INDEX
Vital Records Of The Town Of Halifax Massachusetts
To The End Of The Year 1849

Literally Transcribed Under The Direction Of
George Ernest Bowman, Editor Of "The Mayflower Descendant"
And "Vital Records Of Brewster, Mass."

Published By The Massachusetts Society Of Mayflower Descendants
At The Charge Of The Old Colony Town Record Fund
Boston, Massachusetts 1905.

Editor- George Ernest Bowman
Nathaniel U. Walker
Edward H. Whorf
Stanley W. Smith
George Ernest Bowman
Coommittee on Publication; Charles A. Hopkins

[transcribed by Dave Swerdfeger]








EXPLANATORY NOTE.

THE Vital Records of the Town of Halifax, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849, are found in five different volumes of the town records. The first three volumes were also used for records of town meetings and other miscellaneous entries, the vital records being scattered through the books according to the convenience of the various town clerks who entered them. The fourth volume is a small quarto book containing vital records only, and the "Register" is the large folio for recording births, marriages and deaths which was issued to all cities and towns by the Commonwealth in 1844.

The following pages contain a literal copy of every record of a Birth, Intention (or Publishment) of Marriage, Marriage and Death found in the first four volumes, and of every record in the "Register" to the end of the year 1849. In the "Register" each entry extended across two pages facing each other, therefore the first part of each of these entries has been printed on the left-hand, or even numbered page, with the remainder of the entry on the opposite page, the consecutive numbering of the entries being duplicated on the right-hand page to facilitate the connection of the two parts.

CONTENTS.

    Original Records,
    Volume I Page 1
    Volume II 67
    Volume III 95
    Volume IV 121
    "Register" 131
    Index of Persons 179
    Index of Places 210

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

THE Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, composed of male and female descendants of the Passengers in the "Mayflower" on that memorable voyage which terminated at Plymouth, New England, in December, 1620, was organized at Boston on 28 March, 1896, to perpetuate the memory of those Mayflower Pilgrims and to collect and preserve all historical data relating to them. Three years later, in January, 1899, the Society began the publication of an illustrated quarterly magazine, "The Mayflower Descendant," devoted to the genealogy, history and biography of the Pilgrims, their ancestors and their descendants. Seven volumes of this magazine have now been completed, comprising more than two thousand octavo pages, a large proportion of the space being given up to the printing of literal copies of ancient records never before published and heretofore inaccessible to the great majority of those especially interested in them. Among the priceless records which are thus being preserved from destruction, and put within easy reach of every one who desires to consult them, may be mentioned the Town Records of Births, Intentions of Marriage, Marriages and Deaths; the Probate and Land Records of the old Plymouth Colony and the Counties of Plymouth, Barnstable and Bristol; Gravestone Records; Church Records of Baptisms; Admissions, Deaths, etc.; Records from Family Bibles, Diaries and other Private Memoranda.

In order to hasten the important work of preserving the town records of births, intentions of marriage, marriages and deaths, which in many cases are already badly damaged and are rapidly wearing out, the Massachusetts Society decided to print in separate volumes, as rapidly as the necessary funds could be secured, literal copies of the Vital Records of the Towns in Plymouth and Barnstable Counties, and contributions were solicited for the "Cape Cod Town Record Fund," to be used in printing literal copies of the records of the towns in Barnstable County, and for the "Old Colony Town Record Fund," to be used in printing literal copies of the records of the towns in Plymouth County. The first volume to be issued in this series was the Vital Records of Brewster, Mass., published in Introductory November, 1904, at the charge of the Cape Cod Town Record Fund. Two other volumes, the Vital Records of Truro, Mass., and the Vital Records of Eastham, Mass., are now in press and are being forwarded as rapidly as the contributions to this fund will allow.

The present volume is the first to be issued at the charge of the Old Colony Town Record Fund and contains literal copies of all records of births, intentions of marriage, marriages and deaths, to the end of the year 1849, found in the records of the Town of Halifax, Mass. A few records after 1849 have also been printed, in order to include every vital record contained in the first four of the town's books. The copy for the printer was made directly from the original records, and, before it was put into the printer's hands, was carefully compared with those records by the Editor, who has also revised all of the proof sheets.

The Editor gratefully acknowledges the courteous assistance of Mr. Thomas D. Morton, the present Town Clerk of Halifax, who personally copied the greater part of the records and compiled the list of Town Clerks, and in many ways facilitated the work of copying and verification.

The progress of this work of preserving and making accessible the records of these towns which form a part of the old Plymouth Colony depends upon the liberality of those interested in the genealogy and history of this section, and the order in which the records of the different towns will be published will be determined by the wishes of those who contribute to the respective funds. All receipts from sales of copies of the books published at the charge of either fund will be added to that fund to assist in printing the records of other towns.

