The Congregational Church was created by early settlers in Connecticut. It was supported with tax payments from the settlers and it stayed the state church until 1818. At that time, the Connecticut state constitution was passed and the division between state and church was established. Occasionally, a church would become too big and then, with the permission of the people, a second church would be established in another town. Soon other denominations began to pop up in the state. Those groups included Episcopalians, Quakers and a group of Baptists from Rhode Island. The church records from many of Connecticut’s churches are often full of more information than the vital records kept by the towns themselves.
The Connecticut State Library has been put in charge of keeping many of the older records from various churches across the state.
Many church records also included migration information and dates when each person joined the church or left to join a different church for any reason. That information can often be useful to those doing genealogy research.
Connecticut Church and Bible Links
- Connecticut Church Books (amazon.com)
- Connecticut Bible Books (amazon.com)