Chester, Windsor County, Vermont Genealogy

Brief History

 * Chester was chartered by Gov. Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire. There were three charters issued: one on Feb. 22, 1754 to the town of Flamstead, the second one was issued on Nov. 3, 1761 to the town of "New Flamstead," and the third charter issued by the Gov. of New York on July 14, 1766 to the town of "Chester."


 * The "Stone Village" section of town consists of 30 dwellings erected by two brothers from 1834 through the 1850s. The builders used rock quarried from Mount Flamstead as the construction stone. The mountain is the only feature that retains any reference to the town's first chartered name.

Cemeteries
The following is a list of cemeteries in present-day Chester. For location of cemeteries, see Cemeteries of Vermont, Windsor County, website at this link.


 * Brookside Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * North Street Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Pleasant View Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Poplar Grove Cemetery (aka Popple Dungeon Cemetery) - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Simsbury Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Smokeshire Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Deeds to cemetery lots, 1869-1924 (Chester, Vermont) are on microfilm at the Family History Library.
 * Chester Cemeteries List at FindAGrave
 * at FamilySearch Catalog
 * at FamilySearch Catalog

Church Records
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 Chester
 * 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 Chester, visit.

Churches

1. Congregational Church of Chester 469 Main Street Chester, VT 05143 Phone: (802) 875-3382

2. First Baptist Church 162 Main Street Chester, VT 05143 Phone: (802) 875-2638

3. First Universalist Unitarian Parish 21 North Street Chester, VT 05143 Phone: (802) 875-3257

4. St. Joseph's Church   148 South Main Street Chester, VT 05143 Phone: (802) 875-2610

5. St. Luke's Episcopal Church   313 Main Street Chester, VT 05143 Phone: (802) 875-6000

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

Libraries and Historical Societies
Chester Historical Society, Inc. P. O. Box 118 Chester, VT 05143 Phone: (802) 875-5459 Email: knotz69@gmail.com Website: Chester Gov Office Index

Whiting Library 117 Main Street Chester, VT 05143 Phone: (802) 875-2277 Email: whitinglibrary@yahoo.com Website: Whiting Library Wordpress

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


 * 1869 map of Chester

Military Records
Records of enrolled militia, 1863, are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.

Newspapers

 * Rutland Herald Newspaper

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

The probate district for Chester is Windsor. Windsor Probate Court PO Box 402 (Cota Fuel Bdg) N. Springfield, VT 05150 Phone: (802) 886-2284

Town Histories

 * Go to Archive.org to find published materials for this town.
 * The source: Popple Dungeon, Vermont, the settlement, farms and genealogy of a small community in Vermont, by Virginia Blake Clark, 1922 - view digital version at FamilySearch.

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 Chester town records available online:


 * Digital images of Chester Town records, 1790-1996, are available online at FamilySearch.

Town Clerk
Town of Chester P. O Box 370 Chester, VT 05143 Phone: (802) 875-2173 Website: Chester Government Office
 * The town clerk is responsible for these records, and so most originals can be found at the town clerk's office.
 * The Family History Library has microfilm of original records from the Chester Town Clerk's Office. These include Town records and land records, 1763-1903; indexes to vital records and deeds, 1763-1960, and Records of births, marriages, and deaths, 1857-1996; indexes to births, marriages, deaths, 1763-1995.

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

Town Reports
The town of Chester kept annual town reports. These reports often contained birth, marriage, and death information. Below is a list of years when Chester kept town reports. (NOTE: Occasionally, these town reports missed vital statistic information from the end of the year. If you don't find your ancestor's vital information, check the following year's town report to see if your ancestor's information was recorded later.)