Boston Births 1800-1849

On deposit at the Boston City Hall Archives is a volume entitiled 'An Index to Boston Births Registered 1800 - 1849.' On December 20, 1990, Judith A. McCarthy, City Registrar, allowed the New England Historic Genealogical Society to borrow this volume for the purpose of photoduplication. It is from this copy that the following transcription has been made.

The transcription was produced by Robert J. Dunkle and Ann S. Lainhart.

In the preface to the photoduplicated copy, the following comments are made: There is no title page or descriptive material associated with this index. It, in turn, is based on an earlier handwritten index that recorded family groups alphabetically only by the initial letter of the surname. The handwritten annotations in the typescript are of unknown provenance. [These annotations are so noted in the present text by italics.]

Births registered in the City of Boston for the period 1809 - 1849 have never been published. Furthermore, the City of Boston did not come into full compliance with state registration of vital records until 1849, so that the state records 1841 - 1849 are conspicously lacking Boston vital events. The present index is especially useful in that it gives the names of the parents for each birth recorded.

It should be noted that the number of births registered is but a fraction of those that must have occurred at Boston over the first five decades of the nineteenth century. Many births went unrecorded or have been lost. Clearly births to recent immigrant groups are vastly under represented. For example., not a single McCarthy, O'Brien or Sullivan birth is found in the record (one Sullivan is penciled in). A quick comparison to Boston City Directories or census schedules of the period shows that this is totally unpredicted based on known residents.

Researchers should consult Boston Church records for baptisms during this period.

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