Archdiocese of Boston: new browsable records from the Boston Harbor Islands, Brookline, Dedham, and Lowell

From the September 10, 1900 issue of the Boston Daily Globe, depicting the dedication of St Mary’s Church in Dedham, Massachusetts, Image by M. Glaskey [Public domain]

Today we’re announcing 23 new volumes in Massachusetts: (Image-Only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900. These new volumes come from mission trips to the Boston Harbor Islands, and the parishes of Immaculate Conception in Lowell, St. Lawrence in Brookline, and St. Mary in Dedham.

Priests traveled to the Boston Harbor Islands to say Mass and administer sacraments. They recorded their work in two volumes which may have some overlapping content.

There is overlapping content in the Immaculate Conception (Lowell) volumes. Baptisms and Marriages 1868-1878, Baptisms 1879-1895, and Marriages 1879-1895 appear to be the original records which are unindexed. The other volumes are typewritten, and overlap these volumes. However, the typewritten volumes are indexed. We have provided all the volumes here so that researchers can find the information more easily using the indexes, but also view the original records. Immaculate Conception in Lowell was run by the Oblate Order. The church was dedicated in 1877 as Lowell’s Catholic population grew.

St. Lawrence (Brookline) was established in 1897 as the Catholic population in Brookline expanded. It was created from an area that was previously part of St. Mary of the Assumption (Brookline).

St. Mary (Dedham) was established as its own parish in 1866. It had previously been a mission of St. Joseph in Roxbury since 1846. The mission volumes for this parish also include records for St. Raphael (East Dedham) and St. Theresa of Avila (West Roxbury).

We’d like to thank the following volunteers for their help scanning these volumes: Eileen McCarthy, Francis Alix, Mary Hagearty, Angela Napolitano, Ross and Linda Weaver and Kim Bonner. If you need help navigating this collection, be sure to watch our how-to video. The new volumes are listed below:

Boston Harbor Islands Baptisms, 1877-1900 (Mission) (Book 1)
Boston Harbor Islands Baptisms, 1877-1900 (Mission) (Book 2)