Manchester, Bennington County, Vermont Genealogy

Brief History
Manchester is a town in, and one of two shire towns of, Bennington County, Vermont. The town was chartered on Aug. 11, 1761 and organized in March of 1766. Within the township of Manchester are three villages; Manchester, Manchester Center and Manchester Depot.

From 1850 into the 1920s, Manchester entered its resort phase. The natural beauty of the area and its relative lack of development drew tourists. Franklin Orvis opened Manchester’s most famous hotel, the Equinox, in 1853, which became the centerpiece of Manchester's tourist industry.

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


 * Dellwood Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Factory Point Cemetery- inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Oreb Taylor Family Cemetery- inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Roberts Homestead Cemetery- inscriptions at Find A Grave site.


 * Manchester Cemeteries List at FindAGrave
 * at FamilySearch Catalog
 * Bennington 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 Manchester, 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 Manchester:

1. Christ Our Savior Parish   398 Bonnet St.    Manchester Center, VT 05255    Phone: (802) 362-1380

2. First Congregational Church   3624 Main St.    Manchester, VT 05254    Phone: (802) 362-2709

3. Northshire Baptist Fellowship   5769 Main St.    Manchester Center, VT 05255    Phone: (802) 362-1988

4. St John's Chapel   3512 Main St.    Manchester Center, VT 05255    Phone: 802) 362-0884

Historical Data
The Vermont Historical Gazetteer is a 5 volume set of historical information by Abby Maria Hemenway with Volume I published in 1867 and Volume V completed in 1891 after her death. Also available online in PDF format at this link.

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

Libraries and Historical Societies
Mark Skinner Library 48 West Rd Manchester, VT 05254 Phone:(802) 362-2607 Email: info@MarkSkinnerLibrary.org Website: http://markskinnerlibrary.org/home/

Manchester Historical Society Mark Skinner Library 48 West Road, Manchester, VT Mailing Address: PO Box 363, Manchester, VT 05254 Email: judyannh@together.net Phone: (802) 362-3708 Contact: Judith Harwood, Curator

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

1856 Manchester map

Newspapers
The Manchester Journal

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

The Family History Library has microfilm of Probate records (Manchester District, Vermont), 1779-1914.

Digital images of Vermont, Bennington County, Manchester District, probate records, 1779-1935 are available at.

The probate district for Manchester is Manchester. Manchester Probate Court P.O. Box 446, Manchester, VT 05846 Phone: (802) 362-1410

Town Histories
Equinox House history

Manchester, Vermont: A Pleasant Land Among the Mountains. Locate this book in a 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 Manchester town records available online:

The Family History Library has microfilm of original records from the Manchester Town Clerks Office. These include Land records, 1761-1901; general index to land records, 1761-1950, Records of births, marriages, deaths, 1857-1995, Town records, v. 1, 1831-1919, and Card index to vital statistics in the early land and town records books.

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

Manchester Town Clerk 6039 Main Street Manchester Center, VT 05255) Phone: (802) 362-1313, option 1 Website: http://www.manchester-vt.gov/content/town-clerks-office

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