This is a collection of free vital records books, otherwise known as “Tan Books” for Massachusetts towns. Generally, these records go up to 1849/1850 at which, the genealogist can use the census records to assist in identifying the family connections further. Included with this article is an account of why and how these manuscripts were published along with links to all 198 books which can be freely read or downloaded.
This is not a compiled genealogy, but rather, a compilation of notes, facts, and genealogies concerning the various early Brown families of the towns of Andover, Ipswich, Hamilton, Reading, Boston-Tewksbury, Cambridge, Charlestown, Chelmsford, Gloucester, Hampton NH, Haverhill, Salem, Watertown, Rowley, Sudbury, and Salisbury. Charlotte Helen Abbott compiled a series of volumes on early families of New England called the “Abbott Genealogies.” This is volume 7 of the series.
The word Tuthill, meaning a conical hill, is a common place name in England, of remote antiquity. From one or more places named Tuthill the surname Tuthill or Tuttle is derived, after a prevalent custom in the twelfth century and later when surnames came into use in England. The family had been especially prominent in Devonshire, England. There came to America in 1635, in the ship “Planter,” three families of this name from the parish of St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England. John, William, and Richard Tuttle, the heads of these families, were doubtless brothers. John Tuttle, mercer, aged thirty-nine, according to … Read more
Agawam Indians (Agawom) (fish-curing [place]), Hewitt. A name of frequent occurrence in south New England and on the Long Island, and by which was designated at least 3 Indian villages or tribes in Massachusetts. The most important was at Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts. The site was sold by the chief in 1638. Its jurisdiction included the land on Newbury River, and the tribe was a part of the Pennacook confederacy. It was almost extinct in 1658, but as late as 1726 there were still 3 families living near Wigwam hill. The second tribe or band of that name had its … Read more
The ancestry and posterity of Joshua Dow of Avon, Maine traces from John Dow and Johan Coop of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. The first descendant in America, Henry Dow, came from England to America in 1637 with his wife, four children, and a maid. He first settled at Watertown, Massachusetts before relocating to Hampton, New Hampshire. He wrote his surname variously as Dow, Dow and Doue. One of the first Dow to settle in Avon, was Joshua, son of John and Betsey (Strout) Dow, who moved from Portland to Avon soon after his brother and sister, and settled before 1828 near Mt. Blue and Mt. Blue Pond.
Surnames: Briggs, Bryon, Crockett, Davenport, Dickey, Doue, Dow, Dowe, Dresser, Dunham, Esty, Hall, Harnden, Harradon, Hinkley, Kinney, Kittredge, Ladd, McLaughlin, Mitchell, Orberton, Pettingell, Richardson, Ross, Sampson, Sedgeley, Stinchfield, Vining, Walton, Webber, and Worthley.