Author Archive
Today we have updated the database Newtown, CT: Vital Records, 1704-1850. This update provides the original images from the manuscript and the index includes full names, including parents and spouses where available. In total this database now includes 155 pages, 3,900 records, and 9,000 searchable names.
Newtown, Connecticut is located in Fairfield County in southwestern Connecticut not far from the New York border. The land was purchased from the natives in 1705 but not really settled until 1708. In 1711 the town was incorporated by the legislature. A part of the town was set off to form part of the town of Brookfield in 1780. They primarily cover events through 1850. Some events occurring prior to 1850 were not registered until as late as 1892 but are included here.
This update is made possible by the efforts of our volunteers Collen Alm, Ron Wilson, and Charlie Watson. If you have some time and would like to get involved in the database digitization and indexing process, please contact Rachel Adams, Database Services Volunteer Coordinator via email at rachel.adams@nehgs.org.
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.
Today we are releasing updated version of four databases for the state of Massachusetts. In each case, the updated database includes the original images from the manuscript and the index includes full names including parents and spouses where available. The updated volumes are:
• Attleboro, MA: Church Records of the Old Town Church, Attleboro First Church, 1740-1856
• Attleboro, MA: Church Records of the Second Congregational Church, 1748-1851
• Pembroke, MA: Baptisms in the Second Religious Society, 1749-1825
• Salem, MA: Members of the East India Marine Society, 1799-1870
In total these four databases now include 160 pages, 6,000 records, and 12,000 searchable names.
This update is made possible by the wonderful efforts of our volunteers. Max Agigian, Tim Belgrad, Linda Weaver, and Ida Nystrom delivered the Attleboro First Church update; Max Agigian, Ria Bhandarkar, and Nell Nies indexed the Attleboro Second Church update; Tate Lehmann, Michael Giannetti, Linda Weaver, and Nell Nies produced the Pembroke update; and Ria Bhandarkar and Kay Sencabaugh re-indexed the East India Marine Society. If you have some time and would like to get involved in the database digitization and indexing process, please contact Rachel Adams, Database Services Volunteer Coordinator via email at rachel.adams@nehgs.org.
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.
Today we have added 11 new volumes for the Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920. Today’s additions include St. Lazarus in East Boston and Sacred Heart in Amesbury. This update includes 11 volumes, 1,300 pages, and 30,000 searchable names.
There was a large Italian population in East Boston, and Masses were said at Orient Heights as early as 1892. Soon after, they built the church of St. Lazarus on Leyden Street, and it was dedicated on June 18, 1893.
In early 1903 Archbishop Williams created Sacred Heart Parish in Amesbury so serve the growing French-Canadian population there. The original place of worship was a remodeled Protestant meeting house. Father Joseph H. Cote replaced it with a handsome, Gothic, red-brick church, which as dedicated at Christmas in 1928.
The 11 new volumes in this release are:
• St. Lazarus (East Boston) Baptisms, 1904-1917
• St. Lazarus (East Boston) Baptisms, 1919-1920
• St. Lazarus (East Boston) Confirmations, 1907-1920
• St. Lazarus (East Boston) Interments, 1904-1920
• St. Lazarus (East Boston) Marriages, 1904-1920
• Sacred Heart (Amesbury) Baptisms, 1903-1917
• Sacred Heart (Amesbury) Baptisms, 1918-1920
• Sacred Heart (Amesbury) Confirmations, 1908-1920
• Sacred Heart (Amesbury) Deaths, 1907-1920
• Sacred Heart (Amesbury) First Communions, 1905-1920
• Sacred Heart (Amesbury) Marriages, 1908-1920
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.
Today we have added 10 new volumes for the Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 database. Today’s additions include St. Adalbert in Hyde Park, and Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in South Boston, and St. Vincent de Paul in South Boston. This update includes 10 volumes, 750 pages, and nearly 30,000 searchable names.
Many of the Polish parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston were founded, at least in part, due to the missionary labors of the pioneer Polish priest, Father John Chmielinski. The considerable Polish community had been ministered to by Father Chmielinski and others, and a parish was created in 1913 under Father Alexander Syski. Within a year he erected a basement church, and in 1929 began building the superstructure, which as completed by his successor, Farther Sikora. The church was constructed at 1450 River Street in Hyde Park, and was dedicated as the Church of St. Adalbert on September 7, 1931.
