Georgetown, Massachusetts - Births, Marriages and Deaths to 1850. Genealogy

Description

Vital Records of Georgetown
, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849
(Salem: The Essex Institute, 1928) 88 pgs., hardcover.  Georgetown
is a community in Essex Co., Mass., settled in 1639 and incorporated in 1838.  Genealogical treasure of all the births, marriages and deaths in the community until 1849.  This series often contains besides vital records from the town clerk other sources including church, cemetery, and private records such as diaries and family bibles. A wonderful source for your local history or genealogical collection.  This includes African-American vital records for former enslaved.
History
: Georgetown was originally settled in 1639 as a part of the town of Rowley by the Reverend Ezekiel Rogers. The town at the time stretched from the Atlantic coast to the Merrimack River, south of Newbury and north of Ipswich. Several farmers, finding suitable meadowlands in the western half of the settlement, began settling along the Penn Brook by the middle of the seventeenth century, creating Rowley's West Parish. Though not directly involved in King Philip's War, the village nonetheless did become a victim of Indian raids. The village, which became known as New Rowley, grew for many years, with small mills and eventually a shoe company opening up in the town. By 1838, the town was sufficiently large enough for its own incorporation, and was renamed Georgetown. Small industry continued, and today the town is mostly residential in nature, a distant suburb of Boston's North Shore.