VITAL RECORDS of DUNSTABLE
[MIDDLESEX CO., MA]
INDEX AND ABBREVIATIONS & EXPLANATIONS
Excerpted from VITAL RECORDS of DUNSTABLE, Massachusetts To 1849
The Essex Institute, Salem Mass., 1913
[Transcribed by Dave Swerdfeger & Coralynn Brown]
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ABBREVIATIONS
VITAL RECORDS of DUNSTABLE
[MIDDLESEX CO., MA]
INDEX AND ABBREVIATIONS & EXPLANATIONS
Excerpted from VITAL RECORDS of DUNSTABLE, Massachusetts To 1849
The Essex Institute, Salem Mass., 1913
[Transcribed by Dave Swerdfeger & Coralynn Brown]
Abbreviations & Explanations at bottom of this page
EXPLANATIONS
The following records of births, marriages and deaths include all entries to be
found in the books of record kept by the town clerks; in the church records; in
the returns made to the Middlesex C. Quarterly Court; in the cemetery
inscriptions; and in private records found in family Bibles etc. These records
are printed in a condensed form in which every essential particular has been
preserved. All duplication of the town clerk's record has been eliminated, but
differences in entry and other explanatory matter appear in brackets.
Parentheses are used when they occur in the original record;also to indicate
the maiden name of a wife. When places other than Dunstable and Massachusetts
are named in the original records, they are given in the printed copy.
Marriages and intentions of marriage are printed under the names of both
parties. Double-dating is used in the months of January,February and March,
prior to 1752, whenever it appears in the original, and also, whenever from the
sequence of entry in the original the date may be easily determined. In all
records the original spelling of names is followed and in the alphabetical
arrangement the various forms should be examined, as items about the same
family may be found under different spellings, The early records of the
Congregational Church, organized in 1685, now the First Congregational Church
of Nashua, N. H., cannot be found.
DUNSTABLE
On October 16, 1673, the town of Dunstable was incorporated upon petition of
twenty-six proprietors of lands along the merrimack, Nashua and Souhegan
rivers. It derived its name from Dunstable, in Bedfordshire, England, the
former home of some of the eariest settlers of this locality. Jan. 4, 1733,
part established as Nottingham(N.H.). July 4, 1735, part included in the new
town of Litchfield(N.H.). By the divisional line established in 1741, between
assachusetts and New Hampshire, a large part of the original township,together
with what is now Nashua, N.H., was included in the latter state. June 8, 1747,
parts of Groton and Nottingham annexed. Jan. 6, 1752, part annexed to Groton.
June 7, 1753, part of Groton annexed. June 14, 1754, part of Nottingham
annexed. Apr. 24, 1755, part of Chelmsford annexed. June 22, 1789, part
established as the District of Tyngaborough, and Mar. 3, 1792, part annexed to
the District. In 1793, 1796 and 11803, parts of Groton annexed. Jan. 29, 1798,
and June 10, 1814, bounds between Dunstable and Tyngsborough were established.
Feb. 15, 1820, bounds between Dunstable and Groton were established. The
population of Dunstable at different periods was as follows:--
1765, 559 1820, 584
1776, 679 1830, 593
1790, 380 1840, 603
1800, 485 1850, 590
1810, 475 1900, 427
1910, 408.