Introduction to Vital Records of Randolph, Massachusetts to 1875

Randolph, Massachusetts was incorporated as a separate town from Braintree on March 9, 1793. The vital records for this town were transcribed by Waldo C. Sprague from the original records held at the Randolph Town Hall, and the cemeteries of Randolph and Holbrook, Massachusetts. These transcriptions are part of the collection donated from the estate of Mr. Sprague in 1962 to NEHGS.

The original Vital Records of Randolph he consulted include:

Vols. 1-2: Containing all the vital records of the Town of Randolph up to 1850 or later.

Vol. 3: Town records, (1843-50) are copied into a separate volume. These would have been the returns sent to the Secretary of State’s Office after statewide Vital Records were required in 1841.

Within the volumes of the town records are abstracted copies of church records from the First Congregational Church in Randolph. These will be identified in the vital records with the following citations.

CR1 = First Congregational Church
CR1a = First Congregational Church
CR2 = unknown source
CR3 = unknown source

Included with his notebooks were thousands of small paper slips(the entire collection includes some 34,000 slips) measuring 6 x ½ inch in size. Sprague used these slips as an alphabetical index after he transcribed the records into his notebooks. The slips were sorted alphabetically, and tied into bundles. A series of slips were made from transcriptions with the citation of: CR2 and CR3. Unfortunately the original transcriptions these slips were made from were not donated in 1962. Therefore we can not verify for certain the particular churches he consulted for CR2 and CR3. In the first volume of Randolph Town records it is mentioned “Holbrook Church Records” but Sprague does not confirm that he used them.

In the tradition of the “Official Series” of Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850, Sprague also abstracted vital statistics from the local cemeteries. For instance you will find many births recorded in the vital records with the reference of GR [Gravestone Record]. Sprague included the dates of birth from hundreds of these gravestones located in Randolph, however the date being on the gravestone does not necessarily prove the individual was born in Randolph. You will find inscription data abstracted for birth and death dates from the following Randolph and Holbrook cemeteries:

GR1 = Central Cemetery, Randolph, Mass.
GR2 = Union Cemetery, Holbrook, Mass. (formerly East Randolph).
GR3 = Oakland Cemetery, Randolph, Mass.
GR4 = Wendell Cemetery, Holbrook, Mass. (formerly East Randolph).

You can also search these same cemeteries in the Master Cemetery database.

Included in the vital records are the bible records and private records kept by some local families of Randolph:

PR1 = Moses Whitcomb's Family Record now in possession of the Quincy Historical Society.
PR2 = Spear Family Bible Extracts given August 17 1893 by Dr. Bradford L. Wales of Randolph to Samuel A. Bates of Braintree, from a diary of his father Dr. Jonathan Wales of Randolph, and now in possession of the Quincy Historical Society. The Diary was then in possession of his son George W. Wales of Randolph and was said to cover the period 1798 – 1850.
PR3 = Jonathan Clark Family Records (1792 - 1859) From a copy of Bible records in possession of Mrs. Maud L. Fraser of Taunton made by Dr. Cora Burt Gross of Wollaston and given to the Quincy Historical Society, 1943.

See the database now