Avon Connecticut Genealogy

Avon Connecticut Genealogy is being developed as a genealogical and historical resource for your personal use. It contains information and records for Avon Connecticut ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Specifically, it provides sources for birth records, death records, marriage records, census records, tax records, court records, and military records. It also provides some historical details about different times and people in Avon Connecticut history.

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Biographies of Avon Connecticut

• Hadsell Family Biography
  Biography of the C.B. Hadsell and Frank Hadsell, residents of Avon, Connecticut, by Nora Howard.
• Biography of Eugene Fowler Hawley

Cemeteries of Avon Connecticut

• Genealogical data from Connecticut cemeteries: Avon
  Manuscript written by Lucius B. Barbour in 1932.
  • Cider Brook Cemetery
  • Congregational Church Yard
  • Evergreen Cemetery
  • Greenwood Cemetery
  • West Avon Cemetery
• Cider Brook Cemetery
  Private cemetery located at 359 Waterville Rd., Avon CT 06001. The Avon Library does not have printed/original copies of these photos; this collection is digital only.
• East Avon Cemetery
  The East Avon Cemetery is located behind Avon Congregational Church on the corner of Rt. 10/44 in Avon, CT.
• West Avon Cemetery
  Gravestones located at West Avon Cemetery, intersection of Country Club Rd. and Burnham Rd., Avon, CT 06001 The cemetery was constructed in late 1700s, predominately of white marble, brownstone, and slate. The Thompsons, Frenches, Woodruffs, and other founding families of Avon are buried here. See the CT Historical Commission file in this folder for more details.
• FindAGrave – Avon, Connecticut
  Listings for many of the cemeteries in Avon, Connecticut often including photographs of the headstones.
  • Avon Congregational Memorial Gardens
  • Beth El Temple Cemetery
  • Beth Israel Cemetery
  • Cider Brook Cemetery
  • East Avon Cemetery
  • Evergreen Cemetery
  • Farmington Valley Jewish Congregation Memorial Park
  • Greenwood Cemetery
  • Memorial United Methodist Church Memorial Garden
  • Saint Ann Cemetery
  • Saint Mary’s Cemetery
  • West Avon Cemetery

Census Records for Avon Connecticut

• Connecticut Census Records
  You should view the census records for the entire state of Connecticut for specific links.

Church Records for Avon Connecticut

The Avon Congregational Church was organized in 1818 as the Third Church in Farmington. It became the Second Church of Avon upon the incorporation of that town in 1830. (The First Church is known as the West Avon Congregational Church.)

Court Records for Avon Connecticut

Probate Records for Avon 1844-1930 – FamilySearch
Microfilm of original records in the Town Hall, Avon, Connecticut. Indexes are included in each volume.

Directories of Avon Connecticut

I am searching for any copy of these online.

• The Union Publishing Company printed suburban city directories for the area of Hartford which included Avon, Connecticut from at least 1905-1929.
• The Clark Delano Company printed a directory of Avon and East Granby in 1913.
• The Price and Lee Company printed a directory of Avon, Connecticut: including Simsbury, East Granby, and Granby.

Genealogy of Avon Connecticut

• Bishop Family
  Photos and ephemera from the Bishop family.
• Case Family
  Various photos of the Case, Frissell, Peterson, Scoville, and Wilcox families.
• Hadsell Family
  Avon’s history is also well-documented in the journals and notebooks of Frank Hadsell from 1845-1942. Along with his brother Clinton, Frank, who was a photographer, took hundreds of glass plate negatives from 1889-1919.
• Hawley Family
  Contains numerous collections of and relating to the Hawley Family in Avon, CT.
  • Hawley Family Letters
    Most of the letters were written to Timothy Ruggles Hawley (1771-1828) in Ohio, by his family in Avon and New Haven. Timothy grew up in Avon, the son of Rev. Rufus and Deborah Hawley. He moved to the Western Reserve of Connecticut in 1801.
  • Biography of Eugene Fowler Hawley
  • Eugene Hawley Civil War Letters
  • Eva Hawley Probate Letters & Documents
  • Hawley Family Album
  • Hawley Heraldic, Historic and Genealogic Exposition
  • Rufus Hawley Diaries 1763-1812
• O’Neill Family & House Photos
  Photos of the O’Neill family, and of the O’Neill family home.

Historical Newspapers in Avon Connecticut

• Avon News
  A weekly newspaper of Avon, CT. The Avon Free Public Library has bound and digitized issues from 1981-1995

History of Avon Connecticut

Avon, Connecticut was founded in 1830 as a part of Farmington, which was settled in 1640. The town’s name originated from the River Avon in England, and the area was once home to the indigenous peoples of the Tunxis tribe. Early settlers established farms, mills, and businesses in the area, and the town’s population began to grow. In 1830, the community of Avon was established as a separate town, with its own government and post office. The town continued to grow and prosper throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, with the development of new industries and the arrival of the railroad. Today, Avon is a thriving community with a rich history and a strong sense of community spirit. The town is known for its natural beauty, historic landmarks, and cultural events, and it remains a popular destination for visitors from around the world.

