Daily AncestorTown clerk
A town clerk was the officer who kept a town's records, such as its meeting minutes and, in many New England towns, its vital records.
Wiktionary defines a town clerk as the chief administrative officer of a town, responsible for keeping its records. In most of the United States the post is elected; elsewhere it is appointed. The title follows the place: town, township, city, village, borough or county clerk.
The office is centuries old. In Massachusetts, for example, the town clerk is the chief election official and the keeper of the town's permanent and vital records, so the clerk's books are a key place to look for births, marriages and deaths.
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Town clerk." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/town-clerk. Last checked 2026-10-12.