Williston, Chittenden County, Vermont Genealogy

Brief History
Williston was granted as a town on June 7, 1763. Williston was one of ten towns granted on the same day to many of the same people, named for Samuel Willis, a wealthy Quaker from Long Island and the first grantee named. Thomas Chittenden, Vermont's first governor and for whom the county is named, is credited with being the first to settle in Williston.

With the coming of the Central Vermont Railroad, the smaller village of North Williston became a focal point, in 1876 the site of the first cold storage plant in New England. Tons of meat, poultry, butter and eggs could be stored here before being shipped to the New York and Boston markets.

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


 * Deer View Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * East Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Morse Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Thomas Chittenden Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.


 * Williston Cemeteries List at FindAGrave
 * at FamilySearch Catalog
 * Chittenden 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 Williston, 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 Williston:

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

Libraries and Historical Societies
Dorothy Alling Memorial Library 21 Library Lane Williston, Vermont, 05495 Phone: (802) 878-4918 Email: daml@williston.lib.vt.us Website: http://www.williston.lib.vt.us/

Williston Historical Society P.O. Box 995 Williston, VT. 05495 Phone: (802) 878-4918 Email: WillistonHistoricalSociety@williston.lib.vt.us Website: http://www.whsvt.org/

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

1869 map of Williston

Newspapers
Burlington Free Press

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

The probate district for Williston is Chittenden. Chittenden District Probate Court 175 Main St. PO Box 511 Burlington VT 05402 Phone: (802) 651-1518

Town Histories

 * A History of the town of Williston : with special reference to Governor Thomas Chittenden, who was the most distinguished citizen of the town as well as of the state, 1763-1913 - view a digital copy of this book online.
 * Our town, Williston, Vermont, Richard H Allen (1987) - find this book in a library.
 * The Williston story, F. Kennon Moody and Floyd D. Putnam (1961) - find this book in a library.

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 Williston town records available online:

Town Clerk Vital and Town Records, 1764-1998, can be found on FamilySearch (browse only images).

The Family History Library has microfilm of original records from the Williston Town Clerk's Office. These include Indexes (B, M: 1764-1956, D: 1800-1956), births (1866-1930), marriages (1883-1950), deaths (1883-2001), Vital records, 1766-1870; indexes to vital records, 1763-1951, and Land records and deeds, 1772-1906; index to deeds, 1772-1950.

Williston Town Clerk 7900 Williston Rd. Williston, VT 05495 Phone: (802) 878-5121 Website: http://www.town.williston.vt.us/

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.