LITERALLY TRANSCRIBED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF

GEORGE ERNEST BOWMAN

Editor of "The Mayflower Descendant" and
"Vital Records of
ewster, Mass."

PUBLISHED BY THE

MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF MAYFLOWER DESCENDANTS

OLD COLONY TOWN RECORD FUND
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
1905

Editor
GEORGE ERNEST BOWMAN

Committee on Publication
CHARLES A. HOPKINS NATHANIEL U. WALKER
EDWARD H. WHORF STANLEY W. SMITH
GEORGE ERNEST BOWMAN

Copyright, 1905, by
MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF MAYFLOWER DESCENDANTS

THOMAS TODD, PRINTER
Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

THE Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, composed
of male and female descendants of the Passengers in the " May-
flower " on that memorable voyage which terminated at Plymouth,
New England, in December, 1620, was organized at Boston on
28 March, 1896, to perpetuate the memory of those Mayflower
Pilgrims and to collect and preserve all historical data relating to
them. Three years later, in January, 1899, the Society began the
publication of an illustrated quarterly magazine, " The Mayflower
Descendant," devoted to the genealogy, history and biography of the
Pilgrims, their ancestors and their descendants. Seven- volumes of
this magazine have now been completed, comprising more than two
thousand octavo pages, a large proportion of the space being given
up to the printing of literal copies of ancient records never before
published and heretofore inaccessible to the great majority of those
especially interested in them. Among the priceless records which
are thus being preserved from destruction, and put within easy reach
of every one who desires to consult them, may be mentioned the
Town Records of Births, Intentions of Marriage, Marriages and
Deaths; the Probate and Land Records of the old Plymouth Colony
and the Counties of Plymouth, Barnstable and
istol; Gravestone
Records; Church Records of Baptisms, Admissions, Deaths, etc.;
Records from Family Bibles, Diaries and other Private Memoranda.
In order to hasten the important work of preserving the town
records of births, intentions of marriage, marriages and deaths, which
in many cases are already badly damaged and are rapidly wearing
out, the Massachusetts Society decided to print in separate volumes,
as rapidly as the necessary funds could be secured, literal copies
of the Vital Records of the Towns in 'Plymouth and Barnstable
Counties, and contributions were solicited for the " Cape Cod Town
Record Fund," to be used in printing literal copies of the records
of the towns in Barnstable County, and for the " Old Colony Town
Record Fund," to be used in printing literal copies of the records
of the towns in Plymouth County. The first volume to be issued
in this series was the Vital Records of
ewster, Mass., published in
November, 1904, at the charge of the Cape Cod Town Record Fund.
Two other volumes, the Vital Records of Truro, Mass., and the
Vital Records of Eastham, Mass., are now in press and are being
forwarded as rapidly as the contributions to this fund will allow.
The present volume is the first to be issued at the charge of the
Old Colony Town Record Fund and contains literal copies of all
records of births, intentions of marriage, marriages and deaths, to
the end of the year 1849, found in the records of the Town of
Halifax, Mass. A few records after 1849 have also been printed,
in order to include every vital record contained in the first four of
the town's books. The copy for the printer was made directly from
the original records, and, before it was put into the printer's hands,
was carefully compared with those records by the Editor, who has
also revised all of the proof sheets.
The Editor gratefully acknowledges the courteous assistance of
Mr. Thomas D. Morton, the present Town Clerk of Halifax, who
personally copied the greater part of the records and compiled the
list of Town Clerks, and in many ways facilitated the work of
copying and verification.
The progress of this work of preserving and making accessible
the records of these towns which form a part of the old Plymouth
Colony depends upon the liberality of those interested in the gene-
alogy and history of this section, and the order in which the records
of the different towns will be published will be determined by the
wishes of those who contribute to the respective funds. All receipts
from sales of copies of the books published at the charge of either
fund will be added to that fund to assist in printing the records of
other towns.
Contributions for either the Cape Cod Town Record Fund or
the Old Colony Town Record Fund and orders for any of the
Society's publications may be sent to
GEORGE ERNEST BOWMAN, Editor,
53 Mt. Vernon St., Boston, Mass.
1 November, 1905.

vi

PUBLICATIONS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF
MAYFLOWER DESCENDANTS.

