EXPLANATIONS

1. When places other than Harvard or Massachusetts are named in the original records they are given in the printed copy.
2. In all items from the records the original spelling of the names is given, and any additions made to the spelling of the record are enclosed in brackets.
3. The various spellings of a name should be examined, as items about the same family or individual may be found under different spellings.
4. The birth of a married woman is recorded under her maiden name, when it is known, but if the maiden name is unknown the entry appears under the husband's name.
5. In taking records from gravestones it is often the case that the family name of a woman as given on the stone is not that under which she was born, so, therefore, many births may appear under a married name instead of the original, which is not shown on the stone. In many cases names are evidently those of wives, though not so specified. All dates of birth found on the gravestones in the town are given in the book, but from this it is not to be inferred that the persons are born in this town, as in a great many cases they are not.
6. Marriages and intentions are printed under the name of both parties. When both the marriage and intention are recorded, only the marriage record is printed, and the date of the intention is not given, except when needed to make more clear the date of the marriage. When the marriage appears without the intention recorded it is designated with an asterisk.
7. Additional information which does not appear in the original town record, i.e., any difference shown in orther records of the same person, is enclosed in parentheses, with the source of the information indicated.

ABBREVIATIONS
a age; aged m month
abt about NS new style
b born OS old style
sp baptized prob probably
bur buried rep reputed
ch child s son
d daughter; died; day Sr senior
Dea deacon SR Shaker record
dec deceased TC town copy
dup duplicate entry unm unmarried
h husband; hours w wife; weeks
inf infant wid widow
int intention of marriage widr widower
Jr junior y year
md married

CHURCH RECORDS
CR1 First Congregational Church
CR2 Calvinistic Congregational Church
CR3 Baptist Church, Still River

CEMETERY RECORDS
GR1 Old Cemetery
GR2 Shaker Cemetery
GR3 Bellevue Cemetery
GR4 Private cemetery near Littleton road


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The Massachusetts
Vital Records Project