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Boston Deaths, 1700-1799: Full Introduction

Robert J. Dunkle and Ann S. Lainhart
Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999 

During the 18th century, the Boston town clerk did not keep records of deaths.  There are numerous sources in which death and burial records can be found: newspaper obituaries and death notices, church records, sexton’s burial bills, private diaries, published Bible records, vital records of other Massachusetts towns, manuscripts at Boston City Hall Archives and the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and cemetery records.  While much of this material is in print, it can take an enormous amount of time and effort to search all the possibilities.  The purpose of this book, and the companion volume on Boston cemeteries, is to save the researcher time by identifying the source or sources in which the death of a particular person may be found.

This book is primarily a reference work to allow researchers to easily find death records, notices, and obituaries.  We include the pertinent information, if given, from each source:  name of deceased, date of death, and the code for the source.  Some additional biographical information or details on the death may be found in the original sources.  There are duplicates of many entries, especially well known people, but we present them all since there may be different or contradictory information from the different sources.  In some cases we have the death date, the burial date, and the date of the death notice from a paper for one individual.

As the compilers were preparing the final copy of this work, it came to their attention that the Colonial Society of Massachusetts were preparing for publication The Records of the Boston Almshouse.  Contained in these records are the deaths of those who died there, many of which are not contained in the following compilation.

In the introduction to the first volume of the Reports of the Boston Records Commissioners series in the Appendix A, is an extract of a report form the Joint Committee on the Public Library citing the deficiencies in the city records as pertain to its vital records:

It may be assumed that the annual number of births is about 3 in every 100 inhabitants, and the deaths about the same. 1st. From 1630 to 1700, the probable average population was 3000, giving 90 births per annum, and in 70 years 6,300 births.  Our public records contain but 1,850 births.  2nd.  From 1700 to 1744, the average population was 13,000, or 390 per annum, yielding for 44 years, 17,160 births.  Our record has 20,000 for the whole period, so is reasonably full.  3d.  From 1744 to 1807, average population 20,000; births, 600 per annum; for 63 years 37,800 births.  Our records contain about 5,000 names, or not one seventh.  For the century from 1744 to 1849, the births must have accounted for at least 125,000 and our records preserve the names of but 8,500, or less than seven percent.  As to deaths, our record is even worse.  Out of at least 60,000 deaths which have occurred in Boston between 1630 and 1810, we have record of some 4,700 only.

From various publications, the following tabulation was made to verify the number of deaths that the compilers were finding in various records.  For the years 1758 to 1774, the numbers were obtained from “Boyle’s Journal” in the New England Historic Genealogical Register, volumes 84 [1930] and 85 [1931]:

 

Year                 Whites              Blacks              Total

1701                                                                 146

1702                 441                   59?                   500

1703                 159                                           159

1722                 240                   33                     273

1755                 380                   54                     434

1756                 419                   65                     484

1758                 467                   57                     524

1759                 554                   64                     618

1761                 448                   83                     531

1762                 390                   66                     456

1763                 344                   63                     407

1764                 471                   77                     548

1765                 494                   51                     545

1766                 389                   44                     433

1767                 403                   65                     468

1769                 579                   66                     645

1770                 404                   79                     483

1773                 533                   62                     595

1774                 547                   52                     599

Total                 7808                 1040                 8848

Ave. [19 yrs]     410.94              54.74                465.68

 

POPULATION: 1700 - 7000; 1722 - 10567; 1765 - 15520; 1790 - 18038; 1800 - 24937; 1810 - 33250.

As the above simplistic chart shows, there were, on average, about 466 deaths per year; therefore, for the 100 year period, there would be approximately 46,600 deaths to be recorded.

Sources

BOOKS

A1:  BOSTON ATHENAEUM: Index of Obituaries in Boston Newspapers, 1704-1800 (G. K. Hall, [Boston,, 1968], 3 volumes).  From the papers of Ogden Codman, the Atheneaum published his compilation of deaths taken from the various newspapers of the time.  In some cases, the entries in volume one are repeated in volumes two and three, but have not been repeated in this work.

BA - Boston City Hall Archives, Index to Deaths, 1700-1799, copied from Holbrook fiche.

MS:  There is on deposit at the Boston City Hall Archives a small volume of Deaths in Boston.  This work, author unknown, does not make any reference to the sources from which these deaths were compiled.  Many years ago, one of the editors of this volume obtained permission to make a copy and it is from this copy that the entries were secured.

COPELAND: In 1856, Elisha G. Copeland compiled a volume of Boston Deaths from Various Sources.  This volume has been copied in full.  In transcribing his work, we have noted the sources that he quotes without the addition of the fact that it was taken from his work.

