East Hampton Probate Court records

Collection

Identifier: RG004_042

Staff Only

Scope and Content

Record books:

Accession 2011-116 contains Volumes 1-24, 1824-1919 and 2 unnumbered volumes of bonds, 1880-1918. These are volumes of the Chatham Probate District that held court in Portland.

Accession 2011-118 contains Volumes 1-3, 1915-1933. These are volumes of the Chatham/East Hampton Probate District. The Chatham District was renamed to the East Hampton District in 1921. In 1913 the Portland District was constituted from the Chatham District. The Chatham District had been holding probate court in Portland and that is where the record books were kept. The new Portland District continued the numbering of the original sequence of Chatham volumes. At that time the Chatham, later East Hampton, District began a new sequence of record books starting with Volume 1. Contact the probate court to access record books after Volume 3 in this series.

See Alternative Form Available note below.

Probate files, 1882-1976, bulk 1915-1976. Most of the probate files of the Chatham Probate District prior to January 6, 1915 are located among the Portland Probate District. Probate files may consist of estates, conservatorships, guardianships, commitments, and insolvencies.

Dates

Creation: 1824-1976

Language of Materials

The records are in English.

Restrictions on Access

Researchers should first consult use copies when available. See Alternate Form Available Section below.

Accession 2011-116, Record books, 1824-1919 and Accession 2011-118, Record books, 1915-1933, and Accession 2012-045, Probate files, 1882-1976, bulk 1915-1976, are stored at an off-site facility and therefore may not be available on a same-day basis.

See the Rules and Procedures for Researchers Using Archival Records and Secured Collections policy.

Restrictions on Use

See the Reproduction and Publications of State Library Collections policy.

Historical Note

East Hampton, Middlesex County, Town established in October 1767, Parent Town: Middletown, Name of town was Chatham until 1915

The Chatham Probate District was constituted June 1, 1824, from the Middletown and East Haddam Probate Districts. The Chatham Probate District changed its name to the East Hampton Probate District in 1921. The East Hampton Probate District merged with the East Haddam, Marlborough and Portland Probate Districts on January 5, 2011 to create the Region #14 Probate District which serves the municipalities of East Haddam, East Hampton, Marlborough and Portland.

Town of East Hampton, Probate District chronology:

October 1767 - May 31, 1824, Middletown District (partial)

October 1767 - May 31, 1824, East Haddam District (covering area south of Salmon River)

May 1820-January 4, 2011, East Hampton District

January 5, 2011 - Present, Region # 14 District

For Probate Court contact information and hours of operation see, Probate Court Directory.

Extent

39 cubic feet

Additional Description

Abstract

Record books, 1832-1933; Probate files, 1882-1976, bulk 1915-1976.

Arrangement

Record books are arranged in two series, each in a different Accession. Accession 2011-116 contains Volumes 1-24, 1824-1919 and 2 unnumbered bond volumes, 1880-1918. Accession 2011-118 contains Volumes 1-3, 1915-1933. See Scope and Content note for explanation.

Other Finding Aid

Record Books: Index cards for the record books have been scanned. Ask History and Genealogy staff for assistance. Note: CSL does not hold any original record books. See Alternate Form Available section for volumes available on microfilm.

Provenance

The record books in Accessions 2011-116 and 2011-118 were transferred to the Connecticut State Library on March 30, 2011. The record books in Accession 2011-116 had previously been stored at the Portland Probate Court.

The probate files in Accession 2012-045 were transferred to the Connecticut State Library on May 29, 2012.

Alternative Form Available

Record books, Volumes 1-4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 1824-1922, were microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah and are available for use in the History and Genealogy reading room or through the LDS Family History Centers.