Knowing How to Find the Key at Ancestry.com Leads to Original Records

Huldah Pratt, who married Benjamin Reed in 1778 in Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, was my 4th great-grandmother. I know a little about Huldah, but I also have many questions. While looking for Huldah, I knew that some of my questions might be answered if I found more original records. 

Huldah died in Putney, Windham County, Vermont on 17 May 1842. Her gravestone and death record both indicate that she was 82 years old. This gave her a birth year of approximately 1760, matching her age found in Revolutionary War pension records for her husband. Recently, a hint at Ancestry.com gave me a birth date of 16 November 1760. This matches the date I found in many online family trees. Unfortunately, the hint did not show the actual source. 

I really wanted to see the original record, so I clicked on the Source tab to determine where Ancestry found this record. The source was described as Massachusetts, U.S. Town Birth Records, 1620-1850, published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society. This was a little too vague for me, so before leaving Ancestry to look for the publication, I decided to do a another search. 

I searched for Huldah Pratt in Brockton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, with a 1760 birth year. The original hint was one of two results. The other was found in the database Massachusetts, U.S., Compiled Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1700-1850. The source for the record was Vital Records of Brockton, Massachusetts to the Year 1850. This was published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society in 1911. 

Huldah was seen on image 122 of the book. The heading on that page was Brockton Births. Huldah's name was followed by "d" and then "John," indicating that she was the daughter of John. The date, Nov. 16, 1760, was preceded by "bp." On the same page, there were four other daughters of John and a son, John. Betty, Hannah, Keturah, and Lydia all had the same birth date, Nov. 16, 1760, preceded by "bp." Was that the baptism date? And what does CRI mean at the end of each entry? 

To find the key to abbreviations in a book or directory, you will usually need to go to the beginning of the book. Huldah was found on image/ page 122 (see below). Changing  122 to 1 and hitting enter took me to the beginning of the book. 

The key to the abbreviations was on page five. "bp" was baptism, and "CRI" meant that records came from the Fourth Church of Christ of Bridgewater, renamed the First Congregational Church of Brockton. 

A quick Google search took me to the Congregational Library & Archives where, lucky for me, the original records are held and digitized. 

I now have names for Huldah's possible parents as well as siblings. Researching these family members may prove or disprove my Huldah's relationship to this family. 

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

© 2024 

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27499358/huldah-read: accessed February 7, 2024), memorial page for Huldah Pratt Read (–), Find a Grave Memorial ID 27499358, citing East Putney Cemetery, East Putney, Windham County, Vermont, USA; Maintained by Cynthia Kaley (contributor 51056978); photograph of gravestone contributed by Donna G. Dunham (contributor 46871624).

“First Parish Congregational Church Brockton, Mass. Records 1740-1805,” title of digital link is "Church records, 1740-1805, First Parish Congregational Church in North Bridgewater," digital images, Congregational Library & Archives History Matters (https://congregationallibrary.quartexcollections.com/Documents/Detail/church-records-1740-1805-first-parish-congregational-church-in-north-bridgewater/5618 : accessed 4 Feb 2024), image/page 36

"Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910, 1921-1924," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V58S-H21 : accessed 3 Feb 2023), Huldah Pratt in entry for Benjamin Reed, 1778.

"Massachusetts, U.S. Town Birth Records, 1620-1850," database, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/4094/ : accessed 2 Feb 2024), hint for birth record of Huldah Pratt. 

"Massachusetts, U.S., Compiled Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1700-1850," database, Ancestry.com ((https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/44862:61401? : accessed 2 Feb 2024); Vital Records of Brockton, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, New England Historical Society, 1911, p. 122. 

U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900,” database and images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/49769:1995 : accessed 25 June 2022), for Benjamin Reed, images 266 to 320; citing "Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files" (NARA microfilm publication M804, 2,670 rolls). Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

"Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954,"FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V8MP-5Z7 : accessed 3 Feb 2023), entry for Huldah Read and Benjamin Read, 17 May 1842.