Middlesex, Washington County, Vermont Genealogy

Brief History
Middlesex was chartered on June 8, 1763. Middlesex took its boundaries from Waterbury, which had been granted the day before. Worcester, which was granted on the same day as Middlesex, took its boundaries from Middlesex. For that reason it has always been assumed this town was named for its location between the other two.

The town's history relates that in the late 1800's Middlesex still had a large bear population, as attested to by the story of a farmer and his wife who went out to find what had killed one of their sheep. The farmer spotted a bear and killed it; then his wife called out that she could see another. The farmer killed that bear, too, and they started back home, only to find the one they had been looking for, a third bear eating a sheep. If that was a sample of the bear population in Middlesex it is easy to see why one section of town was for years known as Beartown. It is claimed that another section was such a miserable place to live that it was called merely Skunks Misery.

Town Histories

 * Middlesex in the making : history and memories of a small Vermont town, Sarah Seidman; Patricia Wiley; Middlesex Historical Society (2006) - find this book in a library.
 * History of the town of Waitsfield : incl. an engraving of Bethany Church at Montpelier, and papers from Marshfield and Middlesex, Perrin B. Fisk (1882) - a digital copy of this book is available online.

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

Probate Records
The probate district for Middlesex is Washington. Washington District Probate Court 10 Elm St. #3 Montpelier, VT 05602 Phone: (802) 828-3405

Maps
1873 map of Middlesex

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


 * Carr Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Chatterton Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Middlesex Center Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Middlesex Village Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * North Branch Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.

Card file of cemetery lots, 1785-1870, is available on microfilm from the Family History Library.

Town Records
Town Clerk Vital and Town Records, 1790 -1858, can be found on FamilySearch (browse only images).

The Family History Library has microfilm of original records from the Middlesex Clerk's Office. These include Records of births, marriages, and deaths, 1857-1997, Deeds, 1788-1884 and Town records, 1825-1832, 1847-1914.

Middlesex Town Clerk 5 Church Street Middlesex, VT 05602 Phone: 802-223-5915 E-mail middlesxtwnclrk@comcast.net Website: http://middlesexvermont.org/

Newspapers
Burlington Free Press

Libraries and Historical Societies
Middlesex Historical Society 5 Church Street Middlesex, VT 05602 Email: pwiley3@gmail.com Phone: (802) 272-8074 Website: http://middlesexvermont.org/middlesex-historical-society/