Waterford, Caledonia County, Vermont Genealogy

Brief History
Waterford was chartered on November 8, 1780 by the Vermont Legislature. The town was originally named Littleton. In 1784 New Hampshire incorporated its own town of Littleton which was located directly across the Connecticut River from the Vermont town named Littleton. The citizens of Vermont's Littleton asked the legislature to change the name of their town, and in March of 1797 Vermont's Littleton became Waterford.

Villages and hamlets in Waterford include: Waterford (Upper Waterford), Lower Waterford, Waterford Hollow, Gaskill, and Copenhagen.

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


 * Adams-Babcock Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Charles Hill Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Cushman Family Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Lower Waterford Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Powers-Wheeler Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Riverside Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Stiles Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * West Waterford Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.

Waterford cemetery records, 1797-1869, are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.


 * Waterford Cemeteries List at FindAGrave
 * at FamilySearch Catalog
 * Caledonia 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 Waterford, 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 Waterford:

City Directories
Waterford Town Directories: 1888, 1909, 1925, 1928, 1930, and 1935

St. Johnsbury, Vermont city directories (including Waterford), 1904 - 1935, are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.

Historical Data
Waterford, Vermont USGenWeb Page

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

Libraries and Historical Societies
Davies Memorial Library 532 Maple Street PO Box 56 Lower Waterford, VT 05848 Phone: 802-748-4609 Email: davieslibraryvt@gmail.com Website: http://daviesmemoriallibrary.org/

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

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

1875 map of Waterford

Newspapers
Burlington Free Press

The Barre Montpelier Times-Argus

The Caledonian Record

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

The probate district for Waterford is Caledonia Caledonia Probate Division 1126 Main St, Ste 1 St Johnsbury, VT 05819 Phone: (802) 748-6605

Town Histories
Waterford, Vermont History

A Vermont village, by C.E. Harris (1941) - find this book in a library. This book is available on Ancestry.com ($)

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 Waterford town records available online:

The Family History Library has microfilm of original records from the Waterford Town Clerk's Office. These include Births 1883-1939, marriages 1884-1950, deaths 1883-2001, and indexes: 1748-2001, Land records and deeds, 1793-1941; index, 1793-1941, and Vital records, 1809-1931.

Waterford Town Clerk 532 Maple Street Waterford, VT 05848 Mailing Address: PO Box 56 Lower Waterford, VT 05848 Phone: (802) 748-2122 Email: townofwaterford@gmail.com Website: http://www.waterfordvt.org/Town_of_Waterford_Vermont.html

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

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