Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Birth Records Found in the Windham County, Connecticut, County Court Records and Files at the Connecticut State Library Archives, Hartford
Did you ever wonder as to the reason for the paucity of births in early vital records? A hint of scandal or embarrassment associated with a birth may have made an ancestor reluctant to document it in a public record. This work is a compilation of Fornication and Maintenance of (Illegitimate) Child suits brought to the Windham County, Connecticut County Court from 1728 to 1847. All the towns of early Windham County are represented, plus towns in Tolland, Hartford, Middlesex, and New London Counties in Connecticut; Dudley, Worcester County, Massachusetts; Kent and Providence Counties, Rhode Island, and others. File records from the Archives were searched and any additional information was included. There are over three hundred cases in this book, each representing a birth which was most likely not recorded in the vital records. Previously unpublished marriage dates, names of alleged fathers, some maiden names, and even the names of midwives are revealed. Some file documents such as depositions were copied verbatim and both litigants (married and maiden names) and witnesses are indexed.
Marcella Pasay
(2000), 2008, 5½x8½, paper, indices, 116 pp.
ISBN: 9780788415388
101-P1538
