Genealogy

Note: Official New Hampshire birth, death, and marriage records are among holdings here, managed by the Division of Vital Records Administration, which may be accessed elsewhere on this website, or by phone at 603-271-4650.

Genealogical and family history information may be found among archived records in the following collections:

1. Probate Records
   A. Provincial Period (1630s – 1771)
   B. Cheshire County (1771 – 1959)
   C. Grafton County (1773 – 1950)
   D. Hillsborough County (1771 – 1997)
   E. Merrimack County (1823 – 1992)
   F. Rockingham County (1771 – 1918)
   G. Strafford County (1771-1799): abstracts in Helen F. Evans, Strafford County NH Probate Records, 1771-1799 (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1983)

2. Land Title Deeds
   A. Provincial Period (1630s – 1771)
   B. Rockingham County (1771 – 1824; Indexed 1771 – 1959)
   C. Grafton County (1773 – 1899) microfilm

3. Petitions to the Governor, Council, and Legislature (1680 – c. 1850; + 1951)

4. New Hampshire State and Provincial Papers (1623 – 1800)
      40 vol. set & cumulative index

5. Military Information
   A. C. E. Potter’s Military History of New Hampshire, 1623 – 1861 (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical
       Publishing Co., 1972)
   B. S. Lanzerdorf’s New Hampshire Militia Officers, 1820 – 1850
       (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1995)
   C. Revolutionary War Rolls (N.H. State & Provincial Papers)
   D. War of 1812 Soldiers Index (21st Regiment)
   E. A. D. Ayling’s Civil War Register Index
   F. Civil War Enlistment Cards and Papers
   G. Civil War Muster Rolls, Descriptive Rolls, & Returns
   H. Civil War Service Cards
   I. Civil War Pension Index
   J. Phyllis O. Longver, New Hampshire Civil War Death and Burial Locations (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 2000)
   K. Civil War Death Rolls
   L. “Military Miscellaneous” V64 (Revolutionary to recent publications)

6. Censuses and Population Information
   A. J. M. Holbrook’s New Hampshire Residents, 1633 – 1699
   B. “Constructed” Censuses: 1732; 1765; 1776; some towns 1798
   C. Census Indices Only: 1800; 1810; 1820, 1850, 1860 (commercially published)
   D. Federal Census Books: 1850; 1860; 1870; 1880 (manuscript)
   E. Hillsborough County Census: 1801
   F. Strafford County Census: some towns 1840

7. Name Changes
   A. Published Index to N.H. Laws (1643 – 1883;
   B. Manuscript Index to NH Laws (1885 – 1995)
   C. Richard P. Roberts’ New Hampshire Name Changes 1768 – 1923
       (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1996)
   D. Index to N.H. Name Changes (1840 – 1940) (microfilm)

8. Photographs, Portraits, and Prints
   A. Dunlap Photo Service Collection (1930s-1960s) – Concord area
   B. William Finney – Portraits
   C. Aerial Photographs
   D. Miscellaneous public figures and places in archived collections

9. Naturalizations
   A. Belknap County (1842 – 1975)
   B. Grafton County (1773 – 1906)
   C. Hillsborough County (1845 – 1990)
   D. Merrimack County (1847 – 1948)
   E. Rockingham County (1771 – 1919)
   F. Sullivan County (1800s – 1900s)

10. Voter Checklists (1904 – present)
   Towns are required to file voter checklists with the NH Secretary of State after every General State Election and after the Presidential Primary

11. Warnings Out of Town

12. Secretary of State Miscellaneous Records

13. Handwriting and Paleography
   A. E. K. Kirkham’s Handwriting of American Records for a Period of
       300 Years
   B. E. K. Kirkham’s How to Read the Handwriting and Records of
       Early America

14. Prisoners Indices
   A. State Prison Register of Convicts 1812 – 1912
   B. State Prison Mittimus (“Mitt”) Files (1812 – 1973)
   C. Rockingham County Prisoners Index (1772 – 1840+)
   D. Milli S. Knudsen, Hard Time in Concord, New Hampshire (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 2005)
       Brief profiles of some of the prisoners

15. Town Records and Town Inventories Indices

16. Rosters of N.H. House of Representatives and Senate

17. Church of Latter Day Saints “Descriptive Index of the New Hampshire Collection”

18. Index to N.H. Laws (1643 – 1881; 1885 – 1995)

19. Index to Executive Council Minutes

20. Marriage & Divorce
   A. Pauline J. Oesterlin’s N.H. Marriage Licenses and Intentions, 1709 – 1961 (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books) 1991
   B. Marriage Intentions (1770s – 1850s)
   C. City of Concord Intentions (1830 – 1869)
   D. Governor Wentworth Sanctions (1772 – 1775)
   E. Out of State Minister Marriage Intentions (1921 – 1961)
   F. Knudsen, Milli S., ‘Til Death Do Us Part: Marriages & Divorces from Cheshire County
       (1776-1899) (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 2007
   H. Helen F. Evans, Index of References to American Women in Colonial Newspapers through 1800 (Bedford, NH: self-published, c. 1980-1995), 3 volumes.
   I. Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992)

21. Maps and Plans
   A. Masonian Plans (1600s)
   B. Carrigain Town Maps (1805) and State Map (1816)
   C. Town and City Atlas of the State of New Hampshire D.H. Hurd & Co., Boston (1892)

22. County and Town Histories (small random collection)

23. Paupers
   A. Warnings Out
   B. Pauline J. Osterlin, Rockingham County Paupers Index (1772 – c. 1850)
       (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1992)
   C. Milli S. Knudsen, Obliged to Ask for Relief: The Journal of Cheshire County, New Hampshire,
       Pauper Records, 1885-1900 (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 2009)

24. New Hampshire Register (1796; 1807; 1810 – 1908; 1919 – 1921; 1942 – 1959)

25. Superior and Inferior Court Records
   A. Provincial Period (1630s – 1772)
   B. Belknap County unprocessed (1841 – 1899)
   C. Grafton County (1773 – 1899; Indexed 1773 – 1805 & 1817 – 1828)
   D. Hillsborough County (1772 – 1906+)
   Partially indexed: Pauline J. Osterlin, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Court Records,
       1772-1799) (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1996
   E. Merrimack County (1823 – 1900; Indexed 1824 – 1853)
   F. Rockingham County (1772 – 1980)
   G. Strafford County (1775 – 1899; partially indexed 1775 – c.1830)
   H. Sullivan County (1828 – 1972)

Revised March 2020