Today we’ve added 22 new volumes to Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 from Holy Trinity (Boston) and St. Jean Baptiste (Lowell). This update adds over 105,700 records and over 376,600 names to search.
This addition completes Phase 1 of the Historic Catholic Records Online project. Since 2016, we’ve been working to digitize and index the sacramental records of the Archdiocese of Boston from 1789-1900. Holy Trinity and St. Jean Baptiste were the last two incomplete pre-1901 parishes! Last August we announced Phase 2 of the project which covers the years 1901-1920. We will continue to add new Phase 2 parishes to this database!
Holy Trinity was the heart of the German Catholic community in Boston. The parish was established in 1836; the first Mass in their church building was said in 1844. Read more about the history of the parish in our late volunteer Michael Hager’s American Ancestors magazine article. You can learn more about the Monatsbote, their parish newsletter in Thomas Lester’s article in the Pilot.
St. Jean Baptiste grew out of St. Joseph, the original parish serving French Catholics in Lowell. Both churches were founded under the leadership of Father André-Marie Garin, an Oblate from France who served as a missionary in Canada before coming to Lowell. In 1888, the cornerstone was laid for St. Jean Baptiste, and its dedication Mass was held in 1890. There was a large fire in the church in the 1912, but the church was reopened by 1916. Author Jack Kerouac’s funeral was held at this church in 1969.
We always thank our volunteers, but in this case I would like to offer very special thanks to our volunteers who are proficient in German and French. Thanks to their hard work, we are able to offer informed transcriptions that are as accurate as possible (messy handwriting aside!).
We’d like to thank the following volunteers for their help indexing Holy Trinity in Boston: Alexander Crouch, Amelia Devin Freedman, Barbara Desouza, Bob Rainville, Christine Conlon, Christine Schumann, Diana Beltrão de Macedo, Doreen MacDonald, Hartmut Lustig, Helen Herzer, Jan Lundquist, Jane Papa, Jeananne Piper Grady, Jeanne Brown, Jon Gebhardt, Julie Nathanson, Kathy Oberley, Linda Reinfeld, Margaret Parker, Marie Wells, Michael Hager, Nancy Borman, Nancy Johnson, Pat Dalpiaz, Rich Wood, Stacey-Rae McCue, Susan Dickinson, and Tamara Gribble.
We’d like to thank the following volunteers for their help indexing St. Jean Baptiste in Lowell: Alice Fristrom, Angela Napolitano, Bob Rainville, Carolyn Jack, Christophe Semamz, Debbie Lansing, Diane Kimball, Doreen MacDonald, Edna Curtin, Eileen McCarthy, Erin Lichtenstein, Francois Lemaistre, Frédérique Van Moortel, Gig Moineau, Janet Essency, Jim Alcaulskas, Kathy Oberley, Kathy Sheehan, Kathy Terkelsen, Kayla Hinrichsen, Laura Versmee, Linda Shumate, Lisa Elvin-Staltari, Loretta Brown-Aldrich, Mary Coyne, Maryanne LeGrow, Maureen Keillor, Meredith Madyda, Michelle Kearns, Mouna Blila, Paul McCool, Pauline Cusson, Sandy Caldwell, Stacey-Rae McCue, and Suise Souza.
The new volumes are listed below:
- Holy Trinity (Boston) Baptisms, 1836-1853
- Holy Trinity (Boston) Baptisms, 1853-1880, and Confirmations, 1853-1891
- Holy Trinity (Boston) Baptisms, 1881-1886
- Holy Trinity (Boston) Baptisms, 1886-1894
- Holy Trinity (Boston) Baptisms, 1894-1900
- Holy Trinity (Boston) Census and Deaths, 1856-1877
- Holy Trinity (Boston) Deaths, 1878-1907
- Holy Trinity (Boston) Marriages, 1836-1892
- Holy Trinity (Boston) Marriages, 1893-1900
- St. Jean Baptiste (Lowell) Baptisms and Marriages, 1868-1879
- St. Jean Baptiste (Lowell) Baptisms and Marriages, 1879-1886
- St. Jean Baptiste (Lowell) Baptisms and Marriages, 1886-1890
- St. Jean Baptiste (Lowell) Baptisms and Marriages, 1891-1894
- St. Jean Baptiste (Lowell) Baptisms, 1895-1897
- St. Jean Baptiste (Lowell) Baptisms, 1897-1899
- St. Jean Baptiste (Lowell) Baptisms, 1899-1900
- St. Jean Baptiste (Lowell) Baptisms, 1900-1902
- St. Jean Baptiste (Lowell) Confirmations, 1870-1894
- St. Jean Baptiste (Lowell) Confirmations, 1870-1900
- St. Jean Baptiste (Lowell) Confirmations, 1895-1917
- St. Jean Baptiste (Lowell) Deaths, 1896-1901
- St. Jean Baptiste (Lowell) Marriages, 1895-1902
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.