OCB: Old Coroners Bill.  A Book entitled Deaths / from Various Sources / 1700-1800 and lent to the compilers by George Sanborn, was purchased by him at a flea market.  On the first page of the volume is written two names: E.G. Copeland and Sarah Elizabeth Copeland.  These entries are not of the same hand as the volume referenced above as Copeland.  It would appear that this volume was acquired by Copeland and used as a basis for his much larger volume.  It is Mr. Sanborn’s intent to deposit this book at The New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston.  In all cases, the date given is for either the date of the inquest or the date payment for the inquest was requested, rather than the date of death.  [In reversing the book, starting at the back page, dated 23 April 1827, City of Boston / Record of the proceedings / of the / Committee for the Reduction of the City Debt.  These notes continue through the meeting of 20 July 1839.]

D1a, D1b, D1c, D2, D3:  John Haven Dexter, Memoranda of the Town of Boston in the 18th & 19th Centuries, 3 vols, R. Stanton Avery MS Collection at NEHGS, SL/BOS/53a, 53b & 53c.

BIBLE RECORDS

B1: The Andrews-Cogswell-Page Bible.  Robert J. Dunkle, The Genealogist, Spring, 1982, Volume 3, No. 1.

B2: The Osborn Family Bible.  In the possession of Mrs. Joan Osborn Dunkle, 7 Pond Path, North Hampton, NH 03862.  Bible printed and published in Philadelphia by M. Carey & Son, 1819

B3: The Barber Family Bible. On deposit at the Massachusetts Historical Society, the gift of Kilby Page Osborn.  The Bible was published in London by Moses Aaron, 1683.  It was the property of Nathaniel Barber of Boston and was a gift to him by his grandfather, David Farnum of Boston.  The records contained therein were copied in 1980 by Robert J. Dunkle.

CHURCH RECORDS:

C1  2nd Baptist Church - Deaths 1788-1811

C2  Baldwin Place Baptist Church - 1769-1881

C3  Mary Kent (Davey) Babcock, Christ Church, Boston, Records, NEHGR, 99 [1945] - 102 [1948]

C4  First Baptist Church - Deaths 1665-1879

C5  Hanover Street Methodist Church - Deaths 1736-1875

C6  King’s Chapel Burials, 1714-1844

C7  An Historical Catologue of the Old South Church, Boston, (Boston, 1883) Death records searched on LDS microfilm by Jane Bramwell and copied by her.

C8  Ellis L. Motte, Henry F. Jenks, John Homans, Records of the Church in Brattle Square, (Boston, 1902)

C9  Ann S. Lainhart, Robert J. Dunkle, Records of the New North Church, Boston, (Baltimore, 1995)

C10  Records of the West Church, Boston, NEHGR, 91 [1937] - 94 [1940]

C11  Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Records of The Trinity Church in Boston, [Boston, 1982], Edited by Andrew Oliver and James Bishop Peabody.  The original books are on deposit at New England Historic Genealogical Society in the MS Collection.

Also searched:  Hollis Street Church, Deaths 1732-1847 - no deaths recorded in 1700s.

PUBLICATIONS:

(In the text, the letter assigned to the publication will be followed by the number of the volume)

T - The American Genealogist

G - The Genealogist

R - without volume number - from Copeland

R + volume number The New England Historical & Genealogical Register

E+  The Essex Genealogist, 17 [1997]: John C. Reilly, Gloucester Deaths Not Recorded In (Printed) Vital Records, p. 11 ff.

 

SELECTED GENEALOGIES

G1 - William Sumner Appleton, Record of Descendants of William Sumner, (Boston 1879), with supplements 1881-1902.

G2 - James M. Crafts & William F. Crafts, The Crafts Family, (Northampton, 1893).

G3 - Mary Walton Ferris, Compiler, Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines, Vol. 1, [n.p., 1943]

G4 - Hamilton P. Greenough, Some Descendants of Captain William Greenough of Boston, (Santa Barbara, CA, 1969; with supplement [1972]).

G5 - Donald L. Jacobus & Edgar F. Waterman, Hale, House and Related Families, (reprint, Baltimore, 1978).

G6 - Donald L. Jacobus, The Bulkeley Genealogy, (New Haven, 1933).

G7 - John William Linzee, Jr., The History of Peter Parker & Sarah Ruggles, (Boston, 1913).

G8 - Eben Putnam, Lieutenant Joshua Hewes, (New York, 1913)

G9 - Marion H. Reynolds, Descendants of Robert and Mary Reynolds of Boston, (Brooklyn, N.Y., 1931)

G10 - Charles Frederick Robinson, Weld Collections, (Ann Arbor, MI, 1938).

G11 - Gerald F. Shepard, Compiler; Donald L. Jacobus, Editor, The Shepard Families of New England, 3 vols.,     (New Haven, 1973), Vol. 3.

G12 - Homer Wakefield, M.D., Wakefield Memorial, (Bloomington, IL, 1897).

G13 - John Wentworth, The Wentworth Genealogy, 3 vols., (Boston, 1878).

HISTORIES:

H1 - William Barry, History of Framingham, Mass., (Boston, 1847).

H2 - Henry Bond, Genealogies...of the Early Settlers of Watertown, (Boston, 1860).

H3 - BOWEN, HISTORY OF Woodstock, Ct.

