Chester, Connecticut's inventory of vital records books and other source materials for pre-1900 vital records

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

A complete catalog, inventory, index, log, report, or other listing of (1) all the books in your possession or control which registrars used to record birth, marriages, deaths, and burials before 1900 (including any Land Records books and/or Town or Proprietors Meeting/Minutes/Record books which include any records of birth, marriages and deaths) and (2) other books, records, and documents in your possession or control which index, copy, regroup, reference or support town birth, deaths and marriages, including communications or reports of communication from ministers, justices of the peace, sextons, and other witnesses to any aspect of births, marriages, burials, and/or deaths prior to 1900.

I also request that, if possible and pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-212(d), fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest and not made for commercial gain. The requested documents will be processed by a representative of the news media/press and made available to the public at MuckRock.com.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 4 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Linda MacLachlan

You certainly have vital records books and related materials and the statutory duty to protect and preserve them. Since they are public records open to Connecticut genealogist, you must have a way of making sure the records all remain in your possession and control. If a person tried to walk out of your office with a document they claimed was theirs, how could you prove it wasn’t?
Linda MacLachlan

I own documents over 100 years old, but you have many more, which is why you must have some way of establishing what all you are responsible for protecting. I am not asking for vital records, just a list of your sources for locating and identifying them.
Other towns have a notebook so that visiting researchers can succeed (and spend $20/page) without burdening the staff. Your office sent such a list to the Connecticut State Library many years ago, but it needs updating.
Please help.
Linda MacLachlan

What indices are you offering?
Linda MacLachlan

This is a serious inquiry. I am finishing a book that will tell genealogists with Connecticut ancestry where to find their ancestors' records. It will say you have a book of vital records 1847-1917 which has very detailed information on any ancestors living in Chester during that period. But I would also like to be able to advise them that you still have a book with Chester vital records as early as 1836, so they can apply to you for copies from it. Your office had such a book a century ago. Does it still?
Thank You,
Linda MacLachlan

Thank You,
Linda MacLachlan

Do you also possess an alphabetically-arranged book of all the vital records of the town of Chester from its incorporation in 1836 to about 1852 that was the basis of Arnold's copy of your records? If so, what do you call it?
Thank you,
Linda MacLachlan