Addison County, Vermont Genealogy

Guide to Addison County, Vermont ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Vermont Online Genealogy Records

Description
The County is located in the center area of the state.

County Courthouse
Town Clerks have birth, marriage, death and burial records. County Clerk has divorce and birth certificates records from 1797. Probate Judge has probate records. Towns Organized By 1800: Addison 1761 Bridport 1761 Cornwall 1761 Ferrisburgh 1762 Leicester 1761 Lincoln 1780 Middlebury 1761 Monkton 1762 New Haven 1761 Orwell 1763 Panton 1761 Ripton 1781 Salisbury 1761 Shoreham 1761 Starksboro 1780 Vergennes 1788 Waltham 1796 Weybridge 1761 Whiting 1763

Local government. Internally, Vermont consists of nine cities, 254 towns and several unincorporated gores, governed by guidelines set by the state statutes and constitution. Towns govern themselves by Town Meeting. The governing power is found in the City Councils in cities. There are three types of incorporated municipalities in Vermont, towns, cities and villages. As in the other New England states, towns are the basic unit of municipal government. Cities are independent of and equivalent to towns. Villages are included in towns but assume responsibility for some municipal services within their boundaries, usually water, sewage and sometimes local roads. Incorporated villages are not found in any of the other New England states.

Like most of New England, there is slight provision for autonomous county government. Counties and shire towns (like county seats) are merely convenient repositories for various government services such as County and State Courts, with several elected officers such as a State's Attorney, Sheriff, and High Bailiff. All county services are directly funded by the State of Vermont.

Parent Counties
18 October 1785: from Rutland and Orange Counties.

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Vermont County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Vermont County Boundary Maps" (1764-1895) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
1852  Fire in the courthouse burned the probate records for Addison district (not New Haven) in February 1852. Only fragments remain of Addison Probate District records before 1852.

Places / Localities
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Archives and Libraries

 * Allen County Public Library, better known as ACPL, in Fort Wayne, Indiana has an extensive collection for this county..
 * Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, has extensive collection of vital records and history for this county.

Biography

 * 1) Gazetteer and business directory of Addison County, Vt., for 1881-82, Includes a history of the county with biographical sketches.
 * 2) History of Addison County, Vermont: with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers ▲  ▲

Cemeteries

 * List of Cemeteries in Addison County
 * The McLellan collection of Vermont cemetery inscriptions. Contains inscriptions from cemeteries in Addison, Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle counties.
 * Random Acts VT Cemetery Records Research Guide

Federal

 * 1850 federal census of Addison County, Vermont ▲
 * Population schedules of the 7th census of the United States, 1850, Vermont

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Land and Property
There are 22 towns and one city in Addison County each with its own government. For information on tax information and licenses contact the individual town offices. Town clerks are responsible for the record keeping of deeds land records, notes and liens, mortgages, property transfers, voter registration, vital statistics and licenses. Addison County Chamber of Commerce's Government Information

Maps

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Civil War

 * 1861 - 1867  at FamilySearch — index and images — How to Use this Collection

Regiments and Companies:


 * - 2nd Regiment, Vermont Infantry
 * - 5th Regiment, Vermont Infantry, Companies B and F

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1749 - 1999 Vermont Wills and Probate Records 1749-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1800 - 1921 at FamilySearch — images — How to Use this Collection

Probate records are kept at town level, rather than county level.


 * 1845 - 1915 Addison County and District Probate Files, 1845-1915, can be found on FamilySearch (browse only images).

Town Records

 * 1850-2005 - at FamilySearch — index and images — How to Use this Collection

Vital Records
There are 22 towns and one city in Addison County each with its own government. For information on tax information and licenses contact the individual town offices. Town clerks are responsible for the record keeping of deeds land records, notes and liens, mortgages, property transfers, voter registration, vital statistics and licenses. Addison County Chamber of Commerce's Government Information


 * 1732 - 2005 at FamilySearch — index and images — How to Use this Collection
 * 1850 - 2005 at FamilySearch — index and images — How to Use this Collection

See also How to order Vermont Vital Records, order electronically online or download an application at Vermont Department of Health

Societies, Libraries and Museums
See also a List of Vermont Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Historical Societies
Addison Town Historical Society 3968 VT Route 22A Addison, VT 05491 Telephone: 802-759-2380

Bridport Historical Society 3177 Crown Point Road Bridport, VT 05734 Telephone: 802-758-2654 E-mail:[mailto:msunderland@gmavt.net msunderland@gmavt.net]

Cornwall Historical Society c/o Town Hall 2629 VT Route 30 Cornwall, VT 05753 Telephone: 802-462-2003

East Middlebury Historical Society PO Box 2 East Middlebury, VT 05740

Bristol Historical Society Howden Hall Community Center 19 West Street Bristol, VT 05443 Telephone: 802-453-3439 E-mail:[mailto:lscoffin@gmavt.net lscoffin@gmavt.net]

Ferrisburgh Historical Society 6 Little Chicago Road Ferrisburgh, Vt Telephone: 802-425-4505

Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History 1 Park Street Middlebury, VT 05753 Telephone: 802-388-2117 E-mail:[mailto:info@henrysheldonmuseum.org info@henrysheldonmuseum.org] Website

Lincoln Historical Society 18th Century Farmhouse & 19th Century Barn Museum 88 Quaker Street Lincoln, VT 05443 Telephone: 802-453-2807 E-mail:[mailto:menzer01@aol.com menzer01@aol.com]

Monkton Museum & Historical Society 280 Monkton Ridge North Ferrisburgh, VT, 05473 Telephone: 802-482-2277 E-mail:[mailto:monktonmhs@gmail.com monktonmhs@gmail.com]

New Haven Historical Society 89 North Street New Haven, VT 05472 Telephone: 802-453-3947

Orwell Historical Society Orwell Free Library Main Street VT Route 73 PO Box 85 Orwell, VT 05760 Telephone: 802-948-2049

Salisbury Historical Society Town Hall Maple Street PO Box 40 Salisbury, VT 05769 E-mail:[mailto:barrywhitney@myfairpoint.net barrywhitney@myfairpoint.net]

Shoreham Historical Society Stone Schoolhouse Museum VT Route 22A 91 Doolittle Road Shoreham, VT 05770 Telephone: 802-897-2572 E-mail:[mailto:gdbirdsall@yahoo.com gdbirdsall@yahoo.com] Website Facebook

Family History Centers

 * Essex Vermont Family History Center
 * Lebanon New Hampshire Family History Center
 * Montpelier Vermont Family History Center
 * South Royalton Vermont Family History Center


 * Bath Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Thornton Public Library - New Hampshire - an affiliate library

Websites

 * Addison County, VT History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Vermont Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Linkpendium
 * The Addison County VTGenWeb Project, part of The VTGenWeb Project
 * USGenWeb Archives
 * USGenWeb Archives backup site