Barre Town, Washington County, Vermont Genealogy

Brief History
Barre Town was chartered on August 12, 1781 by the Vermont State Legislature. The town was originally chartered as Wildersburg, the previous home in Massachusetts of some of the incorporators. Those people left for one reason or another, or were just outnumbered by later settlers: by 1793 a move was afoot to change the name of the town.

The name of the town was eventually changed to Barre. By the beginning of the 19th century, Barre had a half-dozen distinct villages, some of which are now part of the city of Barre when it was split off in 1894. The outlying villages, most of which had sprung up because of the granite industry, remained in the town. With no particularly high peaks, Barre has several smaller hills, some of which turned out to be solid granite, resulting in an industry which has permeated the town ever since.

Cemeteries
The following is a list of major cemeteries in present-day Barry Town. For location of all cemeteries, see Cemeteries of Vermont, Washington County, website at this link.


 * Maplewood Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Saint Monica Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Saint Sylvester Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * West Hill Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.
 * Wilson Cemetery - inscriptions at Find A Grave site.


 * at FamilySearch Catalog
 * at FamilySearch Catalog
 * Washington 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 Barre Town, 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 Barre Town:

City Directories
Manning's Barre and Montpelier (Vermont) directory : including Barre Town (1930), are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.

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

Libraries and Historical Societies
Aldrich Public Library 6 Washington St. Barre, VT 05641 Phone: (802) 476-7550 Email: aldrichlibrary@charter.net Website: http://www.aldrichpubliclibrary.org/

Maps
The following are online maps of the town of Barre Town:

1873 map of Barre

Newspapers
Burlington Free Press

The Barre Montpelier Times-Argus

Probate Records
The probate district for Barre Town is Washington. Washington District Probate Court 10 Elm St. #3 Montpelier, VT 05602 Phone: (802) 828-3405

Records corrected by Probate Court, v. 1-4, 1940-1980, are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.

In Vermont, most probate records are kept at the town level. The following are online probate records for the town of Barre Town:

Town Histories
Barre in retrospect : 1776-1976, Friends of the Aldrich Public Library - find 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 Barre Town town records available online:

Town Clerk Vital and Town Records, 1761 -1931, can be found on FamilySearch (browse only images).

Vermont, Washington County, Barre, death records, 1998-2006, can be found on FamilySearch (browse only images).

Vermont, Washington County, Barre, land records, 1895-1946, can be found on FamilySearch (browse only images).

The Family History Library has microfilm of original records from the Barre Town Clerk's Office. These include Records of births, marriages, and deaths, 1895-1997 (Barre, Vermont), Records of births, marriages, and deaths, 1895-1998; card indexes to births, marriages, and deaths, early to 1998, and  Deeds, 1793-1877; index to deeds, 1793-1880.

Town of Barre, Vermont 149 Websterville Rd. P.O. Box 116 Websterville, Vermont, 05678 Phone: (802) 479-9331 Website: http://www.barretown.org/

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

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