" THE MAYFLOWER DESCENDANT." An Illustrated Quarterly
Magazine (Begun in January, 1899) Per year $2.00
Vital Records of
ewster, Mass., to 1850 2.00
Vital Records of Halifax, Mass., to 1850 2.00
Vital Records of Eastham, Mass., to 1850 (In press) 3.00
Vital Records of Truro, Mass., to 1850 (In press) 3.00
Death Records from the Ancient Burial Ground at Kingston,
Mass., to 1860 (Limited Edition of 200 Copies only,
printed from type and Numbered) 1.00
Gravestone Records from the " Ancient" and " Woodside"
Cemeteries at Yarmouth, Mass., to 1851 (Limited Edition
of 300 Copies only, printed from type and Numbered)
(In press) 1.00
Governor
adford's Letter Book 1.00
Boston, Mass., November 1, 1905
vii

HISTORICAL NOTE.

THE TOWN OF HALIFAX, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, was
incorporated 14 July, 1734 (New Style). It was formed from parts
of the towns of Middleborough, Pem
oke and Plympton. On 20
Fe
uary, 1824, a part of the town of
idge water was annexed to
Halifax, and on 16 March, 1831, a part of the town of Plympton
was annexed. On 11 April, 1857, a part of Halifax was annexed
to East
idgewater and the bounds between the two towns estab-
lished. On 6 Fe
uary, 1863, the bounds between Halifax and
Plympton were established, and a part of each town was annexed
to the other town.

POPULATION OF THE TOWN OF HALIFAX.

1765 (Colonial) . .... 556 1860 (U.5.) ..... 766
1776 (Colonial) . .... 672 1865 (Mass.) ..... 722
1790 (U.5.) . . . . . 664 1870 (U.5.) ..... 619
1800 (U.5.) . . . . . 642 1875 (Mass.) ..... 568
1810(U. S.) ..... 703 1880 (U.5.) ..... 542
1820(U. S.) ..... 749 1885 (Mass.) ..... 530
1830 (U.5.) ..... 708 1890 (U.5.) ..... 562
1840 (U. S.) ..... 734 1895 (Mass.) ..... 497
1850 (U.5.) ..... 784 1900 (U.5.) ..... 522
1855 (Mass.) ..... 786 1905 (Mass.) ..... 497

TOWN CLERKS OF HALIFAX, WITH THE DATES OF THEIR ELECTION.

Ignatius Gushingth 18 July, 1734 Noah Gushing, 12 March, 1781
David Bosworth, 31 March, 1735 Ebenezer Tomson, 11 March, 1782
Noah Gushing, 18 March, 1745 Josiah Tomson, 24 March, 1794
Robert Waterman, 17 March, 1755 Obadiah Lyon, 11 March, 1816
Noah Gushing, 8 March, 1756 Nathaniel Morton, 17 March, 1817
Robert Waterman, 14 March, 1757 Zadock Thompson, 14 March, 1825
Noah Gushing, 19 March, 1759 Edwin Inglee, 11 March, 1850
Ebenezer Tomson, 21 March, 1763 Nathaniel Morton, 23 March, 1874
Noah Gushing, 10 March, 1766 Thomas D. Morton, 30 April, 1883 th
Ebenezer Tomson, 12 March, 1770 Thomas D. Morton, 17 March, 1884
Noah Gushing, 14 March, 1774 Morton S. Thompson, 4 March, 1901
Ebenezer Tomson, 13 March, 1775 James T.Thomas, 3 November,1903th
Moses Inglee, 18 March, 1776 Thomas D. Morton, 7 March, 1904
Ebenezer Tomson, 17 March, 1777

* Appointed to fill a vacancy until the next annual town meeting.

ix

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

THE Vital Records of the Town of Halifax, Massachusetts, to
the end of the year 1849, are found in five different volumes of the
town records. The first three volumes were also used for records
of town meetings and other miscellaneous entries, the vital rec-
ords being scattered through the books according to the convenience
of the various town clerks who entered them. The fourth volume
is a small quarto book containing vital records only, and the " Reg-
ister " is the large folio for recording births, marriages and deaths
which was issued to all cities and towns by the Commonwealth in
1844-
The following pages contain a literal copy of every record of a
Birth, Intention (or Publishment) of Marriage, Marriage and Death
found in the first four volumes, and of every record in the " Regis-
ter " to the end of the year 1849. In the "Register" each entry
extended across two pages facing each other, therefore the first part
of each of these entries has been printed on the left-hand, or even
numbered page, with the remainder of the entry on the opposite
page, the consecutive numbering of the entries being duplicated on
the right-hand page to facilitate the connection of the two parts.

x