OK - Cyndi's List did have the answer. Doh! (sorry!) ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/roots-l/genealog/genealog.quakerc1 "OLD STYLE & NEW STYLE DATES FOR THE QUAKER CALENDAR You are probably familiar with the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752/53. Because of the Quaker custom of not using standard names for months there is some modern confusion when refering to pre-1752 Quaker records. The following table should be of assistance. OLD STYLE NEW STYLE (Before 1753 the QUAKER (After Jan 1, 1753) year began in March) March (before 1753) 1st Month January (after 1753) April 2nd Month February May 3rd Month March June 4th Month April July 5th Month May August 6th Month June September 7th Month July October 8th Month August November 9th Month September December 10th Month October January 11th Month November February 12th Month December > From: btysingr@med.unc.edu (Barbara R. Tysinger) " On 2/18/06, Susan Daily <cullivans@gmail.com> wrote: > I have seen a record for a birth from 1648 transcribed two ways in the > NEHGR and online at another web site: > > (1) "Mary dau. of Roger & Susan Buck borne 23 (4) 1648" > > (2) and "born 23 June 1648" > > Neither place explained how they transcribed the original source - > Vital Records from Cambridge. I presume all the older towns in the > various counties used the same style to record their dates. > > If the new year begins March 23rd (more or less) - wouldn't the fourth > month be July? I am afraid I can't find a source to understand this > style of dating by numbering the months. > > Thanks for any help or links for more information. (Cyndi's list > didn't get into numbering of months in the Old Style.) > Susan >

Susan, In answer to one part of your original question, the towns did not necessarily use the same dating style. There was a lot of variety. You'll find that the Puritans through the 17th century were not supposed to be using names for the months or days. Simply put, it was paganism foisted on them by the Catholic Church. Many months and days are named for gods or people. So, we have one of the most common dating forms of 4: 11 m: 1677, which is Jan. 4, 1677. Sometimes we'll see this as 4: 11 m: 1677-8. This indicates that it was the 11th month of 1677 (Jan.) or the 1st month of 1678. Of course, you had to know to add 2 to the month in the second case. However, you can still find some people who would use the names. Catholic countries, such as Spain, adopted the Gregorian calendar in October, 1582. England, and its colonies, switched on Sept. 2/14, 1752. The last day on the Julian calendar was Tuesday, Sept. 2nd. The next day, Wednesday, was Sept. 14th. The study of this is fascinating. You should look into it much further, especially if your family tree spans many countries. A great many countries, including just counties, cantons, shires, etc., changed on many different dates. Russia didn't change until the 20th century. As Alaska was a part of Russia until the mid-1800's, their dates didn't change until purchased by the United States. Another calendar you should be aware of is the French Republican calendar which existed from 9-22-1792 to 12-31-1805. One of the best sites I've ever found on the subject is at http://www.norbyhus.dk/calendar.html. This site includes some of the most extensive tables giving dates when countries switched. There are many perpetual calendars available on the internet. Most handle the date change quite nicely. One that I have found very nice is http://www.calendarhome.com/tyc/original.html. John In loving memory of our son, Brennan. 11/10/88-5/31/01. http://john-slaughter.rootsweb.com/Brennan.html MA-Bay-Colony list moderator USGenWeb County Coordinator Essex County, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~maessex Middlesex County, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~mamiddle USGenWeb Town Coordinator Ipswich, Essex, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~macipswi >From: "Susan Daily" <cullivans@gmail.com> >To: MAMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: [MAMiddle] Re: Old style dates - numbering months >Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2006 20:11:11 -0600 > >OK - Cyndi's List did have the answer. Doh! (sorry!) > >ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/roots-l/genealog/genealog.quakerc1 > >"OLD STYLE & NEW STYLE DATES FOR THE QUAKER CALENDAR > >You are probably familiar with the change from the Julian to the Gregorian >calendar in 1752/53. Because of the Quaker custom of not using standard >names for months there is some modern confusion when refering to pre-1752 >Quaker records. The following table should be of assistance. > > OLD STYLE NEW STYLE > (Before 1753 the QUAKER (After Jan 1, 1753) > year began > in March) > >March (before 1753) 1st Month January (after 1753) >April 2nd Month February >May 3rd Month March >June 4th Month April >July 5th Month May >August 6th Month June >September 7th Month July >October 8th Month August >November 9th Month September >December 10th Month October >January 11th Month November >February 12th Month December > > > From: btysingr@med.unc.edu (Barbara R. Tysinger) " > >On 2/18/06, Susan Daily <cullivans@gmail.com> wrote: > > I have seen a record for a birth from 1648 transcribed two ways in the > > NEHGR and online at another web site: > > > > (1) "Mary dau. of Roger & Susan Buck borne 23 (4) 1648" > > > > (2) and "born 23 June 1648" > > > > Neither place explained how they transcribed the original source - > > Vital Records from Cambridge. I presume all the older towns in the > > various counties used the same style to record their dates. > > > > If the new year begins March 23rd (more or less) - wouldn't the fourth > > month be July? I am afraid I can't find a source to understand this > > style of dating by numbering the months. > > > > Thanks for any help or links for more information. (Cyndi's list > > didn't get into numbering of months in the Old Style.) > > Susan > > > > >============================== >Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the >last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: >http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx > _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/