Fairfield County Facts

Fairfield County was created in May 10, 1666 and was formed as One of four original counties created in Connecticut. The County was named for the hundreds of acres of salt marsh that bordered the coast. The County Seat is Fairfield (1666-1853) and Bridgeport (1853-1960) . See also County History for more historical details.

Counties adjacent to Fairfield County are Litchfield County (north), New Haven County (east), Westchester County, New York (southwest), Putnam County, New York (west), Dutchess County, New York (northwest). Cities, Towns and Communities include Bethel, Bridgeport (consolidated city-town), Brookfield, Danbury (consolidated city-town), Darien, Easton, Fairfield, Greenwich, Monroe, New Canaan, New Fairfield, Newtown, Norwalk (consolidated city-town), Redding, Ridgefield, Shelton (consolidated city-town), Sherman, Stamford (consolidated city-town), Stratford, Trumbull, Weston, Westport and Wilton

• The Fairfield County Community Website
• Fairfield County, Connecticut History Books at Amazon.com
• Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.

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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.

All deeds, vital records, and probate records for all Connecticut towns are available to 1900 on microfilm at the Connecticut State Library or through the FHL. See Towns Page for address and Phone Numbers of Towns. See also Connecticut Towns and Their Establishment

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.

Click Here to Search Connecticut Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Fairfield County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Fairfield County Court Records by clicking the link below:

• Fairfield County, Connecticut Court Books at Amazon.com
• 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.

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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
• Death Certificates: The Vital Records Office maintains death records that occur in Connecticut since July 1897 to the present. Click Here to Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE
  • 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
  

  Birth Certificates

  Death Certificates

  Marriage Certificates

  Divorce Records

Below is a list of online resources for Fairfield County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Fairfield 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.
• Fairfield County, Connecticut Birth, Marriage & Death Books at Amazon.com

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Fairfield County Census Records - LEARN MORE ABOUT U.S. Census Records

Click Here to Search Connecticut Voter Lists & Census Records! - Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable.

  Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Fairfield County, Connecticut are 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your Family Tree in Fairfield County, Connecticut are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. There are free downloadable and printable Census forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms and U.K. Census Extraction Forms.

  See Also Statewide Records that exist for Connecticut

Below is a list of online resources for Fairfield County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Fairfield County Census Records by clicking the link below:

• Fairfield County, Connecticut Census Books at Amazon.com

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   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 Fairfield County Maps. Email us with websites containing Fairfield County Maps by clicking the link below:

• The USGenWeb Archives Digital Map Library
• Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection: Connecticut Maps
• Historical Maps of Connecticut - Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Map of Connecticut Territory
• American Memory Map Collection: 1500-2004 - extensive selection from the Library of Congress Map Collections, focusing on Americana and cartographic treasures.
• Fairfield County, Connecticut Map Books at Amazon.com

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Fairfield County Military Records - LEARN MORE ABOUT Connecticut Military Records

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 Fairfield County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Fairfield County Military Records by clicking the link below:

• Connecticut Society of Daughters of the American Revolution
• National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution,
• Connecticut Society of Sons of the American Revolution,
• National Society of Sons of the American Revolution, 1000 South Fourth Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40203; (502) 589-1776
• The Revolutionary War Prize Cases: Connecticut Records of the Court of Appeal in Cases of Capture, 1776-1787 (The National Archives): NARA M162. Records of prize cases heard on appeal from Colonial and state courts by the Continental Congress and the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture.
• 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.
• Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War 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.
• Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files from the State of Connecticut (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, from NARA publication M804.
• Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900 from the State of Connecticut (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Pension applications for service in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.
• Fairfield County, Connecticut Military Books at Amazon.com

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   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 Fairfield County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Fairfield County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

• Fairfield County, Connecticut Tax Books at Amazon.com

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   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 Fairfield County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Fairfield County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

• Middlesex Genealogical Society, Box 1111, Darien, CT 06820-1111
• Local Connecticut Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
• 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 State Archives, 231 Capitol Ave, Hartford, CT 06106 , Tel: 860-757-6595, Fax: 860-757-6542; Office Hours: 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday - Friday.
• 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 Society of Genealogists, P.O. Box 435, Glastonbury 06033; ph 860-569-0002; FAX 860-569-0339; csg@csginc.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.
• Connecticut Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

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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.

   There are many churches and cemeteries in Fairfield County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Fairfield County Tombstone Transcription Project.

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 Fairfield County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Fairfield 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.
• Fairfield County, Connecticut Cemetery Books at Amazon.com
• Fairfield County, Connecticut Church Books at Amazon.com

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Click Here to Search Connecticut Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

   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 Fairfield County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Fairfield County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

• Search 60 Years Of Everton Data: For the first time ever you can get access to more than 150,000 pedigree files and family group sheets from Evertons. Learn More
• Sites on USGenweb: [ Fairfield County ] [ Connecticut ] [ Main Page ]
• Search the Family Tree DNA Project- Use DNA testing to break through your genealogical barriers!
• The Connecticut Family Group Sheet Project
• [GenForum Message Boards] [Rootsweb Message Boards]
• 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.
• Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
• Fairfield County, Connecticut Family Books at Amazon.com

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Fairfield County, southwestern Connecticut, U.S. It is bounded by Long Island Sound to the south, New York state to the west, and the Housatonic River to the east, and it includes several islands in the sound. Most of the county lies in an upland region forested with hardwoods, with only a narrow coastal plain running along the southern edge. Waterways other than the Housatonic are the Saugatuck, Pequonnock, Mill, and Norwalk rivers as well as Saugatuck, Easton, and Hemlock reservoirs and Lake Candlewood. Parklands include Paugussett and Pootatuck state forest reserves and Collis P. Huntington and American Shakespeare Theater state parks.

The Mahican (Mohican) and Wappinger Indians inhabited the region in the early 17th century. In 1637 colonists from the Thames River valley pursued the Pequot Indians to present-day Southport, defeating them in the Great Swamp Fight. Stratford and Fairfield, both founded in 1639, were among Connecticut's first settlements. The county, formed in May 1666, was the site of several battles during the American Revolution. There is no county seat because county government in Connecticut was abolished in 1960.

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