Vermont Search Strategies

This set of Vermont Wiki pages describes major sources of information about families from Vermont. As you read these pages, also study the United States Wiki pages, which will help you understand terminology, contents, and uses of genealogical records.

Records of the Family History Library
The Family History Library has many of the records listed in this set of Vermont Wiki pages. The library’s major holdings include vital, cemetery, census, probate, town records, and local histories.

Most sources described in this set of Wiki pages list the Family History Library’s book, microfilm, microfiche, and compact disc numbers. These are preceded by FHL, the abbreviation for Family History Library. You can use these numbers to locate materials in the library and to order microfilm and microfiche at Family History Centers.

The Internet is growing in importance to genealogists. Sources found on the Internet are cited in these Wiki pages with their Universal Resource Locator (URL) address.

FamilySearch™ at Family History Centers
FamilySearch™ is a collection of computer files containing millions of names. FamilySearch™ is a good place to begin your family history research. Some of the records come from compiled sources, and some have been extracted from original sources. The Family History Library and many Family History Centers have computers with FamilySearch.

FamilySearch™ Internet Genealogy Service
The web site www.familysearch.org allows you to research your genealogy, order Family History Library publications, learn research strategies, and look for information about your ancestors in the following resources:


 * Ancestral File, a file of over 35 million names organized into families and pedigrees. International Genealogical Index, an index of over 360 million names extracted out of vital records primarily from the British Isles, North America, and northern Europe.
 * Censuses: 1880 United States, 1881 Canada, 1881 British census indexes.
 * International Genealogical Index, several hundred million names of deceased people from around the world, primarily from birth and marriage records from the 1500s to about 1885. Often includes duplicates.
 * Pedigree Resource File, a growing database of lineage-linked names submitted by users of the FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service. Information includes families, pedigrees, genealogical data, notes, sources, and submitters. Submissions are not merged or corrected.
 * U.S. Social Security Death Index contains records of deaths for those who had social security numbers and the death was reported starting in 1962.
 * Vital Records Index, primarily birth and marriage information from civil and church records from around the world.
 * Family History Library Catalog, a description and classification of over 2 million microfilm reels and hundreds of thousands of genealogical books. You can search the catalog by family name, locality, author, or book or film number.

Family History Library Catalog
The records of the Family History Library are listed in the Family History Library Catalog available at the library, at each Family History Center, and on the Internet at:


 * www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp

To find a record in the Family History Library Catalog, look in the Place Search for:

The place where your ancestor lived, such as:


 * UNITED STATES—CENSUS
 * VERMONT—MILITARY RECORDS
 * VERMONT, BENNINGTON—HISTORY
 * VERMONT, BENNINGTON, RUPERT—VITAL RECORDS

The record type you want to search, such as:


 * UNITED STATES—CENSUS
 * VERMONT—MILITARY RECORDS
 * VERMONT, BENNINGTON—HISTORY
 * VERMONT, BENNINGTON, RUPERT—VITAL RECORDS