Vital Records
of Shirley, Massachusetts to the Year 1850
Published By
The
New England Historic
Genealogical Society
At The Robert
Henry Eddy Memorial Rooms
At The Charge
Of
The Eddy Town-Record
Fund
Boston, Mass.
1918
This publication
is issued under the authority of a vote
passed by the
New England Historic Genealogical
Society, November
6, 1901, as follows:
Voted: That the
sum of $20,000, from the bequest of the late
Robert Henry
Eddy, be set aside as a special fund to be called
the Eddy Town-Record
Fund, for the sole purpose of publishing
the Vital Records
of the towns of Massachusetts, and that the
Council be authorized
and instructed to make such arrangements
as may be necessary
for such publication. And the treasurer is
hereby instructed
to honor such drafts as shall be authorized by
the Council for
this purpose.
Committee on
Publications
James Parker
Parmenter Hosea Starr Ballou
G. Andrews Moriarty,
Jr. John Wallace Suter
Alfred Johnson George Ritchie Marvin
Henry Edwards
Scott, Editor
Stanhope Press
F. H. Gilson
Company
Boston, U.S.A.
THE TOWN OF SHIRLEY,
Middlesex County,
was established
as a district January 5, 1753, from
a part of Groton.
January 25, 1765,
certain land known as Stow Leg
was annexed to
the district of Shirley.
August 23, 1775,
the district was made a town by
general act.
February 6, 1798,
a part of Groton was annexed to
Shirley.
March 3, 1846,
and April 25, 1848, bounds between
Shirley and Lunenburg
(Worcester County) were
established.
February 14,
1871, a part of Shirley was included in
the new town
of Ayer.
Population by
Census: 1765 (Prov.),430;
1776 (Prov.), 704; 1790
(U.S.), 677;
1800 (U.S.), 713; 1810
(U.S.), 814;
1820 (U.S.), 922; 1830
(U.S.), 991;
1840 (U.S.), 957; 1850
(U.S.), 1158;
1855 (State), 1479; 1860
(U.S.), 1468;
1865 (State), 1217; 1870
(U.S.), 1451;
1875 (State), 1352; 1880
(U.S.), 1365;
1885 (State), 1242; 1890
(U.S.), 1191;
1895 (State), 1399; 1900
(U.S.), 1680;
1905 (State), 1692; 1910
(U.S.), 2139;
1915 (State), 2251.
EXPLANATIONS
1. The fact that
a birth, marriage, or death is recorded in
Shirley does
not prove that it occurred in this town; but when
places other
than Shirley and Massachusetts are named in the
original records,
they are given in the printed copy.
2. In all items
from town records the original spelling is
followed, and
no attempt is made to correct errors appearing in
the records.
3.The various spellings of a name should be examined, as
items about the
same family or individual may be found under
different spellings.
4.A baptism is not printed, if it occurs within one year after
the recorded
date of birth of a child of the same name and parents
or if it is clear
that the child baptized is identical with the child
of the birth
record; but variations found in the baptismal record
are added to
the birth record.
5.The birth of a married woman is recorded under her maiden
name, if it is
known. But if the maiden name cannot be deter-
mined, the entry
appears under the husband's name, with a dash
enclosed in brackets,
i.e., [------], to signify that the maiden
name is unknown.
If it is not known whether the surname is
that of a married
or unmarried woman, ? m. is placed in brackets
after the Christian
name.
6.Marriages and intentions of marriage are printed under
the names of
both parties. When both the marriage and in-
tention of marriage
are recorded, only the marriage record is
printed; and
where a marriage appears without the intention
being recorded,
it is designated with an asterisk.
7. Additional
information which does not appear in the
original text
of an item, i.e., any explanation, query, inference,
or difference
shown in other entries of the record, is bracketed.
Parentheses are
used to show variations in the spelling of a
name in the same
entry, to indicate the maiden name of a wife,
to enclose an
imperfect portion of the original text, and to sep-
arate clauses
in the original text.
ABBREVIATIONS
a. — age
abt. — about
b. — born
B.R. — Bolton
Record, from a compilation by Mrs. Charles
Knowles Bolton
of Brookline, now in her possession.
It contains material
some of which is not now obtainable
elsewhere, and
includes church records, doctors' records,
diaries, and
Bible records
bp. — baptized
bur. — buried
ch. — child
chn. — children
Co. — county
d. — daughter;
day; died
Dea. — deacon
dec'd. —deceased
dup. — duplicate
entry
Eld. — Elder
Ens. — Ensign
G.R. 1. — gravestone
record, Shirley Centre Cemetery
G.R. 2. — gravestone
record, Shirley Village Cemetery
G.R. 3. — gravestone
record, Shaker Cemetery, Lancaster, near the Shirley boundary
G.R. 4. — gravestone
record, French Cemetery
h. — hours ;
husband
inf. — infant
int. — publishment
of intention of marriage
Jr. — junior
Lt. — Lieutenant
m. — marriage;
married ; month
min. — minutes
q.v. — which
see ; whom see
R.R. — Rebellion
Record
rec. — recorded
s. — son
S.C.F. — Suffolk
Court Files
Sr. — senior
T.C. — town copy
w. — week; wife
wid. — widow
widr. —widower
y. — year