The first town clerk was James Humphrey. He was appointed in 1806. In February 1838 all records were destroyed by fire at the home of William H. Hallock, town clerk. Records prior to 1806 were recorded in Simsbury and have survived. Vital records for Canton are available at the town clerk's office beginning after 1838.
Town Clerk's Office is located at 4 Market Street in Collinsville. Telephone: (860) 693-7870
Town Clerk - Linda Smith email for Linda Assistant Town Clerk - Michele Clark email for Michele
The following is from the Town Clerk's Office in Canton:Copies of birth, marriage or death certificates are on file in the Town Clerk's office in the Town of Occurrence. You may obtain a certified copy at the Town of Occurrence or Town of Residence. The fee is $10.00 per certified (raised seal) copy for either a full size or wallet size copy.
To obtain an application for a certified copy of a birth certificate click here. To obtain an application for a certified copy of a marriage certificate click here. To obtain an application for a certified (raised seal) copy of a death certificate click here. Identification must be included with your request. A copy of your current drivers license or other photo ID must be included. If a photo ID is not available, originals or photocopies of two of the following documents may be used: Social Security card, written verification of ID from employer (on letterhead), automobile registration, copy of a utility bill showing name/address, checking account deposit slip stating name/address and voting card.
Requests for certified copies may be made in person at the Town Clerk's office or mailed to: Canton Town Clerk, PO Box 168, 4 Market Street, Collinsville, CT 06022.
IMPORTANT: Be aware, no public access for genealogy purposes to birth records of the last 100 years is allowed in the State of Connecticut unless you are a certified member of a Connecticut incorporated society such as Connecticut Society of Genealogists. Only the following may access birth records (100 yrs. or less):
The Connecticut State Library has records from Canton (RG 062:023) from the years 1784-1940. The following relate to vital records:
If you would like to donate any cemetery records to this site, please send me an email. A PDF or txt file would be great.
Links you should read concerning Vital records in the State of Connecticut:
Connecticut Vital Records InformationBarbour Collection:
The Lucious Barnes Barbour Collection, well known to the Connecticut researcher, serves as an index to and an abstract of most pre-1850 Connecticut vital records. It is housed in the Connecticut State Library, but microfilm copies of it are widely available. Begun after establishment of the State Department of Health, Barbour’s project was to abstract and collect all town vital records up to about 1850. There are two formats to the material. The first is a statewide paper slip alphabetical index containing a complete abstract of each vital record taken from the books in each town. The card file holding this index takes up an entire wall at the Connecticut State Library. The second format is the group of separately bound volumes of abstracts of vital records for most towns, prepared from the slips.
Taken from Eichholz, Alice. “Connecticut”; in Ancestry's Red Book, ed. Alice Eichholz. (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry, 2004).
Barbour Collection: The Lucious Barnes Barbour Collection, well known to the Connecticut researcher, serves as an index to and an abstract of most pre-1850 Connecticut vital records. It is housed in the Connecticut State Library, but microfilm copies of it are widely available. Begun after establishment of the State Department of Health, Barbour’s project was to abstract and collect all town vital records up to about 1850. There are two formats to the material. The first is a statewide paper slip alphabetical index containing a complete abstract of each vital record taken from the books in each town. The card file holding this index takes up an entire wall at the Connecticut State Library. The second format is the group of separately bound volumes of abstracts of vital records for most towns, prepared from the slips. Taken from Eichholz, Alice. “Connecticut”; in Ancestry's Red Book, ed. Alice Eichholz. (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry, 2004).
Barbour Collection:
The Lucious Barnes Barbour Collection, well known to the Connecticut researcher, serves as an index to and an abstract of most pre-1850 Connecticut vital records. It is housed in the Connecticut State Library, but microfilm copies of it are widely available. Begun after establishment of the State Department of Health, Barbour’s project was to abstract and collect all town vital records up to about 1850. There are two formats to the material. The first is a statewide paper slip alphabetical index containing a complete abstract of each vital record taken from the books in each town. The card file holding this index takes up an entire wall at the Connecticut State Library. The second format is the group of separately bound volumes of abstracts of vital records for most towns, prepared from the slips.
Taken from Eichholz, Alice. “Connecticut”; in Ancestry's Red Book, ed. Alice Eichholz. (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry, 2004).
Please submit your bible records to site coordinator, Joan.
Jose Rivera Nieves - Canton Obituary Index 1999-2003 - Canton Obit Index
If you have questions, comments or contributions to this ongoing collective effort,
please e-mail Joan Reynolds-de Grandis