Franklin County, Vermont Genealogy

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



Description
The County was named for Benjamin Franklin. The County is located in the northwest area of the state.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has divorce and court records from 1900; Town Clerks have birth, marriage, death, burial and land; Probate Judge has probate records.

Towns Organized Before 1800: Bakersfield 1791 Berkshire 1781 Enosburg 1780 Fairfax 1763 Fairfield 1763 Fletcher 1781 Franklin 1789 Georgia 1763 Highgate 1763 Montgomery 1789 Richford 1780 Sheldon 1763 Swanton 1763 St. Albans 1763

Parent County

 * Created 5 November 1792 from Chittenden County.

Boundary Changes
9 November 1802, Grand Isle County set off.

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 and City

Extinct Town: •

Villages: • Enosburg Falls • Swanton

Neighboring Counties

Chittenden | Grand Isle | Lamoille | Orleans | Brome, Quebec | Missisquoi, Quebec

Cemeteries

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

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Franklin County for European settlers included:


 * Hudson River pre-historic
 * Lake Champlain pre-historic
 * Lake Champlain Trail pre-historic
 * Champlain Canal 1823
 * Erie Canal 1825
 * Chambly Canal and the Richelieu River 1843

Civil War

 * 1861 - 1867  at FamilySearch — index and images

Regiments and Companies:


 * - 2nd Regiment, Vermont Infantry
 * - 13th Regiment, Vermont Infantry
 * - 5th Regiment, Vermont Infantry, Company A and C

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

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

Vermont, Franklin County Probates - FamilySearch Historical Records

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

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, Libraries and Museums
See also a List of Vermont Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical and Genealogical Societies

Historical Societies
Franklin Historical Society Log Cabin Museum Hanna Road Franklin, VT Phone: 802-285-6472 Berkshire Historical Society 2520 Richford Road Richford, VT 05476 Phone: 802-848-3459 E-mail:[mailto:jagljoweld@yahoo.com jagljoweld@yahoo.com] Enosburgh Historical Society PO Box 98 239 Main Street Enosburg Falls, VT 05450 Phone: 802-933-4421 Fairfax Historical Society PO Box 145 Fairfax, VT 05454 Phone: 802-849-6638 Website Fairfield Historical Society PO Box 5 Fairfield, VT 05455 Phone: 802-309-5076 Bakersfield Historical Society Museum in former St George's Catholic Church, VT Route 36 & VT Route 108 PO Box 70 Bakersfield, VT 05441 Phone: 802-827-3042 Website Georgia Historical Society Brick Museum, Georgia Center Gordon's Mill Ag Museum Georgia Library US Rte 7 @ I-89 Exit 18 PO Box 2072 Georgia, VT 05468 Website Highgate Historical Society Museum 3181 VT Route 78 Highgate Center, VT PO Box 222 Highgate Center, VT 05459 Phone: 802-868-4619 Isle La Motte Historical Society Main Street and Quarry Road PO Box 18 Isle La Motte, VT 05463 Phone: 802-928-3077 E-mail:[mailto:gloilm@yahoo.com gloilm@yahoo.com] Montgomery Historical Society Pratt Hall Route 118 PO Box 47 Montgomery Village, VT 05470 E-mail:[mailto:pratthall@gmail.com pratthall@gmail.com] Website Franklin and Grand Isle Counties Historical Societies Website

Websites

 * Franklin County, VT History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Vermont Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Vermont Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * The Franklin County VTGenWeb Project, a member of The VTGenWeb Project
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project