Jane, thank you for your very interesting and informative reply. ----- Original Message ---- From: Jane <jffiske@comcast.net> To: mabristo@rootsweb.com Sent: Saturday, October 21, 2006 7:02:01 PM Subject: Re: [MABRISTO] Massachusetts Vital Records Interesting questions, Robert. The records were pretty bad in the beginning - 1841 - but got better as time went on. At first, there wasn't any system for recording deaths in most towns, and somewhere in my notes I have something I copied out of a Civil War pension application, that I've used in lectures - but where it is, or which town, I don't this moment remember. Anyway, it was a statement by the town clerk of a Bristol County town, about 1870, saying that he had tried to find the names of everyone who had died in town that year, by asking around, but figured he'd probably missed some. His language was more colorful, given the period, than mine. Death records are iffy, not only for that reason, but because the person giving the information might not have had all the facts right, like parents' names, or where the deceased was born, or age, etc. If you have two dates that look as though they might be death and burial, that could be it -- but don't count on it. If there was a probate, that might help; in some RI towns the only way to find a death date is in the inventory. Incidentally, a lot of the birth and death dates for Mass. towns BEFORE 1850 are taken from gravestones, which have their own set of problems with accuracy. Half the people listed as born in New Bedford weren't - but they are buried there, so in the absence of evidence to the contrary they were listed under NB births. I think we're lucky to have what we have. I grew up in New York State, where there were no statewide records until much later. Yes, I have heard, too, that the Mass. Archives is not happy with the indexing job done for the NEHGS site, and they have put up an index of their own, but not linked to images. Defects in indexing and linking might be attributed to its having been done "off shore" but problems with dates in the originals can't possibly be attributed to that. When YOU get frustrated, just imagine how that town clerk felt, trying to remember who had died that year, let alone when! Jane ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Akin" <robert_akin@yahoo.com> To: <mabristo@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, October 21, 2006 11:29 AM Subject: Re: [MABRISTO] Massachusetts Vital Records > Jane - thanks for the info. > > I just found another example where the same death was recorded both in Fairhaven and in Dartmouth - and the date of death was different in the two entries (one month difference). When a person died in the second half of the 19th century, was a death certificate issued and recorded by a town clerk? Could one date of death be when the person died while the other be when he/she was buried? In other words, how did the town clerk get the information recorded? And, what, in your opinion, is the strength of these vital records? > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: Jane <jffiske@comcast.net> > To: mabristo@rootsweb.com > Sent: Friday, October 20, 2006 1:16:33 PM > Subject: Re: [MABRISTO] Massachusetts Vital Records > > > Robert: > The town clerks supplied copies of their records to the State, and it's the > State copy that has been filmed. Sometimes the entry was duplicated if a > person was buried in a different town, as may be the case with Mary Aikin. > I've come across this situation fairly often in the earlier years, and often > the information is more complete in one town than in the other so it's good > to check both. > Hope this helps. > Jane > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Robert Akin" <robert_akin@yahoo.com> > To: <mabristo@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2006 6:16 PM > Subject: [MABRISTO] Massachusetts Vital Records > > > > As I am sure many of you know, the NEHGS has digitized the handwritten > vital records for many towns and counties from 1841 - 1910. I consider > these excellent sources, but I am finding that some incidents are recorded > in more than one book. For example, the death of Mary S. Akin is recorded > in the New Bedford Vital Records for 18 Nov 1874. The same death of Mary > Akin is also recorded in the vital records for Gosnold, Dukes Co., MA for 15 > Nov 1874. The New Bedford records states that the place of death is > Nauchacon (probably Naushon) Island. The Gosnold record says that the place > of death is Gosnold (the town that includes all of the Elizabeth Islands). > Based on this I am reasonably certain that these two records are for the > same death. > > > > I am trying to understand the process that was used to record these vital > statistics. Does anyone know how one death can get recorded in more than > one county? > > > > Thanks for your interest. > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > > From: Robert Akin <robert_akin@yahoo.com> > > To: mabristo@rootsweb.com > > Sent: Friday, September 29, 2006 3:08:40 PM > > Subject: Re: [MABRISTO] Israel Allen > > > > > > Hi Carol. I think that perhaps you didn't look close enough at the entry. > I found the entry on the NEHGS Web Site in the New Bedford Vital Records to > 1850. It says, and I quote, "1823, ALLEN, Israel, Feb. 16, 1823+[ch. > Stephen (s. Robert and Esther) and Hannah B., C.R.3. In lot with Emily H., > G.R.3.] Record Type: Birth; Town: New Bedford" > > > > So as with the data from "Vital Records of Rhode Island" by James Arnold > that I cited in my earlier posting, both sources show Israel Allen to be the > son of Stephen and Hannah B. Allen. The New Bedford record also states that > Stephen Allen was the son of Robert and Esther Allen. > > > > Robert Akin > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > > From: Carol H <choughton215@yahoo.com> > > To: mabristo@rootsweb.com > > Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2006 6:24:10 PM > > Subject: Re: [MABRISTO] Israel Allen > > > > > > Hi Larry > > > > Yes I went to NEHGS and did a search in the Vital Records for Mass up > until 1850. It was listed right there. > > > > Carol Sherman Houghton > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Do you Yahoo!? > > Get on board. You're invited to try the new Yahoo! 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