Hale Collection of Connecticut Cemetery Records

Connecticut Cemetery Inscriptions and Records


Connecticut Cemetery Records from the Charles R. Hale Collection


The Charles R. Hale Collection of Connecticut Cemetery Inscriptions contains vital information from headstone inscriptions in more than 2,000 Connecticut cemeteries that were recorded in a W.P.A. project directed by Charles R. Hale ca. 1932-5. These records are bound in volumes for each town and are indexed on slips in a single alphabetical file. Many cemeteries had been abandoned and long-forgotten when Mr. Hale began his research. For example, the town clerk in North Stonington knew of only nine cemeteries in the town; Mr. Hale found 95. He made house-to-house inquiries about old vaguely remembered plots, and then crawled through the woods to find them. He even located a cemetery under Route 9 in Middletown and several that had been flooded by reservoirs. In total 2,269 cemeteries came to light.

This website is a collection of cemetery transcriptions I have hand transcribed from the Hale Collection off Connecticut Cemetery Records as found in the Connecticut State Library. It also linked to some of the cemeteries transcribed by various transcribers to help fill in the gaps and make this collection more complete.


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How to Browse the Hale Collection

The website is organized geographically. Start with a Connecticut county, then select a town to see that town's cemetery index, Hale Collection information, cemetery locations and maps where available. From the town page, follow the link to an individual cemetery transcription when one is available.

In other words: Collection → County → Town → Cemetery Transcription.


Connecticut Cemetery Records by County

Select a county below to browse its town and cemetery index. The number shown before each county is the county number used in the Charles R. Hale Collection numbering system.


New Horizons Genealogy has a nice selection of Cemetery records for New York and New England States. They also specialize in Old Cemetery records (pre 1940).



The Charles R. Hale Collection Numbering System

The Charles R. Hale Collection of Connecticut Cemetery Inscriptions, uses it's own unique numbering system for its cemetery records, and this website uses the same system. Understanding the number can help you move from a county to a town and then to an individual cemetery.

Sample Hale Collection Cemetery Number

712-1

The first digit is the county number. The Connecticut county numbers used by the Hale Collection are as follows:

  • 1. Hartford County
  • 2. New Haven County
  • 3. New London County
  • 4. Fairfield County
  • 5. Windham County
  • 6. Litchfield County
  • 7. Middlesex County
  • 8. Tolland County

In this example the county happens to be Middlesex County.

The second and third digits (12) are the town number. For each county the first town number reverts back to one. The town numbers for each county are somewhat, but not necessarily in alphabetical order. In this example the second and third digits (12) happens to be Old Saybrook.

The number after the hyphen (1) which may be one or two digits, is the cemetery number. For each town the cemetery number always reverts back to the number one. In this example cemetery number one happens to be the number for the Cypress Cemetery.

In summary the cemetery number 712-1 tells us that this is Cypress Cemetery, located in the town of Old Saybrook, Middlesex County, Connecticut.

At HaleCollection.com we are indexing all our cemetery records using this numbering system.

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Other Connecticut Resources:


Other Collections From Neighboring States: