Windsor County, Vermont Genealogy

Guide to Windsor County, Vermont ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

United States Vermont  Windsor County

County Courthouse
County Clerk  has divorce and city records from 1782; Town Clerks  have birth, marriage, death, burial and land records; Probate Judge  has probate records. Towns Organized Before 1800: Andover 1761, Baltimore 1793, Barnard 1761, Bethel 1779, Bridgewater 1761 ,Cavendish 1761, Chester 1754, Hartford 1761, Hartland 1761, Ludlow 1761, Norwich 1761, Plymouth1761, Pomfret 1761, Reading 1761, Royalton 1769, Sharon 1761, Springfield 1761, Stockbridge 1761, Weathersfield 1761, Weston 1799, Windsor 1761, Woodstock 1761

Parent County
Created 22 February 1781 from the Colonial lands.

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Vermont County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Vermont County Boundary Maps" (1764-1895) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Places / Localities
Towns:

Villages:


 * Ludlow
 * Perkinsville
 * Woodstock


 * Communities:

Neighboring Counties

Addison | Bennington | Orange | Rutland | Windham | New Hampshire counties: Grafton | Sullivan

Cemeteries

 * List of Windsor County Cemeteries

Local Histories
Click History of Windsor County, Vermont to read this book on the Internet.

Click History of Windsor County, Vermont to find libraries with this book (WorldCat).

Civil War

 * - 2nd Regiment, Vermont Infantry
 * - 4th Regiment, Vermont Infantry, Companies B, C, E and K
 * - 16th Regiment, Vermont Infantry, Companies A, C, E, G, H and K

First Vermont Regiment was mustered into service May 2, 1861 with 782 men and mustered out in July 1861.


 * Windsor County furnished 2 companies in the First Vermont Regiment


 * Company B, also known as Woodstock Light Infantry. Most men came from the town of Woodstock.


 * Company E, also known as Cavendish Light Infantry. Most men came from the town of Cavendish.

Second Vermont Regiment was muster in June 20,1861 and mustered out July 15, 1865. Relatively few recruits were from Windsor County, and most were scattered through companies C, E, and I.

Third Vermont Regiment was mustered in July 16, 1861 and mustered out July 11, 1865. Many men from Windsor enlisted in this regiment in all companies except company G.

Fourth Vermont Regiment was mustered in September 21, 1861. Recruits for one year and recruits whose service would end before October 1, 1865 mustered out June 19, 1865. Ther remainder of the regiment mustered out July 13, 1865. Probably fewer Windsor men were in this regiment than in the 3rd Regiment. Windsor men were in all companies.

Fifth Vermont Regiment was mustered in September 16, 1861. Non-veterans were mustered out October 14, 1864. The regiment mustered out June 29, 1865. Few Windsor County men were in this regiment.

Sixth Vermont Regiment was mustered in October 15, 1861 and mustered out June 26, 1865. Original members, not veterans, were mustered out October 28, 1864. Recruits for one year, and recruits whose term of service would expire before October 1, 1865, were mustered out June 19, 1865. It was attached to the First Vermont Brigade. Men from various towns were scattered throughout the companies.

Much of the above information is from the book, History of Windsor County, Vermont, edited by Lewis Cass Aldrich and Frank R. Holmes, 1891. 974.365 H2a.

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors database can be searched by the name of the serviceman or by regiment then name of the serviceman.

Newspapers
Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has North Adams, MA newspapers (1895-1977) covering local news that included Windsor County residents.

Probate Records
Online Probate Records
 * 1749 – 1999 Vermont Wills and Probate Records 1749-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1800 – 1921 at FamilySearch — images

Vital Records
Birth: Marriage: Death:
 * 1765-1908: Vermont, Births and Christening: FamilySearch
 * 1909-2008: Vermont Birth Records: Ancestry.com
 * 1981-2001: Vermont Birth: Ancestry.com
 * 1791-1974 Vermont Marriages: FamilySearch Microfilm 1675550
 * 1909-2008: Marriage Records Ancestry.com
 * 1981-1984, 1989-2001: Vermont Marriage index:Ancestry.com
 * 1871-1965 Vermont Deaths and Burials: Family Search
 * 1909-2008: Vermont Death Records: Ancestry.com
 * 1981-2001: Vermont Death index: Ancestry.com

See also How to order Vermont Vital Records, order electronically online or download an application for the following Vermont certificates: Downloadable applications from Vermont Department of Health.
 * Birth Certificate,
 * Marriage Certificate ,
 * Divorce Certificate,
 * Marriage Dissolution Certificate, or
 * Death Certificate

Societies and Libraries
See also a List of Vermont Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Historical Societies

 * Barnard Historical Society, PO Box 234, Barnard, VT 05031


 * Bethel Historical Society, PO Box 25, Bethel, VT 05032 Phone: (802) 234-5064


 * Black River Academy Museum &amp; Historical Society, PO Box 73, 14 High Street Ludlow, VT 05149 (802) 228-5050


 * Cavendish Historical Society, PO Box 472, Cavendish, VT 05142 Phone:(802) 226-7807


 * Chester Historical Society, PO Box 118, 230 Main Street Chester, VT 05143 (802) 875-5459 or (802) 374-0119

Family History Centers

 * South Royalton Vermont Family History Center

Web Sites

 * Windsor County, VT History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Vermont Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Vermont Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * FamilySearch Catalog for Windsor County
 * The Windsor County VTGenWeb Project, an member of The VTGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Windsor County