Essex County, Vermont Genealogy

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

Vermont Online Genealogy Records

Description
The County was named for the county of Essex in England. The County is located in the northeast area of the state.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth and death records from 1884, marriage and burial records, a few divorce records, court records from 1800 and land records from 1762; Probate Judge has probate records from 1800.

Towns Organized Before 1800: Bloomfield 1762 Brunswick 1761 Canaan 1782 Concord 1780 Guildhall 1761 Lunenburg 1763 Maidstone 1761 Victory 1781

Parent County

 * Created 5 November 1792 from Orange County.

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.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Populated places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Towns

Extinct Towns



Unincorporated

Community
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 * Island Pond

Neighboring Counties

Caledonia | Orleans  | Coös, New Hampshire | Grafton, New Hampshire | Compton, Quebec | Stanstead, Quebec

Cemeteries

 * List of Essex County Cemeteries
 * Random Acts VT Cemetery Records Research Guide

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

History

 * Jeffrey, William H. Successful Vermonters; a modern gazetteer of Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans Counties. East Burke, Vermont, The Historical Publishing Company, 1904. Internet Archive.
 * Child, Hamilton Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887. Caledonia County, Vermont, Syracuse Journal Company, Printers and Binders, 1887. Google Books.

Maps

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Newspapers
The following historical newspapers cover Essex County.


 * Essex County Herald, (Guildhall, Vermont) 1873-1964, Essex County Herald Association. Dates of publication: 1873-1963. Published weekly.
 * The Caledonian : (St. Johnsbury, Vermont) 1837-1867, A.G. Chadwick. Dates of publication:1837-1867. Published weekly.
 * St. Johnsbury Caledonian. (St. Johnsbury, Vermont) 1867-1919. C.M. Stone &amp; Co. Dates of publication:1867-1919. Published weekly.

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1749 - 1999 Vermont Wills and Probate Records 1749-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1800 - 1921 at FamilySearch — index and images — How to Use this Collection

Town Records

 * 1850-2005 - at FamilySearch — index and images — How to Use this Collection

Vital Records
Vermont vital records were kept on the town level, and the date when formal record keeping began varied from place to place. A law requiring civil registration was enacted in 1779.

In 1857, the state began requiring town clerks to create records of the previous year’s vital events and send them to the secretary of state. The state sent cards to cities and towns, where clerks filled them out with data extracted from their vital records and then sent them back.

Those conducting research for a family that resided in one particular town should also contact the town clerk of the town where the vital event took place. A list of town clerks can be found on the Vermont Secretary of Statewebsite.

All of the vital records in the state registry are available online. There are no restrictions on public access to Vermont vital records.


 * Vermont birth, marriage, and death records in (How to Use this Collection) and  (How to Use this Collection) are available through FamilySearch.org.
 * Vermont birth, marriage, and death records from 1720-1908 are available through Ancestry.com
 * Requests for informational copies may be submitted to the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration via U.S. mail or emailed to vitals@sec.state.vt.us. Researchers may submit up to two requests at a time.


 * 1732 - 2005 at FamilySearch — index and images — How to Use this Collection
 * 1850 - 2005 at FamilySearch — index and images — How to Use this Collection

See also How to order Vermont Vital Records, order electronically online or download an application for Vermont Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates, Divorce Certificates and Death Certificates for applications to mail.

Societies, Libraries and Museums
See also a List of Vermont Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical and Genealogical Societies

Historical Societies

 * Bakersfield Historical Society Bakersfield, VT 05441 Phone: 802-827-3042


 * Canaan Historical Society 27 Park Street Canaan, VT 05903 Phone: 802-266-3989


 * Concord Historical Society PO Box 301 Concord, VT 05824-0301 Phone: 802-695-3330


 * Island Pond Historical Society PO Box 408 Island Pond, VT 05846 Phone: 802-723-4345


 * Lunenburg Historical Society PO Box 195 Lunenburg, VT 05906 802-274-6836 Website

Family History Centers

 * Essex Vermont Family History Center
 * Montpelier Vermont Family History Center
 * Newport Vermont Family History Center
 * Randolph New Hampshire Family History Center


 * Bath Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Vermont French-Canadian Genealogical Society - an affiliate library

Websites

 * Essex County, VT History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Vermont Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * The Essex County VTGenWeb Project, an member of The VTGenWeb Project
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project