Windsor County, Vermont Genealogy

Guide to Windsor County, Vermont ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
The County is located in the east area of the state.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has divorce and city records from 1782; Town Clerks have birth, marriage, death, burial and land records; Probate Judge has probate records.

Towns Organized Before 1800: Andover 1761 Baltimore 1793 Barnard 1761 Bethel 1779 Bridgewater 1761 Cavendish 1761 Chester 1754 Hartford 1761 Hartland 1761 Ludlow 1761 Norwich 1761 Plymouth 1761 Pomfret 1761 Reading 1761 Royalton 1769 Sharon 1761 Springfield 1761 Stockbridge 1761 Weathersfield 1761 Weston 1799 Windsor 1761 Woodstock 1761

Parent County
Created 22 February 1781 from the Colonial lands.

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Vermont County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Vermont County Boundary Maps" (1764-1895) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Towns:

Villages:


 * Ludlow
 * Perkinsville
 * Woodstock


 * Communities:

Neighboring Counties

Addison | Bennington | Orange | Rutland | Windham | Grafton, New Hampshire | Sullivan, New Hampshire

Cemeteries

 * List of Windsor County Cemeteries
 * Random Acts VT Cemetery Records Research Guide

Local Histories
Click History of Windsor County, Vermont to read this book on the Internet. Click History of Windsor County, Vermont to find libraries with this book (WorldCat). Click A History of Royalton Vermont with Family Genealogies 1769-1911 (Evelyn M. Wood Lovejoy 1911)

Civil War
Regiments

Service men in Windsor County, Vermont served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Windsor County, Vermont:


 * - 2nd Regiment, Vermont Infantry
 * - 4th Regiment, Vermont Infantry, Companies B, C, E and K
 * - 16th Regiment, Vermont Infantry, Companies A, C, E, G, H and K

First Vermont Regiment was mustered into service May 2, 1861 with 782 men and mustered out in July 1861.


 * Windsor County furnished 2 companies in the First Vermont Regiment


 * Company B, also known as Woodstock Light Infantry. Most men came from the town of Woodstock.


 * Company E, also known as Cavendish Light Infantry. Most men came from the town of Cavendish.

Second Vermont Regiment was mustered in June 20,1861 and mustered out July 15, 1865. Relatively few recruits were from Windsor County, and most were scattered through companies C, E, and I.

Third Vermont Regiment was mustered in July 16, 1861 and mustered out July 11, 1865. Many men from Windsor enlisted in this regiment in all companies except company G.

Fourth Vermont Regiment was mustered in September 21, 1861. Recruits for one year and recruits whose service would end before October 1, 1865 mustered out June 19, 1865. The remainder of the regiment mustered out July 13, 1865. Probably fewer Windsor men were in this regiment than in the 3rd Regiment. Windsor men were in all companies.

Fifth Vermont Regiment was mustered in September 16, 1861. Non-veterans were mustered out October 14, 1864. The regiment mustered out June 29, 1865. Few Windsor County men were in this regiment.

Sixth Vermont Regiment was mustered in October 15, 1861 and mustered out June 26, 1865. Original members, not veterans, were mustered out October 28, 1864. Recruits for one year, and recruits whose term of service would expire before October 1, 1865, were mustered out June 19, 1865. It was attached to the First Vermont Brigade. Men from various towns were scattered throughout the companies.

Much of the above information is from the book, History of Windsor County, Vermont, edited by Lewis Cass Aldrich and Frank R. Holmes, 1891. FamilySearch, Internet Archives

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors database can be searched by the name of the Serviceman or by Battle Unit, then name of the serviceman.

Newspapers
Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has North Adams, MA newspapers (1895-1977) covering local news that included Windsor County residents.

Probate Records
Online Probate Records
 * 1749 - 1999 Vermont Wills and Probate Records 1749-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1800 - 1921 at FamilySearch — images

Town Records

 * 1850-2005 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Vital Records

 * 1732 - 2005 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1850 - 2005 at FamilySearch — index and images

Births
 * 1765 - 1908  FamilySearch
 * 1909 - 2008 Vermont, Birth Records Ancestry $
 * 1981 - 2001 Vermont Births Ancestry $

Marriages


 * 1791 - 1974 FamilySearch
 * 1909 - 2008 Vermont, Marriage Records Ancestry $
 * 1981 - 1984, 1989 - 2001 Vermont Marriage Index Ancestry $

Deaths


 * 1871 - 1965 FamilySearch
 * 1909 - 2008 Vermont, Death Records Ancestry $
 * 1981 - 2001 Vermont Death Index Ancestry $

See also How to order Vermont Vital Records, order electronically online or download an application for the following Vermont certificates: Downloadable applications from Vermont Department of Health.
 * Birth Certificate,
 * Marriage Certificate,
 * Divorce Certificate,
 * Civil Union Dissolution Certificate, or
 * Death Certificate

Societies and Libraries
See also a List of Vermont Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Historical Societies
Barnard Historical Society VT Route 12 PO Box 234 Barnard, VT 05031 E-mail:[mailto:magicalme@gmail.com magicalme@gmail.com] Bethel Historical Society Museum in Brick Church 2nd Floor Church Street PO Box 25 Bethel, VT 05032 Phone: 802-234-5064 E-mail:[mailto:nick@nikolaidis.com nick@nikolaidis.com] E-mail:[mailto:JHaywardBurnham@aol.com JHaywardBurnham@aol.com] Website Black River Academy Museum and Historical Society 14 High Street PO Box 73 Ludlow, VT 05149 Phone: 802-228-5050 E-mail:[mailto:glbrehm@tds.net glbrehm@tds.net] Website Cavendish Historical Society Former Town Hall and Church Main Street VT Route 131 PO Box 472 Cavendish, VT 05142 Phone: 802-226-7807 E-mail:[mailto:margoc@tds.net margoc@tds.net] Windsor Historical Society Town Hall PO Box 300 Windsor, VT 05089 Phone: 802-674-2326 Woodstock Historical Society Dana House Museum and Woodstock History Center 26 Elm Street Woodstock, VT 05091 Phone: 802-457-1822 E-mail:[mailto:info@woodstockhistorical.org info@woodstockhistorical.org] Website

Family History Centers

 * South Royalton Vermont Family History Center

Websites

 * Windsor County, VT History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Vermont Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Vermont Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * FamilySearch Catalog for Windsor County
 * The Windsor County VTGenWeb Project, an member of The VTGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Windsor County