This page is intended to contain brief sketches of your earliest known ancestor who resided in Manchester before 1700. Contributions are welcome.
If you would like to add your ancestor, please e-mail me.
The subject of the e-mail should be "Manchester Ancestor".
Include either in the body of your message or as an attachment a brief description of the life of your ancestor.
Please include your name (first and last) and e-mail address so I can contact you when your sketch has been added.
It is hard to trace the earliest residents because the earliest Book of Town Records, which would have covered the period from 1645 to 1658, was lost long before anyone started writing histories of the town. In this book must have been recorded not only the records of town meetings, but the early vital records, not just until 1658, but until some time close to 1700, as the "Tan Book" of Manchester's births, deaths, and marriages lists few events before that time. Thus, unless other records can be found to verify such things as the maiden name of a wife, the early genealogies are difficult. Some wills and such items provide assistance, but not all families can be pieced together in this fashion. Baptisms in Salem and Beverly provide some assistance.