Vital Records of Weston, Mass. to 1850

From the introduction:

“In addition to the Town Records, private records of Births, Deaths, and Marriages have been printed. These include the list of deaths, about five hundred in number, kept by the Rev. Samuel Woodward from 1751 to 1782, and continued by a later hand to 1786; one kept by Mrs. Rebecca Baldwin, 1762-1788; one kept by Mrs. Miranda Kendal, 1814-1833; and also the names and dates upon the gravestones which were erected in the four cemeteries previous to November, 1900. Some discrepancies in these lists show that the date of death and burial were sometimes confounded. Very few of these deaths are recorded upon the town books. Dr. Kendal, in his Century Sermon, Jan. 12, 1813, says that he has no correct source from which to ascertain the number of deaths during the first century of the town's existence, but that during his own ministry of about thirty years, beginning in 1783, there had been four hundred and sixteen. By actual count, the town records contain but nine of these. He must, therefore, have obtained the list from a manuscript of his own. It becomes interesting to inquire what became of this record. It seems to have disappeared with the first volume of the town records (1695-1754), the last notice of which dates from Dr. Kendal's Century Sermon, preached a short time before his death. The town will be glad to hear from either or both of these records. Some of the names on Dr. Kendal's list have been recovered from private sources, gravestones, etc., but of many of them there is now no record.

The dates, pages 228-233, have been supplied from Family Registers. The marriages from 1815 to 1839 were probably all returned at the last date, in most cases the year only being reported.

In tracing genealogies, a great deal of trouble arises from the repetition of the same name through two or more generations. On pages 578-9, four generations of Uphams (three of them Thomas) had wives named Ruth. The titles Mrs. and Miss were carelessly used. The last has in several cases been applied to a widow, and at least in one case is so placed upon a gravestone. The first was often given by way of respect, but it is sometimes confusing. The title Junior was often omitted, rendering it difficult to determine whether father or son was intended. The Town of Western, now called Warren, was sometimes mistaken for Weston, and returns meant for that town were sent here.

In addition to the data found in this book, birthdays and ages are found in the book of Tax Lists, pages 45-49, and lists of schoolchildren, with ages, in the Records of the Town Clerk, 1804-1826, pages 400-417. The Tax Lists themselves (since few escaped taxation) are of great value.

The baptisms and other records from the Church books have been included, since these form a valuable supplement to those of the town, the record of baptism often being the only mention of a person. The Rev. William Williams kept a very complete record of persons connected with the church while he had charge of the church books, from 1709 to 1751. From 1709 to 1825 the town had oversight of the church in everything but spiritual matters, voting the minister's salary, providing gravestones at his decease, and making arrangements for the ordination of his successor. The church records during this time and a few later entries from note-books of the Rev. Dr. Field have been printed in full with the exception of certain cases of public acknowledgment and the details of two cases of church discipline. As these seemed to serve no good purpose at the present day, they have been omitted. Similar records may be found in the church histories of the period. There is a complete copy of these records in manuscript.

Those who " owned the Covenant" or acknowledged their intellectual belief in the doctrines of the church, without personal Christian experience, having been themselves baptized, usually in infancy, were allowed baptism for their children, but were not themselves admitted to the Lord's Supper. This practice continued through the early part of the ninteenth century. This, sometimes called the Half-way Covenant, is on page 527 called the covenant assented to by the young people. On page 540, which is probably the one printed at the end of Mr. Williams's book alluded to on page 530, it is called the Covenant for Non-Communicants. This last and the Covt. for Communicants, page 539, were not recorded in the church books, but were written on the inside of the cover of a bible belonging to the Rev. Samuel Woodward, and probably used by him throughout his entire ministry. They were printed in the book recently published by the First Church from advanced sheets of the present work. The original covenant entered into in 1709 is identical with that signed by the minister in Newton, in behalf of the church at that place after their records were destroyed by fire in 1770. It is probably to be found in the records of other churches, where these have not been destroyed.”

This database contains 3,302 births, 2,717 baptisms, 3,004 marriages 2,701 marriage intentions, 3,541 deaths, 968 church admissions, 177 church dismissals, 193 errata records, and 958 ‘other’ records. The images of the original book pages may be viewed from the search results page.

This volume is also available in our Boston research library, call number: F74.W74 W57 1901.

To locate additional genealogy and local history resources, search our library catalog.