Connecticut Church Records

Historical Background
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).

Information Found in the Records
To effectively use church records, become familiar with their content. Click on these links to learn about a specific record type:

Look for online records.
'''Ancestry.com, FindMyPast.com, and MyHeritage.com can be searched free of charge at your local family history center or the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.


 * Connecticut, Church Record Abstracts, 1630-1920. Index.
 * Connecticut, Church Records, 1660-1955. Index, incomplete
 * New England, Select United Methodist Church Records, 1787-1922. Index. ($)
 * Early Members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, ($). Index

To learn about church records existing in 1942, see:


 * Guide to Vital Statistics in the Church Records of Connecticut. (New Haven, Conn.: Connecticut Historical Records Survey, 1942). 974.6 K23g; film 924002 item 2; fiche 6051300

Collections of Church Records
The following index church records as well as other birth, death and marriage records. Microfilm copies of the original records are are available at the appropriate town, the Family History Library, and family history centers.


 * Connecticut, Births and Christenings, 1649-1906 is a name index to birth, baptism, and christening records. Description of records.


 * Connecticut, Marriages, 1630-1997 is a name index to marriage records. Description of records.


 * Connecticut Deaths and Burials, 1772-1934 is a name index to death and burial records from the state of Connecticut. This set contains 2,010,979 records. Description of records.

The Family History Library has an extensive microfilm collection of records of the Baptist, Congregational, Episcopal, Methodist, and Methodist Episcopal churches. Published histories are available for denominations, such as Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Latter-day Saint (Mormon), and Universalist. Dunham-Wilcox-Trott-Kirk indexes church, cemetery, probate and other early New England, New York and New Jersey records with links to abstracts of the records.

An example of several published church records is:


 * Bailey, Frederic W. Early Connecticut Marriages as Found on Ancient Church Records Prior to 1800, 7 vols. New Haven, Conn.: Bureau of American Ancestry for Family Research, 1896-1906. . This is missing volume 3. Another edition was published in 1982 with additions and corrections and with all 7 volumes in one.

Repositories
Many denominations have collected their records into central repositories. You can write to the following addresses to learn where their records are located. More than 600 churches have deposited their records with the Connecticut State Library. Most of these records are on microfilm at the Family History Library. Some of these records are indexed in a card index prepared by the Connecticut State Library. This index was microfilmed in 1949: 0002806-74. A useful guide to this collection is List of Church Records in the Connecticut State Library (Hartford: Connecticut State Library, 1976. 974.6 A1 no. 14;  1033856 item 9.

Baptist
American Baptist - Samuel Colgate Historical Library 1106 South Goodman Street Rochester, NY 14620-2532 Phone: (716) 473-1740 Fax: (716) 473-1740

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
Early church records, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for Connecticut wards and branches can be found on film and are located at the Family History Library. The film numbers, for each ward, can be locate through the FamilySearch Catalog. Or by refering to Jaussi, Laureen R., and Gloria D. Chaston. Register of Genealogical Society Call Numbers. 2 vols. Provo, Utah: Genealogy Tree, 1982. (FHL book 979.2258 A3j; fiche 6031507). These volumes contain the film numbers for many (but not all) membership and temple record films.

Congregational
Connecticut Historical Society 1 Elizabeth Street Hartford, CT 06105 Phone: (860) 236-5621 Fax: (860) 236-2664

The Congregational Library 14 Beacon Street Boston, MA 02108-3704 Phone: (617) 523-0470 Fax: (617) 523-0491

Episcopal
Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut 135 Asylum Avenue Hartford, CT 06105-2295 Phone: (860) 233-4481 Fax: (860) 523-1410

Methodist
United Methodist Archives Center Drew University Library P.O. Box 127 Madison, NJ 07940 Phone: (201) 408-3189 Fax: (201) 408-3909

Moravian
The Moravian Archives 41 West Locust Street Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18018 United States of America Phone: (610) 866-3255 Fax: (610) 866-9210

For information concerning missions to the American Indians, visit Moravian Missions Among American Indians. For a map and list of missions, visit Early Moravian Missions in Eastern Pennsylvania and Surrounding Areas 1740-1773.

Mission records are also available in the. The records are indexed in the Book 970.1 F642i.

Roman Catholic
Diocese of Bridgeport 238 Jewett Avenue Bridgeport, CT 06606 Phone: (203) 416-1354

The diocese includes the county of: Fairfield

Diocese of Norwich 201 Broadway P.O. Box 587 Norwich, CT 06360 Phone: (860) 887-9294 Fax: (860) 886-1670

The diocese includes the counties of: Middlesex, New London, Tolland and Windham

Diocese of Hartford 134 Farmington Avenue Hartford, CT 06103 Phone: (860) 541-6491 Fax: (860) 541-6309

The diocese includes the counties of: Hartford, Litchfield and New Haven

Wiki articles describing the following collections are found at:


 * Connecticut Births and Christenings - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * Connecticut Deaths and Burials - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * Connecticut Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records