Charles R. Hale Collection

Charles R. Hale directed a project about 1932-5 to record cemetery inscriptions in 2,269 Connecticut cemeteries. Newspaper death and marriage notices were abstracted for the years 1755 to 1865-6 (except for the Danbury Times ending in 1900). The state typed and bound the inscriptions and abstracts, then created separate marriage and death name indexes on slips of paper.

The collection is valuable because it contains cemetery inscriptions for stones no longer extant or no longer legible. It includes cemeteries under highways and covered by reservoirs.

In 1949-50 the Genealogical Society of Utah (FamilySearch’s predecessor) microfilmed the Hale Collection at the Connecticut State Library. Decades ago the society indexed parts of the collection and added it to the International Genealogical Index. Recently FamilySearch produced a digital index for parts of it. Still other parts remain unindexed. Indexed parts are now scattered among three FamilySearch collections:

• Connecticut, Deaths, 1640-1955
• Connecticut Deaths and Burials, 1772-1934
• Connecticut, Charles R. Hale Collection, Vital Records, 1640-1955

One result of this ragged indexing history is that some colonial era events are found by specifying “Connecticut, United States” and some by specifying “Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America.”

Collection Organization

The organization and different parts of the collection are reflected in the film notes in the FamilySearch catalog entry for the Hale Collection.

Surname index, Death and Inscriptions. Slip index of newspaper death notices and cemetery inscriptions.

Index to Deaths, (newspaper name). Slip index of newspaper death notices, arranged by newspaper, then by name.

Index to Marriages, (newspaper name). – Slip index of newspaper marriage notices, arranged by newspaper, then by name.

Surname index of marriages. Slip index of newspaper marriage notices, includes separate slips for bride and groom.

Cemetery inscriptions of (town). Bound volumes. Microfilm rolls can be divided in the middle of a town. Towns are presented alphabetically, not numerically.

• Each town has its own section, with page number beginning at 1.
• Inscriptions are grouped by cemetery and ordered by cemetery number.
• Index of Inscriptions
• List of Cemeteries, showing cemetery numbers.
• Location of Cemeteries (map)

Newspapers with death and marriage notices (newspaper name). Newspapers may not all be indexed in the slip index.

• Paper title page gives newspaper name, S.L.N. (state library number?), marriage notices date and page number range, death notices date and page number range.
• Marriages are listed, sorted by newspaper issue date

Cemetery Inscription Example

FamilySearch has indexed many of the Hale Collection cemetery inscriptions, but not all of them. This example demonstrates how to locate an inscription manually.

Consult the catalog to locate the “Surname index, Death and Inscriptions” image group number (or microfilm) inclusive of the surname of interest. For example, Maria Eudocia Foote falls between FOL and FOX, so the image group of interest is 7592623. The image group contains slips indexing the bound volumes of cemetery inscriptions.

Maria’s index slip looks like this:

The slip indicates the town (New Haven in the example), followed by the location code (215) assigned to that town. The leading digit indicates the county:

• 100 Hartford
• 200 New Haven
• 300 New London
• 400 Fairfield
• 500 Windham
• 600 Litchfield
• 700 Middlesex
• 800 Tolland

Cemetery numbers start with 1 in each town. The bound abstracts list the cemeteries for each town (215-1). The page number refers to the town’s section in the bound abstracts. (The website “Hale Collection of Connecticut Cemetery Records” by New Horizons Genealogy also lists cemetery numbers.)

Look up the abstract of the inscription in the bound volume. To do so, locate the image group (or microfilm) containing p. 381 of the town of New Haven. A town may occupy multiple volumes in multiple image groups. Page 381 looks like this:

The town section closes with a cemetery list and location map or diagram. The beginning of the New Haven page looks like this:

The top half of the cemetery map is:

Newspaper Death Notice Example

A search for Maria Eudocia Foote who died in 1862 in Connecticut finds this record:

This record was indexed from this index slip:

To see the abstract in the bound volume, locate the volume containing the New Haven Palladium newspaper. Then turn to page 991. That brings you to this page:

Notice the abstract includes a fact not included on the index slip, the identity of Maria’s father. Original newspaper articles may have yet additional information. Access them whenever possible. Here is the original newspaper article for Maria:

Newspaper Marriage Notice Example

FamilySearch did not index all the marriage notice bound volumes or index slips. It becomes necessary to search the slip index to determine if and where the marriage notice was published.

Separate slips were prepared for the bride and groom. Multiple slips often exist for a marriage because the notice appeared in multiple newspapers. Pick a newspaper that you have access to.

This slip is for a bride:

This is the corresponding slip for the groom:

To see the abstract in the bound volume for Sarah and O.I.’s marriage, locate the volume containing the New Haven Palladium newspaper. Then turn to page 1418. That brings you to this page:

Notice the abstract includes a fact not included on the index slip, the identity of Sarah’s father. Original newspaper articles may have yet additional information. Access them whenever possible. Here is the original newspaper article for this marriage:

Colonial Newspapers

The Hale Collection indexes these colonial period newspapers:

• Connecticut Gazette 1755 (New Haven)-1768
• Connecticut Journal 1767-1835
• Hartford Courant 1764-1865
• New London Gazette 1765-1836
• New London Summary or Weekly Advertiser 1758-1763
• Norwich Packet 1773-1812