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CollectionsChurch burial records

COLLECTION 004 · SGC-CH-004

Church burial & death records

New Haven & West Haven, Connecticut

Follow a name through church registers, annual death lists and historical inscriptions. Read the surviving text, open the original pages and find the next volume to request.

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PARISHES & PEOPLEThe church
record roomRegisters · Death lists · Inscriptions
CENTER CHURCH ORGANIZED1639
PRESENT CENTER CHURCH BUILDING1812–1814

This collection covers several congregations and has no single opening date. These dates refer to Center Church on the Green; register dates are identified separately.

633church reference rows
1,441searchable source pages
9volumes with full OCR text
14register catalog leads
Coverage · September 8, 2026. Includes the supplied 605-row Catholic table, 27 newly transcribed Center Church deaths and one death-list correction. Full OCR text and selected scans are included; complete volume scans are linked to their repositories. West Haven’s death and funeral register scans have not been obtained. This is a growing research collection, with incomplete coverage of both cities.
Read the full history

EXECUTIVE HISTORY

Church records connect people, places and generations.

This collection brings together several congregations, so it has no single institutional opening date. Center Church traces its organization to 1639. Its present meeting house was built in 1812–1814 over part of the old town burial ground, preserving graves beneath the sanctuary. Center Church history.

The New Haven and West Haven sources include early Catholic burials, printed church death lists, historical gravestone inscriptions and catalogs of surviving manuscript registers. They were created for different purposes: a death list may identify a congregation member without naming a cemetery, while a gravestone transcription may describe a monument that was later moved.

For West Haven, the First Congregational Church catalog identifies death and funeral subseries beginning in 1774 and 1863, alongside a volume of deaths for 1881. Those are record-series dates, not the congregation’s founding date. The collection retains their access leads while manuscript scans are still being sought. Read the register catalog.

THE ILLUSTRATED ARCHIVE

The places behind the parish records

Center Church, documented in 1967

June 1967

Center Church, documented in 1967

The congregation was organized in 1639. Its fourth meeting house, built in 1812–1814, enclosed part of the town burial ground beneath the sanctuary. This later architectural photograph provides context for the Center Church records in the archive.

Robert Fulton III, Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress. Public domain. · Reuse termsRead the source
An older burial ground beneath the sanctuary

12 October 2025

An older burial ground beneath the sanctuary

When Center Church was built in 1812–1814, the graves beneath its footprint remained in place. The church reports 137 surviving gravestones. The brick floor visible in this modern photograph replaced a concrete floor in 1990 as part of efforts to manage moisture around the stones.

Marty Aligata / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for display. · Reuse termsRead the source
The third sanctuary on West Haven Green

13 October 2013

The third sanctuary on West Haven Green

First Church began in 1719 after local farmers petitioned for a place to worship closer to home. Their original meeting house was replaced in 1851; after that building burned in 1857, the congregation built the present sanctuary in 1859. This photograph shows the later building, not the sanctuary used when the earliest church records were created.

Paperchaser 29 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized for display. · Reuse termsRead the source
From a congregation’s list to a person’s history

Church records were created for particular communities and purposes. A funeral entry, a death list and a monument transcription may refer to the same person while recording different events. Their dates and terms need to be read in that context. A death among congregation members does not automatically establish burial in a particular cemetery, and a moved inscription may no longer occupy its original location.

Center Church’s 1639 organization and the 1812–1814 construction of its present meeting house illustrate the difference between a congregation and a building. Graves beneath the sanctuary preserve an earlier burial landscape within a later structure. Photographs of the crypt, exterior or inscriptions can help explain that layered history, provided each image’s subject and date remain explicit.

The West Haven register leads identify death and funeral subseries with their own date ranges. They are a route toward original manuscript evidence, not a claim that every page has already been copied. The archive’s searchable text makes scattered references easier to discover, but OCR can misread names and numbers. Returning to the scan is part of the historical method: discovery produces a candidate match, and comparison of original records determines whether it belongs to the person being researched.

Center Church’s printed 1869 death list, beginning at the bottom of page 22

NEW TRANSCRIPTIONS · 1869–1870

Center Church annual death lists

27 dated deaths and an earlier correction, with original page images.

Read a record

WEST HAVEN · LOCATED HOLDINGS

Three death and funeral subseries

First Congregational Church’s catalog identifies these volumes:

  • Volume 8: deaths, 1774–1843
  • Volume 10: funerals, 1863–1916
  • Volume 11: deaths, 1881

Film 6269 · Digital image group 8615152
Originals: Connecticut State Library

Read the catalog and access notes

THE SEARCHABLE CATALOG

Find a person or a source

Search the complete OCR text of nine downloaded historical volumes and one supplemental grave-reference page. Results are pages, not verified individual burials. OCR can misread names, dates and columns; use the original scan to confirm a match.

