Godfrey Membership can help with Connecticut vital records!

Did you know that a Godfrey membership can help with accessing Connecticut vital records? 

 Under the Connecticut State Statutes, a member of an approved genealogical society is permitted to take notes on and purchase a certified copy of all vital records.

The statute reads as follows:  
Sec. 7-51a. Copies of vital records. Access to vital records by members of genealogical societies. Marriage and civil union licenses. Death certificates. Issuance of certified copies of electronically filed certificates. (a) Any person eighteen years of age or older may purchase certified copies of marriage and death records, and certified copies of records of births or fetal deaths which are at least one hundred years old, in the custody of any registrar of vital statistics. The department may issue uncertified copies of death certificates for deaths occurring less than one hundred years ago, and uncertified copies of birth, marriage, death and fetal death certificates for births, marriages, deaths and fetal deaths that occurred at least one hundred years ago, to researchers approved by the department pursuant to section 19a-25, and to state and federal agencies approved by the department. During all normal business hours, members of genealogical societies incorporated or authorized by the Secretary of the State to do business or conduct affairs in this state shall (1) have full access to all vital records in the custody of any registrar of vital statistics, including certificates, ledgers, record books, card files, indexes and database printouts, except for those records containing Social Security numbers protected pursuant to 42 USC 405 (c)(2)(C), and confidential files on adoptions, gender change, gestational agreements and paternity, (2) be permitted to make notes from such records, (3) be permitted to purchase certified copies of such records, and (4) be permitted to incorporate statistics derived from such records in the publications of such genealogical societies. For all vital records containing Social Security numbers that are protected from disclosure pursuant to federal law, the Social Security numbers contained on such records shall be redacted from any certified copy of such records issued to a genealogist by a registrar of vital statistics.


What does this mean? 

If you know where your ancestor was born and are planing to visit a Connecticut town hall to review a birth, death, or marriage record, you can request to view your ancestors' records before purchasing copies. Plan to present the Town Clerk or Health Department with a copy of your Godfrey membership card, and your driver's license, if requested. Most clerks will request that you follow office policies about when and where records can be accessed and provide your own notepaper and pencils to take notes.

If you do not know where your ancestor was born, married or died, and the event occured after  1 July 1897, you can contact the Connecticut State Vital Records office at http://www.ct.gov/dph/cwp/view.asp?a=3132&q=388130 to schedule an appointment to visit. Mention that you are a member of an approved genealogical society and plan to bring your card with you, as well as a photo identification.

Another Major Milestone Reached!

We did it!  We now have 1000 digitized books on Godfrey Scholar⁺!

Over the last year we've added:

• 293 Biographies

• 132 volumes of original Funeral Home Records from 1882 to 1980 including records from the Hallahan Funeral Home featured in the movie A Haunting in Connecticut

• 234 Genealogies

• 146 volumes pertaining to the Revolutionary, Civil and Spanish American Wars including regimental histories and biographies of officers and soldiers 

• 86 State and Local Histories for 11 states and New England

• 68 volumes of original Church Records in 9 different Connecticut towns, Indiana, NY and Italy from 1668 to 1908

• 20 published volumes of Vital Records for Connecticut and Massachusetts and 42 volumes of original records including a record book kept by a midwife from Melilli Italy of babies born in Middletown, an account book of deaths in Wallingford from 1827 to 1900, Wolcott CT vital records (1783-1849) found among land records and not included in Barbour's, and multiple volumes of transcriptions from church and vital records by Lillian Kruger Brooks of Haddam Neck and surrounding towns for her own research

• 13 volumes of New Jersey Archives Newspaper Extracts, 1704-1782

• 11 volumes of original Cemetery Records (sexton returns, gravestone inscriptions and burial returns) from 7 different Connecticut towns

Keep following us on Facebook and our blog "Genealogy from the Godfrey" for weekly updates on new Scholar content.  

