Town of Beyerl Y

EARLY RECORDS of the TOWN OF BEYERL Y ESSEX COUNTY MASS. Volume I Births, Marriages and Deaths Copied by AUGUSTUS A. GALLOUPE Published by EBEN PUTNAM, BOSTON 1907 PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. This opportunity of printing the early vital records of Beverly is due to the generous co-operation of Mr. Augustus A. Galloupe, long known as one of the most painstaking and accurate of our local historians and genealogists. Mr. Gal loupe's collection of materials relating to Beverly families, and hJs lifelong familiarity with the Beverly and Essex County records pointed him out as pre-eminently fitted to make the copy of the difficult first volume of Beverly records. No one now living can qualify with Mr. Galloupe in fitness for this work. Although through physical infirmity not able to use a pen without great discomfort, Mr. Galloupe devoted several months to making first a pencil copy, and from that an ink copy of the records of births, marriages and deaths in the first volume of Beverly Records, in which volume were also entered the records* of the business affairs of the town. Illness and family bereavement prevented his continuing immediately with a like copy of the second volume, and although the intention was to copy and print all of the records to the year 1850, it was decided to make available for genealogical research the contents of the first volume, by printing the same in installments in The Genealogical Magazine, reprinting the matter for future publi cation in a separate volume. The record of births through 1704, as recorded in the first volume of records, appeared in the maga zine in accordance with this plan, and also some of the earliest marriages and deaths, and intentions of marriage to 1715. About the time the publication of these records began in the magazine July, 1905, thus mai<lng public the fact that the records were being copied, some one appears to have con ceived the project of forestalling the appearance of a verbatim et literatim copy of the rer.ords. In consequence there appeared during the winter of 1905-6 a volume of "Vital Records of Beverly"t to th•:: end of the year 1849, incorporating therein the * These town proceedings have been appearing in generous installments in the yearly City Reports, for several years past. t The copy of the Beverly Records was made under the authority of some one acting for the Essex Institute, but the published book bears on the title page only the name of the Topsfield Historical Society. Mr. George F. Publisher's Preface. baptisms which had already been printed in Putnam's Historical Magazine contributed by Mr. Galloupe, and to a still later date in the Essex Institute Historical Collections at a sub sequent period, and various entries gathered from bibles in possession of Beverly residents, although by this plan including, in what purports to be a copy of Beverly records, data con cerning persons not born in or residents of Beverly. Useful as such a compilation of genealogical matPrial may seem to some, the fact that other and more competent hands had already commenced upon the town records proper, and that the baptismal records were already accessible in print, did not deter whoever was responsible for the work from forestalling the better work. It is true, by printing the Beverly records verbatim the publisher and the copyist had to give up hope of State aid,* as the State commissioners by exercise of their arbitrary authority, and evidently in accordance with an understanding with those societies who are chiefly instrumental in publishing " Vital Records," have refused to give any encouragement that they would purchase copies of town records if printed literally, pre ferring to accept the emasculated records and collections of miscellaneous material prepared in accordance with their plan. In the April, 1905 issue of The Genealogical Magazine may be found a criticism of the publication of the "Vital Records," which at the time of its appearance was declared by certain interested parties to be unfair, inasmuch as i~ pointed out the profit to the publishers under the plan adopted. As none of the publishers of the "Vital Records " have seen fit to make public the cost and receipts of the work, it is of course impossible to state accurately what the profit has been, or if none, the reason therefor. But the fact that such haste was made** to forestall the publication of a verbatim copy of the records of Beverly, is Dow is Secretary of both societies, and has been very active in following the lead of the New England Historic Genealogical Society in this work. Among the publications accepted J:.y the State none are so evidently open to criticism as those published by the Topsfield Historical Society and the Essex Inst.itute, especially