Coös County, New Hampshire Genealogy

United States &gt; New Hampshire &gt; Coos County

County Courthouse
Coos County Courthouse PO Box 309 Lancaster, NH 03584-0309 Phone: 603.788.4900 Details Town or City Clerks have birth, marriage, death and burial records; Clerk Superior Court has divorce and court records from 1887; Register of Probate has probate records; Register of Deeds has land records

Towns Organized Before 1800: Bartlett 1790, Cambridge 1773, Colebrook 1790, Columbia 1797, Dalton 1784, Dummer 1773, Jefferson 1796, Kilkenny 1774, Lancaster 1763, Millsfield 1774, Northumberland 1779, Stratford 1773, Stewartstown 1799, Success 1773, Whitefield 1774

History

 * The name Coos derives from the Algonquian Indian term meaning crooked, the Indian name of the Connecticut River, which rises in the northernmost end of the county.

Parent County

 * 24 December 1803, Coos County was created with northern portion from Grafton County, organized at Berlin as the county seat.


 * The seat was moved to Town of Lancaster.

City

 * Berlin

Towns
An excellent way to gain information is to contact the local town historical society. The best list of these is found at the Association of Historical Societies of New Hampshire. At that site, click on the Directory and scroll down to the town.

Birth, marriage, and death records of many New Hampshire towns and villages are available on-line at www.familysearch.org, That site has birth records early to 1900, and marriage and death records, early to about 1948. Below is a list of the towns. Many of the town birth, marriage, and death records were microfilmed and are listed in the Family History Library Catalog.

Neighboring Counties
Carroll | Grafton | Oxford County, Maine | Essex County, Vermont | Compton County, Quebec

Archives

 * New Hampshire, Coos - Archives and libraries - inventories, registers, catalogs

Cemeteries

 * Northern New Hampshire graveyards and cemeteries
 * Miscellaneous cemeteries of Carroll, Coos and Strafford Counties, New Hampshire
 * Grave lists of cemeteries in and near the province of Quebec

Census

 * In the 1810 Federal Census there were 3,991 residents.

By 1870 there were nearly 15,000.

Court

 * Coos County Court judgements, 1886-1916

Directories

 * North country (New Hampshire) directories

Land

 * Coos County land records, 1772-1902; indexes to land records, 1772-1900
 * Coos County, New Hampshire land ownership map, 1861

Local Histories

 * History of Coos County, New Hampshire
 * History of Coos Turnpike
 * What's news in Coos County : Vol 1
 * History of Lancaster, New Hampshire
 * Pioneers of the Magalloway from 1820 to 1904

Civil War

 * Northern New Hampshire Civil War Veterans - Veterans listed from Berlin, Dummer, Milan, Gorham, Shelburne, and Errol/Grants. A Photo Gallery is also posted.
 * History of Coos County, New Hampshire, by Georgia Drew Merrill - Town of Lancaster, Page 291 names their first volunteers in the War of the Rebellion.
 * History and Genealogy of Milan, New Hampshire - "the quota for the town of Milan was 10."


 * Civil War service men from Coos County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are many companies or regiments that were formed from men of Coos County.


 * - 2nd Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Company F.
 * - 3rd Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Company G.
 * - 5th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Company B.

Newspapers

 * Cyndi's List - New Hampshire Newspapers

Probate

 * Probate packets, 1885-1931; probate index, 1885-1992

Vital Records
Certified copies of of birth, death, and marriage records are available from the State Division of Vital Records Administration or from the local city and town clerk where the event took place. Original records are kept by the city or town clerk and copies are sent to the state.

In 1905, when the state created the Bureau of Vital Records and Health, printed cards were distributed to the local clerks and earlier vital records were transcribed onto the cards and submitted to the state.

Births

 * are available online from FamilySearch.

Marriages

 * are available online from FamilySearch.
 * Coos County, NH and Essex County, VT Marriage Records 1870-1894

Deaths

 * are available online from FamilySearch.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Randolph New Hampshire Family History Center

Web Sites

 * The Coos County NHGenWeb Project, an member of The NHGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Coos County
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Coos County (backup site)
 * Family History Library catalog for Coos County
 * Coos County, New Hampshire Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)