H4 - BROOKS, HISTORY OF MEDFORD

H5 - COLTON, HISTORY OF NEWBURY

H6 - Samuel G. Drake, The History and Antiquities of Boston, (Boston, 1856).

H7 - EMERSON, HISTORY OF THE FIRST CHURCH OF BOSTON

H8 - FELT, HISTORY OF IPSWICH

H9  Josepb B. Felt, Annals of Salem, [Boston, 1849]

H10 - GAGE, HISTORY OF ROWLEY

H11 - Alonzo Lewis & J. R. Newhall, History of Lynn, [Boston, 1865]

H12 - Rev. Dr. Samuel K. Lothrop, A History of the Church in Brattle Street, Boston, [Boston, 1851]

H13 - PRATT, HISTORY OF WELLFLEET

H14 - SAVAGE, HISTORY OF WINTHROP

H15 - Thomas C. Simonds, History of South Boston, [Boston, 1857]

H16 - SNOW, HISTORY OF BOSTON

H17 - Andrew H. Ward, History of the Town of Shrewsbury, [Boston, 1847]

H18 - Justin Winsor, A History of the Town of Duxbury, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1849).

 

M1 - James Spear Loring, The Hundred Boston Orators, (Boston, 1853).

M2 - William Allen, D.D., The American Biographical Dictionary, containing an account of the Lives, Characters, and Writings of the most eminent persons deceased in North America, from its first settlement, (Boston, 1857).

M3 - Oliver A. Roberts, History of The Ancient & Honorable Artillery Company, [Boston, 1895]

M4 - Joseph T. Buckingham, Annals of The Massacushetts Cahritable Mechanic Association, [Boston, 1853]

M5 - John L. Blake, A Biographical Dictionary, [Philadelphia, 1856]

M6 - BUCKINGHAM’S REMEBERANCES

M7 - Epitaphs from the Old Burying Ground in Cambridge, with notes by William T. Harris, [n.p., n.d.]

M8 - Dairy of William Jepson. MS at NEHGS; call #MSS/C/3095. 

M9 - Nathaniel Dearborn, Dearborn’s Reminiscences of Boston, and Guide through the City and Environs, (Boston, 1851). (As given in Copeland).

M10 - John Farmer, A Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England, [??????}

M11 - John Hayward, A Gazetteer of Massachusetts, [Boston, 1846]

M12 - List of Burials in Boston’s “North Buriall”. MS at NEHGS; call #MAS/C/1041

M13 - List of Burials in Boston’s “South Buryall 1709-1710”; MS at NEHGS; call #MSS/C/1040

M14 - Cotton Mather, Magnalia Christi Americana, (Boston, 1853), in two volumes.

M15 - At the Boston City Hall Archives, there are deposited the records of burials as performed by various sextons; these are labeled Old Sexton’s Bills and are loosely tied in bundles.  They were transcribed by Elisha Copeland and have been copied for this work from his compilation.  The originals have not been inspected.

M16 - OLD TOWN RECORDS - Boston

M18 - ROXBURY CEMETERY

M19 - James Sabine, The American Loyalists, [Boston, 1847]

M20 - M. Halsey Thomas, ed., 2 vols., The Diary of Samuel Sewall 1674 - 1729, (New York, 1973).

M21 - SHAW

M22 - Susan E. Roser, Mayflower Births & Deaths, [Baltimore, 1992], 2 vols.

M23 - BRIGHTMAN

NEWSPAPERS

The following information was derived from Clarence S. Brigham, History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690 - 1800, (American Anitquarian Society, 1947).

Dates in date column are date of issue of newspaper. In very few cases, the obituaries are shown as having been published on two consecutive dates.  The earlier date is shown.  If the compilers have calculated the date of death, it is shown in brackets in the 3rd column; otherwise, the date of death in that column is from the obituary notice.

Dates in brackets are actual date of death as taken from the obituary notice and perpetual calendar and assuming that the day of death is that day immediately preceeding the date of publication

If a death has been reported by the 14th of Jan 1800, it could have occurred in 1799 and is, therefore, included.

These entries have been taken from secondary sources and the original newspapers have not been consulted for accuracy.

N1 - Boston Chronicle

N2 - Boston Gazette. Weekly; 21 Dec. 1719 - 17 Sept. 1798.

N3 - Boston Magazine. Published only in 1784.

N4 - Boston Newsboy. Published from 23 May 1768 to 25 September 1769 on Tuedays only.  Published by same people who published the Boston Newsletter.

N5 - Boston Newsletter. Weekly; 24 Apr. 1704 - 22 Feb. 1796.

N6 - Boston Post Boy. Weekly; late 1734 - 17 Apr. 1775.

N7 - Columbian Centinel. Semi-Weekly; 16 June 1790 - 1820 and later.

N8 - Continental Journal. Weekly; 30 May 1776 - 21 June 1787.

N9 - Boston Evening Post. Weekly; 18 Aug. 1735 - 24 Apr. 1775.

