NORTHBOROUGH,MA: HISTORIC TIMELINE - Plotting events from 1657 through 1774

This week's research included establishing the historical event baseline to which all evidence can be compared.   For the next phase of research, which is to locate vital records (birth, marriage, and death) for "persons of interest", it is crucial to understand in what official town those Northborough ancestors would have been known to have lived during their lifetime.   

As illustrated in the timeline below, the land that was to eventually be incorporated as Northborough had several iterations after  settlement about 1660.  As population increased during the next century, the large area established as the Marlborough Plantation was eventually divided up into the following smaller towns:  Northborough, Westborough, Marlborough, Hudson, and Southborough.