The contents of the following
collections were submitted by genealogists working on Connecticut
families. Information contained within the collections should always be
used as hints and not as final answers.
- Ancestry Service
Pedigrees at the Connecticut Society of Genealogists
- Family
Files and Pedigrees at the Ferguson Library
- The Julia Brush
Collection at the Cyrenius Booth Library
- Family Files at the
Connecticut State Library
- Family History Manuscripts at the
Connecticut Historical Society
Ancestry Service
Pedigrees at the Connecticut Society of Genealogists
The
Ancestry Service is a collection of the pedigree charts of members of
the Connecticut Society of Genealogists. These are kept in three-ring
binders at the Society's library in East Hartford, and bound into a
continuous set of volumes ordered by the membership number of the
submitter. Three indexes cover the pedigrees, each focusing on a
particular run of membership numbers. Each name in a pedigree chart is
indexed to a membership number and the page within that member's
pedigree chart. The index to the first series has been published.
Currently, the Society's journal, The Connecticut Nutmegger, is
publishing sections of the index to the first series in each issue.
The library of the Connecticut Society of Genealogists is open
Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It is open both to members
and non-members alike.
Connecticut Society of Genealogists Library
175
Maple Street
East Hartford, CT
860-569-0002
Family
Files at the Ferguson Library
The Ferguson Library in
Stamford, Connecticut, is the "home" library of the Connecticut Ancestry
Society. There are six file cabinet drawers of family files as well as a
local history collection. The Connecticut Ancestry Society also houses a
pedigree collection at the Ferguson, the contents of which were
contributed by their members.
The Ferguson Library
One
Library Place
Stamford, Connecticut.
(203) 964-1000
The
Julia Brush Collection at the Cyrenius Booth Library
The
public library in Newtown, Connecticut, is the repository of the Julia
Emeline Clark Brush collection of genealogical materials. Items of
interest include transcripts of probate, land, vital, cemetery, and town
records for many surrounding towns in western Connecticut and eastern
New York. There are also family files and local history scrapbooks. This
collection is housed in the basement of the library.
Cyrenius
Booth Library
25 Main Street
Newtown, Connecticut.
203-426-2533
Family Files at the Connecticut State Library
The
family files at the Connecticut State Library are located near the
reference desk in the History and Genealogy Reading Room. There are four
dark file cabinets containing two series of folders, one for surnames
and one for locations. The surname folders contain information submitted
by patrons. Researchers know that they can find corrections to printed
genealogies, short typescript treatments of families, and transcriptions
or photocopies of Bible and family records within them.
On a
recent trip to Hartford, I examined the contents of two of these folders
to get a better idea of the sorts of materials they contained. The
first folder was for the Hodge family, which contained three documents:
two notes of correction to the Orlando J. Hodge genealogy of the family
(one sent by me and approved by the librarian before insertion into the
folder), and a transcription of Thomas Hodge's Bible.
The Warner
family file was rich with Bible and family record transcriptions.
Members of the Warner family that are referenced in the file include
David H., Capt. Eleazer, Joseph, Chauncey, Francis, Benjamin, William,
Gilbert, Seth, and Ichabod. Also included is a transcript of the
obituary of Charles S. Warner.
The Connecticut State Library is
open, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.;
Wednesday until 7:00 p.m.; and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It
is located on Capitol Avenue in Hartford, right across the street from
the state capitol building. The History and Genealogy Reading Room is
located in the basement.
The Connecticut State Library also
maintains an award-winning
web site with ample descriptions of all elements of their
collections. The website includes a page devoted to the History and
Genealogy Reading Room , that contains much valuable information
about their collections
Family Files at the Connecticut
Historical Society
Surely the most extensive collection of
unpublished Connecticut family manuscripts is to be found at the
Connecticut Historical Society. Well-respected genealogists living in
Connecticut and working on local families have been donating their
research materials, correspondence, and written treatments of families
to the Society's manuscript collection for more than half a century.
In most cases, the submitted materials are divided by family name
before being placed in the manuscript collection. Research reports for
each surname in the collection are likely to come from many sources.
Authors represented in the genealogical manuscript collection are as
diverse as Donald Lines Jacobus on Fairfield and New Haven Colony
families; Henry A. Stiles on Windsor and Wethersfield families; Lucius
Barnes Barbour on Hartford families; and genealogists Julius Gay, Homer
Brainard, D.W. Patterson, and Edna Miner Rogers, to touch just the tip
of the iceberg. The library has an excellent card catalog for their
manuscript collection.
Besides the genealogical reports and
family treatments, the Society houses additional source materials that
can be a boon to genealogists. These include account books, periodicals,
maps, and the Colonial Dames transcriptions of church records.
The
research library at the Connecticut Historical Society is open Tuesday
to Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Use of the library is free to
members. Non-members must pay six dollars for a one-day library pass
(three dollars for children and seniors). The manuscript collection is
available to both non-members and members. Visit the CHS websitefor more
information.
In a new twist of high-tech expertise, the
Connecticut Historical Society is also collecting material for use by
family historians a century down the line. Called the Connecticut
Visions Family Photo Project, this digitized database of family photos
contains snapshots of Connecticut families that have been submitted to
the historical society. There is Mary Louise Soper as a child in 1913,
four generations of women from the Donahoe family, Amanda Lopez with her
grandfather and grandmother, and many other treats. You can still
submit your family photo to the historical society together with text
describing the people and what they mean to you. At this writing, the
Connecticut Visions home
page was temporarily offline, but additional info can be found at
the CHS
Digital Showcase page.