Connecticut Research

Comment

Comment by Nora Galvin on October 7, 2014 at 11:19am

Hi Sherri, I happened to be at the State Library and checked the marriage index. There is no marriage between Robert Welch/Welsh/Walsh and Edith Wells in the database. I found two marriages for a bride named Edith Wells, one to Frederick Dunning in Fairfield in 1900 and the other to James Gilmore in 1909 in Stamford. No bride Edith with those surnames married Robert Welch.  Nora

PS. Stamford Genealogical Society is now Connecticut Ancestry Society. We'd be happy for you to join.

Comment by Sherri S on October 7, 2014 at 1:03am

Hi Nora, Thank you for your helpful suggestions. I was able to obtain Edith's death certificate through a bit luck and a helpful woman at the funeral parlor. Unfortunately it gave me no additional information, other than her exact birth date and cause of death. I had only the month and year. On my next trip to CT. I wanted to return to the Bridgeport Library Research room and look at their collection of City Directories. Also I thought I would join the Stamford Genealogical Society, so I would be able to research more effectively. If Edith married in Bridgeport. that would be easy. I want to get my grandfathers birth certificate. I recently obtained his death certificate in Annapolis at their  Archives for a quarter, with a personal visit there. His father's place of birth is unknown, as is his place of death. It would be great if CT. Vital Death records where to go online like the PA. certificates have been on Ancestry. Any other suggestions you may have would be most welcome. Thanks again !

Comment by Nora Galvin on April 25, 2014 at 11:37am

Sherri, If you are willing to pay $10-15 for gas, you may as well buy the certificate for $20 instead. I looked Edith up in the CT death index on Ancestry.com. Her residence was Bridgeport when she died, but she died in Newtown, a town about 20 miles north. Here is the info from the index:

Name: Edith Welch   

Death Date:     24 Mar 1962

Death Place:    Newtown, Fairfield, Connecticut

Age:    76 Years

Birth Date:      abt 1886

Marital Status:             Widowed

Spouse:            Robe

State File #:     05619

Residence :      Bridgeport, Fairfield, Connecticut

Gender:           Female

Race:   White

You can send a check for $20 to the town clerk in Newtown and ask for the record. You should call before you do that just to see if they also want a photocopy of your driver's license. It is a fairly small town and there are no hospitals there, so they should be able to fill your request pretty quickly.

The death record will have the name of Edith's parents and her birth place (if that information was known by the informant). However, since the informant was probably the same person who provided information for the obituary, maybe you should move to plan B. On the other hand, the informant may have known the names of her parents but just had the town of birth wrong. In that case, you could find them on the census in a different town.

Plan B is to get her marriage record. She would have been the person to provide information on that record. Since the event took place in the 20th century, we can expect the form was filled in completely.

You can try writing to Bridgeport for that (also $20), but they are a far busier office and it will take longer. For a volunteer to get a record for this time period, they would have to go to Bridgeport's VR office or to the Vital Statistics office in Hartford. It is too late to be on microfilm at the State Library.

Good luck. Let us know how you do.

Nora

Comment by Sherri S on April 22, 2014 at 12:02pm

Greetings, I am looking for assistance in finding out the parents of my great grandmother, Edith M. Wells whom married Robert Welch possibly in Bridgeport, CT circa 1906. He died a few years later and she was long time widow with two sons.

Edith was born April 30, 1885 and died in March 1962, in Bridgeport. She is buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery in Bridgeport, which looks to be a lovely resting place. Her obituary lists her as being born in Washington CT. They have checked their records and did not come with a match. The 1890 census would have been helpful in tracking her if it was available. If anyone is doing a records search in Bridgeport or Hartford, in the near future I would happy to chip in 10-15 towards gas, if they can look her up. Otherwise I may wait to my next trip to CT. to do so. Any other thoughts would be welcome. I will be writing the funeral home to see what their records reveal.

