Sudbury, volume 1, 1676-1779, births, marriages, and deaths
Description:
Massachusetts originally had no state wide standard for recording birth, marriage or death information. The vital records were kept haphazardly in each community until 1841 when the state required a copy of each event be sent to the state office. These records were created between 1641 to 1830. It is not necessarily a complete record, but it records many of the births, marriages and deaths of Sudbury and then East Sudbury, which comprises part of Wayland's history. The time period covered in this set is 1677 to 1780.
Title supplied by cataloger.
The most complicated set of records are the births. It is set up under the alphabetical title, but it is not alphabetical or chronological order in the listing. The “A” list continues on page 173, the “Bs” continues on page 175 and then again in 347, “Cs” continues on page 32, “Gs” continues on page 182 and then again on 354, “Hs” continues on page 357, “Is” appears in the “Hs” pages, “Ps” continues on page 189, and “Rs” continues on page 192 and then again back to page 154 after the “Ts”. In the birth set, you will find notations of "paid" or "not paid" next to some births - doctor's payment? There is also double dating. This is a time when the British Empire, including the American colonies had the Julian calendar replaced by the Gregorian calendar, thus making the new legal year began on 1 January rather than 25 March. In the American colonies dual dating of the year occurred other during other months of the year than in only the months of January, February and March. Some births are not recorded at the time of the event but later as family unit such as such as Peter Haynes’ children all born in the 1650’s or Noah Clap’s and Richard Moore’s children born in the 1690’s. They can be found as a group under the appropriate alphabetical letter.
The marriage set of records, starting on page 197, are also placed under the alphabetic letters, but it is not alphabetical or chronological order in the listings. The time period covered by this set is 1689 to 1830. The male surname is used for alphabetical letter title, not the female’s.
The death set of records, starting on page 291, are placed under the alphabetic letters titles, but it is not alphabetical or chronological order in the listings. The oldest record is January 4, 1642 for Thomas Kackbread (Cakebread), the first town miller. The time period covered by this set is 1642 to the Wheeler children who died in 1830.
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