History Room

img_7396The works on paper collection and the archives of the Wilton Historical Society are located in The Carol and Robert Russell Wilton History Room at the Wilton Library, located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road, Wilton, Connecticut, 06897 (203) 762-3950, Ext 6330.

There is a wealth of material relating to Wilton including the Society’s collections of postcards, diaries, photographs, and letters, in addition to other ephemera. Materials from the collection are available during the regular hours of the Wilton Library, but browsing is not permitted.

In addition to the Library reference staff, the Wilton History Room is generally open for research with the assistance of an archivist Wednesday, 11:00 – 4:00 and Thursday, 1:00 – 4:00. Please call (203) 762-3950, Ext 6330 or email wiltonhistory@wiltonlibrary.org to set up an appointment. If you wish to access materials at other times, please stop at the Reference Desk at the Library to view the Wilton History Room registers (a list of all the materials located there). A staff member will retrieve the items you request.  Documents may not be checked out but some may be copied with permission.

HISTORY ROOM FINDING AID

https://archives.library.wcsu.edu/caoSearch/repositories/ctwlhs

HOUSE AND PROPERTY RESEARCH RESOURCES

  • Maps with residents noted (copies available for sale):  1740 roads; 1856 Clark Atlas; 1867 Beers Atlas; 1909; 1922;  1937; 1939; 1950.
  • Architectural Survey of Homes & Buildings in Wilton 1970-80.
  • Cultural Resource Survey of Wilton 1989.
  • Photographs of houses listed in the register alphabetically by street name, in PHOTOGRAPH file folders.
  • Research notes by Malcolm Hunt from land records on neighborhoods and property pre-1802 when Wilton was part of Norwalk, in NEIGHBORHOOD  file folders.
  • Architectural surveys:
    • 1978 Survey by Jr. League of Stamford/Norwalk
    • 1989 Survey by Architectural Historian Mary McCahon
    • 2018 Survey by Stacey Vairo and Lucas Karmazinas
  • Old House and Neighborhood information organized alphabetically by street name, in NEIGHBORHOOD file folders.
  • Card index, alphabetic by family last name, of information taken from the Norwalk Land Records on all land transactions dealing with the Wilton part of Norwalk.  Brief description of property and boundaries with dates.  Compiled by G. Evans Hubbard.
  • “Historic Houses in Wilton,” collection of articles on old houses in Wilton, written by Bob Carboni for the Wilton Bulletin.
  • Wilton publications (*available for sale):
    • A Connecticut Town Names Its Roads, 1958.
    • Eighteenth Century Dwellings, 1975. *
    • Cannondale:  A Connecticut Neighborhood, 1987. *
    • Nod Hill, Wilton, Connecticut: Reminiscences, 1996. *
    • The Wilton Library: The First Hundred Years, 1995. *
    • Wilton Connecticut:  Three Centuries of People, Places, and Progress, 2007*
    • Wilton Localities, 1940. *

NOTE:  Wilton was established as a separate parish from Norwalk in 1726 and incorporated as a town in 1802.  All Wilton land records before 1802 are in the Norwalk Land Reads and probate records are in Fairfield.

FAMILY GENEALOGY RESEARCH RESOURCES

  • Genealogical & Historical Information columns, Hour, by David H. Van Hoosear 1906-21, indexed by date and subject.
  • Wilton Families, seven volumes, G. Evans Hubbard, 1935-50.
  • Wilton Families, one volume, compiled by Doris Soldner, 1992.
  • Bound volumes on families of ABBOTT, ADAMS, BELDEN, BETTS, BIRCHARD, BUCKINGHAM, BULKELEY, COMSTOCK, DEFOREST, EATON, FILLOW, GAY, GILBERT, GREGORY, HANFORD, HERTZ/HART, HOLISTER, HUBBARD, HUBBELL, HUNTINGTON, HURLBUTT, KEELER, KETCHAM/KETCHUM, MARVIN, MERWIN, OLMSTED/OLMSTEAD, PATRICK/PARTRICK, RESSEGUIE, RICHARDS, ROCKWELL, ROHRBACH, SEYMOUR, SEWARD, STERLING, STEVENS, STREET,   VAN HOOSEAR, and WOOD.
  • Typed manuscripts on families of ALLEN, BEDIENT, BEERS, BELDEN, COLE, FITCH, GUYER, OLMSTEAD, RUSSELL, STURGES, and SCHENCK,
  • Donald L. Jacobus, History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield including index to the periodicals.
  • Frederick W. Bailey, Early Connecticut Marriages.
  • Early Connecticut Probate Records, 1635-1750, 3 volumes
  • Families of Ancient New Haven, Donald L. Jacobus, 3 volumes
  • The Great Migration, 1620-1635
  • New England Marriages prior to 1700
  • Beers, Commemorative Biographic Record of Fairfield County, 1898
  • The Connecticut Nutmegger, 1969-
  • Genealogy information  organized alphabetically by family last name, in GENEALOGY file folders
  • Manuscripts organized alphabetically by family last name, in MANUSCRIPT file folders.
  • Cemetery information & indexes for 11 Wilton cemeteries: Charles E. Hale – 1934; updated inventories – 2008.
  • Also, on website http://www.wiltonlibrary.org/wilton-cemeteries
  • Census microfilms for Wilton, 1790-1920
  • Town of Wilton census, on microfilm, 1790-1930.  A complete index to the censuses in typescript format.
  • Barbour index to Wilton vital records, on microfilm.  Partial listing of births, marriages and deaths – 1802-1850.
  • Index to and genealogical summary of Wilton Congregational Church original records, 1739-1802
  • Index to Wilton Bulletin obituaries from 1937 online, throuh the library’s databases.
  • Wilton Bulletin 1937-2004, go to http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html
  • Connecticut Genealogy http://www.connecticutgenealogy.net/index.html

ADDITIONAL WILTON HISTORY MATERIALS

Daybooks and Ledgers
Diaries and Scrapbooks
Drum Hill Chapter of the DAR Records, 1957-
Herbarium of Wilton plants
Hurlbutt Street School House, Inc. Records, 1935-
Kiwanis Club of Wilton, 1951-
Old and Rare Books
Oral Histories
Photographs
Town Association Records, 1928-1985
Town of Wilton Annual Reports. 1875-
Town of Wilton Land Records, 1802-1958
Videos / CDs of Interviews with 32 Wilton Residents:  Recollections & Remembrances: Stories of Yesteryear
Weir Preserve Records, 1974-
Wilton American Legion Post 86 records & photos, 1917 –
Wilton Church Histories and Vital Records
Wilton Garden Club Records, 1921-
Wilton High School Yearbooks, 1961-
Wilton Historical Society Records, 1937-
Wilton Land Conservation Trust, 1964-
Wilton League of Women Voters Records, 1940-
Wilton Library Association Records, 1895-
Wilton Playshop Records, 1938 –
Wilton Rotary Club Records, 1982 –
Wilton Woman’s Club Records, 1965-

Other Links of Interest