Connecticut Archives and Libraries

United States Connecticut Archives and Libraries

These archives, libraries, societies, and museums preserve sources, maintain indexes, and provide services to help genealogists document their ancestors who lived in Connecticut.

National

National Archives at Boston
380 Trapelo Road
Waltham, MA 02452-6399
Phone: (781) 663-0130
Fax: (781) 663-0154
E-mail: waltham.archives@nara.gov
Internet: National Archives at Boston

Collects Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont documents, photos, and maps of 80 federal agencies, War of 1812, fortifications, coastal facilities, World War II research at Harvard and MIT, federal bankruptcy courts, First Circuit Court of Appeals, Navy, Coast Guard, westward expansion, ethnology, genealogy, Revolutionary War, Civil War, captured German records, territorial papers, censuses, passenger arrival records for Boston and New England, and Canadian border crossings.

Statewide

Connecticut Historical Society
1 Elizabeth Street
Hartford, Connecticut 06105
Telephone: 860-236-5621
Fax: 860-236-2664
E-mail: ask_us@chs.org
Internet: Connecticut Historical Society
Internet: Family History reference works, Mss., online resources, periodicals, microfilm and fiche.

Town records, biographies, manuscripts, families, early settlers, church records, photos, and maps.

Connecticut State Library
231 Capitol Avenue
Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Telephone: 860-757-6500 or toll free: 866-886-4478
E-mail: E-mail Us form
Internet: Connecticut State Library
Internet: History and Genealogy Home

Barbour Collection, Bibles, census, church, Hale Collection newspaper marriages and deaths, manuscripts, books, cemeteries, probates, vital records, directories, land, local histories, maps, military, naturalization, passenger arrivals, and e-mail questions. Holdings include the collection, "Connecticut Archives," 1629–1820. A helpful inventory of this collection is:

• Connecticut State Library, Guide to Archives in the Connecticut State Library, Third Edition. (Hartford, Connecticut: Connecticut State Library, 1981; Family History Library book 974.6 A1 No. 30).

The State Library also houses the Museum of Connecticut History (860-757-6521).

Connecticut Society of Genealogists Library
175 Maple Street
East Hartford, Connecticut 06118-2634
    Mailing address: P.O. Box 435, Glastonbury, CT 06033-0435 USA
Telephone: 860-569-0002
Fax: 860-569-0339
E-mail: E-mail form
Internet: Connecticut Society of Genealogists Library

The library's holdings are not limited to Connecticut and include census records, tax lists, family histories, church records, local histories, and much more.

Regional

Godfrey Memorial Library
134 Newfield St.
Middletown, Connecticut 06457
Telephone: 860-346-4375
Fax: 860-347-9874
E-mail: Sharon@godfrey.org Reference Librarian
Internet: Godfrey Memorial Library about us, memberships, search, events, and opportunities.
Internet: Catalog by keywords, author, title, subject, location, and others.
Internet: AGBI Search form ($).

The collection is national in scope with many online records in addition to its physical collection. They compiled the American Genealogical and Biographical Index (AGBI). This library is an excellent genealogical facility including many New England town records, guidebooks, indexes, biographies, and genealogies.

Mystic Seaport Museum Collections Research Center
75 Greenmanville Ave.
Mystic, CT 06355
Telephone: 860-572-5367
E-mail: collections@mysticseaport.org
Internet: Collections and Library Art & objects, books, film & video, manuscripts, maps & charts, periodicals, photography, ships' plans, sound archives, and watercraft.

Best first-stop for ships' logs and images, journals, ledgers, diaries, and documents from the whaling, fishing, and shipping industries. Preserves the maritime history of Connecticut and New England. 1,300 logbooks, 390 collections, and 800 related volumes from 1720-present.

New Haven Museum Whitney Research Library
114 Whitney Avenue
New Haven CT 06510
Telephone: 203-562-4183 x15
Fax: 203-562-2002
E-mail: library@newhavenmuseum.org
Internet: The Whitney Library collection description, catalog of manuscripts, research guides, and services.

This is the best collection of the earliest southern Connecticut town records. They also have passenger arrival lists, Federal censuses, and a complete set of New Haven city directories since 1840. Formerly known as the New Haven Colony Historical Society.

UConn Libraries Homer Babbidge Library
369 Fairfield Way
Storrs, CT 06269
Telephone: 860-486-2518
E-mail: Ask a library form
Internet: UConn Libraries

They have an outstanding Connecticut genealogy collection.

Western Connecticut State University Haas Library
181 White Street
Danbury, CT 06810
Telephone: 203-837-9100
E-mail: E-Mail Reference form
Internet: WSCU Libraries about, hours, remote access, FAQs, contact.
Internet: Online catalog by keyword, author, title, family name, or subject.

Their collection includes histories, biographies, genealogies, and local histories.

Yale University Sterling Memorial Library
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511-1918
Telephone: 203-432-1775
E-mail: askyale@gmail.com
Internet: Sterling Memorial Library

Their genealogical strength is their religious collection and Puritain and Congregational Church records. They are also strong on Connecticut, New Haven, and New England history, manuscripts, diaries, and journals.

