Grafton County, New Hampshire Genealogy

United States New Hampshire  Grafton County

Guide to Grafton County, New Hampshire ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Courthouse
On 1 July 2011, the New Hampshire legislature merged the District Court, Probate Court and Family Division Court into one Circuit Court system to improve the court system and to improve services. Jurisdictions for the Circuit Court are the same as their prior jurisdictions. There are now ten (10) circuit courts, one for each of the states counties. Some of the largest counties have more than one circuit court clerk assigned to manage divisions in more than one city or town. The locations of the district, family, and probate divisions are listed by county and/or town at: New Hampshire Judicial Branch.

Clerk of the Circuit Court has divorce and court records. Probate Judge has probate records. Register of Deeds has land records.

Town Clerks have birth, marriage and death records.

Towns Organized Before 1800: Alexandria 1782 Bath 1761 Benton 1764 Bethlehem 1799 Bridgewater 1788 Campton 1761 Canaan 1761 Danbury 1795 Dorchester 1761 Enfield 1761 Franconia 1764 Grafton 1778 Groton 1796 Hanover 1761 Haverhill 1763 Hebron 1792 Hill 1778 Holderness 1761 Landaff 1764 Lebanon 1761 Lisbon 1768 Lincoln 1764 Littleton 1784 Lyman 1761 Lyme 1761 Orange 1780 Orford 1761 Plymouth 1763 Rumney 1761 Thornton 1781 Warren 1763 Wentworth 1766 Woodstock 1786 Towns Organized Before 1800: Andover 1779, Bradford 1787, Bow 1727, Boscawen 1760, Canterbury 1727, Chichester 1727, Concord 1765, Dunbarton 1765, Epsom 1727, Henniker 1768, Hopkinton 1765, Loudon 1773, Newbury 1778, New London 1779, Northfield 1780, Pembroke 1759, Pittsfield 1782, Salisbury 1768, Sutton 1784, Warner 1774

The Grafton County Complex 3855 Darmouth College Highway North Haverhill, NH 03774

History



 * Named for Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, KG, PC (28 September 1735 – 14 March 1811), styled Earl of Euston between 1747 and 1757, was a British Whig statesman of the Georgian era. He was one of a handful of dukes who served as Prime Minister. He was a son of Lord Augustus FitzRoy and Elizabeth Cosby, daughter of Colonel William Cosby, who served as a colonial Governor of New York.


 * For an online history of this county go to the Internet site of New Hampshire Genealogy and History. At that site you can also select a town, and read online a history of the town. Using the Shift key then the F3 key you can do a word search.


 * For many Grafton County towns someone has published a town history that includes a good deal of genealogical information. The Family History Library has these books for the following towns: Bethlehem, Bristol, Canaan, Enfield, Haverhill, Hebron, Lebanon, Lisbon, Littleton, Lyme, Monroe, Orford, Piermont, Plymouth, Warren, and Wentworth. For Hanover the Familiy History Library has a genealogical collection on fifteen rolls of microfilm.

Parent County

 * Grafton County was created 19 March 1771 from the Colonial lands.

Boundary Changes

 * Coos County was set off 24 December 1803 from the northern part.


 * Carroll County was set off 22 December 1840 from part of the western area of Grafton County, and part of Strafford County.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Populated Places
An excellent way to gain family history information is to contact the local town historical society. The best list of these is found at the Association of Historical Societies of New Hampshire. Click on the Directory.

Birth, marriage, and death records of many New Hampshire towns and villages are available on-line at www.familysearch.org, That site has birth records early to 1900, and marriage and death records, early to about 1948.

Also, many town birth, marriage, and death records, often to about 1915, were microfilmed and are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog.

City:

Lebanon

Towns:

Township:


 * Livermore

Villages:

Neighboring Counties
Neighboring New Hampshire counties are Belknap | Carroll | Coös | Merrimack | Sullivan |. Adjacent counties in Vermont are Caledonia | Essex | Orange | Windsor.

Cemeteries
The New Hampshire Old Graveyard Associaton has the most complete list of cemeteries. This list is available at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nhoga.

Some other places to check for cemetery records are:


 * Grafton County Cemetery Records
 * Findagrave Gafton Records

The Findagrave organization provides a way for you to request that a volunteer will take a photograph of a gravestone. Often a volunteer will respond and will e-mail you the photo and add it to the web site. Also the billiongraves organization lists a very large number of tombstone photographs. You can participate by taking photos of tombstones if you have a cell phone that has a camera in it.

Census
The 1890 census, except for the list of Civil War veterans or their widows, was destroyed by a fire in Washington, D. C. in 1921. One help for 1890 is the Town and City Atlas of the State of New Hampshire, published in 1892 in Boston by the D. H. Hurd Company. The atlas has maps for almost every city, town, and village in New Hampshire. The maps show the locations of homes, and the map gives the name of the person living in the home. The above web site is from the University of New Hampshire Library. Not all of the website map images have legible home owner names.