N10 - Independent Chronicle. Weekly & Semi-Weekly; 19 Sept. 1776 - 1 Mar. 1820.

N11 - Massachusetts Centinal. Semi-Weekly; 24 Mar. 1784 - 12 June 1790.

N12 - Massachusetts Gazette.  23 May 1768 - 1769.

N13 - Massachusetts Magazine. Published from 1789 to 1796.

N14 - Massachusetts Mercury. Tri-Weekly; 1 Jan. 1793 - 11 Mar. 1803.

N15 - Massachusetts Spy. Tri-Weekly, Semi-Weekly, & Weekly; 17 July 1770 - 6 Apr. 1775.

N16 - New England Weekly. Weekly; 20 Mar. 1747 - 13 Oct. 1751.

N17 - NEW ENGLAND CHRONICLE:

N18 - NEW ENGLAND WEEKLY JOURNAL:

N19 - Otis G. Hammond, Notices from The New Hampshire Gazette, (Lambertville, NJ, 1970).

 

REGISTER:

R  - In the Copeland compilation, noted above, he derived some deaths from the early volumes of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, which commenced publication in 1847.  No note was made by Copeland as to which volume he extracted information; therefore, the compilers have systematically gone through each volume, inspecting it for appropriate information to incorporate within this volume.  We include below a list of the individual volumes and the articles from which we have obtained records, but we did not further identify which volume Copeland noted, and therefore have left his work as “R”.

 

R1 [1847]: James C. Odiorne, A Complete List Of Ministers of Boston, p. 134 ff.

R2 [1848]: The Checkley Family, p. 349 ff.; Mather Byles, p. 403; Epitpahs from Copse [sic] Hill Burying Ground, Boston, p. 391-2.

R4 [1850]: Henry Davenport, Notice of The Descendants of Eleazer Davenport, p. 111 ff.; Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Family of Elder Thomas Leverett, p. 121 ff.

R5 [1851]: Sylvester Judd, Stoddard’s Journal, p. 21 ff.; A Descendant, Memoir of Rev’d. Nathaniel Rogers’ Family, p. 105 ff.

R6 [1852]: Andrew Johonnot, The Johonnot Family, p. 357 ff.; Memoirs of Prince’s Subscribers, p. 376.

R7 [1853]: John A. Vinton, Memoir of The Lindall Family, p. 15; Samuel G. Drake, Researches among Funeral Sermons, p. 241 ff.

R8 [1854]: Memoirs of Prince’s Subscribers, p. 42; Jeremiah Spofford, Family of John Spofford, p. 335 ff.; John Dean & Dean Dudley, Descendants of Gov. Bradstreet, p. 313 ff.; Samuel G. Drake, Researches among Funeral Sermons, p. 363 ff.

R9 [1855]: Samuel G. Drake, Researches among Funeral Sermons, p. 75; William H. Whitmore, Mascarene Family Papers, p. 239.

R10 [1856]: William H. Whitmore, Mascarene Family Papers, p. 143 ff.; John R. Rollins, Rawlins of Boston, p. 306; William C. Fowler, President Charles Chauncey and His Descendants, p. 105 ff.; Gov. Thomas Dudley & His Descendants, p. 133 ff.

R11 [ 1857]: H.A.W., Descendants of John & Elinor Whitney of Watertown, p. 113 ff.; William S. Pattee, Inscriptions from the Burying Ground in Braintree, p. 297 ff.;

R13 [1859]: W.E. Warren, The Belknap Family, p. 17 ff.; Memoirs of Prince’s Subscribers, p. 35 ff.; Memoir of Rev. Andrew Le Mercier, p. 315.

R14 [1860]: Diary of Rev. Samuel Dexter, p. 107 ff.; Memoirs of Prince’s Subscribers, p. 171 ff.

R15 [1861]: Memoirs of Prince’s Subscribers, p. 13 ff.; Darling - Hemmenway, p. 49; Genealogy of The Colesworthy Family, p. 300.

R16 [1862]: Memoirs of Prince’s Subscribers, p. 12 ff.; N. Bowen, Extracts from the Almanacs of Samuel Sewall, Jr., p. 63 ff.; William C. Folger, The Folger Family, p. 269 ff.

R17 [1863]: Edward D. Harris, The Vassalls of New England, p 56 ff.; John H. Sheppard, Genealogy of The Greenough Family, p. 167 ff.; Memoirs of Prince’s Subscribers, p. 237 ff.

R18 [1864]: Boston Items, 1768, p. 226.; Memoirs of Prince’s Subscribers, p. 387.

R19 [1865]: W. H. Whitmore, A Brief Genealogy of the Hutchinson Family, p. 13.; Henry Eliot, Extracts from the Diary of Mary Fleet, p. 59.;  Memoirs of Prince’s Subscribers, p. 171 ff.; W. H. Whitmore, The Oliver Family, p. 100 ff.; Gleanings, p. 253.; Edward J. Forester, A Journal Kept by John Leach, p. 255 ff.

