In 1899 the Society of Mayflower Descendants inaugurated a series of transcriptions of the birth, marriage, and death records in its quarterly, The Mayflower Descendant. Transcribed by quarterly editor and Mayflower scholar George Bowman from the official records of the town clerk, the series continued, irregularly, until 1937, when the periodical was suspended. Many, but not all, of the persons described in the articles were of Mayflower descent. In 1976 Col. and Mrs. Leonard H. Smith Jr., with the consent of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, published one-volume limited edition reprints of these series from The Mayflower Descendant, adding comprehensive, full-name indexes, as well as chronologies of boundary changes affecting the towns. Each volume refers to the birth, marriage or death of thousands of early residents.