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18 Aug 2023: On 31 Mar 2015 I created Family:Lemuel Hedge and Sarah White (1) to record the births of their children, which events are recorded on page 1 of volume 1 of the Warwick Vital Records. Today I have finished with the last entry of Volume 2. In between, I have attempted to record every record on a WeRelate page and if possible connect that page to existing pages or trace it back as needed. Over 500 pages of records, sometimes a single line blossoming into a 5 or more generation tree as I traced it back. (Note however, the section on unplaced records below.) I have chosen not to process Volume 3 and beyond (though I consulted them when needed). There are two basic reasons: 1) there are other available places to discover the information (fairly universal state records starting about 1843, and censuses) so they are not as irreplaceable; and 2) people from that era after 1850 may occasionally/frequently run into living persons constraints (such as death records not released for Massachusetts after 1924, WeRelate standards on living people, etc.) I believe Allred (mentioned below) provides coverage of volume 3 and 4. Historically Warwick records were available by renting microfilm through one's local Family History Center. But most people gained access via Source:Allred, Marilyn. Town of Warwick, Franklin County, Massachusetts, Genealogical Records 1739-1900, Births, Marriages,, either directly, or through a transcript posted to an old listserv by Paul Allred (I have been told no relation to Marilyn). Working with Allred, I gradually became aware of some limitations of her presentations. Primarily, when a discrepancy arose, it was difficult to know where Allred found her data. Shortly before 2015, familysearch.org made images of the film of the Warwick records available online, so having easy access to the actual records, I started this project (not realizing what a big task I had taken on.) I had some notion that it might potentially make WeRelate the place to go if one was interested in Warwick genealogy. In the course of this project, I have found (literally) hundreds of errors in Allred, many significant. (There are a few comments about some typical errors posted on the source page.) By design, Ms. Allred was only consulting local records, and assumed Warwick records were a lot more insular than they were. Instead, for many families, it was a one or two generation stop on the way further west. She compounded these shortcomings by some poor guessing. I was having trouble working through any given family without finding some kind of error. I soon gave up auditing Allred, though I have noted errors in those situations where I became aware of them. The corrected information was posted to WeRelate pages. Naturally, given the discrepancies I found with Allred, I have made sure to document sources pretty thoroughly, and believe I have provided enough evidence to show the reader why I reached different conclusions. I believe in a high percentage of cases, I was able to provide significantly more connections or more detail than is found in Allred. I tried hard to document when I was speculating and give the reasons for thinking so, in the relatively few places I allowed myself to do so. The work of Ryan-O on Find A Grave has been especially appreciated. Also John Slaughter at ma-vitalrecords.org (unfortunatley which has been unreachable lately). One useful difference between this project and Allred's work, is that this is more or less a living "document". So future researchers can add information, or if necessary, correct the inevitable errors I have made. Hopefully the spirit of using and documenting good sources will be maintained. --Jrich 05:19, 19 August 2023 (UTC) [edit] Unplaced RecordsFor various reasons, I was unable to find or create a page based on certain records. I have listed these below. In addition, certain records, such as animal marks and strays, mention in town meetings, have been skipped. Possibly they could provide a better estimate of death, or similar tidbit, but the density of genealogical information is so low, they did not seem worth processing. [edit] Warning Out[For background, one may want to consult various books. For example, Source:Benton, Josiah Henry. Warning Out in New England, 1656-1817 is viewable on Google Books and so very accessible. Warning outs were not just issued to people of little visible support, presumably mostly young couples, but often to older couples who could easily end up being charges on the town. If the warned out parties actually left town, there may be no records of them leaving just the content of the warning out to identify who is intended. But it may be hard to determine where they came from, or went. For example, there are few records for New York online, so people that moved there can be hard to find.] Vol. 1, loose page: March the 12 - 1768 William Temple and family were warned out of warwick.
Vol. 1, loose page: Warwick March ye 7th: 1785. Then the following Persons Were Legally Warned to Depart out of the Town of Warwick within fourteen Days (Viz) Joseph Bass & Molly Bass ...
Vol. 1, loose page: Warwick March ye 7th: 1785. Then the following Persons Were Legally Warned to Depart out of the Town of Warwick within fourteen Days (Viz) ... Jacob Hobart & Polley Hobart ...
Vol. 1, loose page: Warwick March ye 7th: 1785. Then the following Persons Were Legally Warned to Depart out of the Town of Warwick within fourteen Days (Viz) ... Hannah Field ...
[edit] DeathsVol. 2, p. 50 January 26th 1820 Died Mary Barrows.
Vol. 2, p. 72 Jan. 14, 1844 Mrs Colbrook aged ninety four (94 years)
Vol. 2, p. 80 May 30th 1824 Died Widow Abigail Delvee.
Vol.2, p. 98: September 2'd 1836 Died Mrs. Mary Fuller.
Vol. 2, p. 98: June 12th 1836 Died Mehitible Fuller.
Vol. 2, p. 118: January 9th 1810 Died Mrs Gibson Aes 45 years.
Vol. 2, p. 118: Sept. 5th 1821 Died Widow Caroline Goldsbury.
Vol. 2, p. 144: May 31st 1819. Died Melinda Knolton.
Vol. 2, p. 194: Anna Perry Died August 13th 1823.
Vol. 2, p. 214: February 19th 1844 Mrs Smith died aged 80 years.
Vol. 2, p. 204: Nov 11th Died Mrs Richards
Vol. 2, p. 228: October 22'd - 1834 Died Mille Shepardson
Vol. 2, p. 228 Feb 12, 1842 Died Sarah Severy 90 yea[r]s
Vol. 2, p. 228 Feb 18. 1844 Widow Smith Died aged 80 years
Vol. 2, p. 260 Jan. 27th 1812 Died Bethiah Wastcoat.
Vol. 2, p. 260 July 22'd 1833 Died Mrs White Poor house.
Vol. 2, p. 260: May 26 1837 Died A. H. Wood Negro at Poor house.
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