Grafton, Windham County, Vermont Genealogy

Description
Grafton, Vermont at Wikipedia

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.

Populated Places
Includes Neighborhoods, Villages, Unincorporated Communities, Districts, and Census-Designated Places:

Town Records
In New England most original vital records of birth, marriage, and death can be found at the town clerk's office

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

Vital Records

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

Resources
For more County and State resources see:

Biographies

 * Biographical Encyclopædia of Vermont of the Nineteenth Century. By H Clay Williams. Boston, Massachusetts: Metropolitan Publishing & Engraving Company, 1885. Salt Lake City, Utah : Family Search International, 2018. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
 * Biographical Sketches of Vermonters. By Vermont Historical Society. Montpelier, Vermont : Vermont Historical Society, c1947. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
 * Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. By Hiram Carleton. New York, New York: Lewis Pub. Co., 1903. Online at:.
 * Some Vermont Ancestors: The Bicentennial Project of the Genealogical Society of Vermont. Compiled and ed. by Joann H. Nichols. [S.l.]: Genealogical Society of Vermont, 1976. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
 * The Vermont Historical Gazetteer: a Magazine Embracing a History of Each Town, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Biographical and Military. By ed. by Abby Maria Hemenway. Burlington, Vermont: A.M. Hemenway, 1868-1923. Online at:.
 * The Vermont of Today: With its Historic Background, Attractions and People. By Arthur F. Stone. New York, New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., c1929. Online at:.
 * Vermonters. By Dorman B.E. Kent. Tucson, Arizona: W.C. Cox & Co., 1974. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
 * Vermont Biography at FamilySearch Research Wiki

Cemeteries

 * Grafton Cemeteries List at FindAGrave
 * Windham County Cemeteries at FamilySearch Places

The following is a list of cemeteries in present-day Grafton. Find-a-grave.


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

Census

 * Vermont Census at FamilySearch Research Wiki

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 Grafton, 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 Grafton:


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

City Directories

 * Various Dates U.S. City Directories, 1860-1960 at MyHeritage - index & images, ($) some towns and years may be missing

Court Records

 * Judiciary of Vermont at Wikipedia
 * Vermont Judiciary, Resources for Media at vermont.gov, ($) - click on Records Request
 * United States District Court for the District of Vermont at Wikipedia
 * Vermont Court Records at FamilySearch Research Wiki

Land Records

 * 1600s-1900s at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images; ''Also at: Ancestry ($),
 * Vermont Land and Property

Local 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.

Maps
This selection incudes town, county, state, and historical maps
 * Boundary Map of Grafton at HomeTownLocator
 * Grafton at FamilySearch Places
 * Grafton at Google Maps
 * Grafton at Mapcarta
 * McConnell's Historical Maps of the United States at Library of Congress
 * Old Maps of Vermont at Old-Maps.com
 * Town of Grafton at Vermont.org
 * Vermont Maps State Page


 * 1869 map of Grafton

Military
Some Records are Searchable by Town

Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
For more Revolutionary War Military Records see:
 * Vermont Military Records - Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
 * United States Military Records - Revolutionary War, 1775-1783

Civil War, 1861-1865
For more Civil War Military Records see:
 * Vermont Military Records - Civil War, 1861-1865
 * United States Military Records - Civil War, 1861-1865

World War I, 1917-1918
For more World War I Military Records see:
 * Vermont Military Records - World War I, 1917-1918
 * United States Military Records - World War I, 1917-1918

World War II, 1941-1945
For more World War II Military Records see:
 * Vermont Military Records - World War II, 1941-1945
 * United States Military Records - World War II, 1941-1945

Newspapers

 * Brattleboro Reformer
 * Rutland Herald
 * Free Online Newspapers for Research at libraries.vermont.gov
 * List of Newspapers in Vermont at Wikipedia
 * Newspapers of Record at Vermont State Archives & Records Administration
 * Vermont Newspapers at FamilySearch Research Wiki

Obituaries

 * 1800s-current U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current at Ancestry - index & images, ($)
 * 1980-2014 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 2003-2014 (*) NewsBank (Naples, Florida) at FamilySearch Catalog - images only
 * Vermont Obituaries at FamilySearch Research Wiki

Other 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 Grafton town records available online:

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*Grafton, Vermont, vital records (B,M,D) and indexes 1857-2000.
 * Grafton

Probate Records

 * The probate district for Grafton is Westminster. Westminster Probate Court PO Box 47 Bellows Falls, VT 05101 Phone: (802) 463-3019
 * 1749-1999 Vermont, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1749-1999 at Ancestry - index & images, ($)
 * 1800-1921 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * Vermont Probate Records

Tax Records

 * 1861-1866 (*) United States. Department of the Treasury. Internal Revenue Service at FamilySearch Catalog - images only
 * Vermont Taxation at FamilySearch Research Wiki

Libraries

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

Family History Centers & Affiliate Libraries

 * Albany New York Family History Center
 * Bennington Vermont Family History Center
 * Rutland Vermont Family History Center
 * American Canadian Genealogical Society - an affiliate library
 * Brooks Memorial Library - an affiliate library
 * Crandall Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Griffin Free Public Library - an affiliate library
 * New York State Library and New York State Archives - an affiliate library

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