PERU. Records of proceedings of Partridgefield from 1771 are

being copied.

PETERSHAM.

and deaths.

First volume of the records of births, marriages,

PLYMPTON. Records of births, marriages, and deaths from 1707 to 1844; the copying of the first and second volume of proceedings has been authorized.

PROVINCETOWN. Records of town meetings from 1746 to 1784, of births from 1696 to 1866, of marriages from 1729 to 1854, of deaths from 1730 to 1861, and of the treasurer from 1724 to 1741. ROCKLAND. Records of the Abington town meetings from 1712 to 1820, and the copying of later ones has been authorized. These have been printed in the "Rockland Standard," and copies have been preserved for binding in book form.

ROWLEY. The records of baptisms in the First Church of Rowley, the Linebrook Parish Church in Ipswich, the First Church of Georgetown, and the Church in Byfield Parish.

RUSSELL. Records of proceedings from 1790 to 1800, and of births, marriages, and deaths from 1835 to 1843.

SHARON. The Rebellion record.

SHREWSBURY. Records of proprietors' meetings from 1718 to 1811, of births, marriages, and deaths from 1717 to 1844, and of the location of roads to 1889.

SOUTHBOROUGh. Records of the lay-out of all roads.

SWANSEA. Records of the proprietors from 1668 to 1769. UXBRIDGE. The second volume of proceedings, and the early births, marriages, deaths, and marriage intentions.

WATERTOWN. The eighth volume of the records of proceedings from 1790 to 1804.

WESTMINSTER. One volume of births, marriages, and deaths.
WILLIAMSTOWN. Records of the proprietors.

WILMINGTON. Records of births, marriages, and deaths.
WINDSOR. Records of proceedings from 1771 to 1795.

WINTHROP. Records of births, marriages, and deaths. YARMOUTH. One volume of the records of proceedings, and another is being copied.

BINDING.

In the cities the business character of the various offices leads to business methods, and, as a rule, the repairing of the volumes of records is kept up. In some of the cities the oldest records had been neglected, but with a few exceptions the clerks have had rebinding done. I regret to say

that in a few cities insufficient appropriation for the clerk's office prevents his doing what he gladly would for the improvement of the records. In the towns conditions are different. Many of the oldest records are in a state of decay, all semblance of binding having in many cases disappeared, the loose leaves being in bundles or boxes, and rebinding has seemed impossible. In the last report photographs were shown of pages from the records of Natick, and by the kindness of the publication committee I am able to show one of a page from the Watertown records. This is a fair sample of what can be found in town after town. The most mutilated records, as well as those just entering upon this condition by the loss of their covers, can be repaired, and many of them would already be in the hands of binders if the law were plain as to the responsibility of their custodians in allowing them to be taken to distant cities or towns for binding. The uncertainty upon this point, and the fact that the repairing of the most fragile pages is the work of specialists, and will not be undertaken by binders generally, has prevented more of the necessary work from being done. One hundred and forty towns have been notified that binding should be done; but, while there is an inclination to act, only fifty-seven have as yet had any binding done. A few towns have authorized binding, but are doubtful how to proceed.

GENERAL INFORMATION ON RECORDS.

The following additional information in regard to missing records and to facts recorded has been gathered during the year, some being corrective of the facts reported in 1885:

County of Berkshire.

HINSDALE. The records from 1795 to 1804 are of the West Parish of Partridgefield.

NEW MARLBOROUGH. The proprietors' records are of the "Proprietors of No. 2 on the road from Westfield to Sheffield," 1737 to 1801;"Proprietors of Land called Eleven Hundred Acres," 1767 to 1790; and " Proprietors of Housatonic Township No. 2," dated 1757, and containing list of lots with their owners, and a map.

OTIS. Two volumes are records of the town of Loudon from 1774 to 1810, and one is the record of the district of Bethlehem from 1789 to 1810.

SANDISFIELD. The proprietors' records are of the "Proprietors of a Township of Land No. 3 lying between Westfield and Sheffield," from 1735 to 1818.

SAVOY. The proprietors' records are dated at Rehoboth, and contain the names of the proprietors of Bullock's Grant. A plan of Bernardston's Grant is with these records.

TYRINGHAM. The records of Tyringham, prior to 1847, when Monterey was set off, are at Monterey. They include the proprietors' records from 1737 to 1762, records of births from 1756 to 1845, and deaths from 1803 to 1845. There is no record of marriages prior to 1847.

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WILLIAMSTOWN. The proprietors' records are of the Proprietors of the West Township of Hoosuck," from 1703 to 1802. The town records were burned in 1804, but in 1831 a copy was made of births by families from 1765 to 1831, obtained from various sources, and some original entries of deaths to 1835 and of deaths in 1843 and 1844 were made in the volume. The records of births and deaths from 1843 to 1860 and of marriages from 1823 to 1860 were burned.

County of Bristol.

COURT RECORDS. An examination of the volume of marriages with the court records, given in the list of records in the first report as containing records of eleven towns from 1783 to 1795, contains those of fourteen towns with dates as follows: Attleborough, Easton, and Norton from 1783 to 1795; Berkley from 1776 to 1791; Dartmouth from 1762 to 1795; Dighton from 1772 to 1796; Freetown from 1784 to 1796; Mansfield from 1788 to 1794; New Bedford and Westport from 1787 to 1795; Rehoboth and Swansea from 1785 to 1795; Somerset from 1790 to 1794; and Taunton from 1782 to 1795.

REGISTRY OF DEEDS. Forty-one volumes of copies of "all records and parts of records and plans recorded and deposited in the registry of deeds for the northern district of said county prior to the first day of July, eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, relating to lands in the southern district of said county," have been deposited in the southern registry at New Bedford, and have been indexed by volumes to meet immediate demands. A classified index is in preparation.

DARTMOUTH. The records have been collected and carried to the new town hall. They comprise records of proceedings from 1674 to 1766, and from 1779; of births from 1667; of marriages from 1725 to 1738, and from 1791; of intentions of marriage from 1727 to 1747, from 1785 to 1816, and from 1821; and of deaths