Directories
Connecticut Historical Societies Directory
Maintained by the Connecticut State Library.
Free Genealogical Databases
- Click on “Magazine Articles”
- Click on “iConn”
- Enter your Library Card Number and hit “begin”
- Click on “Genealogy (HeritageQuest)
The options include:
Search Census
Actual images of all United States Census records from 1790 through 1920 with the exception of 1830, 1840 and 1850. There is also a partial list of images from the 1930 census.
Search Books
Over 22,000 digitized Books and Local Histories may be searched for people and places. Many of these are published genealogies of New England families.
Search Persi
Search an index of over 2 million articles on genealogy and local history.
Search Revolutionary War
Selected images of Revolutionary War Pension File and Bounty Land Warrant application files.
Search Freedman’s Bank
Search names of individuals in the Freedman’s Bank (1865-1874) that was founded to serve African Americans.
Search U.S. Serial Set
Search Memorials, Petitions and Private Relief actions filed in the U.S. Congress
Cyndi’s List
Cyndi’s List has more than 200,000 links to genealogical research sites in a cross-referenced index. New links are added on a daily basis.
Family Search
Family Search is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints’ web site. There are five types of searches: Ancestor Search, Research Guidance, Research Helps, Web Sites, and Family History Library Catalog.
Ancestor Search includes all of the following databases:
- Ancestor File — 35 million names organized into families and pedigrees;
- International Genealogical Index (IGI) — 600 million names extracted from vital records around the world;
- Census Records — Approximately 50 million individuals from the 1880 United States Census, 25 million from the British Isles and 4.3 million from the 1881 Canadian Census;
- Pedigree Resource File — A new database of records that have been submitted by individuals through FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service;
- U.S. Social Security Death Index — Approximately 64 million records;
- Vital Records Index — Over 5 million birth, christening, and marriage records from selected localities;
- Websites and email lists are other databases included in the Ancestor Search.
Family History Library Catalog — Includes more than 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records; 742,000 microfiche; 310,000 books, serials, and other formats; 4,500 periodicals; 700 electronic resources. Microfilms/microfiches may be ordered at any local Family History Center for a nominal fee. When the records comes in, notification is sent to allow the researcher to review the record at the Family History Center.
Rootsweb
Rootsweb contains a host of resources including surname and locality message boards, World Connect user submitted family trees, the US Genweb and World Genweb Projects
Find A Grave
This all-volunteer project contains more than 20 million graves that can be searched by surname. Cemetery names can also be searched. Information is from headstone transcriptions, but may also include photos of the cemetery, headstone or even the individual.
Fee-Based Genealogical Databases
New England Historic Genealogical Society
Databases
- Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 — Vital records for many Massachusetts towns were published in the early 1900’s and are contained in this searchable database.
- Massachusetts Vital Records 1841-1910 — The State of Massachusetts required all towns to submit copies of vital records on an annual basis beginning in 1841. Most states did not begin requiring this until decades later; Connecticut, for example, instituted this in 1897. This online database often provides information on parents of individuals in marriage and death records.
- The Register 1847-2004 — The New England Historical and Genealogical Register is the oldest journal of American Genealogy. Thousands of articles on New England families are found here in addition to vital records, church records, land and probate records, cemetery inscriptions, etc.
- The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633 — Information on immigrants to New England through 1633.
- There are many databases of Connecticut vital records (including Mansfield), church records, land and probate records, cemetery inscriptions, etc.
Cost: The annual fee for an online research membership is $75.
Godfrey Memorial Library
The Godfrey Memorial Library in Middletown provides online access to World Wide records with many specific to Connecticut. Vital records, church records, land and probate records, cemetery inscriptions, military records, city directories, early American newspapers, digitalized books, and unique databases not found elsewhere.
Cost: The annual fee for an online research membership ranges from $35 – $110 depending on the subscription package.
Ancestry.com
Ancestry contains databases of: Birth, Marriage, Death Records, One World Tree (user-submitted family trees), U.S. Military Records Collection, the complete U.S. Census collection, U.S. Immigration Collection, Newspapers & Periodicals, Court, Land, Wills, Financial Collection, City Directories, U.K. Census Collection, and many more databases.
Cost: The annual fee for an online research membership ranges from $155 for the U.S. Deluxe Member Collection to $299 for the World Deluxe Member Collection. Monthly memberships are also available.
World Vital Records
Vital records, church records, land and probate records, cemetery inscriptions, military records, city directories, early American newspapers, digitalized books, English Parish records.
Cost: The annual fee for an online research membership is $49.95 for 1 year, or $79.95 for 2 years. The databases are also included in some of the Godfrey Memorial Library Subscription packages.
Historical Resources
Connecticut History Online
Database of 19th- and 20th-century photographs, drawings and prints from three institutions depicting social, business, political, educational, cultural and civic life with curriculum materials for grades 7-12.
Other Organizations
Joshua’s Tract Conservation and Historic Trust, Inc.
Born out of the Mansfield Historical Society in 1966, the mission of Joshua’s Trust is to supplement the open space efforts of federal, state, and local governments by receiving gifts of land, conservation easements, and money. It may also purchase tracts of land that it considers especially important to preserve.
Joshua’s Trust now owns, or protects by easement, more than 3,000 acres of land preserved for the benefit of future generations, making it the fourth largest land trust in Connecticut.