Genealogy Indexes

The Connecticut State Library has several indexes of information about Connecticut residents that record events such as births, marriages, and deaths. To learn more about the indexes please see the links on the panel to the left. To request a search of the indexes download the form below and send it in.

Please note that this is a basic search service. Much of the information in the indexes can also be found on Ancestry.com and the Family Search website.

Do you offer genealogical research for people that cannot visit?

In response to written inquiries, the History and Genealogy Unit offers a limited genealogical index search service for an individual name for a fee ($5.00 for requests from Connecticut residents; $15.00 for requests from non-Connecticut residents in US currency).  Each inquiry is allotted approximately one-half hour of search time. (The service does not include a search for records of the spouse, siblings, or children of the person about whom information is requested.)

The indexes searched are the Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Bible and Family Records Index, Connecticut Census Index 1790-1850, Hale Collection of Newspaper Marriage and Death Notices ca. 1750-1865, Hale Collection of Connecticut Cemetery Inscriptions, Church Records Index, and Probate Estate Papers Index. See the link to the Genealogy Index Search Request Form above. Please read the instructions on the Search Request form carefully to insure that the information you need falls within the scope of our indexes and search policies.

If you need more extensive research than that which this search service can provide, you may wish to visit the library personally. If that is not possible, you may want to hire an independent genealogical researcher. Genealogical organizations often maintain lists of their members who are available for private research.

The staff of the History and Genealogy Unit is unable to:

Accept genealogical inquiries by telephone.
Attempt to solve problems of identification and lineage.
Search genealogical resources not indexed by one of our statewide genealogical indexes. Such materials include but are not limited to:

Published and manuscript genealogies and local histories.
City directories.
Military records.
Ships' passenger lists.

Search for, or provide copies from, microfilms or microfiche.
Search for, or provide copies of, articles or obituaries in newspapers. This includes copies of the notices abstracted in the Hale Collection of Newspaper Marriage and Death Notices. We have found that in most cases, the original newspaper articles contain little additional genealogical information.