Hartford County was created on May 10, 1666 and was formed as One of four original counties created in Connecticut. The County was named After Hertfordshire, England. The County Seat is Hartford . See also County History for more historical details.
Counties adjacent to Hartford County are Hampden County, Massachusetts (north), Tolland County (east), New London County (southeast), Middlesex County (south), New Haven County (southwest), Litchfield County (west), New London County (southeast).Cities, Towns and Communities include Avon, Berlin, Bloomfield, Bristol (consolidated city-town), Burlington, Canton, East Granby, East Hartford, East Windsor, Enfield, Farmington, Glastonbury, Granby, Hartford (consolidated city-town), Hartland, Manchester, Marlborough, New Britain (consolidated city-town), Newington, Plainville, Rocky Hill, Simsbury, South Windsor, Southington, Suffield, West Hartford, Wethersfield, Windsor and Windsor Locks
PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.
NOTE: Counties were abolished officially in 1959 though their purpose had been chiefly to define county court districts. For genealogical research purposes, counties become necessary when using the federal census returns, since they are all cataloged by county.
Those matters not in the realm of the superior court were heard by the county courts (initially called prerogative or common pleas). The county court, begun in 1666, was abolished in 1955, and its functions were divided between justice courts and superior courts. Most of the county records, to its abolition date, are at the Conneticut State Library.
Below is a list of online resources for Hartford County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Hartford County Court Records by clicking the link below:
Connecticut Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.
Click Here to Search Connecticut Birth, Marriage & Death Records! - Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection.
The Vital Records Office at the Connecticut Department of Public Health maintains a statewide registry of all births, marriages, civil unions, deaths and fetal deaths which have occurred in CT since July 1, 1897. For vital records prior to that date, you must contact the town where the vital event occurred (see the Connecticut Town Clerk and Registrar Directory). You may also contact the CSL History and Genealogy Unit or by telephone at (860) 757-6580. The State Library's Barbour Collection includes most CT vital records to about 1850.
Birth Certificates: The Vital Records Office maintains birth records that occur in Connecticut since July 1897 to the present. Connecticut birth records that are less than 100 years old are not open to the general public. To be eligible to receive a copy of a birth certificate, you must be able to document that you are related to the registrant.
Cost: $15.00,
Make your bank check or money order payable to "Treasurer, State of Connecticut". Enclose a business-size self-addressed envelope. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep check amount for a searching fee. Please do not send Personal Checks or cash in the mail. Mail to: STATE OF CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH, VITAL RECORDS SECTION, CUSTOMER SERVICES, 410 CAPITOL AVE, MS# 11VRS, P.O. BOX 340308, HARTFORD, CT 06134-0308
Processing Time: Pprocessing time could be up to 6 months. when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Cost: $10.00,
Make your bank check or money order payable to "Treasurer, State of Connecticut". Enclose a business-size self-addressed envelope. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep check amount for a searching fee. Please do not send Personal Checks or cash in the mail. Mail to: STATE OF CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH, VITAL RECORDS SECTION, CUSTOMER SERVICES, 410 CAPITOL AVE, MS# 11VRS, P.O. BOX 340308, HARTFORD, CT 06134-0308
Processing Time: Pprocessing time could be up to 6 months. when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Marriage Certificates: The Vital Records Office maintains marriage records that occur in Connecticut since July 1897 to the present.
Cost: $10.00,
Make your bank check or money order payable to "Treasurer, State of Connecticut". Enclose a business-size self-addressed envelope. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep check amount for a searching fee. Please do not send Personal Checks or cash in the mail. Mail to: STATE OF CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH, VITAL RECORDS SECTION, CUSTOMER SERVICES, 410 CAPITOL AVE, MS# 11VRS, P.O. BOX 340308, HARTFORD, CT 06134-0308
Processing Time: Pprocessing time could be up to 6 months. when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Order Online: You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering below
Below is a list of online resources for Hartford County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Hartford County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE - Search over 82 million death records and get genealogical information crucial to your family research. New content added weekly! Most comprehensive SSDI site online!
Research Death records In The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of historical Connecticut newspaper articles about deaths. Search for local articles about an old family friend that died many years ago or a celebrity that committed suicide. Historical newspapers contain a wealth of information about the deceased.
Below is a list of online resources for Hartford County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Hartford County Census Records by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Ohio and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Connecticut showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Connecticut showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at County Maps
Below is a list of online resources for Hartford County Maps. Email us with websites containing Hartford County Maps by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Connecticut Military Records! - Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design.
