Simsbury, Connecticut, Vital Records, 1665-1886

“Simsbury was so named in 1670, having been previously known by its Indian name of Massaco. It was quaintly described in the records of the Connecticut General Assembly as "an appendix to the towne of Windsor," whence most of its early settlers came. In 1676 the town was burned by the Indians. The inhabitants, who had previously fled to Windsor, returned the following year and renewed the settlement. The continuity of the town was broken in 1736 by its division into the four ecclesiastical societies of Wintonbury, Salmon Brook, Turkey Hills, and Simsbury. Its northern part was incorporated as Granby in 1786, and its western part as Canton in 1806. Its population in 1756 was 2,245, in 1782 had increased to 4,664, and in 1830 had fallen to 2,251.

The transcript of the early portion of these records was made in the autumn of 1889, and a desire to see the material in print has existed since that time; but on account of the labor and time required, as well as the expense of such a volume, nothing was done about printing until February of the present year. At that time Gen. Lucius A. Barbour of Hartford, a descendant of several of the early settlers of Simsbury, became interested in the matter of printing, and offered such substantial encouragement toward that end as to induce the immediate undertaking of the work.

The material is from volumes one and two of deeds, and volumes two, three, and four of town acts. The pagination of the original volumes is given in brackets on the margin. All births, marriages, and deaths which appear on the town record books down to January, 1832, with a few of later date, are here printed. The utmost care has been used in comparing and reading the proof with the original record. Brackets are inserted to indicate defects in the records themselves, and interrogation points or foot-notes call attention to doubtful readings. In the entries of marriages which occurred since the passage of the record law of 1820, the date when the certificate was received for record, together with the signature of the town clerk, is added to the record. It has not been thought necessary to print these additions.”

This database contains 4,417 births, 49 baptisms, 1,729 marriages, 820 deaths and 3 communion records. The images of the original book pages may be viewed from the search results page.

The original volume is available in the NEHGS Boston Research Library, call no. F104.S6 S6 1898.

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