Genealogy
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Subject Guide
Introduction
Gravestone inscriptions provide birth and death information and offer family relationship clues. The only record of an immigrant's original surname may appear on that person's headstone. However, as secondary sources, gravestone inscriptions can contain errors. Genealogical and historical societies and various individuals have transcribed and published cemetery inscriptions. The Systematic Series of Massachusetts vital records relied on information from headstones and other sources. Printed town records and histories sometimes contain epitaphs. Tombstone decorations offer insight into the deceased's economic status, occupation, religious affiliation, interests, and organizational memberships.
Selective List of Materials in the W.E.B. DuBois Library
- Annual Report of the Board of Park Commission/Commissioners, Fall River, Mass. by Board of Park CommissionersPublication Date: 1902-1904, 1906-1907, 1909, 1911-1912, 1914Some reports include a list of the perpetual care plots.
- The early records of the town - Dedham (Mass.) by Don Gleason Hill (editor)Publication Date: 1886Contains "all the epitaphs in the ancient burial place in Dedham, together with the other inscriptions before 1845 in the three parish cemeteries."
- Epitaphs from the old burying-ground in Cambridge by William Thaddeus HarrisPublication Date: 1845
- Epitaphs from the old burying-ground in CambridgeDigital access
- Epitaphs in old Bridgewater, Massachusetts by Williams LathamPublication Date: 1976 (reprint of 1882 edition)
- A guide to Berkshire County Massachusetts cemeteries by Richard C. Leab (compiler)Publication Date: 1988
- A guide to Massachusetts cemeteries by David Allen LambertPublication Date: 2002Lists cemeteries by town or city. Provides cemetery names and locations, year of establishment or first burial, contact information for cemetery officers, and references to printed transcriptions of that cemetery's gravestones.
- Northampton Bridge Street Cemetery 1680-1810 ; A stylistic analysis by Grace Ellen MorthPublication Date: 1971
- The Old Cemetery by Beryle C. DotenPublication Date: 1978
- The Old South Hadley burial ground, 1976Publication Date: 1976
- Prospect Hill Cemetery, St. Mary's Cemetery by Beryle C. DotenPublication Date: 1984
- Provincetown, Massachusetts, cemetery inscriptions by Lurana Higgins Cook (compiler)Publication Date: 1980
- Watertown recordsPublication Date: 1894Plan and register of burials in the Arlington Street burying ground.
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- Last Updated: Mar 6, 2024 3:32 PM
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