Note: the 1890 census veterans' schedules for New Hampshire were preserved. They are available at familysearch.org, and ancestry.com, also on microfilms from the Family History Library. You can search for veterans' names or their widows' names.

Church
If you know the name of the town or city, and the denomination, you may wish to contact the Dartmouth College Library, in Hanover, New Hampshire. They may be able to send you the names and addresses of churches of that denomination for the town.

Or, if you know the town of residence and the ancestor's denomination, go to the New Hampshire wiki article and see the Church Records section in the general information for New Hampshire. That section lists archives and other record keepers for the various religious denominations.

If you do not know the denomination, search for a marriage record. This may give the name of the minister. Then you can contact a historical society and learn at which church he was the minister. Also search for an obituary, which may mention the church the person attended. The death certificate may list the name of the cemetery. You can then write to the cemetery and ask if it is affiliated with a local church. The death certificate may mention the funeral home. Their file may have the name of the church, cemetery, or a copy of the obituary. Also, relatives might know the denomination.

Different churches contain a variety of types of records. Many churches keep baptism, marriage, and burial records. Sometimes birth and death information is included. The church records of brothers and sisters, etc. may give clues.

Court
Grafton County court records began in 1773. The county courthouse is at 3785 Dartmouth College Hwy., North Haverill, NH 03774. Many of the court records for 1773-1899 are now at the New Hampshire State Archives. The following Internet site gives a list of the principal current-day court records about living people: Records. There is a fee to obtain the reports.

Gazetteers

 * Hamilton Child's Gazetteer of Grafton County, New Hampshire, published in 1886, is found at Archive.org. You can type in a surname, or a place name, and search the gazetteer.

Genealogy - How to get started?
1. Check familysearch.org and see if your ancestor's information is listed there.

2. Check familysearch.org and see if your family's vital records of births, marriages, and deaths are listed.

3. Check familysearch.org and see if your family is listed on the U. S. census records of 1850-1940. You can also see those censuses at the Family History Center using Heritage Quest, and ancestry.com.

4. If you know the county where your ancestor lived, take a look at the free internet site www.usgenweb.com. A volunteer helper gathers information about ancestors who lived in that county. You might find biographies, cemetery records, deeds, obituaries, queries, vital records, etc. You can leave a query.

5. If you know the town where they lived, look for a town history with a genealogical section. See the section below for how to find out if there is a town history.

6. Read the wiki articles on Grafton County, and on New Hampshire, for ideas of sources. Study the Records Selection Table in the New Hampshire article. This can help you think of new sources to try.

7. Enter your ancestor's information on new.familysearch.org., genforum.com, or ancestry.com. You can also share your quest with the local historical society, genealogical socieety, or town library and ask for help. Send them a family group form and a pedigree chart.

Genealogy - Town Histories often have Genealogical Sections
For many Grafton County towns someone has published a town history that includes a good deal of genealogical information. The Family History Library has these books for the following towns: Bethlehem, Bristol, Canaan, Enfield, Haverhill, Hebron, Lebanon, Lisbon, Littleton, Lyme, Monroe, Orford, Piermont, Plymouth, Warren, and Wentworth. For Hanover the Familiy History Library has a genealogical collection on fifteen rolls of microfilm.

Check the FamilySearch Catalog to see if the book listed above is available online. If it is not available online, you can often order the book on microfilm through a Family History Center.

Land
Grafton County deeds from 1773 to the present are at the County Courthouse at 3785 Dartmouth College Hwy., North Haverill, NH 0374. The New Hampshire State Archives in Concord, New Hampshire has microfilms of the deeds from 1773 to 1830. They also have an index to the deeds for 1773-1870.

The land records for 1773-1902 and indexes to land records, 1773-1900 can be also be ordered on films through Family History Centers. For film numbers see the Library Catalog at FamilySearch.org. The films include grantor and grantee indexes as well land record volumns 1 through 449.

Local Histories
Local history books are available for many towns in Grafton County. The Family History Library has history books for the following towns: Bethlehem, Bristol, Canaan, Haverhill, Hebron, Lebanon, Lisbon, Littleton, Lyme, Monroe, Orford, Piermont, Plymouth, Rumney, Warren, and Wentworth. Most of these books have genealogical information. For Hanover the Family History Library has a microfilmed genealogical collection on fifteen reels of microfilm.

See the Family HIstory Library Catalog, and go to the Catalog/frameset_fhlc.asp Place search. Type in the name of the town or city, and also New Hampshire. You will see a list of sources. Click on the one for Genealogy or History.

