Copied from complete files of the Massachusetts Centinel, and the Columbian Centinel, with a Preface and Occasional Notes.

The marriages recorded in the Centinel were of three kinds; those of well-to-do persons, useful to the genealogist because they give in many cases the actual day of the marriage as well as the name of the brides’ father and his residence; those of celebrities, like General Gates, and members of the Washington family, sometimes communicated by travelers, and often inaccurate; those of eccentric people, usually amusing.

The date given here is always that of the paper. The marriage may have taken place a day or a month previous to the insertion of the notice. Sometimes the date may be found by reckoning back from the day on which the paper was issued to the day of the week on which the marriage took place, if the day is given. W. In the following records stand for Wednesday and S. For Saturday. "In this town" refers to Boston, Mass.