Records, 1724-1879.

ArchivalResource

Westborough (Mass.). Records, 1724-1879.

Records, 1724-1879.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/219715404

The Westborough, Massachusetts, Papers, 1745-1879, include land deeds of James Whitcomb ( - ) in 1745 and Jason Chamberlain (1781-1849) in 1838, marriage banns, a petition concerning the widening of a road in 1849, and papers of the Westborough Mechanics Association (e.g., a list of subscribers for an Association library), a catalogue of books presented to the Westborough Mechanics Library, and signatures of new Association members. There are also accounts of mail received at the Westborough post office in 1820, a list of subscribers for providing food to returning soldiers in 1815, morning reports by Captain Pierpont Brigham (1780-1836) of the light infantry company from Westborough in 1814. Papers pertaining to the American Revolution include a town resolution containing grievances against the crown, c. 1774, an agreement to organize a town committee of "Referees" to oversee the peace during the "anarchy" that preceded the war, and a letter of John Wood ( - ) with references to a meeting of the Sons of Liberty in Boston, 1770. The collection also contains a copy of the decision of the Supreme Judicial Court concerning a suit which the Westborough Milk Producers Association had brought against its shareholders in 1879; a volume of Westborough Church Records, 1789-1803, with brief reports on the business conducted by church committee meetings and congregational meetings held after Sunday worship service; and a volume of gravestone inscriptions in the Westboro Memorial Cemetery. The folio volumes are copies of the Records of the Church of Christ in Westborough, 1724-1818. (The original volume is in the possession of the Westborough Public Library.) The records were kept primarily by the Rev. Ebenezer Parkman (1703-1782), first minister of Westborough from 1724 to 1782. The pages are interspersed with membership, baptismal, marriage, and dismissal records, minutes of church meetings, a list of private church societies for young men and women, a list of books given to the church in 1748, and a list of utensils given to the church, 1725-1739. There are also extracts from the town records concerning the first inhabitants of Westborough, the Church Covenant, 1724, and, at the end of the volume, "Directories and Forms, of diverse Administrations." This contains the baptismal, marriage, and eucharist ceremonies used by Parkman. There is also a typescript of this section prepared by Ross. W. Beales, Jr. From 1789 to 1807, the records were kept by the second minister, John Robinson ( - ), and from 1808 to 1818, they were kept by the Rev. Elisha Rockwood (1778-1858).

1 folder (18 items).2 v. ; octavo.2 v. ; folio.

American Antiquarian Society