Hi Shirley: Not knowing the town you went to, I can understand some of the town clerks being very difficult to deal with. Some towns have had their records destroyed, marked up etc., so to preclude that, they don't allow anyone to see the actual records. If it is anything before 1910 I suggest going to the MA State Archives and looking to your heart's content. Even the MA Vital Records is good, but you do have to pay a fee to research there, and there are some instances where you aren't allowed to see the record that you ask for. I've been fortunate to not have this problem. Yes it is nice to have the priviledge of seeing for yourself, but if the town clerk won't allow it, then ask to have the name checked for other spellings, and a couple of years either side of when you think the date is. I will also say this - like everywhere else, the town clerk has many duties, and they too have had budget cuts, etc. Same work, but have less people to do it with. Sad, but that is the case. It doesn't hurt to bring along some donuts, etc. You might get a bit more from the Town Clerk doing that. If you know it is a woman, a nice bouquest of flowers perhaps. Both Sutton and Douglas have tables for you to sit at, and you are able to peruse the records yourself. Uxbridge, is standing room only, and not much room to spread yourself out, but on the whole, they are quite nice there. Regards, Alison Franks Archivist, Rawson Family Association ----- Original Message ----- From: <BellBotm13@aol.com> To: <MAWORCES-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2002 11:49 AM Subject: [MAWORCES] Massachusetts Laws > Hi, > Maybe someone can shed some light on my question, on the laws of searching > records in Mass. > > I have been doing research for neary four years on my family and ancestors. I > have been to many Town clerks offices, and they have been very friendly and > helpful, however, the other day I went to a small town in Ma. to look up a > birth in 1905, and the clerk told me she had to do the look up because it > wasn't 100yrs old. This is the second time this has happened. How come some > clerks will give you the whole book or let you go in the indexes to check > yourself and others won't.? They don't realize that there are many > misspellings and if we could look ourselfs we might identify that one of > those misspelled persons is the one we are looking for. I almost missed out > on one the other day because of this. I was searching for an Oliver.......... > She said for that date she only had an Olavate, and the date was two days > different than I gave her. I then asked her to just see that entry, and I > deciphered that the name was misspelled and I read it to be Olavah. It was > indeed the man I was looking for. Some of these clerks don't realize what > entails in searching. > > Any input on this? > > SHIRLEY > > > ==== MAWORCES Mailing List ==== > To UNsub go here: > http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/usa/MA/worcester.html > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.393 / Virus Database: 223 - Release Date: 9/30/2002