Vermont Genealogy – Free Vermont Genealogy

This Vermont state page of our website provides direct links to major databases and historical titles and information found on Vermont genealogy and history, whether they exist on our site, or across the web.

Vermont Black Genealogy

  • African Americans in Addison County, Charlotte, and Hinesburgh, Vermont, 1790-1860
    For this initial investigation, the author chose an area in Vermont’s Champlain Valley that included all of Addison County and the adjoining Chittenden County towns of Charlotte and Hinesburgh. She was aware of some black families that had lived in the area and this work would build on her own and others’ research. She turned for information to the usual public records, beginning with the eight federal censuses from 1790 to 1860. She then compiled census data into a roster listing every independent black household, a total of 104 names, and began to search for these men, women, and families.
  • The working lives of African Vermonters in census and literature, 1790-1870
    As in other states, the white majority delegated most Blacks to menial positions, reserving for Anglo-Saxon whites high status jobs and social privileges.
  • African Americans in Burlington, Vermont, 1880-1990
    The history of Black people in Burlington during the late nineteenth century developed within the wider context of other local ethnic groups, but also should be understood on its own terms. At the same time, Afro-Burlingtonians shared many similarities with the experience of black people in other small New England cities such as Bangor.
  • “For colored people [they] had a great many friends:” the Phillips-Lynde family of Windham, Connecticut, and Brookfield, Vermont
    Recent scholarship has uncovered the lives of Black soldiers, farmers, landowners, voters, and taxpayers who were as much a part of the early history of this country and this state as the founders. John and Judith Lynde are not unique, and similar stories are waiting to be remembered.
  • “Judge Jacob and his Dinah”
    This 1914 article explains the notorious case of the Selectmen of Windsor v. Stephen Jacob, Esq. The defendant had held a negro woman, Dinah, as a slave for many years but when she became infirm the town became responsible for her care. The selectmen sued Jacob for the care of the woman. This article was written by the man who found the original bill of sale in the basement of the Windsor town hall in 1889 or 1890.
  • African-American Vermonters Serving During The Civil War
    Adapted from Fuller, James. Men of Color, To Arms! Vermont African-Americans in the Civil War. Lincoln, NE: iUniversity Press, 2001. Appendix 1. When available, the soldier’s name is linked to further information at www.vermontcivilwar.org

Vermont Cemeteries

Vermont Census Records

Vermont Church Records

  • Marriages (1837-1849) and baptisms (1836-1847) performed by Richard Bedford
    This document contains a listing and index of the marriages performed by Richard Bedford, Jr., Minister of the Gospel.  It was compiled from photocopies in the collection of the Vermont Historical Society; the original document is owned by the Sullivan County Historical Society of LaPorte, Pennsylvania.  The records cover baptisms between the years 1836 and 1847 and marriages between 1837 and 1849.  Localities include the counties of Orange, Windsor, Caledonia, Orleans, and Washington.
  • Bennington County
  • Orange County
    • Marriages Performed by Rev. Hezekiah Dickey, Orange County, Vermont, and neighboring New Hampshire, 1847-1895
      Transcribed records are from a manuscript book of marriages performed by Hezekiah Felch Dickey, Minister of the Gospel. The book was presented to the Vermont Historical Society by his great-grandson, Earl H. Dickey on 17 July 1941. The book is kept in the vault at the VHS, and is catalogued under the call number AC 847374.
    • Index to the Records of the First Congregational Church of Newbury, Vt., 1786-1835
      These records reside in the vault of the Vermont Historical Society, 60 Washington St., Barre, Vermont. They document proceedings of the church from 1786-1835, covering the period of the ministries of Nathaniel Lambert, Luther Jewett and Clark Perry. In addition to the church proceedings, a list of church members, with death dates of many, is included. Also, baptisms and marriages, as well as a separate list of deaths is included.
    • Tunbridge Monthly Meeting, First Book of Records, 1802-1825
      A transcription of (principally) lists of members of the Tunbridge Monthly Meeting of Freewill Baptists. The records are from the collections of the Vermont Historical Society Library, 60 Washington St., Barre, Vt., and have the catalog number AC 802380.  The book consists primarily of minutes of meetings from the period 30 June 1802 through 7 October 1825. Although there are baptismal records sprinkled throughout these minutes, the writing is faded and difficult to interpret, so no attempt was made to search for and record them. The member lists appear from time to time in the record book, and annotations sometimes appear to indicate a death or other event.
    • Methodist Episcopal Church Records, Vershire Circuit, Abstract and Index, 1802-1861
      These records of the Vershire Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Vermont are contained in an account book in the collections of the Vermont Historical Society (VHS) in Barre, Vt. The book was donated to the VHS in 1929 by William M. Newton and has been given the manuscript number AC 802110. The records contained within the pages of this book include listings of members of various “classes”*   from Towns within the circuit, as well as lists of church members, baptisms, marriages, church minutes and other information. Abstracts contained herein attempt to capture relevant information about church members, and focus solely on classes, church members, baptisms and marriages.
  • Rutland County
  • Windham County