R20 [1866]: Edward J. Forster, Extracts from the Diary of John Tileston, p. 11.; Memoirs of Prince’s Subscribers, p. 245 ff.

R22 [1868]: Albert H. Hoyt, A Sketch of The Life Of Joshua Henshaw, p. 105.; Harry H. Edes, Births, Marriages and Deaths from the Pennsylvania Magazine, 1775, p. 59.; Memoirs of Prince’s Subscribers, p. 337 ff.

R23 [1869]: Mary R. Crowninshield, Letters Of Cotton Mather, etc., p. 107 ff.

R24 [1870]: Unpublished Letters of Judge Sewall, p. 291.

R25 [1871]: Edward D. Forster, Fosters of Charlestown, p. 67 ff.; Old Gravestones, p. 88-9.; Daniel D. Slade, The Bromfield Family, p. 329 ff.

R26 [1872]: Edward S. Moseley, Edward Oxnard, p. 3 ff.; Daniel D. Slade, The Bromfield Family, p. 329 ff.

R27 [1873]: Memoirs of Prince’s Subscribers, p. 124; Benjamin A. G. Fuller, Letters of Dr. Franklin and Others, p. 246 ff.; Fleet & Henchman Gleanings, p. 311 ff.

R28 [1874]: Hutchinson Notes, p. 83.

R29 [1875]: Charles H. Townsend, The Townshend Family, p. 97 ff.; Pearson, p. 319.

R30 [1876]: Arthur M. Alger, Descendants of Philip and John Langdon, p. 33 ff.; Thaddeus W. Harris, Memoranda from the Rev. William Coopers Almanacs, p. 435 ff.

R31 [1877]: Thaddeus W. Harris, Memoranda from the Rev. William Coopers Almanacs, p. 49 ff.

R32 [1878]: Henry L. Eustis, Genealogy of The Eustis Family, p. 204 ff.

R33 [1879]: Indicott Records, p. 245.

R34 [1880]: J. Gardner White, Bell Family Bible, p. 386.

R35 [1881]: Hubbard W. Bryant, Quincy Family Letters, p. 39 ff.; Robert H. Eddy, Robert Bronsdon and Some of His Descendants, p. 361 ff.

R36 [1882]: Boston Physicians, p. 78; Samuel Hurst, p. 193; James R. Stanwood, The Direct Ancestry of Jacob Wendall of Portsmouth, N.H., p. 242 ff.; John T. Hassam, Bartholomew and Richard Cheever and Some of Their Descendants, p. 305 ff.

R37 [1883]: Edward MacDonald, Inscriptions in Copp’s Hill Burial Ground on Newly Discovered Gravestones, p. 44 ff.; Rev. Thomas Prince, p. 85.  Harriet E. Henshaw, Daniel Henshaw’s List of His Acquaintances in Boston, who Died after his Removal, p. 55 ff.

R38 [1884]: John T. Hassam, Ezekiel Cheever and Some of His Descendants, p. 170 ff.

R39 [1885]: Henry F. Waters, Genealogical Gleanings in England, p. 64.

R41 [1887]: William Hall, Dairy of Rev. Samuel Cooper, of Boston, p. 388 ff.

R42 [1888]: Joseph H. Barrett, Thomas Barrett of Braintree, William Barrett of Cambridge, p. 257 ff.

R43 [1889]: Mary K. Talcott, Ellery Family, p. 313 ff.

R44 [1890]: Frederick Tuckerman, Thomas Cooper, of Boston, and His Descendants, p. 53 ff.

R45 [1891]: Marion Notes, p 86-7.

R46 [1892]: Walter K. Watkins, The Pemberton Family, p. 392 ff.

R47 [1893]: Edward D. Harris, The Dolbeares of Boston, p. 24 ff.; Edward A. Bowen, Griffith Bowen of Boston, p. 453 ff.

R49 [1895]: Query, p.457; Note p. 208, 342, 455, 456.

R51 [1897]: Allen H. Bent, Col. Jabez Hatch, His Ancestry and Descendants, p. 34 ff.

R52 [1898]: Death of James Gray, p. 77.; Asa Stodder, p. 82.; William H. Whitmore, Capt. Hopestill Foster of Dorcehster, Mass., p. 194 ff.; Waldo Lincoln, Four Generations of the Waldo Family, p. 213 ff.; Allen H. Bent, Fenno Family, p. 448 ff.

R54 [1900]: Mrs. Charles L. Alden, Alden Genealogy, p. 180 ff.; Edward Wheelwright, Lowell Genealogy, p. 315 ff.; Elizabeth Ellen Dana, Richard Skinner of Marblehead, p. 413 ff.; Note, p. 449.

R55 [1901]: Frederick Tuckerman, Notes From The Rev. Samuel Cooper’s Almanacs, p. 145 ff.; Walter K. Watkins, Sheafe Family in England and New England, p. 220.; Ezra S. Stearns, Descendants of Dea. Zachary Fitch, p. 288 ff.; Henry W. Cunningham, Andrew Cunningham of Boston, p. 304 ff.

