Orange County, Vermont Genealogy
Guide to Orange County, Vermont ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.
| Orange County, Vermont | |
| Map | |
 Location in the state of Vermont, United States Genealogy | |
| Facts | |
| Founded | October 18, 1785 |
|---|---|
| County Seat | Chelsea |
| Courthouse | |
 | |
| Address | Orange County Courthouse 5 Court Street, PO Box 95 Chelsea, VT 05038 802-685-4610 Fax: 802-685-3246 Orange County Website |
Description[edit | edit source]
The County is located in the east center area of the state. [1]
Orange County, Vermont Record Dates[edit | edit source]
| Marriage | Court | Land | Probate | Census | ||
| at town creation | at town creation | at town creation | 1781 | 1771 | 1771 | 1790 |
County Courthouse[edit | edit source]
Town Clerks have birth, marriage, death, burial and land records; County Clerk has divorce and court records from 1781 and land records from 1771; Probate Judge has probate records from 1771.[3]
Towns Organized Before 1800:
Bradford 1770
Braintree 1781
Brookfield 1781
Chelsea 1781
Corinth 1764
Fairlee 1761
Newbury 1763
Orange 1781
Randolph 1781
Straford 1761
Thetford 1761
Topsham 1763
Turnbridge 1761
Vershire 1781
Washington 1781
West Fairlee 1779
Williamstown 1781 [4]
Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]
- 18 October 1785, Addison County set off.
- 5 November 1792, Caledonia, Essex and Orleans Counties set off.
- 1 November 1810, part of Jefferson County set off (renamed Washington County 8 November 1814.)
- 26 October 1835, Lamoille County set off.
For animated maps illustrating Vermont County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Vermont County Boundary Maps" (1764-1895) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.
Record Loss[edit | edit source]
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.
Places / Localities[edit | edit source]
Populated Places[edit | edit source]
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:[5]
Towns:
Extinct Town:
Villages:
- Newbury
- Wells River
Community:
- Bradford
Neighboring Counties
Addison | Caledonia | Washington | Windsor | Grafton County, New Hampshire
Resources[edit | edit source]
Cemeteries[edit | edit source]
| Tombstone Transcriptions Online | Tombstone Transcriptions in Print | List of Cemeteries in the county |
| Findagrave.com | Family History Library | Findagrave.com |
| VTTombstone Project | WorldCat | Billion Graves |
| VTInterment | FamilySearch Places | |
| VTGravestones | ||
| Billion Graves | ||
| See Vermont Cemeteries for more information. | ||
- List of Orange County Cemeteries
- Random Acts VT Cemetery Records Research Guide
Census[edit | edit source]
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± |
| 1790 | 10,526 | — |
| 1800 | 18,238 | 73.3% |
| 1810 | 25,247 | 38.4% |
| 1820 | 24,681 | −2.2% |
| 1830 | 27,285 | 10.6% |
| 1840 | 27,873 | 2.2% |
| 1850 | 27,296 | −2.1% |
| 1860 | 25,455 | −6.7% |
| 1870 | 23,090 | −9.3% |
| 1880 | 23,525 | 1.9% |
| 1890 | 19,575 | −16.8% |
| 1900 | 19,313 | −1.3% |
| 1910 | 18,703 | −3.2% |
| 1920 | 17,279 | −7.6% |
| 1930 | 16,694 | −3.4% |
| 1940 | 17,048 | 2.1% |
| 1950 | 17,027 | −0.1% |
| 1960 | 16,014 | −5.9% |
| 1970 | 17,676 | 10.4% |
| 1980 | 22,739 | 28.6% |
| 1990 | 26,149 | 15.0% |
| 2000 | 28,226 | 7.9% |
| 2010 | 28,936 | 2.5% |
| Source: "Wikipedia.org". | ||
A transcript of the 1771 census of Gloucester County, New York survives:
- O'Callaghan, Edmund B. Documentary History of the State of New York Vol. 4 (1851):709.[7] Digital version at Internet Archive - free.
- O'Callaghan, Edmund B. Documentary History of the State of New York Vol. 4 (1851):709.[7] Digital version at Internet Archive - free.
