Cavendish, Windsor County, Vermont Genealogy

Brief History
The charter for Cavendish was issued by New Hampshire on October 12, 1761 and the Town was rechartered by New York on June 16, 1762. Cavendish was most likely named for William Cavendish, the fourth Duke of Devonshire.

The Town of Cavendish was home to U.S.S.R. dissident and author, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn from 1977 to 1994. The Nobel Laureate called Cavendish home because it was a place where he could find sanctuary and a quiet atmosphere in which to write. Once Communist rule in Russia was over, he decided to return to Russia.

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


 * Cavendish Center Cemetery (aka Mount Union Cemetery) - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Cavendish Village Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Coffeen Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Farr Cemetery - inscriptions a Find A Grave site.
 * Hillcrest Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Old Revoluntionary War Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Proctor Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Twenty Mile Stream Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.

Cemeteries of Cavendish, Vermont records are available onmicrofilm at the Family History Library.


 * Cavendish Cemeteries List at FindAGrave
 * at FamilySearch Catalog
 * at FamilySearch Catalog
 * Windsor 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 Cavendish, 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 Cavendish:

First Universalist Church Records, 1848-1965, are on microfilm at the Family History Library.

Baptist Church Records, 1866-1966, are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.

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

Libraries and Historical Societies
Cavendish Historical Society PO Box 472 Cavendish, VT 05142. Phone: (802) 226-7807 Website: Cavendish Historical Society News Blogspot

Cavendish Fletcher Community Library 573 Main St. Proctorsville, VT 05153 Phone: (802) 226-7503 Email: Kwelch@wswsu.org Website: Cavendish Library

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

1869 map of Cavendish

Newspapers
Rutland Herald Newspaper

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

The probate district for Cavendish is Windsor. Windsor Probate Court PO Box 402 (Cota Fuel Bdg) N. Springfield, VT 05150 Phone: (802) 886-2284

Town Histories

 * History of Cavendish, Vermont., by Lois Wheeler (1952) - Find this book in a library.
 * Families of Cavendish : the early settlers of the Black River Valley in Windsor County, Vermont : a social and genealogical history, by Linda Margaret Farr Welch, Carmine Guica, and Barbara B Kingsbury (1999) - Find this book in a library.
 * Neither wealth nor poverty; the history of the woolen mills of Gay Brothers, 1869-1944, Tunbridge, Cavendish, Vermont, by Janet Mabie (1944) - Find this book in a library.

Go to Archive.org to find published materials for this 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 Cavendish town records available online:

Digital images of Cavendish Town records, 1782-1996, are available online at FamilySearch.

The Family History Library has microfilm of original records from the Cavendish Town Clerk's Office. These include Land records, 1761-1904; indexes to land records, 1761-1952, Town records, 1776-1885, Records of births, marriages, and deaths, 1900-1996, and Records of marriages, births and deaths, 1840-1900; indexes to marriages, 1778-1883.

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

Town of Cavendish Mailing Address: P.O. Box 126 Physical Address: 37 High St. Cavendish, VT 05142 Phone: (802) 226-7291 Clerk Email: j.pixley@comcast.net Website: Cavendishvt Facebook: Facebook Cavendish-Vermont

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

Town Reports
The town of Cavendish kept annual town reports. These reports often contained birth, marriage, and death information. Below is a list of years when Cavendish kept town reports. (NOTE: Occasionally, these town reports missed vital statistic information from the end of the year. If you don't find your ancestor's vital information, check the following year's town report to see if your ancestor's information was recorded later.)