Today we’ve added ten new volumes to Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 from Sacred Heart in Watertown, Sacred Heart in Lynn and St. Jean Baptiste in Lynn. This update adds over 17,900 records and over 72,900 names to search.
Sacred Heart in Watertown was established to serve the Catholics of eastern Watertown, set off from an area that formerly belonged to St. Patrick’s.
Sacred Heart in West Lynn was established in 1894, from an area that used to belong to St. Mary’s parish. See James S. Sullivan’s 100 Years of Progress for a description of the original boundaries.
Page B of St. Jean Baptiste (Lynn) Baptisms, 1886-1892 contains a brief history of the church, “Historique de la Congrégation Canadienne de Lynn, Mass.” Here is a brief translation:
French Canadians first assembled to organize a parish in Lynn the 14th September 1886. The first priest charged to serve the Canadians of Lynn was the P___ (not sure of word) Joseph O. Gadoury of Salem who was nominated by His Grace the Archbishop Williams of Boston the 18th September 1886. The first Mass was sung the 19th September 1886 in Mr. James Buffum’s chapel on Oxford Street in Lynn. Rev. Mr. Parent arrived in Lynn and Salem the 17th May 1887. The dedication of the S.J.B. Church on Franklin Street took place the 4th December 1887 by Mgr. J.J. Williams, Archbishop of Boston. Rev. J.B. Dumontier(?), pastor in Marlboro sung the Mass. Rev. J.A. Biron of Worcester gave the sermon. Rev. J.B. Parent was named pastor the 9th December 1887 and took charge of the parish the 18th December 1887.
We’d like to thank volunteer Debbie Lansing for her help indexing St. Jean Baptiste in Lynn and Sam Sturgis for his help making the Sacred Heart parishes available online.
The new volumes are listed below:
Sacred Heart (Lynn) Baptisms, 1894-1900
Sacred Heart (Lynn) Baptisms, 1900-1917
Sacred Heart (Lynn) Marriages, 1894-1918
Sacred Heart (Watertown) Baptisms, 1896-1913
Sacred Heart (Watertown) Confirmations, 1898-1916
Sacred Heart (Watertown) Confirmations, 1898-1920
Sacred Heart (Watertown) Marriages, 1896-1920
St. Jean Baptiste (Lynn) Baptisms, 1886-1892
St. Jean Baptiste (Lynn) Baptisms, 1893-1903
St. Jean Baptiste (Lynn) Marriages, 1886-1907
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.