EXPLANATIONS

1. When places other than Heath and Massachusetts are named in the original records, they are given in the printed copy. 2. In all items from town records the original spelling is followed, and no attempt is made to correct errors appearing in the records. 3. The various spellings of a name should be examined, as items about the same family or individual may be found under different spellings. 4. A baptism is not printed, if it occurs within one year after the recorded date of birth of a child of the same name and parents or if it is clear that the child baptized is identical with the child of the birth record; but variations found in the baptismal record are added to the birth record. 5. The birth of a married woman is recorded under her maiden name, if it is known. But if the maiden name cannot be determined, the entry appears under the husband's name, with a dash enclosed in brackets, i.e., [ ], to signify that the maiden name is unknown. If it is not known whether the surname is that of a married or unmarried woman, ? m. is placed in brackets after the Christian name. 6. Additional information which does not appear in the original text of an item, i.e., any explanation, query, inference, or difference shown in other entries of the record, is bracketed. Parentheses are used to show the difference in the spelling of a name in the same entry, to indicate the maiden name of a wife, to enclose an imperfect portion of the original text, and to separate clauses in the original text

ABBREVIATIONS

• a. -- age
• abt. -- about
• 6. - born
• ho. - baptized
• bur. - buried
• ch. - child
• chn.-children
• d.--daughter; day; died
• Dea. -- deacon
• dec'd- deceased
• dup.-duplicate entry
• Eld. --Elder
• Ens. -- Ensign
• h. -- husband
• hrs. -- hours
• inf. - infant
• int. -- publishment of intention of marriage
• Jr. -- junior
• Lt. - Lieutenant
• m.-married; month
• min. -- minutes
• q.v. -which see; whom see
• rec. --recorded
• s.-son
• Sr.-senior
• w. -week; wife
• wid.--widow
• widr.--widower
• Y. - year