The sources from which these two volumes of Early Records of Londonderry, Windham, and Derry, N.H. have been drawn are Volumes I and II of the old town books.
The first town book is devoted to records of town meetings, homesteads, and vital statistics, with a sprinkling of advertisements. About one hundred and seventy-two pages of this book are filled with vital statistics and records of the boundaries of homesteads and outlying lots. The time covered is from 1719 to 1726. Page 60 gives the Articles of Incorporation, followed by a list of the proprietors; then succeed records of roads and earmarks. Reversing the book, it begins with the “First Planting,” April 11, 1719, following with forty-six pages of political records. In addition to these are two pages of records and two of acts given out of chronological order. Volume I contains in all two hundred and twenty-two pages. Much of the writing is faded and difficult to decipher, and the book shows its age.
Volume II is written from both sides, with a change of the book at different places between these transcripts, as if the recorders tried to bring the different classifications of subjects together and miscalculated on the space needed by the parts. Thus, the three or four classes are mixed and some-what difficult to separate. The records in this volume extend from 1727 to 1770. This book contains about six hundred and fifty pages and is in a better state of preservation than the first. The homestead records are transcribed principally in volume 2, bringing them up to the date of 1745.
Notes About the Book
In order to bring the political records of the town together, to form a continuous narrative, Browne thought best to take these as he found them scattered throughout the books, omitting the transcripts of homesteads, roads, and vital records. To include them all, and in the order, or lack of order in which they were written, he should have had nothing complete or systematized so as to be of easy access. Another volume would comprise all of these and possibly bring the political records to about 1780, thus covering the colonial and revolutionary war periods. It would be difficult to imagine two volumes of early history of greater value.
It is only proper to say here that while the greatest care was taken in deciphering the writing, which was often read through a magnifying glass, there are places which seem impossible of correct transcription. In a few cases it has been thought safest to insert a question mark, thus (?). The use of capitals is frequently a mooted point, but an attempt has been made to be as uniform as possible. Wherever there has been a doubt the author or person writing the word has been given the benefit of the same.
In preparing the index it has been impossible when of the same name to discriminate between father and son. This is noticeably the situation with John Wallace. Usually, where no distinction has been given in the Records, the credit has been placed to that of the name which would indicate the senior member of the family. The editor adopted the modern form of spelling the names in the index, with reference in some cases to the spelling as given in the Records.
In the body of the work Browne tried at all times to reproduce the original in style, spelling, punctuation, and language as near as it is possible on the printed page. The copy and proof have been read as many as five times, by three persons, and is believed to be as correct as it is possible to transcribe a work of this kind. The editor is sorry to find that an error found its way in a footnote on page 157, and the reader is requested to supply James instead of Robert, where mention is made of the decease of Londonderry’s first minister.
Includes minutes, ear markings, surveyors records, tax lists, inventory lists, accounts, school records and other miscellaneous records.
Volumes
Original Londonderry New Hampshire Town Records
The editor, George Waldo Browne thought it would be prudent for a third volume of records to be printed which would have included 20-30 additional homestead records and brought the political records up to 1800. To my knowledge they never were. However, the Genealogical Society of Utah filmed the original town records in 1950 in a series of 4 microfilms. The first 3 microfilms include town record books for Londonderry volumes 1-6 while the 4th microfilm includes records of school districts along with town records . Overall this brings the town records up to 1869. I highly suggest you utilize the printed versions above first to find your ancestors as they are indexed, the originals are not.
The records below include vital records: Londonderry birth records, 1700-1850; Londonderry marriage records, 1700-1846, and Londonderry death records, 1700-1806.
Surnames:
The following surnames represent only those whom lots were described in volume 2 of the printed book. There are other surnames in volume 2 and significant more names in volume 1. The surnames listed are represented by the Plan of Nutfield above.
Acmutey, Adams, Aiken, Alexander, Allison, Anderson, Archibald, Armstrong, Ayers, Barnard, Barr, Bell, Blair, Bogle, Boyce, Boyd, Boyes, Boynton, Burbank, Butterfield, Calderwood, Callwell, Campbell, Cargill, Carr, Christie, Clark, Clendinning, Cochran, Cragie, Cromble, Crumey, Dickey, Doak, Douglas, Duffy, Folsom, Fulton, Gage, Giffin, Gilmore, Given, Goffe, Graves, Gray, Green, Gregg, Griffin, Holmes, Humphrey, Hunkings, Hunter, Jaffrey, Karr, Keyes, Kidder, Leggett, Leslie, Lindsey, MacCay, MacKay, MacMurphy, McAllister, McClary, McClurg, McConihe, McCurdy, McDuffie, McGregor, McKeen, McKenny, McLaughlin, McMurphy, McNeil, McPheadrie, Merril, Miller, Mitchell, Moor, Moore, Morrison, Nesmith, Nicholas, Nutt, Owes, Packard, Packer, Patterson, Pecker, Penhallow, Phillips, Pierce, Pillsbury, Pinkerton, Proctor, Ramsey, Richey, Robie, Rodgers, Rogers, Senter, Shields, Shute, Simonds, Spaulding, Stark, Steel, Stewart, Taylor, Thompson, Todd, Tyler, Waldron, Walker, Wallace, Walton, Weare, Wentworth, Westbrook, Wiberd, Wilbert, Willson, Wilson, and Woodburn.
Source
Browne, George Waldo, Early Records of Londonderry, Windham, and Derry, N.H., Manchester NH : John B. Clarke Company, 1908.
