Records of the city of New Haven
RECORDS OF THE COLONY
New Haven was a colony separate from Connecticut until 1664. The Colony Records are held by the Connecticut State Library in Hartford and were published by the State in the 19th century. These volumes are indexed.
Records of the Colony and Plantation of New Haven from 1638 to 1649. Edited by Charles J. Hoadly. (F98.N28R3)
“The present volume contains the records of the Colony of New Haven while it remained distinct, the beginning of the records of the Jurisdiction, and the records of the Town or Plantation up to the year 1650.
From April, 1644, to May, 1653, the records of the Jurisdiction are lost, save that in this volume we have the proceedings of a Court of Magistrates, June 14th, 1646, and a Court of Election, October 27th, 1646.”
In addition to the published volumes, the originals have been photocopied (*F98.N28R29) and microfilmed (Mfilm#24). Colonial affairs following the union with Connecticut may be recorded in the following indexed work.
Records of the Colony and Jurisdiction of New Haven from May 1653 to the Union
By Charles J. Hoadly, M.A.
“The present volume comprises all the Records of the Jurisdiction of New Haven now known to exist, except the few entries in the Records of the Colony and Plantation of New Haven,’ printed in 1857.
In the Introduction to the work just mentioned, it was stated that the volume of Records of which this is in immediate continuation, had many years ago disappeared; so long since, indeed, that no writer on Connecticut or New England history seems to have had an opportunity to consult it. Reference is made in this book to two places in the missing volume, one as fo: 17G, said to contain records of the date of May 30th, 1649, the other, fo: 303, containing some of the date of May 29th, 1651. The Records of the Town of New Haven, prior to the Union, are unbroken in their series, and it is from them, together with those of the other towns in combination, that the history of New Haven Jurisdiction from 1644 to 1653 is mainly to be gleaned.”
The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut. 1636-1776. Edited by J. Hammond, Trumbull and Charles J. Hoadly, 15 volumes. (F97.C7)
RECORDS OF THE TOWN
In the early period, it is not always clear where the division between the colonial and town governments is to be made. The Town Records continue, of course, beyond the union with Connecticut. The originals of these records are held by the Museum (see MSS#28). They have been published down to 1819.
Ancient Town Records. Edited by Franklin Bowditch Dexter and Zara Jones Powers, volume 1. (F98.N3A62)
Ancient Town Records. Edited by Franklin Bowditch Dexter and Zara Jones Powers, volume 2. (F98.N3A62)
Ancient Town Records. Edited by Franklin Bowditch Dexter and Zara Jones Powers, volume 3. (F98.N3A62)
Ancient Town Records, Volume IV. New Haven Town Records 1769-1819. Edited by Peter J. Malia, (F98.N3A62)
RECORDS OF THE PROPRIETORS
The Committee of the Proprietors of the Common and Undivided Lands began to function separately from the Town of New Haven in 1724. The original records of the Proprietors’ Committee are found in MSS 28B and, to one degree or another, document the work of the Committee down to the early 20th century. The records of the Committee for the period 1724 to 1771 have been transcribed (F104.N6C6667) and a research guide is available (F104.N6C6666).
RECORDS OF THE PROBATE COURT
Connecticut Probate Court, New Haven Probate Records are available on microfilm (Mfilm#3).
1647-1876
Additions to the Probate court records are available in the New Haven City and County Records,
VITAL RECORDS AND STATISTICS
The Vital Records collection, MSS 52, consists of mostly typed manuscripts of Town, Church and/or Cemetery Records giving birth, baptism, marriage and/or death data of towns and villages in Connecticut.
1635-1934
The Vital Statistics collection, MSS B24, began with The Charles C. Hale Collection of Cemetery Records. Copies of the listings for the area towns of Cheshire, Fairfield Guilford, Madison, Clinton, New Haven, Orange and Woodbridge were presented to the New Haven Colony Historical Society. The second part of the collection consists of death notices, probate filings, and marriages recorded in Connecticut newspapers from 1755 to 1865. The work was done under federal government grants, largely in 1934. The original collection is filed in the Connecticut State Library.
In addition, the New Haven City and County Documents, MSS 28C, include marriage records from 1937-1943.
SECONDARY WORKS
Edward E. Atwater, History of the Colony of New Haven to its absorption into Connecticut, 1881. (F98.A892)
Edward E. Atwater, History of the City of New Haven to the Present Time, 1887. (F104.N6A782)
Isabel MacBeath Calder, The New Haven Colony. (F98.C25)
Myrna Kagan, Vision in the Sky: New Haven’s Early Years, 1638-1783, 1989. Although written with young people in mind, this is a concise and readable introduction to New Haven’s 17th and 18th century history. (F104.N6K34)
Rollin G. Osterweis, Three Centuries of New Haven, 1638-1938, 1953. (F104.N6.O787)
Floyd Shumway and Richard Hegel, New Haven: An Illustrated History, 1981. (F104.N6.N348)