Avon records prior to 1830 are at the Farmington Town Clerk’s Office and the Farmington Room at the Farmington Library.

• Catch’d on Fire, a book by Avon Town Historian Nora Howard, features stories about early Avon as recorded in the diaries of Reverend Rufus Hawley from 1767-1812. The Avon Historical Society sells the book.
• Avon, Connecticut an historical story
• Mary-Frances L. MacKie wrote this book in 1922 which was published by the Avon Historical Society.
  • Pioneers in the Farmington Valley
  • Putting Down Roots
  • The Farmington Canal
  • A Town Is Born
  • Life in the Mid-Nineteenth Century
  • The Civil War and its Aftermath
  • New Faces, New Voices
  • The Early Twentieth Century
  • Depression and War Years
  • Meeting the Challenges of Growth
• Avon, Connecticut: a brief informal history
  Alice H. Thompson wrote a short history of Avon, Connecticut in 1954 and published it as a pamphlet for the Avon’s Woman’s Club

• Avon Historical Society
  • Marian M. Hunter History Room

Land Records for Avon Connecticut

• Land records, 1830-1894 – FamilySearch, these records must be viewed at a local FHC.
  Microfilm of original records in Avon Town Hall, Connecticut. Indexes are found within each volume.
• Land Deeds
  A variety of land deeds digitized by the Avon Free Public Library

Military Records of Avon Connecticut

Civil War

• Eugene Hawley Civil War Letters

World War II

World War II Newsletters
The collection comprises 14 newsletters created by Avon residents between 1943 and 1946. These newsletters were designed for Avon soldiers and were sent to them, regardless of their location, be it at home or abroad, as well as their families in Avon. Along with keeping soldiers connected to their hometown, the newsletters also featured local town gossip and news, helping soldiers stay abreast of current events even while serving away from home.

World War II Ration Cards
Collection includes instructions for ration cards, assignment of rations, and sample cards. This collection is organized by year.

Naturalization Records for Avon Connecticut

Connecticut naturalization records were first filed in federal district courts in Hartford, New Haven, or Bridgeport starting from 1906. Copies were then forwarded to the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization in Washington, now known as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). USCIS provides genealogy search services for naturalization and other records relating to Aliens.

However, before 1906, naturalization records in Connecticut had very limited information. Most records only included the person’s name, place of residence, date of naturalization, and the location and date of their declaration of intent to become a citizen.

The original indexes and naturalization records for Connecticut can be found at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Waltham, Massachusetts. FamilySearch has partnered with NARA to digitize the indexes and many volumes of original court records, which are also available online through FamilySearch and Ancestry.com.

• Connecticut Naturalization Records, 1795-1945 – FamilySearch
  This collection contains naturalization records and indexes from the state of Connecticut. Images were originally captured at the NARA Regional Archives facility in Boston. This collection includes NARA ID numbers 3315824, 4971824, and many more.

Vital Records for Avon Connecticut

• Avon vital records, 1850-1884 – FamilySearch
  Microfilm of typescript in the Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut. 13 leaves. Records are arranged alphabetically. Includes some sextons’ returns, 1881-1884.
• Land records, 1830-1894 – FamilySearch, these records must be viewed at a local FHC.
  Microfilm of original records in Avon Town Hall, Connecticut. Indexes are found within each volume. Vols. 1-2 include records of marriages, 1830-1850; volume 4 includes records of births, marriages and deaths, 1847-1851.
• Records of births, marriages, deaths in the town of Avon, v. 1-2, 1868-1926 – FamilySearch, these records must be viewed at the Family History Center in Salt Lake City
• Avon CT Birth, Marriage, and Death Records
• This is a record of birth, death, and marriage records in Avon, Connecticut, also known as Avon Vital Records. It covers the 1700’s, 1800’s, and 1900’s. Each individual was a resident of Avon unless otherwise noted. The data includes 8,030 entries, and is 286 pages long. It is published here in alphabetical order. Initial research conducted by Nora Howard; initial spreadsheet compiled by Heddy Panik, Avon History Room Volunteer. Sources for Birth, Marriage, Death Records, Avon, CT: Avon Vital Records – original notebook and photocopy given to the Avon Town Clerk, August 1983. 2nd copy sent to Connecticut State Library/Avon – Church Records/ Avon – Cemeteries/Avon Free Public Library – Marian J. Hunter History Room Files/Avon Free Public Library – Probate Records (that are stored there)/Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT/Hale Collection/Northington Church records/The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records – Avon 1830-1851.
• Chart of marriages in Avon, CT from 1750-1815
• Chart of marriages in Avon, CT from 1853-1868