Cemeteries

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.

The Hale Collection is a list of headstone inscriptions for all cemeteries existing in Connecticut in 1934. The list was compiled under the auspices of the F.E.R.A. and the W.P.A., sponsored by the Connecticut State Library, compiled under the supervision of Charles R. Hale, State Military Necrologist, and assisted by Miss Mary H. Babin, Secretary. 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.

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Fees

At this time, there are no fees for using any of the Old Lyme Library’s materials within the building. Printing and photocopies are 10 cents per page for black and white and 50 cents per page for color. Please refer to the Reference Desk before photocopying any materials from the Old Lyme Room. Many of our items are fragile and irreplaceable.

If you have written or emailed requesting photocopies be sent to you, our charge is 50 cents per page (black and white) plus postage. Due to time restraints, we may not be able to accommodate all requests. We do not charge for librarian time, however, each request will be given attention and requests will be answered in a timely fashion.

The Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library is a private library association. Our budget is very limited. While our historical collection is sometimes wonderfully rich, it contains many fragile items that we would like to preserve for future generations of researchers. Our goals for the library ultimately include adding a digital collection, bolstering our print collection, and rebinding (and digitizing!) our fragile items. We accept some limited donations of rare books relevant to Old Lyme and Lyme history, including bound family histories relevant to the area. If you discover that our library’s local history collection has been helpful, please consider a monetary donation to the annual fund drive or for preserving this collection in specific. If you are frustrated by the library's collection, please consider a monetary donation to help us improve it! We are interested to know how our collection has been helpful and how it can be improved to help future researchers. Please let us know in writing if there is other information we could provide on these pages, or how the Old Lyme Room’s collection could be improved. Thank you.

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Historical Organizations

Below are a few historical organizations in the area that may be helpful for local research in the Old Lyme, Lyme and Saybrook region:

Local:

Old Lyme Historical Society
Post Office Box 352, Old Lyme, CT 06371
www.olhsi.org
rwdunn1@aol.com
Beginning May 20th, 2008,
Office Hours will be held in the Old Lyme Room of the Old Lyme PGN Library:
Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Lyme Historical Society
(based at the Florence Griswold Museum, www.flogris.org)
Lyme Street, Old Lyme, CT 06371
Charlie Beal, Archives Coordinator, charlie@flogris.org
860-434-5542, Ext. 105

New London County Historical Society
www.newlondonhistory.org/
Email info@newlondonhistory.org
860-443-1209

Saybrook Colony Founders Association
www.rootsweb.com/~ctscfa/index.htm

Old Saybrook Historical Society and the Frank Stevenson Archives
350 Main St., P.O. Box 4,
Old Saybrook, CT 06475-1000
www.oldsaybrook.com/History/
860-395-1635

Links to other town historical societies: www.lib.uconn.edu/online/research/govtinfo/ConnState/connhistsoc.html

Statewide:

Center for Connecticut Studies at Eastern Connecticut State University
Primary and secondary sources regarding Connecticut history and culture
860-465-4512
www.easternct.edu/depts/ctstudies/

Connecticut Society of Genealogists
860-633-4203
www.csginc.org/

Connecticut Historical Society
860-236-5621
www.chs.org/

Connecticut History Online
Photographs, Drawings and Prints
about Connecticut history
www.cthistoryonline.org

LDS Family History Centers:
Microfilm of Connecticut Records is available through LDS Family History Centers. The closest centers to Old Lyme are below. They cannot search or respond to written inquiries. We recommend calling ahead before visiting.

Mystic Family History Center
1230 Flanders Road
Mystic, CT 06355
860-536-5102

Madison Family History Center
275 Warpes Road
Madison, CT 06443
203-245-8267

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How to access HeritageQuest

HeritageQuest 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, search Freedman's Bank and also includes the U.S. Serial Set.

To access HeritageQuest from the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, you will need to start on the catalog homepage for the library. “iCONN ” is one of the choices on the blue strip. Click on iCONN. A new, very complicated search page will appear. HeritageQuest appears on the right, under the ‘By Subject’ category. Click on the word ‘HeritageQuest’ to enter into the database.

