Grafton, Windham County, Vermont Genealogy

Brief History
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.

Cemeteries
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.


 * Grafton Cemeteries List at FindAGrave
 * Windham 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 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

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

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

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

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

1869 map of Grafton

Newspapers
Brattleboro Reformer

Rutland Herald

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

The probate district for Grafton is Westminster. Westminster Probate Court PO Box 47 Bellows Falls, VT 05101 Phone: (802) 463-3019

Town 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.

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


 * Grafton

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

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.