Connecticut Church Records

United States   Connecticut    Church Records

History
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).

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 (Family History Library films0002806-74). A useful guide to this collection is List of Church Records in the Connecticut State Library (Hartford: Connecticut State Library, 1976; Family History Library book 974.6 A1 no. 14; film 1033856 item 9).

To learn about church records existing in 1942, see Guide to Vital Statistics in the Church Records of Connecticut (New Haven, Connecticut: Connecticut Historical Records Survey, 1942;Family History Librarybook 974.6 K23g; film 924002 item 2; fiche 6051300).

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.

Many denominations have collected their records into central repositories. You can write to the following addresses to learn where their records are located.

Baptist
American Baptist - Samuel Colgate Historical Library 1106 South Goodman Street Rochester, NY 14620-2532 Telephone: 716-473-1740 Fax: 716-473-1740 Internet: http://www.crcds.edu/orgMain.asp?orgid=165&amp;storyTypeID=&amp;storyID=&amp;sid

Congregational
Connecticut Historical Society 1 Elizabeth Street Hartford, CT 06105 Telephone: 860-236-5621 Fax: 860-236-2664 Internet: http://www.chs.org/

The Congregational Library 14 Beacon Street Boston, MA 02108-3704 Telephone: 617-523-0470 Fax: 617-523-0491 Internet: http://congregational-library.typepad.com/

Episcopal
Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut 135 Asylum Avenue Hartford, CT 06105-2295 Telephone: 860-233-4481 Fax: 860-523-1410 Internet: http://www.ctdiocese.org/index.cfm

Methodist
United Methodist Archives Center Drew University Library P.O. Box 127 Madison, NJ 07940 Telephone: 201-408-3189 Fax: 201-408-3909 Internet: http://www.bu.edu/sth/archives/cahhome.html

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 Telephone: 860-887-9294 Fax: 860-886-1670 Internet: http://www.norwichdiocese.org/

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

Diocese of Hartford 134 Farmington Avenue Hartford, CT 06103 Telephone: 860-541-6491 Fax: 860-541-6309 Internet: http://www.archdioceseofhartford.org/

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

An example of several published church records is Frederic W. Bailey, Early Connecticut Marriages as Found on Ancient Church Records Prior to 1800, Seven Volumes. (New Haven, Connecticut: Bureau of American Ancestry for Family Research, 1896-1906;Family History Library book 974.6 K2bf; film 924061 item 3.)