Calais, Washington County, Vermont Genealogy

Brief History
The township was granted to Col. Jacob Davis, who was the first settler of Montpelier, to Stephen Fay and to sixty-eight other men was on Oct. 21, 1780 by the Vermont State Legislature convening at Arlington, Vermont. The charter was granted on August 15, 1781 which is the real and actual date of the birth of the town of Calais after the fee for granting the township was paid in full to the Legislature.

Calais contains the unincorporated communities of Adamant, East Calais, North Calais, Kent's Corner, Maple Corner and Pekin.

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


 * Ainsworth Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Fairview Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Robinson Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Short Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.


 * Calais Cemeteries List at FindAGrave
 * at FamilySearch Catalog
 * at FamilySearch Catalog
 * Washington 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 Calais, 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 Calais:

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

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

1873 map of Calais

Newspapers
Burlington Free Press

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

The probate district for Calais is Washington. Washington District Probate Court 10 Elm St. #3 Montpelier, VT 05602 Phone: (802) 828-3405

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 Calais town records available online:

Town Clerk Vital and Town Records, 1746-1944, can be found on FamilySearch (browse only images).

Vermont, Washington County, Calais, land records, 1850-1903, can be found on FamilySearch (browse only images).

The Family History Library has microfilm of original records from the Calais Town Clerk's Office. These include Records of births, marriages, and deaths, 1857-1944; indexes of births, marriages, deaths, 1742-1950, and  Deeds, 1790-1853.

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

Calais Town Clerk 3120 Pekin Brook Rd. East Calais, VT 05650 Phone: (802) 456-8720 Email: calais.townclerk@gmail.com Website

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