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Pownal, Bennington County, Vermont Genealogy

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Town Information

Description

Pownal, Vermont at Wikipedia

Pownal was the first town Benning Wentworth granted after the French and Indian wars and it was chartered on January 8, 1760. Thomas and John Pownall were both listed on the charter but the final l in their name was left off and also left off of the name of the town in the charter.

Two Presidents taught school in Pownal at the beginning of their careers. Chester A. Arthur educated Pownal youth as did James A. Garfield. When Garfield was assassinated in 1881, Arthur succeeded him as President. A marker was placed near the North Pownal Congregational church in 1958 to note this fact.

Pownal was the site of Vermont's only racetrack. The racetrack was a horse track until 1976, when it then switched to greyhounds. It permanently closed in 1992. [1]

Parent Towns

Populated Places

Includes Neighborhoods, Villages, Unincorporated Communities,
Districts, and Census-Designated Places:

Boundary Changes

Adjacent Towns

Town Records

In New England most original vital records of birth, marriage, and death can be found at the town clerk's office

Pownal Town Clerk

The town clerk is responsible for these records, and so most originals can be found at the town clerk's office.

Pownal Town Clerk
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 411 Pownal, VT 05261
Physical Address: 467 Center Street Pownal, VT 05261
Phone: (802) 823-7757
Email: powclerk@sover.net
Website: http://www.pownal.org/TownOffice/TownOffice.html

Vital Records

FamilySearch Historical Records Collection has Vermont birth, death, and marriage records online.

Births

Marriages

Deaths

Divorce

Town Reports

Resources

For more County and State resources see:

Biographies

  • Biographical Encyclopædia of Vermont of the Nineteenth Century. By H Clay Williams. Boston, Massachusetts: Metropolitan Publishing & Engraving Company, 1885. Salt Lake City, Utah : Family Search International, 2018. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
  • Biographical Sketches of Vermonters. By Vermont Historical Society. Montpelier, Vermont : Vermont Historical Society, c1947. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
  • Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. By Hiram Carleton. New York, New York: Lewis Pub. Co., 1903. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Vols. 1-2.
  • Some Vermont Ancestors: The Bicentennial Project of the Genealogical Society of Vermont. Compiled and ed. by Joann H. Nichols. [S.l.]: Genealogical Society of Vermont, 1976. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
  • The Vermont Historical Gazetteer: a Magazine Embracing a History of Each Town, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Biographical and Military. By ed. by Abby Maria Hemenway. Burlington, Vermont: A.M. Hemenway, 1868-1923. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol. 1-6.
  • The Vermont of Today: With its Historic Background, Attractions and People. By Arthur F. Stone. New York, New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., c1929. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Vols. 1-4.
  • Vermonters. By Dorman B.E. Kent. Tucson, Arizona: W.C. Cox & Co., 1974. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
  • Vermont Biography at FamilySearch Research Wiki

Cemeteries

The following is a list of cemeteries in present-day Pownal. For location of cemeteries, see Cemeteries of Vermont, Bennington County, website at this link.

The Pownal Historical Scoiety has provided information and some grave stone inscriptions for several of these cemeteries at their website.

  • Eldred Cemetery (aka Fowler Farm Cemetery) - inscriptions at Find a Grave site.
  • Gardner Cemetery (aka Gardner Historical Cemetery) - inscriptions at Find a Grave site.
  • Lovett Cemetery - inscriptions at Find a Grave site.
  • Mason Hill Cemetery - inscriptions at Find a Grave site.
  • Morgan-Towslee Cemeter - inscriptions at Find a Grave site.
  • North Pownal Yard Cemetery - inscriptions at Find a Grave site.
  • Oak Hill Cemeter - inscriptions at Find a Grave site.
  • Potter Cemetery(aka William Arnold Farm Cemetery) - inscriptions at Find a Grave site.
  • Potter Cemetery (aka Eunice Wilcox Farm Cemetery) - inscriptions at Find a Grave site.
  • Pownal Center Cemetery - inscriptions at Find a Grave site.
  • Sherman Cemetery - inscriptions at Find a Grave site.
  • Woodland Cemetery (aka J. Wilcox Farm Cemetery) - inscriptions at Find a Grave site.

