Records, c. 1683-c. 1868; 1940.

ArchivalResource

Sutton (Mass. : Town). Records, c. 1683-c. 1868; 1940.

Records, c. 1683-c. 1868; 1940.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191259794

This collection documents much of the early history of Sutton and is especially valuable for the manuscripts of some of the first families to settle in the town. There is substantive material pertaining to the following families: Allen (from Sudbury, Mass.), Barton, Carriel, Elliot, Goddard, Hall, Hicks, Holman, LeBaron, Lovell, Marble, Putnam, Stockwell, Waite, and Waters. Evidently this material was gathered together by Christopher Columbus Baldwin (1800-1835). There are also miscellaneous genealogical notes and letters to Baldwin about Sutton families, as well as four bound volumes of Baldwin's manuscript notes gathered in preparation for his history of Sutton. The volumes include a predominant amount of genealogical material although there are also transcriptions of muster rolls and various local records, some original documents, and lists of town officers. Baldwin's history was not completed. The collection also includes wills; correspondence, legal documents, and town reports, 1710-1846; a poll list, c.1839 (with designations of political party affiliation); tax lists for 1826, 1867-1868; records of the Union Library Society of the Second Parish in Sutton, 1779-1786; a small collection of autographs of residents; materials pertaining to a branch of the General Society in the County of Worcester for the Reformation of Morals, c.1815; tax and birth records, c.1849-c.1852; and inscriptions in Sutton cemeteries, copied by M. S. Holden in 1940, and a small booklet of Sutton epitaphs. There are records of the Proprietors of Sutton, including warrants for meetings, records of proceedings, surveys and plans, etc., c.1714-c.1809. The two reels of microfilm include the records of the First Congregatonal Church (Sutton, Mass.), c.1720-c.1834 (the originals are owned by the First Congregational Church (Sutton, Mass.)), and public welfare records, 1819-1829 (the originals are deposited in the Sutton Free Public Library). The First Congregational Church (Sutton, Mass.) was founded in 1720 with the settlement of the Rev. John McKinstry (1677-1754). In 1729 David Hall (1704-1789) was ordained as the new minister and served for nearly sixty years. Among the records are lists of admissions and dismissions, 1729-c.1820; public confessions, 1736-1782; baptisms, 1728-1826; marriages, 1799-1825; and deaths (including causes), 1769-1798. Included are records of church meetings and votes, the church covenant, and details of Hall's acceptance and ordination in 1729, as well as a lengthy record of the church's remonstrance against a decision of an Ecclesiastical Council, 1748, concerning a dispute with the Second Church of Sutton. The public welfare records contain accounts of the Overseers of the Poor, and receipts issued to individuals for "trouble and expenses incurred on account of providing for" various indigent families in Sutton. The accounts include specific foodstuffs, medicine, wood, board, and consultative visits, all charged to the town. There are several letters written to the town of Sutton by the town governments of Millbury and Grafton, Mass., assessing Sutton's share of the support of specific persons, as well as letters sent to Sutton from Fitchburg, Mass., for the same purpose.

4 boxes.2 reels of microfilm.

American Antiquarian Society