Scope and Contents

The Town of Southborough has published a Town Report since 1860. Reports contain information about town officials and appointments, and provide updates on projects undertaken by each town department and committee. Throughout the 1850’s individual town departments also published annual reports; particularly the assessor and school committee.

Scope and Contents Southborough appointed its first Selectmen shortly after the town was founded in 1727. The Select Board has several important responsibilities under Massachusetts Law, which include the power to prepare the town meeting warrant or agenda, the power to make appointments to town boards and offices, the power to employ professional administrative staff and town counsel, and the authority to grant licenses and permits. The Select Board also sets policy and strategic direction, coordinates the...

Scope and Contents A Chattel Mortgage is a loan used to purchase an item of movable personal property. Records include a description of goods and chattels, the terms of agreement between parties concerned, names of vendor and vendee, place, amount, list of goods or chattels, amount paid, conditions and agreement of mortgages, payments, and signatures of vendors. Some volumes include an index listing vendors and vendees alphabetically, along with the year and page number.Chattel Mortgage books were...

Scope and Contents The town of Southborough separated from Marlborough in July 1727 after local residents petitioned the legislature to form a new town because it was too far a distance for them to travel to church. Prior to its incorporation the area had been named ‘Stoney Brook’ after a local stream.This collection includes the original citizen’s petition that brought about the formation of Southborough, and the Act of Settling and Town Line Records which formalized the boundaries between...

Scope and Contents Contains lists of Southborough residents who were eligible to vote or serve on a jury from 1771-1947. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Massachusetts Law required the Selectmen in each town to prepare lists of persons who were qualified and eligible for Jury duty. In 1784 the legislature directed that these persons should be “of good moral character and qualified as the constitution directs, to vote”. In 1808 it was further stipulated that men over the age of seventy should be excluded from...

Scope and Contents This collection is composed of records which relate to Southborough’s militia, and document the town's role in military conflicts from the French Indian War forward. There is considerable documentation relating to the Revolutionary War, including enlistment records and payment stubs for local men who served in the continental army. The town’s records relating to the Civil War are even more expansive and provide extraordinarily thorough accounts of local soldiers and their...

Scope and Contents

Eleven 12"x15" photographic prints showing landscapes and panoramic views of Southborough. They include scenic shots of Southborough's farmland, houses and hills, Mr. Sears' house, hay cultivation and agricultural work, a shepherd and flock of sheep, and the Boston water supply in Southborough. One photo is noted to include Batista Berri, Paul Berry’s father.

Scope and Contents This collection contains records relating to schools and education that are held by the Southborough Town Clerk’s office. It includes budgeting, salary and financial records, as well as minutes, reports and correspondence of the Schoolhouse and School Districting Committees. An extensive selection of enrollment and attendance registers are also included. They provide the names and ages of each student in the town from 1890-1895, along with records of their attendance, and the names of school...

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of three ledger books which provide a record of all tests and inspections conducted by the Sealer of Weights and Measures in the Town of Southborough from 1908-1940 and 1950-1965.

Scope and Contents This collection contains documentation relating to two cemeteries in Southborough: the Old Burying Ground on Saint Marks Street, and Southborough Rural Cemetery on Cordaville Road. The Old Burying Ground is the town’s oldest cemetery and was utilized from the town’s inception in 1727 through 1843 when it became too crowded to accommodate further burials. Southborough Rural Cemetery was opened in 1842 and remains active. The majority of cemetery records held by the town are...