R56 [1902]: Indicott Corrections, p. 91.

R57 [1903]: Arthur G. Loring & Willim R. Cutter, Samuel Walker of Woburn and Some of His Descendants, p. 350 ff.

R58 [1904]: G. Arthur Gray, George Holmes of Roxbury & Some of His Descendants, p. 21 ff.; Frank E. Cotton, The Cotton Family of Portsmouth, N.H., p. 294 ff.

R59 [1905]: Charles C. Whittier, The Stimpson Family of Charlestown, p. 242 ff.; Four Boston Families, p. 324.

R60 [1906]: Joseph G. Bartlett, The Belcher Families of New England, p. 125 ff.; Charles P. Noyes, George Bethune of Boston, Mass., p. 238 ff.

R61 [1907]: Joseph G. Bartlett, Descendants of Rev. John Wilson of Boston, Mass., p. 36 ff.;  Cunningham, p. 303.

R62 [1908]: Horace P. Williams, Williams Family Bible, p. 66.

R63 [1909]: Charles Thornton Libby, Brooking, Thornton, Ballantine, Hollard, p. 381-2.

R64 [1910]: Charles C. Whittier, The Urann Family of New England, p. 7 ff.

R65 [1911]: Thomas W. Baldwin, The Drury Death Book, p. 356 ff.

R66 [1912]: Lawrence Brainard, Some Descendants of Daniel King of Lynn, p. 125 ff.; Lillian A. Hall, Some Descendants of John Ridgway, p. 332 ff.

R67 [1913]: Arthur W. H. Eaton, Old Boston Families - The De Blois Family, p. 6.; Arthur W. H. Eaton, Old Boston Families - The Family of Capt. John Gerrish, p. 105 ff., Arthur W. H. Eaton, Old Boston Families - The Savage Family, p. 198 ff.; Walter W. Watkins, Walker - Edwards, p. 297-9.; Henry S. Webster, Langdon Family Bible, p. 379-80.

R69 [1915]: Arthur W. H. Eaton, Old Boston Families - The Byles Family, p. 101 ff.

R70 [1917]: Arthur W. H. Eaton, Old Boston Families - The Haliburton Family, p. 57 ff.; Walter H. Clough, Clough Records, p. 188-90.

R72 [1918]: Alfred L. Holman, John Holman of Dorchester, Mass., And His Descendants, p. 185 ff.

R75 [1921]: Frederick S. Withington, Henry Withington of Dorchester, Mass., and Some of His Descendants, p. 142 ff.

R76 [1922]: Thomas A. Lee, Old Boston Families - The Lee Family, p. 197 ff.

R77 [1923]: MS at NEHGS, A Record of Deaths In Boston and Vicinity, 1799-1815, p. 228.; George W. Chamberlain, The Early New England Coolidges, p. 270 ff.

R78 [1924]: George W. Jackson, Records of The West Family of Boston and Taunton And Allied Families, p. 266 ff.

R84 [1930]: Boyle’s Journal of Occurences in Boston, 1759-1778, p. 142 ff.

R85 [1931]: Boyle’s Journal of Occurences in Boston, 1759-1778, p. 5 ff.;  May Bible Records, p. 462.

R86 [1932]: Alfred W. Hodgman, A Recently Discovered Line from Rev. John Lothrop, p. 455 ff.

R87 [1933]: George Kuhn Clarke, Jacob Kuhn and His Descendants, p. 35 ff.

R88 [1934]: Hunt Family Bible, p. 204-5.

R90 [1936]: Winthrop Alexander, Stevens Family Bible, p. 390.

R91 [1937]: Winthrop Alexander, James Sherman of Charlestown and Some of  His Descendants, p. 268 ff.; Henry W. Belknap, Some Descendants of Jonathan Furness of Boston, Mass., p. 396-9.

R92 [1938]: Harold W. Dana, Roger Billings of Milton, Mass., and Some of His Descendants, p. 261 ff.

R93 [1939]: Harold W. Dana, Roger Billings of Milton, Mass., and Some of His Descendants, p.67 ff.

R95 [1941]: John Wenzel, The Descendants of Henry Wenzel, p. 234 ff.

R96 [1942]: George W. Chamberlain, Old Boston Families - The Bryant Family, p. 321 ff.

R97 [1943]: William P. Whitelaw, John Maverick and Some of His Descendants, p. 56 ff.

R101 [1947]: G. Andrews Moriarity, The Bodge Family of Charlestown, Mass., p. 97 ff.

R102 [1948]: G. Andrews Moriarity, The Parentage and Ancestry of Dr. Richard Palgrave of Charlestown, Mass., p. 87 ff.; Winifred L. Holman, Hope Allen and Granddaughter Deborah (Wager) Henchman, p. 263 ff.

R106 [1952]: Roderick B. Jones, Harrises in Boston Before 1700, p. 15 ff.

