Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts to 1849

Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849. The Essex Institute. Softcover, (1914), repr. 2002, 2007, Alphabetical listings, 460 pp.

The Vital Records of Chelmsford, was originally published by the Essex Institute in 1914, and includes the period of 1653 to 1849. Since the original boundaries of Chelmsford included portions of the towns of Littleton, Wameset, Westford, Dunstable, Carlisle, and Lowell, some records from these locations are included. The book contains approximately 30,000 individual listings in the three primary categories of births, marriages, and deaths.

The authors and publisher, in describing the contents of the book, write: 'On May 18, 1653, the General Court granted the petition of several of the inhabitants of 'Concord & Woodbourne for the erecting of a new plantacon on Merremacke River, neere to Pawtuckett,' and May 29, 1655, the Court granted the name thereof to be called Chelmsford.' They go on to say, 'The records of births, marriages and deaths include all entries to be found in the books of record kept by the town clerks; in the church records; in the returns made to the Middlesex Co. Quarterly Court; in the cemetery inscriptions; and in private records found in family Bibles, etc. These records are printed in a condensed form in which every essential particular has been preserved. All duplication of the town clerk' s record has been eliminated, but differences in entry and other explanatory matter appear in brackets. Parentheses are used when they occur in the original record; also to indicate the maiden name of a married woman. When places other than Chelmsford and Massachusetts are named in the original records, they are given in the printed copy. Marriages and intentions of marriage are printed under the names of both parties. Double-dating is used in the months of January, February and March, prior to 1752 whenever it appears in the original, and also, whenever from the sequence of entry in the original, the date may be easily determined. In all records the original spelling of names is followed, and in the alphabetical arrangement the various forms should be examined, as items about the same family may be found under different spellings.'

This book, so long out of print, is a quality addition to any researcher's Massachusetts library!

Book #: J-E1104
ISBN: 1596411043