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Swansea, Massachusetts Vital Records
Births, Deaths, & Marriages
1662 - 1705
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Order item B519
FORMAT: PRINT ONLY
The book is 84 pages, name indexed and with names listed alphabetically, soft cover with a plastic comb binding, and available for $13.98 + $3.99 shipping & handling. (Add $1.00 S&H for each additional volume ordered).
This book is a reprint of the scanned pages of an original book printed in 1900.
From the introduction:
"The first book of the vital records of Swansea, Mass. commonly known as Book A, is a small volume containing one hundred and fifty-four pages about six and one half by eight and one half inches in dimensions.
"The binding is evidently of modern origin but its exact date is unknown to the editor.
"The writing in general is easily legible, few lines being badly faded and but a few words and dates obliterated by the crumbling of the paper.
"Unfortunately however, the book has been sadly mutilated. The entries are made in a crude index form under the initials of Christian names and all records of births under the initials A, B and C are missing, while the records of marriages are evidently not in their original order and several pages appear to have been lost from the record of deaths and burials.
"In regard to the authorship of the records nothing definite can be said as the handwriting does not correspond with the probable terms of office of the town clerks during the period covered by Book A. The first record of the election of a Town Clerk appears under the date of May 19, 1670, when John Myles, Jr. was chosen. There is no other record of election to this office until June 26, 1674, when Nicholas Tanner was elected. October 25, 1677, John Brown was chosen and under date of March 12, 1685, Capt. John Brown was elected and was reelected March 28, 1698, March 27, 1694 and March 25, 1696. William Ingraham was elected to the office March 25, 1697 and there is no farther record of the election of a Town Clerk until 1705, when Joseph Mason was chosen.
"During the period covering some three or four years before and after the year 1820, John Mason, who was then Town Clerk of Swansea, entered in this book the records relating to cattle found straying and impounded.
"These records have been omitted from the printed work but their place is indicated by the words "record of stray cattle."
"The pages of the original records are numbered only in a lead pencil, the numbering probably having been done some years ago when the records were copied. In the printed copy, page numbers are in bold face figures in brackets at the left of the page, the index letters being placed over the centre of the page. In making entries errors occasionally occurred and in the original these errors are usually indicated by pen strokes across the words or letters. In the printed copy these are placed in parentheses with the words "crossed" or "crossed out."
"The lines are not numbered in the original records, the numbering in the printed version being merely a device for convenient reference but aside from this no intentional liberties with the text have been taken and every effort has been made to produce a literal copy of the original.
"The proofs have been corrected from a photographic copy of Book A and the order of lines, number of words in each, spelling and punctuation of lack of punctuation have been reproduced as nearly as possible. Doubtful readings are indicated by the interrogation mark. The end of each page is marked by a dash and every page is accounted for whether blank or not.
"Errors in printing, so far as discovered, have been noted in the index under reference to the lines in which they occur.
"In conclusion, the editor desires to gratefully acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. Henry O. Wood, Town Clerk of Swansea, for his courtesy in affording facilities for examining and photographing the records and to Mr. A, D, Hodges Jr. of Boston, for many useful suggestions and much valuable advice."
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