Question: Recently I was at NEHGS and copied pages from the Vital Records of Deerfield, Massachusetts to the year 1850. I suppose I should have read the pages more carefully. I am at a loss as to the abbreviations I have found. Can you tell me what source in the book that CR2 and CR4 is referring to?
Answer: The abbreviation C.R. generally refers to Church Records as a source in published vital records. In the Deerfield book you used the following are the abbreviations for the Church Records: C.R.1 = First Congregational Church; C.R. 2 = Second Congregational Church, South Deerfield; C.R. 3 = Monument Church, South Deerfield; and C.R. 4 = Orthodox Congregational Church.