Westmore, Orleans County, Vermont Genealogy

Brief History
Westmore was chartered on August 17, 1781 by the Vermont Legislature. Originally named Westford, which confused everyone, because there had been a Westford in Chittenden County since Benning Wentworth granted it in 1763. Nobody has ever been able to come up with any explanation as to why the duplicate name was used in the first place, nor why it took six years for the error to be corrected by changing the name to Westmore.

Hilly, even mountainous, Westmore never attracted many settlers, with 1880 being the big census year with 485 residents. The town contains one unincorporated village clustered around Lake Willoughby. The population was 350 at the 2010 US census.

Town Histories
Willoughby Lake, Vermont - History of the WilloughVale Inn &amp; Cottages

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

Military Records
Westmore, Vermont Enrolled Militia Records, 1863-1867, can be found on FamilySearch.

Land Records
Westmore,Vermont Land Records,1853 to 1907, can be found on FamilySearch (browse only images)

Probate Records
Orleans Probate Division 247 Main Street Newport, VT · 05855 Phone: (802) 334-3305

City Directories
1884 Westmore Town Directory

Maps
1878 map of Westmore

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


 * Lakeview Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.

Town Records
The Family History Library has microfilm of original records from the Westmore Town Clerk's Office. These include Vital records of Westmore, Vermont, 1805-1952, and Land records, v. 1-2, 1803-1853.

Westmore Town Clerk 54 Hinton Hill Road Orleans, VT 05860 Phone: (802) 525-3007 Email: clerk@westmoreonline.org Website: http://westmoreonline.org/

Newspapers
The Newport Daily Express

Libraries and Historical Societies
Northeast Kingdom Genealogy - Genealogy resources for towns in the counties of Essex, Orleans and Caledonia.