Connecticut Church Records

Historical Background
The Congregational Church was predominant in early Connecticut and was the state church until 1818. Other prominent churches in the state are the Methodist and Episcopal churches (colonial period), and the Roman Catholic and Baptist churches (19th century).

Information Found in the Records
To effectively use church records, become familiar with their content. Click on these links to learn about a specific record type:

Look for online records.

 * Index cards to vital records of Connecticut churches at the Connecticut State Library at FamilySearch
 * 1630-1920 Connecticut, Church Record Abstracts, 1630-1920 at Ancestry ($) Index.
 * 1630-1997 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * 1660-1955 at FamilySearch; Index — How to Use this Collection
 * 1649-1906 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * 1772-1934 Connecticut Deaths and Burials, 1772-1934 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection


 * Early Connecticut Marriages as Found on Ancient Church Records Prior to 1800, Bailey, Frederic W., 7 vols. New Haven, Conn.: Bureau of American Ancestry for Family Research, 1896-1906.
 * Dunham-Wilcox-Trott-Kirk indexes church, cemetery, probate and other early New England, New York and New Jersey records with links to abstracts of the records.

Community of Christ, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

 * Early Members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at Ancestry ($) Index
 * 1867-1965 Church records (New York-Philadelphia District), 1867-1965, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. New York-Philadelphia District. Includes records for the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut and New Jersey.
 * 1865-1904 Church records (Philadelphia District), 1865-1904, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Philadelphia District (Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey). Includes records for the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut and New Jersey.
 * 1842-1905 Church records 1842-1905, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. New York and Connecticut District. Includes records for the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut and New Jersey.

Lutheran

 * 1800-1947 U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Swedish American Church Records, 1800-1947 at Ancestry - index and images, incomplete.($)

Methodist

 * 1787-1922 New England, Select United Methodist Church Records, 1787-1922 at Ancestry; Index. ($)
 * 1809-1845 Church records 1809-1845, Methodist Episcopal Church. at FamilySearch; Includes records for the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut and New Jersey.
 * 1903-1939 African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Records, 1903-1939, Winchester, Conn

Universalist

 * 1832-1941 Church records 1832-1941(Connecticut), Connecticut Universalist Convention at FamilySearch; Includes records for the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut and New Jersey.
 * 1836-1899 Church records 1836-1899 (Connecticut), Southern Association of Universalists (Connecticut) at FamilySearch; Includes records for the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut and New Jersey.

Roman Catholic
The State of Connecticut is within the Ecclesiastical Province of Hartford, which has three Catholic dioceses within it: Bridgeport, Hartford, and Norwich.

The Archdiocese of Hartford (inclusive of the counties of Hartford, Litchfield, and New Haven), as a private corporate repository, abides by a stricter interpretation of Canon Law 486.2 and the 1974 Document on Ecclesiastical Archives. Therefore, NO records of archival material will be made public, and the records are NOT digitized nor publicly available. Appointments for archival research may be granted upon request. As a rule of thumb, records are located at the local parish rather than a centralized location. For location information, please consult the Directory of Archival Material by Parish record, accurate as of July 2021.

The Diocese of Norwich

Look for digital copies of church records in the FamilySearch Catalog.
The FamilySearch Library has an extensive microfilm collection of records of the Baptist, Congregational, Episcopal, Methodist, and Methodist Episcopal churches. Published histories are available for denominations, such as Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Latter-day Saint (Mormon), and Universalist.
 * Online church records can be listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under the state, county, or town.
 * If you find a record that has not yet been digitized, see How do I request that a microfilm be digitized?
 * Some records might have viewing restrictions, and can only be viewed at a FamilySearch Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations.
 * To find records:
 * a. Click on the records of United States, Connecticut.
 * b. Click on Places within United States, Connecticut and a list of counties will appear.
 * c. Click on your county if it appears.
 * d. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Click on Places within United States, Connecticut [COUNTY] and a list of towns will appear.
 * f. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish which served your town or village.
 * g. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * h. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the records.

