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From: "Sue Richart" <>
Subject: [GENMASSACHUSETTS] NEHGS MVR 1841-1910 Tip 7: Amended Record or Not?
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:15:04 -0800


Tip 7: NEHGS MVR 1841-1910 Tip 7: Amended Record or Not?

For those using www.newenglandancestors.org Massachusetts Vital
Records 1841-1910 on-line database, here is a tip that may make using
it a bit easier.

With some exceptions, amended record images are NOT available on the
database. You have to request the information from either the State
Archives or the appropriate town clerk. Some entries are amended both
on the older record and an amended record page, so you may find those.
It tends to be the smaller towns that do this. I haven't see it for
Boston records.

Is a record an amended record or not? It isn't easy to tell. Below
are some amended records volumes and pages. Boston uses volume 8 for
many of its amended records.

yeartownvolpg
1855Barnstable1105
1845Canton1443
1851Canton1445
1853Canton1447
1842Chelsea1511
1842Chelsea1513
1854Chelsea1515
1844Chilmark1613
1846Chilmark1615
1847Chilmark1617
1848Chilmark1621
1850Chilmark1623
1855Chilmark1633
1843Concord1719
1846Concord1721
1848Tisbury5101
1849Tisbury5103
1851Tisbury5113
1854Tisbury5129

Below are some records that looked like they would be amended records,
but were not.

Carroll (Female) Walpole 1855 1 253 Birth vol 91
Cleary Emery C. Lawrence 1854 1 190 Birth vol 81
Cook Charles Sewall Abington 1855 1 266 Birth vol 91
Coolidge Chas. Emerson Medway 1855 1 216 Birth vol 91
Gay Harriet E. Dedham 1855 1 199 Birth vol 91
Ilsley (Male) Lowell 1855 1 121 Birth pg 91
Jones Herbert R. Falmouth 1854 1 6 Birth vol 81
Livemore Herbert J. Cambridge 1855 1 52 Birth vol 91

How can you tell? If you see an asterisk in the Given Name field,
that is an amended record, but many amended records do not have
asterisks. If you took the first record above for Carroll (Female)
and queried for the town of Walpole, year 1855, page 253, and type as
Birth, you would see a number of Walpole birth entries for Walpole
regardless of the volume number. If there are other Walpole birth
entries for 1855, click on the image with the common volume number
(91) and see if your entry is there. If so, please let John Ledden,
Dale Cook, or I know so we can repair the entry.

One change you will see in the database concerns amended records. Per
the webmaster's instructions, I'm putting "Amended Record - No image
available" in the field that shows above the image when I verify the
index shows it as an amended record. This makes it look like there is
an image, so please check above the image area, when the image does
not appear.

I am currently going through all volume 1 records regardless of year,
so hopefully will fix the rest of the not-really-volume-1 entries
fairly soon. I have completed correcting the portion that covers
1841-43 entries.

Sue Richart
NEHGS Volunteer

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