You can access HeritageQuest from any internet terminal anywhere.. Use the http://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 HeritageQuest. Click on HeritageQuest and you will access the database.

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Local Families

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.

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Local Town Halls

Town of Old Lyme Offices:
52 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, CT 06371
Hours: Mon. through Fri. 9 to 12 p.m., 1 to 4 p.m.
Town Clerk: Irene Carnell, Ext. 221
Phone: 860-434-1605
Fax: 860-434-9283

If you write to the Old Lyme Town Hall with names and dates for deaths, births and marriages, they will let you know if it is in their records. Please have as much accurate information as possible. Once you are sure that the relevant records are in Old Lyme’s Town Hall, you only need to send a letter with the names and dates of the persons involved along with a check and a self-addressed and stamped envelope. Please refer to the link below for procedures and forms for birth records in the past 100 years. As of October 1, 2005, the cost for all copies of birth, death or marriage certificates will be $10. (Cost is $5 until then.) Note that no records are available before 1855 for Old Lyme. Refer to our Vital Records link to confirm which town records apply before 1855.

Lyme Town Hall
480 Hamburg Road, Lyme, CT 06371
Hours: Mon. through Fri. 9 to 4 p.m.
Town Clerk: Ruth Perry
No phone or email inquiries regarding actual vital statistics.
Phone: 860-434-7733

Lyme Town Hall will look up and make copies of birth certificates for $10 (cost is $5 until 10/1/05). Don’t send a check until you confirm your person is in their records. They will answer letters (send a stamped and self-addressed envelope), but you can use vital record volumes (such as the Barbour Collection) as an index for everyone before 1850. If the person isn’t listed in vital records, they won’t have them in town hall. All inquiries involving searching land records require someone to come in person.

Requesting copies of records of vital events occurring in Connecticut

Request forms and relevant information are linked here in pdf format. (These documents are provided by the CT Department of Public Health Vital Records Section.) Note that the cost of copies will rise from $5 to $10 on October 10, 2005.

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, listed under our libraries link.) If you wish to link directly to the Vital Records Section, their website is http://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.

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Selected Libraries

Old Saybrook Acton Public Library
60 Old Boston Post Road
Old Saybrook, CT 06475
860-395-3184
www.oldsaybrookct.com/library/
email: jcrozier@oldsaybrookpl.libc.org

Lyme Public Library
482 Hamburg Road
Lyme, CT 06371-3110
860-434-2272
www.lymepl.org
staff@lymepl.org

Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library
2 Library Lane
Old Lyme, CT  06371
860-434-1684
Fax: 860-434-9547
www.oldlyme.lioninc.org

Connecticut State Library
History and Genealogy Unit
231 Capitol Avenue
Hartford, CT 06106-1537
Tel: 860-757-6580, Fax: 860-757-6677
www.cslib.org/handg.htm

The Connecticut State Library's mission is "to preserve and make accessible the records of Connecticut's history and heritage." (From the website, August 30, 2005.) The History and Genealogy Unit’s website includes excellent information for researchers and the library itself serves as the reference point for the State Archives. For a fee, some indexed information is available through email and written query forms.

Godfrey Memorial Library
134 Newfield Street
Middletown, CT 06457-2534
Phone: 860-346-4375
FAX: 860-347-9874
library@godfrey.org
www.godfrey.org

The Godfrey is a private library. Membership is $35/year and their membership card can be used as your identification to allow you access to Connecticut town vital records.

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Vital Records

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. (See the Town Halls link for contact information for Lyme and Old Lyme Town Halls.)

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.)

Requesting copies of records of vital events occurring in Connecticut

Request forms and relevant information are linked here in pdf format. (These documents are provided by the CT Department of Public Health Vital Records Section.) Note that the cost of copies will rise from $5 to $10 on October 10, 2005.

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, listed under our Libraries link.) If you wish to link directly to the Vital Records Section, their website is http://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.