Consult available finding aids.
These aids generally provide lists of records that are known to exist and information on their location. To learn about church records existing in 1942, see:
 * Guide to Vital Statistics in the Church Records of Connecticut. (New Haven, Conn.: Connecticut Historical Records Survey, 1942). 974.6 K23g; film 924002 item 2; fiche 6051300

Check the church records collections in archives and libraries.
Some church records have been deposited for preservation in government archives or in libraries. Watch for links to digitized, online records offered by the archives. Some archives provide research services for a fee. For others, if you cannot visit in person, you might hire a researcher.

Connecticut State Library 231 Capitol Avenue Hartford, Connecticut 06106 Telephone: 860-757-6500 or toll free: 866-886-4478 More than 600 churches have deposited their records with the Connecticut State Library.
 * E-mail
 * Website
 * Index cards to vital records of Connecticut churches at the Connecticut State Library

Baptist

 * 1750-1899 U.S., Southern Baptist Church Records, 1750-1899 at Ancestry - index & images ($)

Congregational
Connecticut Historical Society 1 Elizabeth Street Hartford, CT 06105 Phone: (860) 236-5621 Fax: (860) 236-2664

The Congregational Library 14 Beacon Street Boston, MA 02108-3704 Phone: (617) 523-0470 Fax: (617) 523-0491

Episcopal
Requests should be sent to local parish. Only records for churches that have been closed are kept by the diocese. Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut 135 Asylum Avenue Hartford, CT 06105-2295 Phone: (860) 233-4481 Fax: (860) 523-1410

Roman Catholic
Diocese of Bridgeport 238 Jewett Avenue Bridgeport, CT 06606 Phone: (203) 416-1354 The diocese includes the county of: Fairfield
 * Requests should be sent to the local parish.

Diocese of Norwich 201 Broadway P.O. Box 587 Norwich, CT 06360 Phone: (860) 887-9294 Fax: (860) 886-1670 The diocese includes the counties of: Middlesex, New London, Tolland and Windham
 * Requests should be sent to the local parish.

Diocese of Hartford 134 Farmington Avenue Hartford, CT 06103 Phone: (860) 541-6491 Fax: (860) 541-6309 The diocese includes the counties of: Hartford, Litchfield and New Haven
 * Requests should be sent to the local parish.

Quakers (Society of Friends)

 * Quaker Census of 1828: Members of the New York Yearly Meeting, the Religious Society of Friends of New York, Ontario, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Quebec, at the Time of the Separation of 1828 Fay, Loren V., editor. Rhinebeck, N.Y.: Knshp, 1989 and is available in the . Use this to determine the monthly meeting a person attended. It includes name, age, and family group.
 * To locate a copy nearest you, use WorldCat.

Correspond with or visit the actual churches.
Some records are still held in the local churches. Contact the current minister to find out what records are still available.
 * Make an appointment to look at the records. Or ask the minister of the church to make a copy of the record for you.
 * To find church staff available, you might have to visit on Sunday.
 * Ask for small searches at a time, such as one birth record or a specific marriage. Never ask for "everything on a family or surname".
 * A donation ($25-$40) for their time and effort to help you would be appropriate.
 * If the church has a website, you may be able to e-mail a message.
 * See the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters.
 * Each denomination page offers an online address directory of local churches for that denomination.

Correspond with genealogical or historical societies.
Some church records have been given to historical societies. Also, historical societies may be able to tell you where the records are being held.

Next, go to the Wiki article for your ancestors' denomination.
There are frequently additional, nationwide or regional archives and online collections for each denomination. Find the article for your ancestors' denomination and follow the instructions there to access these sources.

Carefully compare any record you find to known facts about the ancestor
You will possibly find many different people with the same name as your ancestor, especially when a family stayed in a locality for several generations, and several children were named after the grandparents or aunts and uncles. Be prepared to find the correct church records by organizing in advance as many of these exact details about the ancestor as possible:
 * name, including middle name and maiden name
 * names of all spouses, including middle and maiden name
 * exact or closely estimated dates of birth, marriage, and death
 * names and approximate birthdates of children
 * all known places of residence
 * occupations
 * military service details

Carefully evaluate the church records you find to make sure you have really found records for your ancestor and not just a "near match". If one or more of the details do not line up, be careful about accepting the entry as your ancestor. There are guiding principles for deciding how to resolve discrepancies between records that are seemingly close. For more instruction in evaluating evidence, read the Wiki article, Evaluate the Evidence.