R107 [1953]: Bradford A. Whittemore, The Whittemore Family in America, p. 27 ff.

R108 [1954]: Bradford A. Whittemore, The Whittemore Family in America, p. 18 ff.; H. Minot Pitman, Descendants of John Snelling, p. 179 ff.

R111 [1957]: George E. McCracken, Early Cogans English and American, p. 5 ff.

R112 [1958]: Winifred L. Holman, Early Dolbeares, p. 170 ff.

R113 [1959]: Claude W. Barlow, Descendants of Thomas Jones of Hingham, p. 42 ff.

R119 [1965]: Lydia B. Brownson & Maclean W. McLean, The Rev. Richard Bourne of Sandwich, Mass. p. 26 ff.; Elizabeth C. Stewart, Descendants of Andrew Ford of Weymouth, Mass., p. 6 ff.

R120 [1966]: Delos G. McDonald, The Amory Family, p. 81 ff.; Margaret B. Curfman, Doubleday Families of America, p. 252 ff.

R122 [1968]: Winifred L. Holman, A Domett Family in Boston, p. 81 ff.

R123 [1969]: H. Minot Pitman, Early Griggs Families of Massachusetts, p. 169 ff.

R124 [1970]: Stanley B. Fracker, The Descendants of Thomas Fracker, Shipbuilder of Boston, p. 23 ff.

R126 [1972]: Dale C. Kellogg & John B. Threlfall, Richard Sawtell of Watertown, p. 1 ff.

R127 [1973]: Anne B. Harding, The Elusive Nancy True, p. 68 ff.

R128 [1974]: Mrs. Quinn Hornaday, Philip and John Langdon of Boston, p. 48.

R131 [1977]: John B. Threlfall, The Verin Family of Salem, Massachusetts, p. 100 ff.

R132 [1978]: Edward W. Hanson, The Hurds of Boston, p. 83 ff.

R134 [1980]: Jonathan B. Butcher, The Eveleth Family of Colonial New England, p. 299 ff.

R139 [1985]: James A. Rasmuseen, Edward Raynsford of Boston, p. 296 ff.

R140 [1986]: Ann Smith Lainhart, Editor, John Haven Dexter and The 1789 Boston City Directory, p. 23 ff.

R142 [1988]: Ann Smith Lainhart, Descendants of Paix Cazneau,  p. 126 ff.

R143 [1989]: Ethel F. Smith, Seventeeth Century Hull and Her People, p. 40 ff.

R144 [1990]: John B. Carney, In Search of Fayerweather: The Fayerweather Family of Boston, p. 3 ff.; Esther L. Woodworth-Barnes, Descendants of Ellis Callender of Boston, p. 195

R145 [1991]: Wayne H. M. Wilcox, The Ancestry of Katherine Hamby, Wife of Capt. Edward Hutchinson of Boston, Mass., p. 258 ff.; Donald M. Nielson, The Revere Family, p. 291 ff.

R146 [1992]: Robert J. Curfman, Captain George Whitehorne of Boston and Some of His Descendants, p. 3 ff.

R147 [1993]: Leo H. Garman, Early Woodmansees in America, p. 35 ff.

R149 [1995]: George W. Varney, Thomas Varney of Boston And Some of His Descendants, p. 3 ff.

 

VITAL RECORDS

The compilers have searched all of the published Massachusetts Town Vital Records for records of deaths in Boston.  Only those listed below contained pertinent entries.

 

V1 Topsfield Historical Society, Vital Records of Andover, Massachusetts, (Topsfield, 1912), 2 vols.

V2 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Arlington, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1904).

V3 Topsfield Historical Society, Vital Records of Beverly, Massachusetts, (Topsfield, 1906), 2 vols.

V4 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Billerica, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1908).

V5 Systematic History Fund, Vital Records of Bolton, Massachusetts, (Worcester, 1910).

V6 Samuel A. Bates, Editor, Records of the Town of Braintree, (Randolph, 1886).

V7 Systematic History Fund, Vital Records of Brookfield, Massachusetts, (Worcester, 1909).

V8 The Essex Institute, Vital Records of Brookline, Massachusetts, (Salem, 1929).

V9 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Burlington, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1915).

V10 Thomas W. Baldwin, Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1915) 2. vols.

V11 Roger D. Joslyn, Compiler, Vital Records of Charlestown, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1984).

V12 The Essex Institute, Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, (Salem, 1914).

V13 Thomas W. Baldwin, Compiler, Vital Records of Chelsea, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1906).

V14 Thomas W. Baldwin, Vital Records of Cohasset, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1916).

V15 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts (Boston, 1930)

V16 Boston Record Commissioner’s Report, 21st Report, Dorchester Births, Marriages And Deaths to the End of 1825, (Boston, 1890).

V17 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Duxbury, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1911).

V18 Mayflower Descendants of Rhode Island, Oliver B. Brown, Editor, Vital Records of    Falmouth, Massachusetts, (

V19 Orestes T. Doe, Record of Births, Marriages and Deaths in the Town of Franklin, (Franklin, 1898).