Census

Church Records

Historically, the largest religious groups in Vermont were the Congregational, Baptist, Roman Catholic, and Methodist churches. For general information about Vermont denominations, view the New Hampshire Church Records wiki page.

To see the churches in Pownal, visit.

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. The following are church records available online for the town of Pownal:

Pownal's church history from 1760 to 1840 - A Time for Building Churches Pownal from the book " A Vermont Town's Two Hundred Years And More." (Courtesy of the Pownal Historical Society)

Pownal Church History After 1840 - Courtesy of the Pownal Historical Society

City Directories

Compiled Genealogies

Court Records

Immigration

Land Records

Local Histories

The Vermont Historical Gazetteer is a 5 volume set of historical information by Abby Maria Hemenway with Volume I published in 1867 and Volume V completed in 1891 after her death. Also available online in PDF format at this link.

Pownal: A Vermont Town's Two Hundred Years and More, Joseph Parks, Pownal Bicentennial Committee, 1977.

Maps

ArlingtonSunderlandGlastenburyShaftsburyBenningtonWoodfordSearsburgReadsboroStamfordPownalSandgateManchesterWinhallLandgrovePeruDorsetRupertPawletDanbyMount TaborWestonLondonderryJamaicaStrattonSomersetDoverWilmingtonWhitinghamMonroeRoweFloridaClarksburgWilliamstownPetersburgHoosickSalemJacksonWhite CreekHebronVermont Bennington Pownal.png

This selection incudes town, county, state, and historical maps

Migration

Military

Searchable by Town Some Records are Searchable by Town

Revolutionary War, 1775-1783

For more Revolutionary War Military Records see:

Civil War, 1861-1865

For more Civil War Military Records see:

World War I, 1917-1918

For more World War I Military Records see:

World War II, 1941-1945

For more World War II Military Records see:

Newspapers

Bennington Banner Newspaper

Obituaries

Other Town Records

In Vermont, most records are kept at the town level and generally began being kept at the founding of the town. These records may include the following:

  • Births
  • Marriages
  • Deaths
  • Burials
  • Cemetery records
  • Appointments
  • Earmarks
  • Estrays (stray animals)
  • Freemens' oaths (men eligible to vote)
  • Land records
  • Mortgages
  • Name changes
  • Care of the poor
  • School records
  • Surveys
  • Tax lists
  • Town meeting minutes
  • Voter registrations
  • Warning outs (of town)

The following are Pownal town records available online:

Digital images of Pownal Town records 1732-2005  are available online at FamilySearch.

Marriages in Pownal,Vermont to 1850 - available on the Pownal Historical Society Website.

Deaths in Pownal, VT from 1921-1980 - available on the Pownal Historical Society Website.

The FamilySearch Library has microfilm of original records from the Pownal Town Clerks Office. These include Land records, 1750-1894; indexes to land records, 1760-1931 , Town records, 1775-1903, and Records of births, marriages, and deaths, 1857-1994.

Probate Records

In Vermont, most probate records are kept at the town level. The following are online probate records for the town of Pownal:

The probate district for Pownal is Bennington.
Bennington Probate Division
207 South St.
Bennington, VT 05201
Phone: (802) 447-2705

School Records

Tax Records

Websites

Research Facilities

Archives

Libraries

Solomon Wright Library
97 Main Street
PO Box 400
Pownal, VT, 05261
Phone: (802) 823-5400
Email: pownal_pub@vals.state.vt.us
Website: http://solomonwrightlibrary.org/

Museums

FamilySearch Centers & Affiliate Libraries

FamilySearch Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local FamilySearch Centers or Affiliate Libraries

  • FamilySearch Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
  • FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a FamilySearch center.

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

Societies

Pownal Historical Society
Solomon Wright Public Library, Pownal, VT
Mailing Address: PO Box 313, Pownal, VT 05261
Website
Email: pownal@comcast.net
Phone: (802) 823-5536

References

  1. ↑ History of the Town of Pownal, T. E. Brownell, http://sites.rootsweb.com/~vermont/BenningtonPownal.html
v • d• e
Towns in Bennington County in Vermont articles
Vt-bennington.png
Extinct Town:
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