Connecticut Genealogy

This guide contains a sample of The Newberry's resources on this topic. To locate additional resources, please check our catalog or consult a reference librarian.

Guides and Bibliographies

Abbe, Elizabeth. “Connecticut Genealogical Research: Sources and Suggestions,” in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, January 1980. Call No. Local History Ref F 1. N56 (2nd floor open shelf).

Kemp, Thomas Jay. Connecticut Researcher’s Handbook. Detroit: Gale, 1981. Call No. Local History Ref Z1265. K45 (2nd floor open shelf).

Parks, Roger. Connecticut: A Bibliography of Its History. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1986. Call No. Local History Ref Z1265. C66 1986 (2nd floor open shelf).

Rapaport, Diane. New England Court Records. Burlington, MA: Quill Pen Press, 2006. Call No. Local History Ref F3 .R37 2006. Includes locations of court records for each Connecticut county, online sources, and local and federal archival holdings.

Vital Records and Newspapers

Bailey, Frederic W. Early Connecticut Marriages Prior to 1800. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1968. Call No. Local History Ref F93 .B16 1968 (2nd floor open shelf).

Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society, 1947. Call No. Microfilm F846 .19621. Contains primarily pre-1850 births, marriages, and deaths from transcribed from Connecticut town records. Use in conjunction with: Trout, Mary Jane. Checklist of Surnames and Localities Listed in Barbour Index to Vital Records. Lansing, MI: Michigan State Library, 1966. Call No. Local History Ref F93 .T768 1966 (2nd floor open shelf). For transcriptions of records for the towns of Durham (1708-1852); Eastford (1847-1851); and East Haddam (1743-1857), see The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1997. Call No. F104 .D87 w48 1997. There is also a guide to using the Barbour Collection available at the 2nd floor reference desk.

Charles R. Hale Collection of Connecticut Newspaper Notices and Headstone Inscriptions. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society, 1949-1950. Call No. Microfilm 420. Contains headstone inscriptions and marriage and death notices primarily from the 18th and 19th centuries with some burials from the early 20th century. Use in conjunction with A Reel Guide to the Charles R. Hale Collection. Chicago: The Newberry Library, 1981. Call No. Local History Ref F93 .N48 (2nd floor open shelf). There is also a guide to using the Hale Collection available at the 2nd floor reference desk.

Manwaring, Charles. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records. Hartford: R.S. Peck, 1904-1906.Call No. Local History Ref F93 .M29 1904 (2nd floor open shelf).

Scott, Kenneth. Genealogical Data From Colonial New Haven Newspapers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1979. Call No. Local History Ref F104. N653 A27 1986 (2nd floor open shelf). Includes deaths, marriages, land sales, goods for sale, estates, fugitive apprentices and slaves, crimes, debts owed, convictions.

Public Records

Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut. Hartford: Brown and Parsons, 1850-1890. Call No. Local History Ref F97. C7 (2nd floor open shelf). Proceedings of the General Court of the colony from 1665-1776, indexed by names of individuals and by issues before the Court.

Public Records of the State of Connecticut. Hartford: Connecticut State Library, 1894-1967. Call No. Local History Ref F99 .C7 (2nd floor open shelf). Proceedings of the General Assembly and the Council of Safety of the state of Connecticut from 1776-1803, indexed.

Apprentices

Ritter, Kathy A. Apprentices of Connecticut, 1637-1900. Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry, 1986. Call No. Local History Ref F93 .R57 (2nd floor open shelf). Entries include name, age, race, county of residence, parents, and birth date of apprentice; term of indenture; and name, county, and occupation of master.

Genealogies and Biographies

Boyd, Robert. Genealogies of Connecticut Families from “The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.” Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983. Call No. Local History Ref F93 .G46 1983 (2nd floor open shelf).

Brown, Barbara W. Black Roots in Southeastern Connecticut, 1650-1900. Detroit: Gale, 1980. Call No. E 185.93 .C7 B76. Includes a name index, town index, and information for people known by first name only.

Cutter, William R. Genealogical and Family History of the State of Connecticut. New York: Lewis, 1911. Call No. E 6921 .2 v.1-v.4. Index in volume 4.

Jacobus, Donald L. Families of Ancient New Haven. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1974. Call No. Local History Ref F104 .N6 A6, v.1-v.8 (2nd floor open shelf). Includes New Haven, East Haven, North Haven, West Haven, Hamden, Bethany, and Woodbridge. Index in volume 8.

Jacobus, Donald L. List of Officials, Civil, Military, and Ecclesiastical of Connecticut Colony from 1636 through 1677 and of New Haven Colony Through its Separate Existence. New Haven: R.M. Hooker, 1935. Call No. E 4846 .45

Mather, Frederic G. The Refugees of 1776 From Long Island to Connecticut. Albany, NY: J.B. Lyon Co., 1913. Call No. E 6952 .56a.

Military Records

Bodge, George Madison. Soldiers in King Phillip’s War. Leominster, MA: Printed for the author, 1896. Call No. Local History Ref E83 .67B66 (2nd floor open shelf).

Connecticut Adjutant General’s Office. Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the Army and Navy of the United States During the War of Rebellion. Hartford: Press of Case, Lockwood, & Brainard Co., 1889. Call No. F 8349 .048

Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution. Connecticut Revolutionary Pensioners. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982. Call No. Local History Ref E263 .C5 C69 1982 (2nd floor open shelf).

Connecticut Historical Society. Rolls of Connecticut Men in the French and Indian War, 1755-1762. Hartford: Connecticut Historical Society, 1903-1905. Call No. F846 .198 v. 9-10

Minority Military Service, Connecticut, 1775-1783. Washington, DC: National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1988. Call No. E263 .C5 M56 1988.

Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the War of the Revolution; War of 1812; Mexican War. Hartford: Adjutant General, 1889. Call No. Local History Ref E263 .C5C5 (2nd floor open shelf). An index to Revolutionary War soldiers is found in volume 2, soldiers in other wars are listed alphabetically.

Shepard, James. Connecticut Soldiers in the Pequot War of 1637. Meriden, CT: Journal Publishing, 1913. Call No. F 846 .81

Maps and Gazetteers

DenBoer, Gordon and John H. Long. Atlas of Historical County Boundaries: Connecticut, Maine Massachusetts, Rhode Island. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994. Call No. Local History Ref G1201 .F7 A8 1993 (2nd floor open shelf).

Hughes, Arthur H. Connecticut Place Names. Hartford: Connecticut Historical Society, 1976. Local History Ref F92 .H83. (2nd floor open shelf).

Federal Census

The records of the United States census for Connecticut from 1790-1930 are available on-line at the public access computers, ask at 2nd floor reference desk. Printed indexes to the 1790-1860 censuses can be found in the Newberry catalog.

Colonial Census

Holbrook, Jay M. Connecticut 1670 Census. Oxford, MA: Holbrook Research Institute, 1977. Call No. F93 .H73. A reconstructed census including names, place of residence, size of household, acreage, and source of information.

Periodical

The Connecticut Nutmegger. Published by the Connecticut Society of Genealogists, 1968--. Local History Ref F93 .C64 (2nd floor open shelf). Volumes 1-28 (1968-1996) are indexed in Ullmann, Helen S. Nutmegger Index. Camden, ME: Picton Press, 1996. Call No. Local History Ref F93 .C64 1996 Index (2nd floor open shelf).

Online Resources

See the website of the Connecticut Society of Genealogists, for an introduction to Connecticut genealogy, online maps and publications, links to other Connecticut genealogical resources, and a searchable database of historical records.