510 matching pagesPage 21 of 26

New Haven · CH-P004-0131

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 131

…ualChurch." Why did the Council omit the next clause 1 viz : " and are hereby dismissed at their own request." The fact that those brethren gave notice to the Church that " they had relinquished their intention of connecting themselves with nor well defined. Very often…

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0132

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 132

… testimonials," •' members of the South Con- gregational Church,"* but members " dismissed." Besides, a simple "notification" tons, by those dismissed, "that they did not intend to present their certificates to other Churches," did not release them from the necessity of pr…

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0133

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 133

… the Author of South Church History. — That he intendod to ask for an absohite dismission, is evident from tlie lan- guage of his apiilication, as follows : "New Haven, Jnly 19, 1863. '■ To the Clerk of the Soutli Congregational Church. — ^•Dear Sir: Feeling it a duty t…

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0134

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 134

…-one to one, (see Church records,) that those members who had taken letters of dismission, though not presented to other Churches, while entitled to " occa- sional communion," are not entitled to vote; and as an independent Church we have the right not only to make our…

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0135

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 135

…regular standing." And why should they not exclude them? They had heen regularly dismissed by a vote of the Church, and nei- ther the Clerk nor Standing Committee, nor both together, had power to reinstate them. The Church only could do this. The case of Amos Smith, on…

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0144

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 144

… the date of their memorial, making the whole number 50 ; six or more had been dismissed and imited with other Churches within the same period, leaving the number of male mem- bers at 44, — and they know that 26, including the memo- rialists, sympathized with them. If th…

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0145

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 145

…rtually abrogated. It is said that " those of the petitioners who had not been dismissed, had free access to the records." In reply to this, one of the petitioners who has not been dismissed, affirms that he applied for an inspection of the records and was denied by …

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0146

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 146

…at he was not a loyal man, and they were ready to unite in the call for his dismissal. It was under these circumstances that the Standing Committee assumed their "discretionary powers," and standing between Mr. Carroll and the Church, refused to allow the latter to pro…

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0147

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 147

… of the Government in its efforts to maintain its own integrity. '*Thoy crave an admission that the cause to which their fathers, sons, and husbands, and brothers have freely devoted their lives, is a just and worthy cause. I do not see how this can be construed into …

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0151

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 151

…above indi- cated, one of them has applied to the South Church for a letter of dismission and received it, since the meeting of the Council, notwithstanding the generous offer of the latter body to give them letters of jts own, thus usurping or superseding the powers o…

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0152

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 152

…the date of their memorial, making the whole number 50 ; six or more had been dismissed and united with other Churches within the same i>eriod, leaving the num- ber of male members at 44, — and they know that 26, including the memorialists, sj'mpathizcd with them." " Mr.…

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0153

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 153

… further, that among the signers and sympathisers are included six who had been dismissed from the Church by general letter. Deduct these from the whole numl)er of male members (50) as above, at the date of the memorial, and also from the 26 claimed by the petitioners…

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0154

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 154

…s' memorial, twelve male members were added by letter or profession, and sixteen dismissed, viz : 5 by letter to other Churches, 8 by general letter, 1 by discipline, and 2 by death. Leaving at the date of the memorial, forty-six male members, exclusive of the two abo…

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0156

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 156

… hearing. Considering that this brother is one of those who received letters of dismission, and over whom this Church has declared itself to have no control, it must be acknowledged that their action in the case vindicates the position wliich thej' claim for themselves, …

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0158

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 158

… lie was not a loyal man, and tliey were ready to unite in the call for his dismissal. It was under these circumstances that the Standing Committee assumed their ' discretionary powers ' and standing between Mr. Carroll and the Church, refused to allow the latter to p…

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0169

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 169

…NCIL IN BlilNG. " The Council will find not only its character in the letters missive, but the Council is limited in its action to the subject matter of the letters missive."…

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0170

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 170

160 THE EX-PARTE COUNCIL. " The object alleged in the letters missive, is the sole one which the Council is competent to consider. The reason is obvious. Deriving all power in this particular case from the letters missive, they can no more go beyond, than the gover…

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0171

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 171

…tly held in reference to the aflfairs of the South Church in New Haven. A Member. MISSTATEMENT OF FACTS In the Defense of the South Church. That the public may learn what reliance is to be placed upon the statement of facts by the defenders of the South Church and …

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0177

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 177

…ing us, by a knowledge of the fact that they could not obtain certificates of dismission for that purpose, others have come to us notwithstanding that impedi- ment ; offering themselves for examination by our Standing Committee, as in the case of new members, and thus b…

Membership and death references · OCR text

New Haven · CH-P004-0181

South Congregational Church history and catalogue, 1852–1865 · scan page 181

… is likely to continue so. There is no repulsion here, except from Satan and his emissaries, but the Spirit and the Bride say come, and whosoever will, let him come. 10. We are not aware that the action of the Coun- cil has conferred any real benefit upon those who i…

Membership and death references · OCR text

READING THE EVIDENCE

Keep the churches and record types distinct.

Christ’s Church / St. John’s: the supplied table concerns New Haven’s early Catholic congregation. It is distinct from the Episcopal Christ Church parishes in New Haven and West Haven. Memorial transfers to Saint Bernard do not by themselves establish reinterment.

Death, membership and burial: a church death list records a member’s death; a membership catalogue may contain admissions, removals and death annotations. Neither necessarily identifies the grave. Dexter’s inscription volumes describe historical stones, including some moved from the Green. Typographic distinctions and original locations require the scans.

Work still needed: West Haven’s First Congregational register images; Episcopal Christ Church and Trinity burial subseries; other Catholic, Protestant and independent parish registers; later and undigitized volumes. No complete census of every congregation’s surviving records has been established. Sign-in, reading-room access or permission may be required by a custodian.

Using the download: extract the ZIP and open START_HERE.html to search without an account or an internet connection. It includes the supplied PDF, selected historical pages, all acquired OCR text, source notes, JSON data and a searchable SQLite database. Repository links need internet access.

Download the collectionRead selected scans PDFResearch guide