Last Week on the Scholar

Last week we added all sorts of incredible works to the Scholar.  Among the searchable books added are state and local histories, genealogies, biographies, and vital records from several Connecticut town.  We also added two record books from the Cromwell First Congregational Church and two sets of funeral home records, the first from New Britain's B.C. Porter Furniture Dealer and Undertake and the second from Middletown's Coughlin-Lastrina Funeral Home.  The two funeral home records are high priority on our list of records to index, so these records will hopefully be searchable very soon!

Biographies
The Life of Frank Buckland*
The Life and Public Service of Grover Cleveland*
The Life of Willbur Fisk*

Church Records
Cromwell First Congregational Church, American Register 1827-1938
Cromwell First Congregational Church, Pilgrim Register 1925-1962

Funeral Home Records
Middletown CT's Coughlin-Lastrina Funeral Home Burial Records: 1890-1916
Middletown CT's Doolittle Funeral Home Burial Returns: Volume 68: May 1976 to April 1978
New Britain CT's B.C. Porter Furniture Dealer and Undertaker's Record Books: 1871-1919

Genealogies
Johann Mullich and the Millick Family of Philadelphia*
The Sautter Family and its Close Association with other German Confectioners*

State and Local Histories
The True Story of the Galveston Flood as Told by Survivors*

Vital Records
Vital Records of Bolton to 1854 and Vernon to 1852*
Vital Records of Coventry: 1711 to 1844*
Vital Records of New Haven 1649 to 1850: Part 1*
Vital Records of New Haven 1649 to 1850: Part 2*
Vital Records of Norwich 1659 to 1848: Part 1*
Vital Records of Norwich 1659 to 1848: Part 2*
Vital Records of Woodstock 1686 to 1854*

Not a Scholar?  Visit our website to subscribe or call the library at (860) 346-4375 to join today. 

*Searchable

This Week on the Scholar

We've added quite a variety of new works to the Scholar this week.  Genealogies, Biographies, State and Local Histories, Vital Records, Funeral and Cemetery Records, and even a new Directory: just about a little bit of everything!  Of particular note is a volume of internment records from Middletown Connecticut's Indian Hill Cemetery and 6 Volumes of the New Hampshire Genealogical Register.  Make sure to take a look when you get the chance!

Biographies
Memoir of Joseph Buckminster*
Memoir of William Burke*
James Fenimore Cooper: American Men of Letters*
John Fiske*
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin*
Memorial Addresses of William Pierce Frye*
Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of R.C. Graffenreid*

Cemetery Records
Middletown, CT: Indian Hill Register of Internments

Church Records
Portland, CT: Minnesskrift utgifurn af Su. Luth. Zionsforsamlingen
 
Directories 
The Boston Directory: The City Record*

Funeral Home Records
Doolittle Funeral Home Burial Returns: Volume 66: July 1972 to June 1974

Genealogies
The Fields of Sowerby*
Genealogy and Descendants of Luke Fish*
Follet-Dewey, Fassett-Safford, Hopkins-Robinson-Fay Genealogy and History*
The New Hampshire Genealogical Record Volumes 1-6*
Chester Smith and Family*

State and Local Histories
Annals of Kansas*
Kansas City 1888-89*
Kansas the Interior and Exterior Life*
Kansas: The Prelude to the War for the Union*
The Massachusetts Magazine Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10*

Vital Records
A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston: Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths 1630-1699*
A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston: Births 1700-1800*
A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston: Direct Tax of 1798*
Registry Department of the City of Boston Records Relating to Births, Marriages, and Deaths of Dorchester 1826-49*


Not a Scholar?  Visit our website to subscribe or call the library at (860) 346-4375 to join today.

*Searchable

This Week in the Scholar

At long last every book on the Godfrey Scholar, with the exception of a few miscellaneous volumes, is available in our Page Viewer and completely searchable!  No more loading immense pdfs and no more painstakingly searching through every book on the off chance it mentions the person you are looking for!

As an aside note we recently discovered and fixed a bug preventing users of Internet Explorer 10 and previous version from utilizing the Page Viewer fully.  We apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused. 

