Berlin, Washington County, Vermont Genealogy

Brief History
Berlin was chartered June 8, 1763. The name refers to Berlin, Germany, and was the only German town name in this new English colony. The charter was issued by the Royal Governor of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth, and stated that each "proprietor, settler or inhabitant" should pay one ear of Indian corn for each acre of land, and after ten years, one shilling for each 100 acres.

Jacob Fowler, a hunter, was the first settler who stayed and left descendants in town. Other early settlers were Moses Smith, Daniel Morse, John Lathrop, and Hezekiah Silloway. In 1789 thirteen families lived in Berlin, and eight more in 1790. The first child born in Berlin was Abigail Black (1789).

The first town meeting was held on March 31,1791. The first sawmill was built in the same year, the first school (on East Street) in 1794. The first Christian institution was founded in 1798, with James Hobart as its minister. A Congregational meeting house opened at Berlin center in 1803. After it burned down in 1838 the Congregational Church was built at Berlin Corner.

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


 * Berlin Corner Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Black Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Boles Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Colby Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Dewey-Wright Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * East Road Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Johnson-Sawyer Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * West Berlin Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.


 * Berlin Cemeteries List at FindAGrave
 * 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 Berlin, 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 Berlin:

City Directories
Berlin, Vermont city directories (1931, 1942) are available at Ancestry.com ($)

Historical Data
Berlin, Vermont historical photos

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

Libraries and Historical Societies
Berlin Historical Society 108 Shed Road Berlin, Vt 05602 Email: historicalsociety@berlinvt.org Website

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

1873 map of Berlin

Newspapers
Burlington Free Press

Probate Records
The probate district for Berlin is Washington. Washington District Probate Court 10 Elm St. #3 Montpelier, VT 05602 Phone: (802) 828-3405 In Vermont, most probate records are kept at the town level. The following are online probate records for the town of Berlin:

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

Go to Archive.org to find published materials for this town.
 * Early history of Berlin, Vermont, 1763-1820, Mary Greene Nye (1954) - this book in available online.
 * A place to pass through : Berlin, Vermont, 1820-1991, Berlin Historical Society (1992) - 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 Berlin town records available online:

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

Vermont marriages, volume 1, Montpelier, Burlington, Berlin [index] / Buss, Karen can be viewed online.

Marriages in Montpelier, Burlington and Berlin, Vt. (1789-1876) are available online in PDF format.

The Family History Library has microfilm of original records from the Berlin Town Clerk's Office. These include Land records, 1791-1852.

Berlin Town Clerk 108 Shed Road Berlin, VT 05602 Phone: (802) 229-9298 Website

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