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Standardizing Litchfield County TOC

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


 * This article is about a county in Connecticut. For other uses, see Litchfield (disambiguation).

Description

 * Not to be confused with Litchfield, Hampshire, England.
 * The county was named after Litchfield, in England. The County is located in the northwest area of the state.
 * Jean S. Morris, The Pennsylvania-Connecticut controversy bibliography, (Pittsburgh [Pennsylvania] : J.S. Morris, [c1984]). "In 1774, the territory now comprising the Pennsylvania counties of Bradford, Luzerne, Lackawanna, Susquehanna and Wyoming was organized into the Township of Westmoreland, Litchfield County, Connecticut. In 1776 it became a separate county in CT. In 1782 this area was officially awarded to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. At this time the area was mostly within the bounds of Northumberland County, Pa."--Introd.  Available at the Family History Library,

County Courthouse

 * Clerk Superior Court has divorce and court records from 1800
 * Town Clerks have birth, marriage, death, and land records
 * Probate Judge has probate records
 * There is no county government and no county seat.
 * The government is at the town level.

Litchfield County, Connicticut
 Towns Organized Before 1800: Barkhamstead 1799, Bethlehem 1787, Canaan 1739, Colebrook 1799, Cornwall 1740, Goshen 1739, Harwinton 1737, Kent 1739, Litchefield 1719, New Hartford 1738, New Milford 1712, Norfolk 1758, Plymouth 1795, Roxbury 1796, Salisbury 1741, Sharon 1739, Torrington 1740, Washington 1779, Warren 1768, Watertown 1780, Winchester 1771, Woodbury 1673.

Record Loss
1886 The Litchfield County courthouse was destroyed by fire, but no records were lost. Additionally, Lawyer H. B. Graves's library, which contained many rare and valuable works, and D. C. Kilbourn's historical library were destroyed.

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Connecticut county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Connecticut County Boundary Maps" (1643-1960) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Populated Places
City: 

Towns

Boroughs: |

Communities: 

Neighboring counties: Fairfield | Hartford | New Haven | Massachusetts counties:   Berkshire | Hampden | New York counties:  Columbia | Dutchess

History Timeline

 * Parent County: 14 October 1751 from Fairfield and Hartford counties.

Bible Records
Atwood Family Bible, USGenWeb CTArchives

Biographies

 * Linkpendium, Biographies, Oral Histories, Diaries, Memoirs, Genealogies, Correspondence, Litchfield County.
 * Arthur Goodenough, The clergy of Litchfield County, (Winchester, Connecticut : Litchfield County University Club, 1909).  Available online at Google Books, (accessed 7 Mar 2011).  Also available at the Family History Library,
 * Dwight C. Kilbourn, The bench and bar of Litchfield County, Connecticut, 1709-1909 biographical sketches of members, history and catalogue of the Litchfield Law School, historical notes, (Litchfield, Connecticut : D. C. Kilbourn, c1909). Includes index.  Available online at Internet Archives.  Also available at the Family History Library,   or on the desktop at the Family History Library,
 * David S. Boardman, Sketches of the early lights of the Litchfield bar, (Ann Arbor, Michigan : University Microfilms, 1987). Includes index.  Available online at Internet Archives.  Also available in the Family History Library,
 * Charles F. Sedgwick, Fifty years at the Litchfield County bar, (Ann Arbor, Michigan : University Microfilms, 1987). A database for this book is available at ancestry.com$, (accessed 7 Mar 2011).  Also available at the Family History Library,
 * Payne Kenyon Kilbourn, A biographical history of the county of Litchfield, Connecticut comprising biographical sketches of distinguished natives and residents of the county; together with complete lists of the judges of the county court, justices of the quorum, county commissioners, judges of probate, sheriffs, senators, c., (New York, New York : Clark, Austin, 1851).  Available online at Internet Archives, (accessed 7 Mar 2011).  Also available at the Family History Library,
 * Biographical review, this volume contains biographical sketches of the leading citizens of Litchfield County, Connecticut, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1974).  Includes index.  Available at the Family History Library,

===Business, Commerce, and Occupations

Census

 * Census Online, (accessed 6 Mar 2011), Litchfield County Records.
 * Census Finder, Connecticut Census Records, (accessed 6 Mar 2011). Online links by county.
 * Connecticut Genealogy, Litchfield County Census Records, (accessed 6 Mar 2011).
 * Linkpendium, Census Records and Indexes, (accessed 6 Mar 2011). Litchfield County, Connecticut.
 * US Census Collection, (accessed 8 Mar 2011), FamilySearch.
 * US Federal Census Collection, ancestry.com$, (accessed 6 Mar 2011).
 * USGenWeb Census Project, Litchfield County, Connecticut Federal Census Index, (accessed 6 Mar 2011). Transcriptions in progress.
 * Lowell M. Volkel, An index to the 1800 federal census of Litchfield, New Haven, Tolland and Windham counties, state of Connecticut, ([S.l.] : L.M. Volkel, c1969).  Available at the Family History Center,

Church Records
The Congregational Church was predominant in early Connecticut and was the state church until 1818. Other prominent churches in the state are the Methodist and Episcopal churches (colonial period), and the Roman Catholic and Baptist churches (19th century).

