Connecticut Probate Records

Probate records in Connecticut are kept by probate district courts. In many cases a probate district consisted of a larger community and several nearby smaller towns. Sometimes a probate district crossed county boundaries. Thomas J. Kemp's Connecticut Researcher's Handbook. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Company, 1981. (FHL book 974.6 D23k) describes each district. This book contains a detailed list of available sources.

The Connecticut State Library has numerous files of wills, bonds, letters, and other probate documents. For more information, go to http://www.cslib.org/probintr.htm

The Family History Library has most of the pre-1880 packets arranged by district and then by surname on 1,622 microfilms. These packets can include wills, codicils, bonds, applications and petitions, inventories, court orders, court returns, distributions, accounts of administration, receipts, and miscellaneous probate records. The districts are listed in the Family History Library Catalog under CONNECTICUT - PROBATE RECORDS.

The Connecticut State Library's index to these records for 1641 to 1948 is also at the Family History Library (FHL films 166000-66). This is listed in the Family History Library Catalog under CONNECTICUT - PROBATE RECORDS - INDEXES.

You can obtain copies of other records from the local probate district offices. Many of the records of these local offices have also been microfilmed and are at the Family History Library. These are listed in the Family History Library Catalog under CONNECTICUT, [COUNTY], [TOWN], - PROBATE RECORDS. From the Hartford District, for example, the library has records for the years 1649 to 1917 on 52 microfilms.

Other published records are in The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut (see Connecticut Public Records).