  • Are you a good fit? Talk to your genealogist. Not everyone meshes well.

Connecticut Villages: What do you need to know?

Connecticut historically had a village system. Villages – which often included churches, stores, schools and more – were typically organized either (in the 18th and early 19th century) around a church or later, around industrial centers. As much of life revolved around what they experienced in the villages, our ancestor may have listed the village as their home.

Yet the villages have no political jurisdiction in their own right. Some are even part of multiple towns, such as Hadlyme, or more famously, Mystic. (Mystic is part of Groton and Stonington.) That means to find our ancestor’s records, we need to know the town in which the village was located.

A good place to start is the secretary of state’s webpage entitled “TOWNS, VILLAGES, AND DISTRICTS WITH NO POST OFFICE OF SAME NAME“. While it won’t list every village, it does provide towns for many of those in the state.

The Connecticut town boundaries have changed. How do I find my ancestor’s land records?

Connecticut land records are stored in the town in which the property was located at the time the transaction occurred. They do not move as town lines change. How do you find your ancestor’s land records?

If you know where the property is located today, there’s a webpage created by the Connecticut State Library that can help. Called “List of Connecticut Towns & Counties Including Year Established,” it lists the current town name, the year established, and the “parent town” from which it originated. You may have to follow your ancestor’s town back a few steps and you’ll need to check all possible parent towns for your ancestor – but at least it gives you a working list.