Church[edit | edit source]
List of Churches and Church Parishes
Court[edit | edit source]
Gazetteers[edit | edit source]
- FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places
Land[edit | edit source]
Local Histories[edit | edit source]
Maps[edit | edit source]
for more resources
- FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places
Military[edit | edit source]
Civil War[edit | edit source]
- 1861 - 1867 Vermont, Enrolled Militia Records, 1861-1867 at FamilySearch — index and images — How to Use this Collection
Regiments and Companies:
- - 2nd Regiment, Vermont Infantry
- - 4th Regiment, Vermont Infantry, Companies B and K
Newspapers[edit | edit source]
Probate[edit | edit source]
Online Probate Indexes and Records
- 1749 - 1999 Vermont Wills and Probate Records 1749-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
- 1800 - 1921 Vermont Probate Files 1800-1921 at FamilySearch — images — How to Use this Collection
Orange County Probate Districts
- Randolph District - Braintree, Brookfield, Chelsea, Orange, Randolph, Tunbridge, Washington and Williamstown.
- Bradford District - Bradford, Corinth, Fairlee, Newbury, Strafford, Thetford, Topsham, Vershire and West Fairlee.
- Orange District - in 1994 the Randolph and Bradford Districts merged under the Orange District.
Taxation[edit | edit source]
Town Records[edit | edit source]
- 1850-2005 - Vermont, Town Records, 1850-2005 at FamilySearch — index and images — How to Use this Collection
Vital Records[edit | edit source]
- 1732 - 2005 Vermont, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1732-2005 at FamilySearch — index and images — How to Use this Collection
- 1850 - 2005 Vermont, Town Records, 1850-2005 at FamilySearch — index and images — How to Use this Collection
See also How to order Vermont Vital Records, order electronically online or download an application for the following Vermont certificates:
- Birth Certificate,
- Marriage Certificate ,
- Divorce Certificate,
- Civil Union Dissolution Certificate, or
- Death Certificate
Downloadable applications from Vermont Department of Health.
Societies and Libraries[edit | edit source]
See also a List of Vermont Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical & Genealogical Societies
Historical Societies[edit | edit source]
- Bradford Historical Society
Woods Academy Building
172 North Main Street
Bradford, VT
PO Box 424
Bradford, VT 05033
802-222-4423
E-mail:bhsnews19@gmail.com
Facebook
- Braintree Historical Society
2756 Braintree Hill Road
Braintree, VT 05060
(802) 728-9933
Email:trainmaster@hughes.net
Facebook
- Brookfield Historical Society
PO Box 447
Brookfield, VT 05036
Email: [wight@alum.mit.edu wight@alum.mit.edu]
Website
Facebook
- Chelsea Historical Society
P.O. Box 5
330 VT Rte 110
Chelsea, VT 05038
802-685-4447
Email: chelseavthistoricalsociety@gmail.com
Facebook
- Corinth Historical Society, Inc.
Corinth Academy Museum
1767 Center Road
Corinth, VT 05039
802-685-3812
E-mail:nerestoration@valley.net
- Fairlee Historical Society
75 Town Common Rd
Fairlee, VT 05045
802-333-4363
Email: townclerk@fairleevt.org
- Newbury Historical Society
155 Tyler Farm Rd
West Newbury, VT 05051
E-mail:newburyhistorical@gmail.com
Facebook
- Thetford Historical Society
16 Library Road
PO Box 33
Thetford, VT 05074
(802)785-2068
E-mail:info@thetfordhistoricalsociety.org
Website
Facebook
- Washington Vermont Historical Society.
Town Clerk's Office
Route 110
Washington, VGT
E-mail: ldeberville@aol.com
Website
Family History Centers[edit | edit source]
Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local Family History Centers or Affiliate Libraries
- Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
- FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.
Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries
Websites[edit | edit source]
- Orange County, VT History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
- Vermont Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
- FamilySearch Catalog FamilySearch Catalog for Orange County
- The Orange County VTGenWeb Project, a member of The VTGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
- The USGenWeb Archives Project for Orange County
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Orange, Vermont" in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_County,_Vermont accessed 6 Dec 2018
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Orange County, Vermont . Page 698-699 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002; Alice Eichholz, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004), 686-687.
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), 699. At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists, 181.
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Orange_ County,_Vermont," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_County,_Vermont accessed 24 October 2019.
- ↑ Michael J. Leclerc, Genealogist's Handbook for New England Research, 5th ed. (Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012), 395. At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 974 D27g 2012.
- ↑ Harry Macy, "Newtown Census of 1771," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 117, No. 1 (Jan. 1986):8. Digital version at New York Family History ($); FHL Book 974.7 B2n v. 117. The original census records were destroyed in a 1911 fire at the New York State Library.