Below is a list of online resources for Hartford County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Hartford County Military Records by clicking the link below:
Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 from the State of Connecticut (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
Hartford County Tax Records - LEARN MORE ABOUT Tax Records
Taxes were levied for personal property and land through most of Connecticut's history. The town assessor (or lister) made annual lists or rates of all taxables. This generated a considerable number of tax lists across time, but the Connecticut State Library has a list of various tax records still at the town clerk's offices. The Connecticut Historical Society and the genealogical collections throughout the state have some records.
A highly valuable tax record for Connecticut is the U.S. Direct Tax for 1798. The records are extant for nearly half of the towns with some also having rate lists for 1813, 1814, 1815, and 1816. The original booklets indicate rate based on land, dwellings, and personal property, the latter of which is usually itemized. Later years indicate out-of-state owners. The records have not been microfilmed as a group, but the originals can be researched at the Connecticut Historical Society.
Below is a list of online resources for Hartford County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Hartford County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
The Repositories
in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical
and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical
Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly,
quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies
should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are
usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived
materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be
more generalized and over look the smaller details that local
societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to
look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy
section and may have some resources that are not located at
archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums
in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years
gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All
these places are vitally important to the family genealogist
and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Hartford County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Hartford County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Hartford Genealogical Society, Hartford Public Library, 500 North Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103
National Archives - Northeast Region, Boston, Frederick C. Murphy Federal Center, 380 Trapelo Road, Waltham, Massachusetts, 02452-6399; Phone: (781) 663-0130, Fax: (781) 663-0154, E-mail: waltham.archives@nara.gov (Maintains retired records from Federal agencies and courts in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.)
Connecticut State Library, History and Genealogy Unit, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford 06106; (203) 566-3690 or 3692
Connecticut Historical Society, One Elizabeth Street at Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105; Tel: (860) 236-5621 Fax: (860) 236-2664; Email: ask_us@chs.org
Connecticut Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Click Here to Search Connecticut Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.
Early Connecticut settlers established the Congregational church
as the tax-supported state church until 1818 when the state constitution
was accepted abolishing the connection between church and state.
Sometimes, if one parish was getting too large, a second was formed
that became a precursor to a new town with the permission of the
general assembly. Other denominations followed eventually, particularly
the Baptists and Episcopalians from Rhode Island on the eastern
border with Connecticut. Information in Connecticut's church records
has often been found to be more informative, complete, or accurate
than the town vital records.
Centralization is the norm for Connecticut's cemetery records. The Connecticut State Library holds the Hale Collection containing over one million gravestone inscriptions. The project to collect these began in 1916 by Charles R. Hale but was continued by act of the General Assembly and the WPA through the 1930s. While clearly many stones had been lost or destroyed by that time, over 2,000 cemeteries were located state-wide and included in the collection. Each town's inscriptions are bound in separate volumes, but an alphabetical index across towns is available. Both have been microfilmed and are available through the FHL.
Below is a list of online resources for Hartford County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Hartford County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of Connecticut obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a Connecticut newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers from Indiana.
When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Hartford County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Hartford County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
Connecticut Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
Hartford County, north-central Connecticut, U.S. It is bordered to the north by Massachusetts and traversed (north-south) by the Connecticut River. Other waterways are the Farmington, Pequabuck, and Quinnipiac rivers and the Barkhamsted and Nepaug reservoirs. The terrain mostly consists of an Appalachian oak forest region featuring broad lowlands broken by traprock ridges. Parklands include Tunxis and Massacoe state forest reserves and Penwood and Talcott Mountain state parks.
In the 1630s English pioneers arrived in the Connecticut River valley, settling beside such Indian tribes as the Podunk, Wangunk, and Saukiog. Established in May 1666 and named for Hertford, Eng., the county government was abolished on Oct. 1, 1960. The city of Hartford, the state capital, contains Trinity College (founded 1823), Wadsworth Atheneum (opened 1844), and the houses of writers Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe. West Hartford, the birthplace of lexicographer Noah Webster, is the seat of the American School for the Deaf (founded 1817), St. Joseph College (1932), and the University of Hartford (founded 1877). New Britain, the seat of Central Connecticut State University (founded 1849), is known as the Hardware City because its primary products are consumer hardware and industrial tools. From 1790 Bristol was known as an important producer of clocks. The world's first ax factory was founded in Collinsville in 1826.
