Brighton, Essex County, Vermont Genealogy

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 TOWN, 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 TOWN:

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

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

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

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 TOWN 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.

Brief History
Brighton was chartered on August 13, 1781. Brlghton has had three names. It was originally granted by Vermont in 1780 to a group of Connecticut men as Gilead. Following the lapse of the Gilead grant, the town was bought by a different group, this time, the town was was named Random. Latter-day residents came to feel that the Random name did nothing to attract either settlers or business to their town, so the legislature changed the name to Brighton in 1832, when the town's population was just over 100. The population at the 2010 US Census was 1,222.

Town Histories
History of Island Pond, Vermont.

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

Probate Records
The probate district for Brighton is Essex. Essex Probate Court Main St. Box 426 Island Pond, VT 05846 Phone: (802) 723-4770

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


 * Lakeside Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * New Protestant Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Old Catholic Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.

Town Records
Town Clerk Vital and Town Records, 1915 -1967, can be found on FamilySearch (browse only images).

The Family History Library has microfilm of original records from the Brighton Town Clerk's Office. These include Vital records of Brighton, Vermont, 1856, 1866-2000, [https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1195245 Town record book of Brighton, Vermont, 1832-1865, including vital records, 1809-ca. 1865], and Land records, 1832-1907.

Brighton Town Office 49 Mill St. PO Box 377 Island Pond, VT 05846 Phone: (802) 723-4405 Website: http://www.islandpond.com/brighton.htm

Libraries and Historical Societies
Island Pond Public Library 49 Mill St. Island Pond, VT 05846 Phone: (802) 723-6134

Island Pond Historical Society Inc Island Pond, VT 05846 Phone: (802) 723-5983

Northeast Kingdom Genealogy - Genealogy resources for towns in the counties of Essex, Orleans and Caledonia.