I am very new at this list business=please accept my apology in advance if a number of my response shows up, or not in the right format. CT town clerks think of their records as their personal private property. Their "babies". The law states you have to be a dues paying member of a recognized genealogy society. Somewhere on the CT site is the specific rule and a list of recognized societies. Pay your annual dues from seven to thirty dollars, then you can visit any town in CT and look through their records. And they will still question you. My favorite is to write a letter asking for a certified copy of my grandparents death/birth certificate enclose five dollars and a SASE. State your relationship to the deceased and the date of occurance. This has not failed me yet. This has worked in Northern CT towns, but I am heading toward New Haven county and frankly you are not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling about my research. Ancestry.com has the CT vital death records on their member web site for deaths after 1946. The State Library has the headstone collection for older deaths then you can match it up with obituaries. Hopefully, I am making sense. I am not a night person. pam baldini _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com

You are correct with trying to get a copy from CT. my husband was born in Derby and he passed away two years ago. My sister in-law drove to Derby to get a copy of her brothers birth certificate for me. They would not give her one, I had to send a copy of his death certificate with my request for his birth certificate and then they would only give me the business card size that had no vital information. They informed me that if I wanted a full size copy of this birth I needed to contact a recognized CT. genealogist. I would like to know who is getting paid!!! Brenda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pamela Baldini" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, January 18, 2002 11:13 PM Subject: [CTNEWHAV] CT town clerks > I am very new at this list business=please accept my apology in advance if a > number of my response shows up, or not in the right format. > > CT town clerks think of their records as their personal private property. > Their "babies". The law states you have to be a dues paying member of a > recognized genealogy society. Somewhere on the CT site is the specific rule > and a list of recognized societies. Pay your annual dues from seven to > thirty dollars, then you can visit any town in CT and look through their > records. And they will still question you. > > My favorite is to write a letter asking for a certified copy of my > grandparents death/birth certificate enclose five dollars and a SASE. State > your relationship to the deceased and the date of occurance. This has not > failed me yet. > > This has worked in Northern CT towns, but I am heading toward New Haven > county and frankly you are not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling about my > research. > > Ancestry.com has the CT vital death records on their member web site for > deaths after 1946. The State Library has the headstone collection for older > deaths then you can match it up with obituaries. > > Hopefully, I am making sense. I am not a night person. > > pam baldini > > _________________________________________________________________ > Join the world's largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. > http://www.hotmail.com > > > ==== CTNEWHAV Mailing List ==== > Need to reach Colleen, the discussion coordinator? Send her an email > at <[email protected]>. > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >

Is it just me or does this example seem unlawful or just offensive? These records belong to us and our children. They chronicle OUR lives. They don't belong to the clerks. They are merely keepers of records the government has accumulated. If you ask me, genealogists should need permission from the family to access our records, not the other way around. What happened to serving the public? I'm sitting here in PA and it's easier to find my ancestors in England than it is in CT. England has put TONS of their records on line, and when I send for a certificate- birth, marriage or death, it arrives in 2 weeks flat. No picture ID needed. No genealogy society membership necessary. MaryLynn Brenda Andrews wrote: You are correct with trying to get a copy from CT. my husband was born inDerby and he passed away two years ago. My sister in-law drove to Derby toget a copy of her brothers birth certificate for me. They would not giveher one, I had to send a copy of his death certificate with my request forhis birth certificate and then they would only give me the business cardsize that had no vital information. They informed me that if I wanted afull size copy of this birth I needed to contact a recognized CT.genealogist. I would like to know who is getting paid!!!Brenda----- Original Message -----From: "Pamela Baldini" To: Sent: Friday, January 18, 2002 11:13 PMSubject: [CTNEWHAV] CT town clerks> I am very new at this list business=please accept my apology in advance ifa> number of my response shows up, or not in the right format.>> CT town clerks think of their records as their personal private property.> Their "babies". The law states you have to be a dues paying member of a> recognized genealogy society. Somewhere on the CT site is the specificrule> and a list of recognized societies. Pay your annual dues from seven to> thirty dollars, then you can visit any town in CT and look through their> records. And they will still question you.>> My favorite is to write a letter asking for a certified copy of my> grandparents death/birth certificate enclose five dollars and a SASE.State> your relationship to the deceased and the date of occurance. This has not> failed me yet.>> This has worked in Northern CT towns, but I am heading toward New Haven> county and frankly you are not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling about my> research.>> Ancestry.com has the CT vital death records on their member web site for> deaths after 1946. The State Library has the headstone collection forolder> deaths then you can match it up with obituaries.>> Hopefully, I am making sense. I am not a night person.>> pam baldini>> _________________________________________________________________> Join the world's largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.> http://www.hotmail.com>>> ==== CTNEWHAV Mailing List ====> Need to reach Colleen, the discussion coordinator? Send her an email> at .>>> ==============================> To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records,go to:> http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237>>==== CTNEWHAV Mailing List ====To post messages to the New Haven County, CT discussion list, send them [email protected]==============================To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to:http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/