Marblehead in 1700 - The Marblehead Museum and Historical Society

Preface
A hundred years ago Sidney Perley undertook the monumental task of describing Marblehead in 1700. He
searched public records including deeds, wills, town, probate, court, and legislative records to produce a history
of Marblehead streets and land deeds issued before 1700. The result was nine articles published in the Historical
Collections of the Essex Institute. Several bound copies of the nine articles were made. One in the possession of
the Marblehead Museum and Historic Society was used to generate this digitized and reformatted version of
“Marblehead in the Year of 1700”.
In addition to describing the land history and houses on the properties “Marblehead in 1700” provides names,
dates, and occupations of the people involved from 1650 to in some cases the early 1900’s. The book is a one
stop reference for the serious student of early Marblehead history. In addition it is a good resource for the
genealogist.
Sidney Perley was born in 1857 and educated as a lawyer. He was a prominent lawyer in Essex County in the
latter part of the nineteenth century. From childhood he was interested in history and genealogy. From 1890 on
he was a prolific writer in history, genealogy, and law. In addition to publishing a number of books including a
three volume history of Salem he wrote many articles for the Essex Institute and the New England Historic
Genealogical Society. Mr. Perley passed away in 1928.
Standley Goodwin
Transcriber
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