Canaan, Essex County, Vermont Genealogy

Brief History
Canaan was chartered on February 25, 1782 by the Vermont Legislature. The town of Canaan consists of several subdivisions such as Beecher Falls, Wallace Pond (also knows as Lake Wallis), South Canaan, and Canaan Hill.

During the 1800’s, people began migrating to Canaan as it was strategically located on the border with Canada and New Hampshire. During the 1900’s many people immigrated to Canaan from Quebec, Canada. Today there are a number of French Canadian families living in the area and French is spoken at many social gatherings.

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


 * Alice Hunt Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Canaan Hill Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Canaan Village Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Morrison Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Schoolhouse Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.


 * Canaan Cemeteries List at FindAGrave
 * at FamilySearch Catalog
 * Essex County Cemeteries at FamilySearch Places

Church Records
Historically, the largest religious groups in Vermont were the Congregational, Baptist, Roman Catholic, and Methodist churches. For general information about Vermont denominations, view the New Hampshire Church Records wiki page. To see the churches in Canaan, visit. Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. The following are church records available online for the town of Canaan:

City Directories
1888 Canaan Town Directory

Land Records
The following are online land records for the town of Canaan:

Libraries and Historical Societies
Alice M. Ward Memorial Library P.O. Box 134 27 Park Street Canaan, VT 05903 Phone: (802) 266-7135 Email: alicewardmemoriallibrary@yahoo.com Website: http://alicewardmemoriallibrary.wordpress.com/

Canaan Historical Society PO Box 214 Canaan, Vermont 05903 Email: canvthistsoc@gmail.com Website: http://www.canaanvthistoricalsociety.org/

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

Maps
The following are online maps of the town of Canaan:

Probate Records
In Vermont, most probate records are kept at the town level. The following are online probate records for the town of Canaan:

The probate district for Canaan is Essex. Essex Probate Court Main St. Box 426 Island Pond, VT 05846 Phone: (802) 723-4770

Town Histories
History of Canaan, Vermont by Beatrice Schoff Holmes (1976) - find this book in a library.

Town Records
In Vermont, most records are kept at the town level and generally began being kept at the founding of the town. These records may include the following: The following are Canaan town records available online:

The Family History Library has microfilm of original records from the Canaan Town Clerk's Office. These include [https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/10714 Vital records of Canaan, Vermont, 1857-Feb. 2001], Town meeting records, 1796-1903, and Deeds and land records, 1797-1902.

Town Clerk
The town clerk is responsible for these records, and so most originals can be found at the town clerk's office.

Canaan Town Office PO Box 159 318 Christian Hill Canaan, VT 05903 Phone: (802) 266-3370 Website: http://www.canaan-vt.org/contactus.html

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