Vermont Court Records

Vermont Directories

  • Vermont City Directories in Vermont Repositories, 2nd edition, 2013
    City/town directories have been published for many Vermont communities from the mid-19th century onward.  They are useful to researchers because they provide an inventory of the residents and businesses in a town for a given year.  They almost always provide a listing of residents by street and often indicate the employer of wage earners in households. Many of these directories are available to researchers in major repositories in Montpelier and Burlington, as well as at many local libraries throughout the state. This document lists the directories that are available for each Vermont city or town by year and publisher and indicates in which repository those directories can be found.  In some cases, Vermont communities are included in directories for bordering towns in neighboring states. Those directories are included here as well, but references are provided only for Vermont communities.

Vermont Gazetteers

Vermont Genealogy

Vermont County Genealogy and History

United States Genealogy

USGenWeb Project

Addison, Bennington, Caledonia, Chittenden, Essex, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans, Rutland, Washington, Windham, Windsor

Vermont History

Vermont Immigration Records

  • Vermont, St. Albans Canadian Border Crossings, 1895-1924
    This collection contains an index to Canadian border entries through the St. Albans, Vermont, District, 1895-1924 and corresponds with NARA collections M1461, M1463, M1464, M1465.
  • Brattleboro area Irish naturalizations, 1868
    This document contains a list of 20 individuals who became citizens in the Windham County Court of William H. Jones.  It is the third book of a set of five docket books.  This list is upside down on the last pages of the 1868 notebook. The notes contain names, ages, country of origin and reasons for naturalization. Most of the naturalizations are for Irish immigrants who served as soldiers for the Union during the Civil War.

Vermont Land Records

  • Vermont, Land Records, Early to 1900
    Land records give the locations and dates for land transactions with the names of buyers and sellers. Most volumes of land records have indexes of buyers and sellers. Look in the indexes first to find the volumes and page numbers where the actual land records can be found. Then look in the appropriate land records volumes to see the images of the deeds. Additional indexes and records are being added to this collection. This index currently has the following years: 1850 to 1900.
  • The Vermont lease lands