t!ie former. * The State by act each year appropriates the generous sum of $15,000 to be used for the purchase of copies of the printed vital records of towns. The direction of the expenditure of this money is in the hands of those who co-operate with what might be termed the" Vital Records Trust." ** Although Mr. Galloupe's private manuscript copy of the record was referred to by the copyist for the Topsfield publicat10n, and the printed results of his labors also used, one can search tlie Topsfield edition in vain for any reference to Mr. Galloupe's work, or to his generous permission to examine his manuscripts, to elucidate difficult readings. Publisher's Preface. probably sufficient proof to any unprPjudiced observer that there was and is a profit, which it was feared might be lost if the records had already appeared in print. A person thoroughly imbued with the belief that the best man is the "smartest," and that in the chase of the almighty dollar anything is per missible could not be expected to permit such an opportunity to slip through his fingers. To some of us, who know what vast amounts of material await publication, because of lack of money and interest, it appears a lamentable waste of money and energy to duplicate, as in the manner described .1bove, and in so senseless a fashion. In .10 case can the so-called "Vital Records" of these various towns, printed for sale to the State, ever be considered as taking the place of the records proper, or be admitted as evidence in any court. Aside from errors incorporated in the printed pages, and the addition of material gathered from sources, which, however valuable, are not public records, these books are not even practical as an index, - for references to volume or page of the o,iginal record are not given. This omission is the more marked s~ in the early records, as may be seen in this present volume, the entries do not always fall in chronological sequence, rendering it difficult to find the original record which the abbreviated and edited printed entry is supposed to represent. The expenditure of thousands of the State money has obtained for the State a series of unattested copies of many town records, some very poorly written, few equal and none superior to copies which would have been made under proper official direction and probably at a cost not ten per cent of what has been paid out by the State to date. That an investigation should be made by the Legislature into the way in which the commissioners are executing their duties is evident. Several hundred libraries, it is true, have been furnished free with a handy synop8is of the vital records of many towns. These same libraries might have had, and probably at much less cost to the State, the vastly more valuable printed verbatim et literatim copies of the records. The Index to this volume has been prepared by Prof. S. P. Sharples, for which kindness the publisher presents his grateful acknowledgment. EARLY RECORDS OF THE TOWN OF BEVERLY, ESSEX COUNTY, MASS. (Vital Statistics.) COPIED BY A. A. GALLOUPE. VOLUlllls I. NoTE.-The folios in the old Record are completely obliter ated; hence, the word-page- is inserted in this manuscript at the beginning of each page of the Record. Births.* [torn] page. ell the fonne of Lott Conn ant was borne the 281h of July 1650 Jn° Connant the fonne of Lott Connant was borne the 15th of December 1652 Lott the SonP.e of Lott Connant was borne ~Jie 161h of february 1657 Elizabeth the Daughter of Lott Connant was borne the 13th of May 1660 Mary the Daughter of Lott Connant borne the 14th of July 1662 Martha the Daughter of Lott Connant was borne the 15th of Au guft 1664 William and Sarah: twins the f onne & Daughter of Lott Connant weare borne the 19th of February 1666 Rodger the Sonne of Lott Connant was borne the 10th of march 1669 Rebecca the Daughter of Lott Connant was borne the !aft of January 1670 William Dodge of Cogr and Elizabeth hafkall weare married the 10th of July 1665 • Theee first 28 entries are inserted here, also occur in the original after the marriage intention of Robert Thorndike, 2 No,·., 1718. See page 47. (1) 2 Early Records of the Tuwn of Be-11erly. Mary the Daughter of Wm Dodge was borne the 12th of may 1667 Elizabeth the Daughter of Will Dodge was borne the 13th of Apriil 1670 henry Baile & Dorothy Bond weare married the 20th of Septem ber 1665 [torn] ane & freeborne Sallowes we--- the 29th of July 1664 Anthony the Sonne of Anthony Wood borne 17th Decembr 16 [tom] Mary the Daughter of Anthony Wood was borne the 9th of Decem ber 1670 Thomas Weft and Elizabeth Jackfon weare married the 12th of December 1661 Elizabeth the Daughter of Thomas Weft was borne the 26th of September 1663 Mary the Daughter of Thomas Weft was borne the 22°d of Sep tember 1665 hannah the

Load more