Many libraries with large genealogical collections will very likely have the books listed, and perhaps books for other Grafton County towns.

A good online source for town histories can be found at the Grafton County page of the New Hampshire Genealogy and History website.

The New Hampshire State Library in Concord, New Hampshire has a vast collection of books about New Hampshire towns and counties. Check their internet catalog for a town of interest.

The New Hampshire Historical Society also in Concord has a very large collection of local history books and other publications.

Maps
The Town and City Atlas of the State of New Hampshire published in 1892 has maps for almost every city, town, and village in New Hampshire, and gives the name of the person who lived in the home in 1892. This atlas is available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (FHL Folio book 974.2 E3).

Revolutionary War
The most complete listing of New Hampshire Revolutionary War soldiers is found in volumes 14-17 of the New Hamsphire State Papers. You can go to google.com, and look for New Hampshire State Papers with the link to ancestry.com. There you will find a name index to voloumes 14-17, then you can go to the needed volume and page for information on the soldier. Often the place of residence is given.

For a military history of New Hampshire, see:

Potter, Chandler Eastman, The Military History of the State of New Hampshire. Concord, N.H.: McFarland and Jenks, 1866. (Family History Library film 1033664; fiche 6046858.) You can search this book on-line by going to google.com. Look for ancestry.com as the internet way to search this book. This history comprises events from the first settlements in New Hampshire to the rebellion in 1861. It includes biographical notices of many of the officers and explanatory notes.

War of 1812
See Potter's book above for information on the War of 1812.

Civil War
Familysearch.org is a free source for locating names of Civil War soldiers and sailors. Ancestry.com is available free at FamilySearch Centers and is also valuable for finding names of soldiers and sailors. Fold3.com is another internet site, available free at Family History Centers.

You can go to ancestry.com and search for names in The Revised Register of the Soldiers and Sailors of New Hampshire in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866, by Augustus D. Ayling. This book gives the age, residence, and service information about approximately 32,000 New Hampshire Civil War veterans. The book is also available on microfilm or microfiche from the Family History Library.

Town history books are available through the Family History Library, and other large libraries, for most of the towns in Cheshire County. They often contain extensive information concerning the war and the soldiiers. For example:


 * Military record of the sons of Dartmouth in the Union Army and Navy, 1861-1865, compiled by E. D. Redington, '61 ; rev. and edited by W. H. Hodgkins - Online Book - Also available on microfiche at the Family History Library.


 * Civil War service men from Grafton County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are many companies or regiments that were formed from men of Grafton County.
 * - 1st Regiment, New Hampshire Cavalry, Troops A, B, C, E, H, I, and L.
 * - 1st Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Company I.
 * - 1st Regiment, New Hampshire Heavy Artillery, Companies H, I, L, and M.
 * - 2nd Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies B, G, and I.
 * - 3rd Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Company E.
 * - 4th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Company I.
 * - 5th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies A, C, E, and I.
 * - 6th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies A and B.
 * - 8th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Company H.
 * - 9th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies A, B, and I.
 * - 11th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies B, G, and H.
 * - 12th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies A, C, D, E and K.
 * - 13th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies A, C and D.
 * - 14th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Company H.
 * - 15th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies B, C, F, and H.
 * - 16th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Company A.
 * - 18th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies B, E, F, and G.
 * - New Hampshire Sharpshooters, 2nd Company F.

World War I
A very helpful source for World War I is an index at www.ancestry.com of World War I draft registration records, 1917-1918. All men between ages eighteen and forty-five were required to register. Their birth date and place, address, and sometimes the name of nearest kin, are listed on the card. Many of these men served in the war.

World War II
There is an index on www.ancestry.com of the 1942 World War II draft registrations for New Hampshire, of men forty-five to sixty-five. Some of these men served in that war. The records contain name, address, birth date and place, name of kin or friend, name and address of employer, and signature. (See www.ancestry.com for further information.)

At ancestry.com you can also search U. S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946.

Naturalizations
The following films relating to Grafton County naturalization can be found on the FamilySearch Catalog. You can order these films through one of the Family History Centers. Some naturalizations for the early years before 1839 may be included in the early court records of Grafton County (see the Court Records section above).

There is an alphabetical index, on films, to the naturalizations for 1773-1906.


 * Declarations of intentions 1906-1929
 * Petitions and records 1907-1921
 * Naturalization dockets 1868-1906
 * Petitions for naturalization 1839-1862

Newspapers
The New Hampshire Newspaper Projectbegan microfilming newspapers in the early 1990's. A list of the titles filmed, the range of date of publication, and the reel number can be found at the New Hampshire State Library. Films of newspapers may be able to be borrowed on interlibrary loan through your local public library or university library.

