Catalogue of the First Congregational Church, Canterbury, Connecticut - Database Key

Explanations:

The Catalogue of the First Congregational Church of Canterbury, Connecticut, presented some challenges to the team responsible for converting the data to digital format. The formatting in the orginal catalogue was unusual and information was spread out among different sections. We have attempted to convert this while retaining as much of the original format as possible, although it still may be confusing to viewers.

We hope that the explanatory text given below will help you to understand the various symbols, abbreviations, and numbers included in the data. Each of these figures are linked to this page.

We recommend that you print this page before using this database, so that you may use it as a reference.

In this database....

* Names of females are given as they were at the time of admission.

* If previously married, the name of the husband is also given,
preceded by "wife of," or "widow of."

* A name in a parenthesis is either the family surname of a married
female, or the abbreviated name of the father, when neither
parent is named in the catalogue.

Example:

Year - Last Name - Record

1712 - Backus - Sarah, wife of Timothy (Post)

The above example shows that Sarah's maiden name was Post and she is
married to Timothy Backus.

* If a female married while a member of the church, the female's maiden name appears in the
Last Name field, and her full maiden name followed by "married (name of husband)" appears
in the Record field.

Example:

Year - Last Name - Record

1712 - Backus - Elizabeth Backus, married Nath. Bond

* The letter L following the information in the Record field marks those received by letter.

* Numerals in parentheses after a name, refer to the placement of the
individual's father or mother in the original catalogue. As the placement
numbers are not included in this database, this serves as a notice
that a parent is present in the catalogue.
As noted previously, a name in parentheses is either the family surname of a married
female, or the abbreviated name of the father, when neither
parent is named in the catalogue.

Years shown in the Record field show when the connection with this
church came to an end, and the characters and letters preceding
show how it ended. They signify, either-

Example

1830 - Adams - Cecilia A. , married wife of P. Noyes, (379) D. 1834

This shows that Cecilia A. Adams (maiden name), was the wife of P. Noyes.
(379) tells us that her father or mother also appear in the database.
D. 1834 tells us that she was dismissed from the church in 1834.