Report of the joint special committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts appointed to consider the expediency of modifying the laws relating to the registration of births, marriages, and deaths : presented March 3, 1849.
- Massachusetts. General Court.
- Date:
- 1849
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report of the joint special committee of the Legislature of Massachusetts appointed to consider the expediency of modifying the laws relating to the registration of births, marriages, and deaths : presented March 3, 1849. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
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![they solemnized, and return it to the town clerk, under penalty of being deprived of the right to marry, for ten years. In 1796, a new act was passed, in relation to births and deaths, repealing previous laws, and providing that all the facts required should be returned to the town clerk, by the parties designated, under forfeiture of one dollar. The whole were remodelled in 1835, and enacted in the following form, in which they appear in the Revised Statutes :— Sect. 46. The town clerk shall keep a record of the births and deaths of all persons within his town, and coming to his knowledge ; and he shall specify, in such record, the day of each birth and death, and the names of the parents of such persons, if known. Sect. 47. Parents shall give notice to the clerk of their town, of all the births and deaths of their children ; and every householder shall give the like notice of every birth and death happening in his house ; and the eldest person next of kin, shall give such notice of the death of his kindred ; and the keeper of any alms-house, work-house, house of correction, prison, or hospital, and the master or other commanding officer of any ship, shall give the like notice of every birth and death, happening among the persons under his charge ; and every person, neglecting to give such notice, for the space of six months after the birth or death shall have happened, shall forfeit, to the use of the town, a sum not exceeding five dollars. [Revised Statvtes, page 182.] Sect. 17. Every justice and minister shall keep a record of all marriages solemnized before him, and, in the month of April, annually, shall make a re- turn, to the clerk of the town in which he resides, of a certificate, containing the christian and surnames, and places of residence, of all the persons who have been by him joined in marriage within the year then last past, and also the time when, and the name of the town in which, such marriages were re- spectively solemnized; and when neither of the married persons belongs to, or is resident in, the town in which the justice or minister resides, then such jus- tice or minister shall, within thirty days after such marriage, also return a like certificate to the clerk of the town in which one or both of the married persons may reside ; and all marriages, so certified to the clerk, shall be forthwith re- corded by him in a book to be kept for that purpose. Sect. 18. Every justice of the peace and minister, who shall neglect to make such returns, shall, upon conviction thereof, forfeit, for each neglect, a sum, not less than twer.ty, nor more than one hundred dollars; one moiety thereof to the use of the county in which he resides, and the other moiety to the use of the person who shall prosecute therefor. [Ibid, page 477.] Town Clerk's Fees.—For recording births and deaths, eight cents each. For a certificate of a birth or death, ten cents. [Ibid, page 712.] Under the operation of these laws, registration, for the hun-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21168647_0024.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
