====== ATTENTION ======
For those needing help with their Canadian Citizenship by Descent

Our Research Service team stands ready to help you with your request to learn more about your ancestors so you can apply for the Canadian Citizenship by Descent (as well as any other research). Here is some helpful information.

Certified and uncertified copies of Vermont vital records (births, marriages and death) can be acquired for a fee through three different entities in Vermont:

There are limitations on the years for which these records are available and who can order certified copies. 

For details on where to start and how to order see https://www.healthvermont.gov/stats/vital-records/order-vital-records which has links to the other sites listed above. In most cases, you do not need an apostille or authorization copy.

If a civil record cannot be found, the Catholic Diocese of Burlington might be able to help with sacramental records. Please see their website, vermontcatholic.org for information and options.

What Our Research Service Can Do for You

  • Research to identify all vital records for your specific Canadian lineage
  • Provide a free url to the records on FamilySearch ( you will need a free account on FS )
  • Provide digital copies of all records not freely available online
  • Provide a summary of the lineage and documentation

[see “How to Request Research” below]

What Our Research Service Can Do for Genealogists

The Society has a Research Team that you can hire to assist you with your genealogical quests in Vermont and border regions. We can help with research to:

  • break through brick wall problems
  • obtain records
  • help document lineage society applications
  • document immigrant families
  • translate French-Canadian records (bill per hour)
  • create genealogies of your family (ancestry or descendancy)
  • an in-person / zoom consultation to discuss how you can further research your question

Research requests start with an assessment of either five (5) hours or ten (10) hours duration (your choice) which includes evaluating your previous research, conducting preliminary research, and providing you with a detailed report of the findings. Your problem may be solved within this time but, if not, the report will have suggestions for further research that we could conduct on your behalf or avenues of research that you can continue on your own.

Our Research Report will include:

  • a distilled list of the information you provided
  • the specific question being researched
  • a list of the resources we examined and what was found in them
  • copies of pertinent documents found (or a free link for those found online)
  • suggestions for further research (if the case was not solved)
  • how we could help with that research and an estimate of time

We have at our disposal a research library with the largest collection of French-Canadian and Catholic records in the state; access to most of the digitized holdings of the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City as an affiliate member; a university library; and we can make arrangements for research at the State Archives, the Vermont Historical Society, and on-site for town records that have not been digitized.

Your research report becomes part of the library holdings (no personal data ever available) so that others using the library may benefit from the discoveries. If you have questions before you request research help, please email us at research@vtgenlib.org.

Research / translation rates are $25/hour for members and $35/hour for all others.

How to Request Research

Decide what specific question you want us to research. Examples could be:

  • John Q. Public married Jane C. Doe in Montpelier on 12 Mar. 1823. Who are Jane’s parents?
  • Mary, daughter of John Q. and Jane C. Public, was born in Montpelier on 2 Feb. 1824. Did she marry and where did she go?
  • John Q. Public of Rochester, N.Y., in the 1850 census was born in Vt. Can you identify his ancestry?
  • I am applying to the Mayflower Society with the lineage enclosed. Can you provide the documentation needed for this application beyond what I have already obtained?

Once you have established your specific question for us to research, include the data you have already compiled on this problem and include a list of sources you have already uncovered (scans of them or direct URLs to documents are helpful).

Send your information to our team at research@vtgenlib.org.

Then click on the “Purchase Research” button (below) to hire our research team.

We look forward to the opportunity to work with you on your family history!