It is recommended that you also look at the Connecticut Church Records page, which has additional information about church records in Connecticut.


 * Church Records, USGenWeb CTArchives
 * Connecticut Genealogy, Litchfield County Church Records, (accessed 6 Mar 2011). Includes church and vital records.
 * Arthur Goodenough, The clergy of Litchfield County, (Winchester, Connecticut : Litchfield County University Club, 1909). Available online at Google Books, (accessed 1 Mar 2011), or Internet Archives, (accessed 1 Mar 2011).  A database for this book can be found at ancestry.com$, (accessed 1 Mar 2011).  Also available at the Family History Library,  or FHL US/CAN Fiche 6100461.
 * Litchfield County Foreign Mission Society (Litchfield County, Connecticut), Semi-centennial of the Litchfield Co. Foreign Mission Society celebrated at Litchfield, October 16, 1861, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1995). Available at the Family History Library,

Court Records

 * Court Records, USGenWeb CTArchives
 * Litchfield County Connecticut Court Records Directory, (accessed 8 Mar 2011).
 * Wills, USGenWeb CTArchives
 * Barbara B. Ferris and Grace Louise Knox, Connecticut divorces Superior Court records for the counties of Litchfield, 1752-1922 and Hartford 1740-1849, Available on the desktop at the Family History Library,

Directories

 * Linkpendium, Litchfield Directories, (accessed 7 Mar 2011).
 * Waterbury suburban city directory including Middlebury, Terryville, Thomaston, Watertown, and Wolcott, (New Haven [Connecticut] : Price ; Lee Company, 1940?-).   Available at the Family History Library,
 * Price Lee Company, Southbury (New Haven County and Litchfield County, Ct.) city directory including Roxbury, Washington and Woodbury, (New Haven [Connecticut] : Price Lee Company, [197-?]-). Available at the Family History Library,
 * Torrington, Winsted, Litchfield, Norfolk, Goshen directory combining five distinct directories: governmental directory, buyers' directory, alphabetical directory, numerical directory, classified directory, (New Haven [Connecticut] : Price Lee, 1931-).  Available at the Family History Library,   (3 Films)
 * Price Lee Company, New Milford (Litchfield County, Conn.) city directory including Bridgewater, Brookfield, Brookfield Center, New Fairfield and Sherman, (New Haven [Connecticut] : Price Lee Company, [196-?]-).  Available at the Family History Library,

Migration
Migration routes for early European settlers to and from included:


 * Hudson River a navigable river stretching from north of Albany then flowing south to empty into the Atlantic Ocean at New York City
 * Albany Post Road from New York City to Albany, New York 1669
 * Alford and Egremont (MA) Turnpike 1812
 * Ancram (NY) Turnpike 1805, also sometimes called the Catskill Road, from Salisbury, Connecticut to Catskill, New York
 * Catskill Road 1750s from Springfield, Massachusetts to Catskill, New York
 * Catskill Turnpike  (aka Susquehannah Turnpike ) from Catskill, NY to Unadilla, NY; route travelled by Europeans by 1792; toll booths opened by 1804.
 * Columbia (NY) Turnpike 1799
 * Great Barrington and Aford (MA) Turnpike 1812
 * Greenwood Road 1799 from Hartford, Connecticut to Albany, New York
 * Hampden and Berkshire (MA) Turnpike 1826
 * Hillsdale and Chatham Turnpike 1805 from Alford, Massachusetts to Albany, New York
 * Housatonic River (MA) Turnpike 1809
 * Massachusetts 10th Turnpike 1800
 * Massachusetts 12th Turnpike 1812
 * Minsi Path 1766 from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Kingston, New York
 * Old Connecticut Path  1630 from Boston, Massachusetts to Hartford, Connecticut
 * Rensselaer and Columbia (NY) Turnpike 1799
 * Salisbury and Canaan (CT) Turnpike 1801-1829
 * Ulster and Delaware Turnpike 1802 from Salisbury, Connecticut to Bainbridge, New York

Description and Travel - Guidebooks

 * Newell Meeker Calhoun and Julius Turner Edson, Litchfield County Sketches, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1990). Available online at Google Books, (accessed 8 Mar 2011). Also available at the Famiy History Library,

Divorce Records

 * Connecticut. Superior Court (Litchfield County), Divorce papers, 1752-1922, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1989-1990). Records are in approximate alphabetical order. Available at the Family History Library,  (26 films)