Comment by Barbara Kim Thigpen on February 23, 2014 at 3:52am

I just charted new Connecticut additions to immigrants... A Founder of Hartford, William Hyde & wife, Ellen Stubbs, & Jane Lee...  Also; Matthew Griswold & Anna Wolcot; Elizabeth Saunders & Henry Wolcot Sr.

Comment by Lorraine Dormer on November 30, 2011 at 9:16am

I haver been given this information by FamilySearch.org but have been unable to verify it.  Due to distance and reduced mobility I am unable to go to a FamilySearch centre to view the records.  Can anyone of you good people suggest the possibility that this information is correct, please?  Connecticut....Australia....Ireland in 1800s.  The only bit I know to be correct is that my G-grandparents were living in Ireland in 1869 where they remained.  Mary Anne Holliday was born to Joseph Holliday and Jane Wedgewood in October 1846 and was Christened 23 October 1846 in Hanover, CT.  Mary A Holliday was married to Thomas Day in 1866.  They left from New South Wales, Australia for Ireland where Thomas Day had been born, prior to the birth of their fitst child.  Mary A Holliday, her mother and brothers and sisters were being shipped over to join their father who had been sent to live in the Australian Penal Colony.  I have been unable to tie any of this information together.  Perhaps I'm not searching in the right places.  Best wishes from Ireland.



Comment by Nora Galvin on November 30, 2011 at 6:59am

Any birth record that is over 100 years old is available to the public, meaning that you do not need any special clearance to obtain a copy. If the birth occurred less than 100 years ago, access to the record is restricted. This Web site lists the people who are allowed access to the restricted records:

http://www.ct.gov/dph/cwp/view.asp?a=3132&q=390652

These laws apply to state copies of vital records as well as to the original records located in town/city halls. If you qualify under #3, you may need to show some proof of relationship. Call the office first before sending in the request. You would send in a check for $20 for each certified copy (B, M or D) that you want ($30 for a birth certificate from the state office). You would need to include a photocopy of your driver's license and a specific list of the records that you want (name, name of parents if known, date or narrow date range, town/city where event occurred). It is best if you do not send a long list with a single check because that clogs up the system in the records offices. I would limit lists to 3 names and send several separate lists and checks. If you are requesting records this way, you can only get a certified copy. There are no "genealogy copies" available in Connecticut.

Note the last category--members of genealogy societies incorporated in Connecticut. If you have a large number of records to request, it may be more cost-efficient to hire a professional genealogist. The professional can go to the town clerk's office and will have full access to all the birth records. The professional would be able to transcribe your records rather than having certified copies made. A list of professional genealogists in Connecticut can be found at ctprofgen.org, the Web site for the Connecticut Professional Genealogists Council. Alternatively, you can join a  Connecticut genealogy society (list available via the link above) and come to do your own research. We'd love to see you.

 

Divorces take place in Superior Court in Connecticut. Records are open to the public. You can contact the clerk of court located in the county where the divorce took place and find out if a record exists. They will tell you where the record is (either still in the court or in the state archives). If at the court, they will tell you how to get a copy. If at the state archives, the court will tell you a location number and you will need to call the state library to find out how to get the record. (Court will be able to tell you the phone number and procedure.) You may need to hire a professional to obtain the record and transcribe or photograph it. I don't think the library staff will do all of that for you, but you can ask.

 

Nora

Comment by blue.gene.girl on November 30, 2011 at 12:24am

How do I go about getting  a birth certificate for people born in Hartford CT in the early 1900's?  My ancestors surnames in CT are Christ and Collins.  Most lived in Hartford or New Britain.  Also divorce records between 1910 and 1920.

Comment by Linda Gardner (linda01720) on May 17, 2011 at 1:07pm

I just spoke with a kind library gentleman who said that it was in the hands of the state employees organization.  The petition is to the Governor, State Senate and State House.   not sure how the petition would influence the labor organization, but never hurts to let the politicians know that we care.

Comment by Nora Galvin on May 17, 2011 at 7:37am

Thanks, Norman. Closing the state library would be a huge loss for all family historians. I suspect the library will be safe if the state employees approve the agreement their leaders made with the governor. Nevertheless, signing the petition is important. Nora

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