Strafford County, New Hampshire Genealogy

United States &gt; New Hampshire &gt; Strafford County

County Courthouse
250 County Farm Road Dover, NH 03820

History

 * Strafford County, New Hampshire was named for William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford in the mistaken belief that he was the ancestor of governor John Wentworth. Although they were distantly related, William had no descendants.

Parent County

 * Strafford County was established on 10 March 1771 from the Colonial lands.

Boundary Changes

 * Belknap County was established from lands taken off from Strafford County on 22 December 1840.

Record Loss
One record source that would be helpful, but was destroyed, is the 1890 census. There was a fire in Washington, D. C. in 1921 which badly damaged the records. None of the New Hampshire population records remain. The 1890 census Civil War veterans' lists were kept in a different building and were saved. They are available on microfilms from the Family History Library, and at www.ancestry.com. You can search for veterans' or widows' names.

Populated Places
Cities:

Towns:

Villages:


 * Bow Lake
 * Burton
 * Center Strafford
 * East Rochester
 * Gonic
 * Milton Mills
 * North Rochester
 * Salmon Falls

Neighboring Counties
Belknap | Carroll | Merrimack | Rockingham | York County, Maine

Civil War

 * History of Strafford County, New Hampshire and its Representative Citizens, by John Scales - History of Dover - The Civil War - Lists of Regiments and Soldiers, see Chapter 17, page 194.


 * Civil War service men from Strafford 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 Strafford County.


 * - 1st Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies A, B, C, and K.
 * - 2nd Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies D and H.
 * - 3rd Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies D, I, and K.
 * - 4th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies A, B, F, and G.
 * - 5th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies A and D.
 * - 6th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies D and H.
 * - 8th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Companies G and I.
 * - 11th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry, Company K.

Newspapers
Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has Portsmouth,NH newspapers from the early 1900's covering local news that included residents from Stafford County communities.

Vital Records
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.

Births

 * are available online from FamilySearch.

Marriages

 * are available online from FamilySearch.

Deaths

 * are available online from FamilySearch.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Web Sites

 * Strafford County, New Hampshire Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Family History Library catalog for Sullivan County