Berlin, Washington County, Vermont Genealogy

Brief History
Berlin was chartered June 8, 1763. The name refers to Berlin, Germany, and was the only German town name in this new English colony. The charter was issued by the Royal Governor of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth, and stated that each "proprietor, settler or inhabitant" should pay one ear of Indian corn for each acre of land, and after ten years, one shilling for each 100 acres.

Jacob Fowler, a hunter, was the first settler who stayed and left descendants in town. Other early settlers were Moses Smith, Daniel Morse, John Lathrop, and Hezekiah Silloway. In 1789 thirteen families lived in Berlin, and eight more in 1790. The first child born in Berlin was Abigail Black (1789).

The first town meeting was held on March 31,1791. The first sawmill was built in the same year, the first school (on East Street) in 1794. The first Christian institution was founded in 1798, with James Hobart as its minister. A Congregational meeting house opened at Berlin center in 1803. After it burned down in 1838 the Congregational Church was built at Berlin Corner.

Historical Data
Berlin, Vermont historical photos

Town Histories
Go to Archive.org to find published materials for this town.
 * Early history of Berlin, Vermont, 1763-1820, Mary Greene Nye (1954) - this book in available online.
 * A place to pass through : Berlin, Vermont, 1820-1991, Berlin Historical Society (1992) - find this book in a library.

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

Probate Records
The probate district for Berlin is Washington. Washington District Probate Court 10 Elm St. #3 Montpelier, VT 05602 Phone: (802) 828-3405

City Directories
Berlin, Vermont city directories (1931, 1942) are available at Ancestry.com ($)

Maps
1873 map of Berlin

Cemeteries
The following is a list of major cemeteries in present-day Berlin. For location of all cemeteries, see Cemeteries of Vermont, Washington County, website at this link.


 * Berlin Corner Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Black Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Boles Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Colby Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Dewey-Wright Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * East Road Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Johnson-Sawyer Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * West Berlin Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.

Town Records
Vermont marriages, volume 1, Montpelier, Burlington, Berlin [index] / Buss, Karen can be viewed online.

Marriages in Montpelier, Burlington and Berlin, Vt. (1789-1876) are available online in PDF format.

The Family History Library has microfilm of original records from the Berlin Town Clerk's Office. These include Land records, 1791-1852.

Berlin Town Clerk 108 Shed Road Berlin, VT 05602 Phone: (802) 229-9298 Website

Newspapers
Burlington Free Press

Libraries and Historical Societies
Berlin Historical Society 108 Shed Road Berlin, Vt 05602 Email: historicalsociety@berlinvt.org Website