Portrait of Phoebe Griffin Noyes
Local history and genealogy material totaling almost 1,500 items include:
- Old Lyme Annual Reports (1872- current)
- Lyme Old Lyme High School yearbooks (1942-current)
- The Gazette (May 1974 – March 1988):
- County and town histories
- Family genealogies: We have many family histories and memorials, but some Old Lyme and Connecticut families of note are: Noyes, Lord, Ludington, Griswold, Ely, Marvin, and Sill. These materials are listed in our online catalog. Searching with the family name + family in the subject heading can sometimes be helpful (e.g. Noyes Family) in locating materials. These items do not circulate
- Church Records of the First Congregational Church
- Report of the Historic District Study Committee of Old Lyme
- Public records of the Colony of Connecticut (1636-1776) and records of the State of Connecticut (1776-1818)
- Vital records: The Vital Records Section maintains birth, death and marriage records since July 1, 1897. For dates prior, see the pertinent town hall or the State Library Genealogy Unit. If you wish to link directly to the Vital Records Section, their website is www.dph.state.ct.us/OPPE/hpvital.htm. The Vital Records Section is currently microfilming their records, so you will need to contact the pertinent town halls directly. The form for requesting birth records from town halls is on the pdf link above.
The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records is a multi-volume set listing births, marriages and deaths from ancient records in each town. The Old Lyme PGN Library owns several volumes for local towns that can be used for genealogy research. There are often vital records in other volumes as well, sometimes including church records and land records. Historic persons living in the current area of Old Lyme may be listed in vital records of modern nearby towns. Old Lyme has been part of several towns in the past, below is a timeline that may assist you in locating the appropriate town.
Old Lyme. (Town records start 1855)
Old Lyme broke apart from Lyme in 1855. It was first called South Lyme, but in 1857 was renamed Old Lyme. The current town of Old Lyme includes the village of South Lyme. (No Barbour volume for Old Lyme, see Lyme for most historical records.)
Lyme. (Town records start 1667)
Lyme was set apart from Saybrook on February 13, 1665 in an act called “The Loving Parting.” It was named Lyme in 1667. Lyme includes the villages of Hamburg and
Hadlyme. Lyme covered a large area from the Long Island Sound north to Haddam (and Moodus) along the east bank of the Connecticut River. (Barbour Collection 1667-1852.)
Saybrook. (Town records start 1635)
In addition to the land later called Lyme, Saybrook originally covered a large area on the west bank of the Connecticut River’s mouth. Established in 1631 and occupied in 1636, Saybrook included the area called Fenwick, Essex, Deep River, Chester and, currently, Old Saybrook. (Barbour Collection 1635-1850.)
Also of Interest:
East Lyme was incorporated 1839 (taken from Lyme and Waterford). It is, as the name implies, east of Old Lyme and Lyme. It includes the towns of Flanders and Niantic. Vital records start in 1839. (Barbour Collection 1839-1853.)
East Haddam, including the village of Moodus, is located across the Connecticut River from Haddam, just north of the village of Hadlyme. Vital records start in 1743. (Barbour Collection 1743-1857.
- Cemetery records: A list of headstone inscriptions for all cemeteries existing in Connecticut, called as the Hale Collection is available. The list was compiled under the auspices of the F.E.R.A. and the W.P.A., sponsored by the Connecticut State Library. The Old Lyme Library has copies of Old Lyme, East Lyme, and Lyme editions. All are indexed by name on headstone and include lists of cemeteries and a map of their locations.
- The graveyards covered in Old Lyme include: Duck River, Layville, Peck, Black Hall Schoolhouse, Champion #1 and #2, Wait, Old Meeting House Hill, Griswold, Chadwick and Slate.
- The graveyards covered in Lyme include: Sterling, Congregational Church, Bill Hill, Marvin, Brockway, Joshuatown, Selden, Cove, Luther, Daniels, Indian Grave, Beckitt Hill, Gillett, Grassy Hill, Colt, Beebe, Griffin, Sisson, Pleasant View, North Lyme Baptist (moved to Pleasant View), Ely, Lord, Hall (moved to Grassy Hill), Richards
- The graveyards covered in East Lyme include: Old Stone Church, Union, Banty, Rogers, Pest Yard, Center (or Riverhead), Cavarly, Huntley, Crocker, Powers, Flanders Church, 3 Taber Stones, Leech, Fosdick, Barthrick (or Champion #3), Tinker, Old Fox Farm, Holmes, Tilleson, Beebe, Chadwick, Reeve, Indian Cemetery (now in Union Cemetary).
- Maps: Old Lyme Cemetery Association keeps indexed maps of the current cemeteries in Old Lyme. In order to locate someone in an Old Lyme cemetery, you will need to contact them directly. Their contact person is Bob Whitcomb and his phone number is 860-434-7221.
- Heritage Quest Online: Heritage Quest provides access online to searchable records, books and articles of interest to genealogists. Materials available include U.S. census records, family and town histories, articles, Revolutionary War pension and bounty-land warrant applications. You can access Heritage Quest from any internet terminal anywhere. Use the www.iconn.org. It will ask you for your library card barcode, usually located on the back of your library card. Any Connecticut town’s library barcode should work. This brings you to your search page. Please click on Link to Individual Resources. Next, look for “History, Biography and Genealogy” and then you will see Heritage Quest. Click on Heritage Quest and you will access the database.
