Scope and Contents

Every year since 1860 the Town of Southborough has published a Town Report. These annual reports contain information about town officials and appointments, and provide updates on the workings of 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 By definition a Chattel Mortgage is a loan used to purchase an item of movable personal property. They 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...

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 This collection includes listings 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...

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 Revolutionary 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

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...

Scope and Contents This collection includes records maintained by the Town Clerk’s Office which relate to the First Church of Southborough (Congregational), and the Pilgrim Evangelical Society of Southborough. Since there was no separation of church and state in Massachusetts until 1806, the majority of records pertain to the First Congregational Church where the pastor was an employee of the town. The congregation was supported through public taxation in the form of a mandatory “Minister Tax''. Surviving...

Scope and Contents This collection contains information on early utility services in the Town of Southborough. It is primarily composed of contracts between the Town of Southborough and gas, water, and electric companies. The Marlborough Electric Company was founded in 1886, and extended its services to Southborough about 1900. It continued to expand in subsequent years, bringing electricity to Northborough in 1908, Berlin in 1909, Westborough in 1910, and Bolton in 1912. The Boston Water Board was created in...