New browsable Catholic volumes from South Boston, Lowell, Rockport, Melrose, and Framingham

Icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa at The Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown, PA [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

Today we’ve added sixteen new volumes to Massachusetts: (Image-Only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, 1789-1900 from five new parishes.

Our Lady of Czestochowa is the Polish parish in Boston, which began in 1893 when a Polish priest, Father John Chmeilinski came to Boston.  Initially this congregation worshiped at Holy Trinity, the German parish, before building a church of their own.  The parish is named after a prominent icon of the Virgin Mary that hangs in a monastery in Czestochowa, Poland.

As Lowell’s population grew, Sacred Heart was established to serve the southern portion of the town starting in 1884.

Irish quarry workers formed the basis of the congregation of St. Joachim in Rockport; prior to the establishment of this parish, Catholics in Rockport traveled to Gloucester or Salem to worship.

St. Mary of the Annunciation in Melrose grew out of St. Patrick in Stoneham.  It was known as St. Bridget when it began, and became St. Mary of the Annunciation when a larger church was built.

As industry grew in Framingham, St. Stephen’s arose in South Framingham, splitting off from St. George in the Saxonville neighborhood.  Another Catholic Church, St. Bridget in Framingham became a mission of St. Stephen.

This update adds over 2,500 new images to browse.  We’d like to thank the following scanners for their help making this update possible: Ross and Linda Weaver, Angela Napolitano, John Phlo, Francis Alix, and Eileen McCarthy.  If you need help navigating this browsable collection, be sure to watch our how-to video.

The new volumes are listed below:

Our Lady of Czestochowa (South Boston) Baptisms, 1893-1900
Our Lady of Czestochowa (South Boston) Marriages, 1893-1900

Sacred Heart (Lowell) Baptisms, 1884-1900
Sacred Heart (Lowell) Deaths, 1890-1898
Sacred Heart (Lowell) Marriages, 1884-1900

St. Joachim (Rockport) Baptisms, 1870-1900
St. Joachim (Rockport) Marriages, 1870-1900

St. Mary of the Annunciation (Melrose) Baptisms, 1875-1894
St. Mary of the Annunciation (Melrose) Baptisms, 1894-1900
St. Mary of the Annunciation (Melrose) Confirmations, 1897-1900
St. Mary of the Annunciation (Melrose) Marriages, 1894-1900

St. Stephen (Framingham) Baptisms, 1877-1900
St. Stephen (Framingham) Baptisms, 1887-1900
St. Stephen (Framingham) Confirmations, 1888-1900
St. Stephen (Framingham) Marriages, 1877-1887
St. Stephen (Framingham) Marriages, 1887-1900