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE OLD COLONY TOWN RECORD FUND.
  • Adelbert Ames
  • Edward T. Barker
  • Mrs. George A. Bowman
  • George Ernest Bowman
  • Mrs.. George W. Copeland
  • Mrs.. Henry F. Dimock
  • Mrs.. Samuel Eliot
  • Mrs.. Ira H. Evans
  • Henry N. Fairbanks
  • Miss Mittie B. Fairbanks
  • J. Levering Jones
  • Eugene Kingman, M.D.
  • Mrs.. Charles S. Maurice
  • Arthur I. Nash
  • Herbert Nash
  • Frank F. Stanley
  • William E. Stone
  • Mason W. Tyler
  • Mrs.. Cyrus Walker
  • Mrs.. George B. Whittlesey
  • Mrs.. Henry W. Wilkinson


SUBSCRIBERS WHO HAVE PAID IN ADVANCE FOR COPIES OF THE HALIFAX VITAL RECORDS.
  • Edward S. Atwood
  • Miss Adeline A. Bigelow
  • Mrs.. George A. Bowman
  • George Ernest Bowman
  • Colorado Society of Colonial Wars
  • Mrs.. George W. Copeland
  • Mrs.. Henry F. Dimock
  • Mrs.. Samuel Eliot
  • Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.
  • Miss Mittie B. Fairbanks
  • Mrs.. Henry Gay
  • William Prescott Greenlaw
  • Mrs.. Thomas B. Griggs
  • Thomas Gurney
  • Theodore S. Lazell
  • Mrs.. Charles S. Maurice
  • Samuel P. May
  • Mrs.. James L. Morgan
  • Mrs.. William Trutch Preston
  • Charles H. Russell
  • Stephen D. Salmon
  • Henry Southworth Shaw
  • Thomas T. Sherman
  • Stanley W. Smith
  • Mrs.. John M. Soule
  • Myles Standish, M.D.
  • Frank F. Stanley
  • Walter H. Sturtevant
  • Clifford M. Swan
  • Miss Mary Waterman
  • John C. B. Woods.


HISTORICAL NOTES.

THE TOWN OF HALIFAX, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, was incorporated 14 July, 1734 (New Style). It was formed from parts of the towns of Middleborough, Pembroke and Plympton. On 20 February, 1824, a part of the town of Bridgewater was annexed to Halifax, and on 16 March, 1831, a part of the town of Plympton was annexed. On 11 April, 1857, a part of Halifax was annexed to East Bridgewater and the bounds between the two towns established. On 6 February, 1863, the bounds between Halifax and Plympton were established, and a part of each town was annexed to the other town.

POPULATION OF THE TOWN OF HALIFAX.
  • 1765 (Colonial) 556
  • 1776 (Colonial) 672
  • 1790 (U.S.) 664
  • 1800 (U.S.) 642
  • 1810 (U.S.) 703
  • 1820 (U.S.) 749
  • 1830 (U.S.) 708
  • 1840 (U.S.) 734
  • 1850 (U.S.) 784
  • 1855 (Mass.) 786
  • 1860(U.S.) 766
  • 1865 (Mass.) 722
  • 1870 (U.S.) 619
  • 1875 (Mass.) 568
  • 1880 (U.S.) 542
  • 1885 (Mass.) 530
  • 1890 (U.S.) 562
  • 1895 (Mass.) 497
  • 1900 (U.S.) 522
  • 1905 (Mass.) 497


TOWN CLERKS OF HALIFAX, With Dates of their Election.
  • Ignatius Cushing, 18 July, 1734
  • David Bosworth, 31 March, 1735
  • Noah Cushing, 18 March, 1745
  • Robert Waterman, 17 March, 1755
  • Noah Cushing, 8 March, 1756
  • Robert Waterman, 14 March, 1757
  • Noah Cushing, 19 March, 1759
  • Ebenezer Tomson, 21 March, 1763
  • Noah Cushing, 10 March, 1766
  • Ebenezer Tomson, 12 March, 1770
  • Noah Cushing, 14 March, 1774
  • Ebenezer Tomson, 13 March, 1775
  • Moses Inglee, 18 March, 1776
  • Ebenezer Tomson, 17 March, 1777
  • Noah Cushing, 12 March, 1781
  • Ebenezer Tomson, 11 March, 1782
  • Josiah Tomson, 24 March, 1794
  • Obadiah Lyon, 11 March, 1816
  • Nathaniel Morton, 17 March, 1817
  • Zadock Thompson, 14 March, 1825
  • Edwin Inglee, 11 March, 1850
  • Nathaniel Morton, 23 March, 1874
  • Thomas D. Morton, 30 April, 1883
  • Thomas D. Morton, 17 March, 1884
  • Morton S. Thompson, 4 March, 1901
  • James T. Thomas, 3 November,1903
  • Thomas D. Morton, 7 March, 1904


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