For Robert and anyone else who's interested, I have to add this bit of trivia, although it is for Plymouth and not Bristol Co. In the Duxbury VRs before 1850, you will find the birthdates of many women listed under their married surnames. It follows that not all were born in Duxbury, just as with the New Bedford gravestones. I've heard that a town clerk got a fee for each entry and got carried away, but whether that's true or not I have no idea - probably it was just an overzealousness on the part of the people who put the printed version together around 1911. It's useful, however, once you catch on to the system. I know that Mass. has a reputation for having wonderful records, and we do, compared to many other states. But I think that people from other areas of the country often have an exaggerated view of the uniformity of those records. The errors and inconsistencies make for more interesting research sometimes. Jane