Probate
Grafton County probate records began in 1773 shortly after the county was established. Records are kept at the County Courthouse at 3785 Dartmouth College Hwy., North Haverhill, NH 03774. The probate volumes, 1-114, for 1773-1933, are available on Family History Library films. On films there is an index to administrators for 1773-1950. In checking one of the films we learned that this is an index to the persons for whom there are probate records. We have requested that this fact will please be noted in the Library Catalog.

Index to probate records from 1769-1800, Grafton County, New Hampshire in on microfilm, and can be ordered through the Family History Library.

Online Probate Records
 * 1635 – 1753 New Hampshire Probate Records 1635-1753 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1643 - 1982 New Hampshire Wills and Probate Records 1643-1982 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Taxation
Many town tax records have been preserved by town clerks and town tax officials. Town tax records were generally taken each year. The Family History Library has many town records on microfilms. For film numbers see the FamilySearch Catalog under New Hampshire - Grafton County - [name of town] - Town Records.

There is an index to the town records (which include many tax records) from the early settlement of the town to about 1850. This is theIndex to Early Town Records of New Hampshire, Early to 1850 [FHL films 14942-15052]. The index cards list volume and page numbers for the town records, many of which are on Family History Library microfilms. The town records are listed in the catalog in the manner mentioned in the paragraph above. If on a card you find the abbreviation F.R., this indicates there is a record of family members. If you find M.R. on a card, this tells you there is a marriage record.

Ancestry.com has online images of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax lists for New Hampshire and many other states for 1862-1866. Only persons who owned businesses, or valuable items such as carriages, were listed. You may wish to check ancestry.com to see if your ancestor was listed. The record gives the person's name, town of residence, business or valuable item, and amount of tax.

Town Records
Town records are an important source of family history information from the 1600s to about the 1940s. The early New Hampshire town records to about 1850 have an every-name index. The index and film numbers are listed just above in the Taxation section. Many town records are availabe on Family History Library films. The original records are very likely still in the town offices.

If on an index card you find the abbreviation F.R., this indicates there is a record of family members. If you find M.R. on a card, this tells you there is a marriage record.

To see the types of family history information you might find in town records please go to the heading Town Records in our New Hampshire wiki article.

Vital Records
Fortunately, most of the New Hampshire birth records to 1915, and marriage and death records to 1947, are on the internet at familysearch.org. You can view a digital image of the actual record.

Certified copies of of birth, death, and marriage records are available from the State Division of Vital Records Administration or from the local city and town clerk where the event took place. Original records are kept by the city or town clerk and copies are sent to the state. In 1905, when the state created the Bureau of Vital Records and Health, printed cards were distributed to the local clerks and earlier vital records were transcribed onto the cards and submitted to the state.

Online Vital Records


 * 1656 - 1938 at | FamilySearch — index

Births

 * To 1900 - are available online from FamilySearch. The Family History Library has microfilms of birth records for many towns in Grafton County up to about 1915. See the FamilySearch Catalog for details.
 * 1901-1909 -  at FamilySearch.org - browse images only

Marriages

 * 1637-1947 - are available online from FamilySearch.
 * 1948–1959 -  at FamilySearch — index and images

Deaths

 * 1654-1947 - are available online from FamilySearch.

Societies
Many of the cities and towns in Grafton County have historical societies. They may be very helpful to you. You can find their address, telephone number, and often their email address by checking the internet site of the Associaton of Historical Societies of New Hampshire. Share with them what you know about your ancestor, and ask for their assistance.

Family History Centers

 * Lebanon New Hampshire Family History Center

Libraries
There are libraries in most towns in Grafton County. They often have local history books. They may have family history books or collections. You may wish to check the internet to find their address, phone number, email address, and see what they list in the way of family history and genealogy materials.

Lebanon Public Library has two branches, one in Lebanon, and the other in West Lebanon: first is the Lebanon Public Library, 9 East Park St., Lebanon, NH 03766, tel. 603-448-2459, fax 603-448-0696. This library has local histories for the region, some family genealogies, Civil War records, cemetery records, newspapers, and photographs. The other is the Kilton Library, 60 Main St., West Lebanon, NH 03784, tel. 603-298-8544.

Dartmouth College Libraryis the Baker-Berry Library, 6025 Baker-Berry Library, Hanover, NH 03755, tel. 603-646-2704. The library has family history books and collections, as well as local historical maps. They do not provide a family history research service, but can answer reference type questions about their books and collections. Their internet site has information about the books and collections.

Web Sites

 * The Grafton County NHGenWeb Project, a member of The NHGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project (click for description of USGenweb).
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Grafton County
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Grafton County (backup site)
 * FamilySearch Catalog for Grafton County
 * Grafton County, New Hampshire Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)