V20 Systematic History Fund, Vital Records of Grafton, Massachusetts, (Worcester, 1906).

V21 The Essex Institute, Vital Records of Groton, Massachusetts, (Salem, 1926)

V22 Thomas W. Baldwin, Vital Records of Harvard, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1917).

V23 Topsfield Historical Society, Vital Records of Haverhill, Massachusetts, (Topsfield, 1910), 2 vols.

V24 Thomas W. Baldwin, Compiler, Vital Records of Hull, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1911).

V25 The Essex Institute, Vital Records of Ipswich, (Salem, 1910)

V26 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Kingston, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1911).

V27 Henry S. Nourse, The Birth, Marriage and Death Register of Lancaster, Massachusetts, (Lancaster, 1890).

V28 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Lincoln, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1908).

V29 Town of Littleton, Records of Littleton, Massachusetts, (Littleton, 1900).

V30 The Essex Institute, Vital Records of Lynn, Massachusetts, (Salem, 1906), 2 vols.

V31 Deloraine P. Corey, Compiler Births Marriages and Deaths in the Town of Malden, Massachusetts (Cambridge, 1903).

V32 The Essex Institute, Vital Records of Marblehead, Massachusetts, (Salem, 1904), 2 vols.

V33 Systematic History Fund, Vital Records of Marlborough, Massachusetts, (Worcester, 1908).

V34 Robert & Ruth Sherman, Vital Records of Marshfield, Mass. (Society of Mayflower Descendants, R. I., 1970)

V35 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Medford, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1907).

V36 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Medway, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1905).

V37 Topsfield Historical Society, Vital Records of Middleton, Massachusetts, (Topsfield, 1904)

V38 Town of Milton, Milton Records, Births, Marriages and Deaths, (Boston, 1900).

V39 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Nantucket, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1928) 5 vols.

V40 Thomas W. Baldwin, Vital Records of Natick, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1910).

V41 D.A.R., Vital Records of Needham, Massachusetts, (N.P., N.D.; TS at Needham Public Library).

V42 The Essex Institute, Vital Records of Newbury, Massacxhusetts, (Salem, 1911).

V43 The Essex Institute, Vital Records of Newburyport, Massachusetts, (Salem, 1911)

V44 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Newton, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1905).

V45 Northborough

V46 Norton

V47 Hartford, Conn., Society of Colonial Wars, Vital Records of Norwich, Conn., (Hartford, 1913), 2 vols.

V48 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Pembroke, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1911)

V49 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Pepperell, Maschusetts, (Boston, 1985)

V50 Lee D. van Antwerp, Compiler, Vital Records of Plymouth, Massachusetts, (Camden, Maine, 1993).

V51 Franklin P. Rice, Vital Records of Princeton, Massachusetts, (Worcester, 1902).

V52 Thomas W. Baldwin, Vital Records of Reading, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1912).

V53 The Essex Institute, Vital Records of Rowley, Massachusetts, (Salem, 1928)

V54 The Essex Institute, Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts, (Salem, 1925), 2 vols.

V55 The Essex Institute, Vital Records of Salem Massachusetts, (Salem, 1925), 6 vols.

V56 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Scituate, Massachusetts, (Reprint, Boston, 1976)

V57 Thomas W. Baldwin, Vital Records of Sherborn, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1911).

V58 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Shirley, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1918).

V59 Systematic History Fund, Vital Records of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, (Worcester, 1904).

V60 The Essex Institue, Vital Records of Stoneham, Massachusetts, (Salem, 1918).

V61 Systematic History Fund, Vital Records of Sutton, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1907)

V62 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Taunton, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1929), 3 vols.

V63 The Essex Institute, Vital Records of Tewksbury, Massachusetts, (Salem, 1912).

V64 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Tisbury, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1910).

V65 The Essex Institute, Vital Records of Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, (Salem, 1913)

V66 Thomas W. Baldwin, Vital Records of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1916).

V67 Thomas W. Baldwin, Vital Records of Wakefield, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1912).

V68 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Walpole,. Massachusetts, (Boston, 1902).

V69 James N. Arnold, Vital Records of Rhode Island - Warwick, (Providence, 1891).

V70 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Wayland, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1910).

V71 The Essex Institue, Vital Records of Westford, Massachusetts, (Salem, 1915)

V72 Town of Weston, Town of Weston, Births, Deaths and Marriages, (Boston, 1901).

V73 New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Weymouth Massachusetts, (Boston,1910), 2 vols.

V74 Edward F. Johnson, Woburn Records of Births, Deaths and Marriages, (Woburn, 1890), 3 vols.

V75 Thomas W. Baldwin, Vital Records of Wrentham, Massachusetts, (Boston, 1910), 2 vols.

V76 Robert M. Sherman & Ruth W. Sherman, Compilers, Vital Records of Yarmouth, Massachusetts, (Camden, Maine, 1975).