Out of State

Albany Institute of History and Art
125 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12210
Telephone: 518-463-4478
E-mail: information@albanyinstitute.org
Internet: Library
Internet: Online Catalog

This is the best collection of indexes and original records for "old" Albany County, New York, part of which included what is now all of Vermont. During the 1600s many families which started in Connecticut later migrated into Vermont and upstate New York.

American Antiquarian Society
185 Salisbury Street
Worcester, Massachusetts 01609-1634
Telephone: 508-755-5221
Fax: 508-753-3311
E-mail: Library@americanantiquarian.org
Internet: http://www.americanantiquarian.org/

They have many Connecticut vital records, newspapers, and town histories. The AAS is best known for their U.S. newspaper collection of over 18,000 bound volumes 1704-1820, history, genealogy, Bibles, maps, biography, directories, Native Americans, women, canals, railroads, photos, and manuscripts.

Bennington Museum Research Library
75 Main Street
Bennington, Vermont 05201-2885
Telephone: 802-447-1571
E-mail: tresch@benningtonmuseum.org
Internet: Bennington Museum Research Library

Their collection includes early Connecticut, New York, and Vermont records. It is a great place to find records of families that moved up the Connecticut River and then west.

New England Historic Genealogical Society
101 Newbury Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116-3007
Telephone:  617-536-5740; Library 617-226-1231
Fax:  617-536-7307
E-mail:  info@nehgs.org
Internet: AmericanAncestors.org

Best overall collection for New England (and Connecticut) vital records and probates, and excellent collection for Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, and Europe. The manuscript collection for members-only has diaries, letters, account books, business papers, church and town records, sermons, maps, wills, deeds, unpublished town and family genealogies, photos, and papers of the region's best genealogists since 1850.

New York Public Library

U.S. History, Local History & Genealogy Division
Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, Room 315S
New York, New York 10018-2788
Telephone: 212-930-0829
E-mail: Ask a librarian
Internet: http://www.nypl.org/

This is one of the largest research libraries in the world including excellent genealogical resources for Connecticut. The library has city and telephone directories, vital records indexes, local histories, genealogies, federal and state censuses, passenger lists, genealogical collections (including DAR transcripts), and church records. For maps, write to the Map Division at the same address.

Vermont Historical Society Leahy Library
Vermont History Center
60 Washington Street
Barre, Vermont 05641
Telephone: 802-479-8500
E-mail: info@vermonthistory.org
Internet: Vermont History Center

VHS is a good place to research former early Connecticut residents who later moved to Vermont.

• Brigham, Loriman S. Guide to the "Miscellaneous File" of Uncatalogued Material in the Vermont Historical Society: With a Supplementary Index to the Guide. Montpelier, Vermont: n.p.,1969. WorldCat 679814; FHL book 974.3 A3b; film 908069, item 20; fiche 6046847. This card index of persons, places, and subjects includes family histories and court, business, and land records. The family histories listed may have genealogies, pictures, military records, financial family papers, and correspondence.
• Brigham, Loriman S. A Calendar of Manuscripts in Certain Boxes at the Vermont Historical Society. Montpelier, Vermont: n.p., 1970. WorldCat 679715; FHL book 974.3 A3br; film 908503 item 1. This is a continuation of the above guide.
• Brigham, Loriman S. A Calendar of Manuscripts in Document Boxes at the Vermont Historical Society. Montpelier, Vermont: n.p., 1972. WorldCat 865949996; FHL book 974.3 A3bri; film 908503 item 2 This is a continuation of the above guide.

Western Reserve Historical Society
10825 East Boulevard
Cleveland, Ohio 44106-1788
Telephone: 216-721-5722 x1509
Fax: 216-721-0645
E-mail: reference@wrhs.org
Internet: Family History and Genealogical Research

The Western Reserve was a large part of Ohio at first intended for settlement by Connecticut Revolutionary War refugees. The Research Library at the Western Reserve Historical Society History Center  is the premier repository for Cleveland, Ohio and the Connecticut Western Reserve  history material. This important collection includes original land records, as well as many genealogies, biographies, histories, and Bibles from Pennsylvania and New England. Includes over 20 million manuscripts for genealogical research and northeast Ohio history. They have the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of Shaker materials. Other important collections include the American Civil War, and the automotive industry.

• Kermit J. Pike, A Guide to the Manuscripts and Archives of the Western Reserve Historical Society (Cleveland, Ohio: Western Reserve Historical Society, 1972). WorldCat 483574; FHL Book 977.1 A3p.
  
• Western Reserve Historical Society. History Library. Card Catalog to the Manuscripts Collection in the Library of the Western Reserve Historical Society (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1974). WorldCat 865891564; FHL Films 934566-69; 934617-18.

Online Records

Links to online databases and indexes that may include vital records, biographies, cemeteries, censuses, histories, immigration records, land records, maps, military records, naturalizations, newspapers, obituaries, or probate records.

Research Guides

• Kemp, Thomas Jay.Connecticut Researcher's Handbook. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1981. FHL book 974.6 D23k 
• Leclerc, Michael J., editor. Genealogist's Handbook for New England Research. Boston, Massachusetts : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012. FHL book 974 D27g 2012 At various libraries(WorldCat)
  

References

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