Angela, I would disagree that the records of the town clerk are sparse. Town records are the basis of state records so that if the NEHGS has a record of it, you have to consider that the burial was forwarded to the state from another town, Milford as you say or Ashland. I tend to doubt it given the info that you have and also given that the Catholic parish was well established. It is possible that prior to coming to Hopkinton her husband was buried in an earlier town of residence and that her "remains" were transferred there or the death recorded there. From personal experience I can tell you that the only Catholic parish of St. John in Hopkinton will have no real info. Also you have to consider that the fire in which she was killed was a huge blaze that may have left no body to bury anywhere.