Bradford, Orange County, Vermont Genealogy

Description
Bradford, Vermont at Wikipedia

Bradford was chartered on May 3, 1770 (New York Patent). Referred to as Waitstown and Waits River Town before its original patent as Mooretown, Bradford is unique in Vermont in that it was settled before any grant, charter or patent existed to cover the land. The name Mooretown is after Sir Henry Moore, the Royal Governor of New York.

After the Revolution, the residents of Mooretown decided they no longer wanted the name to remind them of a royal governor, so they petitioned the Vermont Legislature to rename it Bradford.

Populated Places
Includes Neighborhoods, Villages, Unincorporated Communities, Districts, and Census-Designated Places:

Adjacent Towns
Orange Co.:  Corinth | Fairlee | Newbury | West Fairlee | New Hampshire Grafton Co.:  Haverhill | Oxford | Piermont

Town Records
In New England most original vital records of birth, marriage, and death can be found at the town clerk's office

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

Bradford Town Clerk 172 N Main St. Bradford, VT 05033 Phone: (802) 222-4727 Email: clerk@bradford-vt.us Website: http://www.bradford-vt.us/

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

Resources
For more County and State resources see:

Cemeteries
The following is a list of cemeteries in present-day Bradford. For location of cemeteries, see Cemeteries of Vermont, Orange County, website at this link.


 * Sawyer Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Upper Plain Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * West Bradford Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Wrights Mountain Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.

Bradford, Vt. burials, 1770-October 1997 - available on microfilm at the Family History Library.


 * Bradford Cemeteries List at FindAGrave
 * at FamilySearch Catalog
 * Orange 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 Bradford, 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 Bradford:


 * Early church records and marriages in the town of Bradford from 1810 - available on microfilm at the Family History Library.
 * Church records, 1863-1913 - avaiable on microfilm at the Family History Library.


 * 1700s-1800s (*) Daughters of the American Revolution at FamilySearch Catalog - index & images
 * Vermont Church Records

City Directories

 * Various Dates U.S. City Directories, 1860-1960 at MyHeritage - index & images, ($) some towns and years may be missing

Land Records

 * 1600s-1900s at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images; ''Also at: Ancestry ($),
 * Vermont Land and Property

Local Histories
Go to Archive.org to find published materials for this town.


 * A history of Bradford, Vermont: covering the period from its beginning in 1765 to the middle of 1968, by Harold W Haskins - find this book in a library.
 * A history of Bradford, Vermont, by Silas McKeen (1875) - view a digital book online.

Maps
This selection incudes town, county, state, and historical maps
 * Boundary Map of Bradford at HomeTownLocator
 * Bradford at FamilySearch Places
 * Bradford at Google Maps
 * Bradford at Mapcarta
 * McConnell's Historical Maps of the United States at Library of Congress
 * Old Maps of Vermont at Old-Maps.com
 * Town of Bradford at Vermont.org
 * Vermont Maps State Page


 * 1877 map of Bradford Town Center
 * 1877 map of Bradford

Military
Some Records are Searchable by Town

Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
For more Revolutionary War Military Records see:
 * Vermont Military Records - Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
 * United States Military Records - Revolutionary War, 1775-1783

Civil War, 1861-1865
For more Civil War Military Records see:
 * Vermont Military Records - Civil War, 1861-1865
 * United States Military Records - Civil War, 1861-1865

World War I, 1917-1918
For more World War I Military Records see:
 * Vermont Military Records - World War I, 1917-1918
 * United States Military Records - World War I, 1917-1918

World War II, 1941-1945
For more World War II Military Records see:
 * Vermont Military Records - World War II, 1941-1945
 * United States Military Records - World War II, 1941-1945

Newspapers
The Herald of Randolph

Other 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 Bradford town records available online:

at FamilySearch (browse only images).

Bradford, land records, 1852-1900, can be found on FamilySearch (browse only images).

The Family History Library has microfilm of original records from the Bradford Town Clerk's Office. These include Deeds and town records, 1775-1852; index to deeds, 1762-1876, Records of births, marriages, and deaths, 1857-1998; indexes to births, deaths, marriages, 1857-1997, Records of births, marriages, and deaths, 1803-1860 and Bradford, vital records, 1997-2006.

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

The probate district for Bradford is Orange (Bradford District consoladated in 1994). Orange Probate Court 5 Court St Chelsea VT 05038 Phone: (802) 685-4610 , - view digital images at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1749-1999 Vermont, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1749-1999 at Ancestry - index & images, ($)
 * 1800-1921 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * Vermont Probate Records

Libraries
Bradford Public Library P.O. Box 619 21 South Main St. Bradford, VT 05033 Phone: (802) 222-4536 E-mail: bradfordpubliclibrary@gmail.com Website: http://bradfordvtlibrary.org/

Family History Centers & Affiliate Libraries

 * Lebanon New Hampshire Family History Center
 * Montpelier Vermont Family History Center
 * South Royalton Vermont Family History Center
 * Bath Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Meredith Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Thornton Public Library - New Hampshire - an affiliate library

Societies
Bradford Historical Society 67 Summer Street Bradford, VT 05033 Phone: (802) 222-4011 Email: lccoffin@charter.net Website: http://www.bradford-vt.us/historical.php