Litchfield County, situated in the northwestern corner of the state of Connecticut, is bounded on the north by Berkshire County, Massachusetts; on the east by Hartford County; on the south by New Haven County; and on the west by Dutchess County, New York. It lies between approximately 41º 30′ and 42º north latitude, and between 73º and 73º 30′ west longitude. The county extends about 30 miles from east to west and 35 miles from north to south. It covers an area of approximately 945 square miles, or 604,800 acres, making it the largest county in Connecticut by land area.
Litchfield County was established in 1751 from parts of Fairfield, Hartford, and New Haven Counties, and comprises rugged terrain characterized by the Berkshire foothills, with key rivers including the Housatonic and the Farmington. Early European settlement began in the 1720s, and towns such as Litchfield (settled in 1720, incorporated in 1719 as part of Hartford County) became significant early centers. The area was historically inhabited by the Mahican and Paugussett tribes. Land records and probate records for towns in Litchfield County were typically recorded at the town level from their dates of incorporation, with county-level court records commencing from 1751. Although Connecticut counties have no governmental function since 1960, Litchfield remains a jurisdictional marker for historical research. The county included numerous crossroads and river valleys that supported 18th and 19th-century agrarian communities, making town-level land and church records especially valuable for genealogical research.
This county project is part of the much larger American History & Genealogy Project or better known by the abbreviation of AHGP. The larger project has been in existence online since 2000 and over the years it spread out across the web. These pages are an attempt to consolidate all the smaller pieces under the website of the larger project.
Communities
- Bantam
- Barkhamsted
- Bethlehem
- Bridgewater
- Canaan
- Colebrook
- Cornwall
- Gaylordsville
- Goshen
- Harwinton
- Hotchkissville
- Kent
- Lakeville
- Litchfield
- Lime Rock
- Morris
- New Hartford
- New Milford
- New Preston
- Norfolk
- North Canaan
- Northwest Harwinton
- Oakville
- Plymouth
- Roxbury
- Salisbury
- Sharon
- South Kent
- Terryville
- Thomaston
- Torrington
- Warren
- Washington
- Watertown
- Winchester
- Winsted
- Woodbury
History
- The Bench and Bar of Litchfield County 1709-1909
- Litchfield County History
- Map of Towns in Litchfield County
- Rev. War Honor Roll
Genealogy
- Biographies
- Cemeteries
- Census
- Marriages
- Marriages of Goshen Connecticut 1740-1896
A. G. Hibbard transcribed a table of 839 marriages from Goshen, Connecticut, town clerk records in 1896, noting some entries predated the town’s settlement. His transcription aimed for accuracy, maintaining irregular name spellings from the originals. However, a significant volume covering 1786 to 1820 is missing, limiting the records’ completeness. Researchers are encouraged to consult the original documents for verification. The source of this information is Hibbard’s 1897 publication, “History of the Town of Goshen, Connecticut. - Marriages of Norfolk Connecticut 1762-1800
These Norfolk, Connecticut marriage records were extracted from Frederic W. Bailey’s Early Connecticut Marriages series. They are not taken from official town records but from the records of the Congregational Church in Norfolk, which served as one of the sources for Bailey’s seven-volume compilation.
- Marriages of Goshen Connecticut 1740-1896
- Mortality and Death Records
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