We've also added more volumes of Doolittle Funeral Home Burial Returns and begun work on adding scans and a complete index of eleven volumes of burial records from the Dunn Funeral Home in Connecticut!  Check back next week to see the full set!

Funeral Home Records

Doolittle Burial Records Volume 56, November 1952 to 1954

Doolittle Burial Records Volume 58, May 1955 to January 1958

Genealogies

The Southmayd Record*

Revolutionary War

Pennsylvania Archives Series 2, Volume 13*

Civil War

Michigan in the War*

State and Local Histories

This Collective History of Worcester County Vol. 2*

Campbell's Missouri Gazetteer*

The History of Pike County Missouri*

A Collective History of Albany, New York Vol. 1*

A Collective History of Albany, New York Vol. 4*

An Introduction to the Ontario Land Purchase*

Vital Records

Extracts from Colchester Connecticut Records*

Vital Records of Kingston Massachusets to the year 1850*

Vital Records of Norton Massachusetts to the year 1850*

Vital Records of Taunton Massachusets to the year 1850*

Vital Records of Weston Massachusetts*

Vital Records of Wrentham Massachusets*

 Not a Scholar?  Visit our website to subscribe today or call the library at (860) 346-4375. 

*Searchable

This Week in the Scholar

These past six months Godfrey staff and volunteers have been busy bringing all sorts of new content to the Godfrey Scholar.  Updates have gotten so frequent that we've decided the best way to let people know is through weekly posts on Genealogy from the Godfrey and the Godfrey Facebook page!

Welcome to the first installment of "This Week in the Scholar"!  This week will cover notable content added to the Scholar from the past six months.

Cemeteries
The Ed Laput Cemetery Project has reached their goal of completing 900 cemeteries!*
 
Church Records
Records from the First Congregational Church of Cromwell, CT (1715-1875)*
Records from the Second Congregational Church of Groton, CT (1727-1839)
Records from the Church of the Holy Trinity in Middletown, CT, Six Volumes (1750-1868)*
Records from the First Congregational Church of North Stonington (1727-1832)*
Records from the Presbyterian Church of East Palmira, NY (1817-1897)

Funeral Home Records
Burial Returns from the Doolittle Funeral Home in Middletown, CT, Fifty-two Volumes, (1882-1950)*
Burial Records from the Hallahan Funeral Home in Southington, CT*

Foreign
A Significant Emigration From the Balingen Area of Der Aollernalbkreis, Germany to Franklin County, MA, Eleven Volumes*

Genealogies
The Atwater History and Genealogy*
The Boardman Genealogy (1525-1895)*
The Barlow Family Records*
The Ouellette Genealogy and Photo Album*
A Sutherland-Stephenson Family History*
A Genealogical and Family History of the State of CT*
And many more!

Military
Many of books regarding the Revolutionary War, including records and histories of regiments from:
Connecticut*
Maine*
New York*
Rhode Island*
and Vermont*

Newspapers
Newspaper abstracts from the New Jersey Archives, Thirteen Volumes (1704-1782)*

Vital Records 
Abstracts from Haddam Neck, CT area vital records
Freedom by Deed, Manumission, Freedom and emancipation Abstracts from VA (1752-1862)*
Death Records from Wallingford, CT (1827-1900)*
Vital Records from Wolcott, CT (1783-1849)*

*Searchable record

Not a Scholar?  Visit our website to subscribe today or call the library at (860) 346-4375.

Upcoming Event: Quebec Birth, Death, and Marriage Records

Wondering how to locate your Quebec ancestor's birth, death, or marriage record?

French Manuscript

Quebec used church records as substitutes for birth, death, and marriage records until the 20th century. Many have been digitized and are now online.

Library sign on Newfield Street

Join us for Internet Genealogy Group on May 16 from 6-8 pm at the Library. Discover how to locate these records on Ancestry's Library Edition, and learn how to understand their content – even if you don't speak French.

Please preregister by calling 860-346-4375. Free for Premium Members; otherwise $15.