Darien Town Records

This page provides a summary of the Darien records that have been copied by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) (Mormons) and as of August 1996 were shown in their Salt Lake City Utah Family History Library Catalog.

Also presented is a summary of the records, with historical and genealogical connotations, held in the Darien Town Hall under the care of the Town Clerk. The address is Room 101, Town Hall, 2 Renshaw Road, Darien CT 06820. The phone number is (203) 656-7307. Hours: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday-Friday; Closed Holidays.

Records in the LDS Family History Library Catalog.

Cemeteries

• The Bates-Middlesex Graveyard Association, a booklet published by the Middlesex Genealogical Society in 1988, copies of which are available in the Darien Library.
• "Headstone inscriptions of Darien Connecticut," copied by H. D. Byrnes and Wm. J. Banks. Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah in 1961 (Film Area 0250329, item2). A microfilm of typescript is held at the Connecticut State Library, and the document includes an index and list of cemeteries.

Church History

• "History of St Luke's Church in Noroton in the Town of Darien 1855-1930," a book by Simon W. Cooper. 77 pages, ill. and microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah in 1978 (Film Area 1036198, item 2).
• "The Church with a History, The First Congregational Church of Darien, Connecticut, United Church of Christ; organized on June 6, 1744 as the Church of Christ in Middlesex; 225th anniversary 1744-1969." A book by Alfred Schmalz, microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah in 1978 (Film Area 1036236) 25 pages, ill.

Church Records

• First Congregational Church, Darien, Connecticut, Church Records 1739-1938. Microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah. (Film Area 1008338, items 2-12). Microfilm is of photostat copy of 3 volumes of records. Contents include: lists of members; records of baptisms, marriages and deaths; admissions; historical notes; minutes of meetings and records of the Middlesex Ecclesiastical Society. (Film Area 0250328) Note! Microfilm of original records is at the Connecticut State Library, Hartford.
• Abstract of church records from the town of Darien, County of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, from the earliest records extant to 1850 by Spencer Percival Mead b.1863. (Film Area 0899936, item 2). This is a micro-reproduction of the original 135 leaves of typescript written in 1920. Contents include: records of new members, baptisms, marriages, and burials from the Darien Congregational Church. Other films are held under Film Area 0926469, item 2, and under Film Area 0004041; the latter was filmed in 1941 and has some pages missing. A microfilm of the transcript is also held at the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society in New York City, New York.

History

History of Stamford, Connecticut, 1641-1868, Including Darien until 1820 by Elijah Baldwin Huntington (1816-1877); with a new index by Grace H. Walmsley; added source references and a new preface by Ronald Marcus. Published by Harbor Hill Books of Harrison, New York, in 1979. 69 pages, ill. with map and portraits. Originally published in 1866. I.S.B.N. 0-916346-36-6. LDS Book Area 974.69/S1 H2h 1979. Contents include an index.

Land and Property Records

Original Land Records, 1820-1904. Held by the Town Clerk of Darien at the Town Hall. These records were microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah in 1949, 1985 and 1987; most of the volumes have indexes in them. Contents, with the LDS Film Area number shown to the right of each entry, are:

• Vol 1, 1820-1834, 0004042
• Vols 2-3, 1832-1850, 0004043
• Vol 4, 1850-1856, 1434201
• Vols 5-6, 1856-1877, 1434205
• Vols 7, 7A, 8 (pp. 1-607), 1869-1877, 1434206
• Vol 8 (p.606)-10 (p. 447), 1877-1890, 1434207
• Vol 10 (pp. 446-end), 1887-1892, 1434208, item 1
• Vols 11,13 (pp. 1-541), 1878-1895, 1491401
• Vol 13 (pp. 541-end), 1895-1897, 1491402, item 1
• Vols 14- 15 (p. 441), 1890-1897, 1434208, items 2-3
• Vol 15 (p. 440)- 16, 1897-1904, 1434209
• Vol 17, 1897-1903, 1491402, item 2

Town Records, 1765-1873

Original records held by the Darien Town Clerk at the Darien Town Hall and microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah in 1985. Contents include: family records of birth, marriage, and death, 1765-1841, and records of attachments on property, 1854-1873.

Vital Statistics

• Original Records of Marriage returns, 1820-1851, one volume.
• Original Records of births, marriages and deaths, 1847-1909, three volumes with an index in volume 3.

Index to Darien Connecticut Births, Engagements,Marriages and Obituaries for 1989.

Records collected by Vi L. Kemp and Thomas Jay Kemp from the pages of the Darien News Review and published as Middlesex Genealogical Publication No. 2 in 1990. 45 pages and available from the Society. LDS Book Area number 974.6 D25p.

Vital Records Held in the Darien Town Hall But Not in the LDS Family History Catalog

• The 1820-1851 record of marriages has 32 pages of entries. There is a 13-page typewritten copy of this record taken from a set of cards based on a manuscript copy made in 1914 by James Arnold of Providence, RI. The original Arnold copy is now in the possession of the Connecticut State Library in Hartford. In the front of the Darien copy of the Arnold register there is a note saying that the records it contains have not been checked with the original, so errors may exist! Searchers should use the original records and not this copy.
• In addition to the three volumes of original records of births, marriages, and deaths from 1847 to 1909 referred to above, there are four further volumes which have not yet been microfilmed.
  • Volume 5, 1910 to 1916.
  • Volumes 6, 7 and 8 for the years subsequent to 1917.
  There are also four large volumes of indexed birth, marriage, and death records going back to 1820. Volume 1 is A to D; Volume 2 is E to K; Volume 3 is L to R; and Volume 4 is S to Z. The most recent entries to date are in a small separate indexed volume. The certificates for births, deaths and marriages are also in indexed files and are in separate volumes for each category after 1957.