ABSTRACT OF VOLUME 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, AND 6 OF THE PROBATE RECORDS AT FAIRFIELD,
COUNTY OF FAIRFIELD, AND STATE OF CONNECTICUT.
BY SPENCER P. MEAD, L.L.B.

Transcribed by Geri Ryerson K.

The records in the volumes herein abstracted overlap each other to such an extent, that this is impractical to state definitely the period completely covered by this book. The earliest are in 1640, and the latest in 1750.
The date of the next earliest record is in 1704, and is in Volume 7, of the Fairfield Probate Records.

The Towns of Fairfield and Stratford were under the government of the Colony of Connecticut, not the New Haven Plantation. Owning to the great distance from Hartford to Fairfield, a court was held, for the first time, at Fairfield in 1646, and three years later, a Particular Court was established at the latter place and regularly held with jurisdiction of probate matters for the Town of Fairfield and Stratford. Norwalk was added in 1652, and Greenwich in 1662. Stamford, however, remained a part of the New Haven Plantation until the union of the two colonies.

See also Manwaring's Early Connecticut Probate Records, Hoadley's Records of New Haven Colony, and the Land Records of the different towns for the settlement of decedents estates prior to 1666.

It was not, however, until after the union of the Colony of Connecticut and the New haven Plantation in 1665, under one government, namely on the 10th day of May 1666, that the General Assembly created the County Court for the County of Fairfield with jurisdiction of decedents estates for the entire county, and later it became the Probate Court for the County of Fairfield, having jurisdiction over the entire County of Fairfield, until the 9th day of May 1728, when Probate Court was created by the General Assembly for the District of Stamford, which included the Towns of Greenwich, Ridgefield and Stamford. The Town of Stamford then included the Town of Darien and part of the Town of New Canaan.

In May 1744, a Probate Court for the District of Danbury and New Fairfield, and the Town of Ridgefield was added in October 1746, at which time there was three Probate Court in the county of Fairfield.

The many courtesies extended by Hon. Bacon Wakeman, Judge of Probate for the District of Fairfield, are deeply appreciated.

PROBATE RECORDS INDEX

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Special thanks to:

Geri Ryerson K, for the untold hours and days transcribing the typescript pages, in order to share with the CTGenWeb Project.