Grafton, Windham County, Vermont Genealogy

United States Vermont  Windham   Grafton

Brief History
The Town of Grafton is one of the smaller town’s in Windham County with a population of approximately 650, charted April 8, 1754 as Thomlinson for John Thomlinson, Benning Wentworth’s business agent in England and was then changed to Grafton in 1791.

Many of the citizens of the town were anxious to have the town named after the town from which they emigrated, and to give each an equal chance it was decided to put the name of the town up at auction. Joseph Axtell won with a high bid of $5.00, and renamed the town for his former home of Grafton, Massachusetts. The kicker is that Axtell never paid the $5.00. Local lore has it that the bid included a jug of rum, which leads to some colorful conjecture as to how the participants chose to celebrate, and perhaps why they forgot to collect the money.

Town Histories

 * Five dollars and a jug of rum : the history of Grafton, Vermont, 1754-2000 by the Grafton Historical Society - find this book in a library.
 * History of Grafton, Vermont, 1754-1975 : and sidelights on Grafton history, by Helen M Pettingill (1975) - find this book in a library.
 * History of the town of Grafton, Vermont, by Francis A Palmer (1954) - find this book in a library. Book also available on microfilm form the Family History Library.

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

Probate Records
The probate district for Grafton is Westminster. Westminster Probate Court PO Box 47 Bellows Falls, VT 05101 Phone: (802) 463-3019

Maps
1869 map of Grafton

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


 * Burgess Cemetery - inscriptions at Find a Grave site.
 * Houghtonville Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Middletown Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Village - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.

Churches
Congregational Church, Grafton, VT, Historical and Descriptive Data

Town Records
Town Clerk Vital and Town Records, 1781-1960, can be found on FamilySerach (browse only images).

The Family History Library has microfilm of original records from the Grafton Town Clerk's Office. These include Land records and deeds, 1781-1902; index to deeds, 1781-1952, and Grafton, Vermont, vital records (B,M,D) and indexes 1857-2000.

Grafton Town Clerk 117 Main St. Grafton, VT 05146 Phone:(802) 843-2419 Website: http://graftonvt.org/

Newspapers
Brattleboro Reformer

Rutland Herald

Libraries and Historical Societies
Grafton Historical Society 147 Main Street PO Box 202 Grafton, Vermont Phone: 802-843-2584 Email: grafhist@vermontel.net Website: http://www.graftonhistoricalsociety.com/Pages/graftonhistoricalsociety.aspx

The Grafton Public Library 204 Main St. Grafton, Vermont 05146 Phone: (802) 843-2404 Email: librarian@graftonpubliclibrary.org Website: http://www.graftonpubliclibrary.org/