Vermont Military Records

Vermont Native American Records

Vermont Vital Records

  • Vermont Vital Records
    • Vermont, Births and Christenings, 1765-1908
      Name index to birth, baptism and christening records from the state of Vermont. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and FamilySearch Centers. Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed. The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later.
    • Vermont, Deaths and Burials, 1871-1965
      Name index to death and burial records from the state of Vermont. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and Family History Centers. This set contains 74,099 records. Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed. The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later.
    • Vermont, Marriages, 1791-1974
      Name index to marriage records from the state of Vermont. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and Family History Centers. Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed. The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later.
    • Vermont, Vital Records, 1760-1954
      Name index and images (index cards) of town clerk transcriptions of births, marriages and deaths, 1760-1954. This collection is complete for years 1871-1908.
    • Vermont, Vital Records, 1760-2008
      Name index and images from microfilm of births, marriages and deaths. This collection includes images for the years 1955-2003. The records for 1955-1979 are arranged alphabetically. Index and images courtesy of Ancestry.com and the Vermont State Archives.
    • Vermont, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1732-2005
      Vital and town records acquired from local town clerk offices.
    • Marriages in Montpelier, Burlington and Berlin, Vt., 1789-1876
      The marriages listed in this publication were taken from Vermont Marriages, Vol. 1 (Boston: Research Publication Co., 1903), available at the Leahy Library of the Vermont Historical Society and other repositories. That publication lists marriages in chronological order, and is not indexed, making searching for an individual difficult.
    • Marriages (1837-1849) and baptisms (1836-1847) performed by Richard Bedford
      This document contains a listing and index of the marriages performed by Richard Bedford, Jr., Minister of the Gospel.  It was compiled from photocopies in the collection of the Vermont Historical Society; the original document is owned by the Sullivan County Historical Society of LaPorte, Pennsylvania.  The records cover baptisms between the years 1836 and 1847 and marriages between 1837 and 1849.  Localities include the counties of Orange, Windsor, Caledonia, Orleans, and Washington.
    • Some Vermont Vital Records of the Early 19th Century, John Elliott Bowman
      The vital records contained herein were transcribed from index cards found in two drawers of a filing cabinet at the Vermont Historical Society. They consist of items relating to Vermont deaths and marriages in the early part of the 19th century. These records were compiled by John Elliott Bowman from various newspapers, chiefly dated between 1802-1838, with a single reference to a 1796 issue of the Keene, N.H., Rising Sun, and one of the same year to Spooner’s Vermont Journal. It is not clear whether all issues within the various time periods were searched.
    • Bennington County
    • Orange County
      • Marriages Performed by Rev. Hezekiah Dickey, Orange County, Vermont, and neighboring New Hampshire, 1847-1895
        Transcribed records are from a manuscript book of marriages performed by Hezekiah Felch Dickey, Minister of the Gospel. The book was presented to the Vermont Historical Society by his great-grandson, Earl H. Dickey on 17 July 1941. The book is kept in the vault at the VHS, and is catalogued under the call number AC 847374.
      • Index to the Records of the First Congregational Church of Newbury, Vt., 1786-1835
        These records reside in the vault of the Vermont Historical Society, 60 Washington St., Barre, Vermont. They document proceedings of the church from 1786-1835, covering the period of the ministries of Nathaniel Lambert, Luther Jewett and Clark Perry. In addition to the church proceedings, a list of church members, with death dates of many, is included. Also, baptisms and marriages, as well as a separate list of deaths is included.
      • Strafford, Vermont, Vital Records, 1774-1796
      • Methodist Episcopal Church Records, Vershire Circuit, Abstract and Index, 1802-1861
        These records of the Vershire Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Vermont are contained in an account book in the collections of the Vermont Historical Society (VHS) in Barre, Vt. The book was donated to the VHS in 1929 by William M. Newton and has been given the manuscript number AC 802110. The records contained within the pages of this book include listings of members of various “classes”*   from Towns within the circuit, as well as lists of church members, baptisms, marriages, church minutes and other information. Abstracts contained herein attempt to capture relevant information about church members, and focus solely on classes, church members, baptisms and marriages.
    • Rutland County
      • Marriages recorded and/or performed by Caleb Hendee, Pittsford, Vt., 1798-1803
        The following records appear in an account book by Caleb Hendee (unpaginated). This account book is mainly comprised of a series of legal proceedings involving settlement of debts, etc.  Interspersed among these entries were a number of marriage records, as follows. The book includes separate groups of pages incorporated into the document.  Records are listed in the order in which they were encountered; not all records are in chronological order. The transcriber has added punctuation for ease in reading, and has indicated transcription uncertainties by placing such portions in brackets.  The original document appears in MSS 24 #54 (Pittsford, Vt.; A.d.s., including acct. books… 1792-1834, 7 pieces) at the Vermont Historical Society Library, 60 Washington St., Barre, Vt.
    • Washington County
      • Washington County deaths, funerals, births & fires from the diary of James Henry Holmes, 1894-1911
        James and Mertie Holmes kept 30 diaries predominantly for the period from 1892-1916. James’ daily entries roughly summarize what he did each day, focusing primarily on his work and social activities. Other topics discussed in James’ diaries include: family and neighborhood news, household chores, Modern Woodmen of America and Independent Order of Odd Fellows meetings and other leisure activities. James also recorded information pertaining to deaths, funerals, births, weddings, and fires in the community, sometimes including time of death as well as any unusual or noteworthy circumstances surrounding the death. Several violent deaths and suicides are mentioned. Lists of deaths, fires, births, and weddings mentioned in James’ diaries form the basis of the transcriptions linked here.

         

      • Waitsfield, Vermont, Vital Records, Abstract and Index, 1834-1858
        The following marriage records are included in a collection of Waitsfield, Vt., papers donated to the Vermont Historical Society by Mrs. Walter Jones of Waitsfield sometime before 1950. These records are the original slips of paper handwritten and signed by the officiants in the marriages. The following abstractions of those records are intended to include all relevant information contained therein.
    • Windham County

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