The Parish of Our Lady of the Rosary was set off from Sts. Peter and Paul, and Rev. John J. McNulty became the pastor on June 8, 1884. Land was acquired on West Sixth Street between C and D Streets, and construction started in September. On October 18, 1885, the church was dedicated by Archbishop Williams.
Saint Vincent de Paul of South Boston is at the corner of E and Third Street, and was just one block from the water when it was built. The church was dedicated on the Festival of St. Vincent de Paul on July 19, 1874 in a ceremony performed by Bishop Williams.
The 10 new volumes in this release are:
• St. Adalbert (Hyde Park) Baptisms, 1912-1919
• St. Adalbert (Hyde Park) Baptisms, 1919-1920
• St. Adalbert (Hyde Park) First Communions, 1918-1920
• St. Adalbert (Hyde Park) Interments, 1913-1920
• St. Adalbert (Hyde Park) Marriages, 1912-1920
• Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (South Boston) Baptisms, 1911-1920
• Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (South Boston) Confirmations, 1903-1920
• Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (South Boston) Marriages, 1908-1920
• St. Vincent de paul (South Boston) Baptisms, 1910-2920
We thank our dedicated volunteer Sam Sturgis for his work on this release. If you would like to become part of the team working on rewarding genealogical projects, please contact Rachel Adams, Database Services Volunteer Coordinator via email at rachel.adams@nehgs.org.
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.
Today we have added 6 new volumes for the Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920. Today’s additions include two parishes in Roxbury: Blessed Sacrament, and St. Thomas Aquinas. This update includes 6 volumes, 1,000 pages, and 65,000 searchable names.
St. Patrick’s was established in 1836 to serve the Catholics of “Roxbury, Brookline, and Brighton” (Sullivan, p. 49). Originally the church was situated a little south of the South End, on Northampton Street in between Washington Street and Harrison Avenue. In the 1870s as the Catholic population grew, parish boundaries shifted. A new church (still in use) was built further south at the intersection of Dudley and Magazine Streets. The building of the new church began in 1873.
On December 10, 1894, Rev. Philip J. O’Donnell was appointed rector of a new parish which later received the name of St. Philip’s. Services were initially held in Old St. Patrick’s on Northampton Street, this young pastor quickly bought land between Harrison Avenue, East Lenox, and Reed Streets, on which he began the construction of a Gothic brick church. It opened for services in the basement by April 24, 1899, and was dedicated on May 4, 1913.
The 6 new volumes in this release are:
• St. Patrick (Roxbury) Baptisms, 1907-1920
• St. Patrick (Roxbury) Baptisms, 1920
• St. Patrick (Roxbury) Marriages, 1903-1920
• St. Philip (Roxbury) Baptisms, 1908-1914
• St. Philip (Roxbury) Baptisms, 1914-1920
• St. Philip (Roxbury) Confirmations, 1915-1920
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.
Today we have added 4 new volumes for the Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920. Today’s additions are for St. John the Evangelist of Newton and includes over 500 pages, and 13,000 searchable names.
In the Nonantum section of Newton a French-speaking community developed, and starting in 1894, repeatedly petitioned to become a parish. In the spring of 1911, Archbishop O’Connell sent Father Joseph E. Robichaud who served for at least 30 years there. The first parish Mass was celebrated May 14, 1911, in Lafayette Hall on Dalby Street. This building was constructed in 1902, and after purchasing and repairing it, it became the Church of St. John the Evangelist.
The four new volumes in this release are:
• St. John the Evangelist (Newton) Baptisms, 1911-1920
• St. John the Evangelist (Newton) Confirmations, 1914-1920
• St. John the Evangelist (Newton) Marriages, 1911-1920
• St. John the Evangelist (Newton) Deaths, 1914-1920
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.
We have a brand-new database today, Newton, MA: St. Mary Episcopal Church Cemetery, 1815-1999.
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church and Cemetery are both listed in the Massachusetts State Register of Historical Places. Episcopal services were first held in New Lower Falls in 1811. The church was built in 1813, and Ebenezer Steadman, who fought in the Revolutionary War and was one of the signers of the Petition of Incorporation, was the first burial in the cemetery. For more information about St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, including directions on how to get there, see the website.
The book, St. Mary’s Cemetery Newton, Massachusetts Epitaphs, was compiled by Beverly E. Hurney and published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society in 2000. Beverly was elected as Superintendent of the Cemetery in 1994. This book is the result of her efforts to provide transcriptions of the epitaphs and the most complete listing of persons buried there.
In 2020, Lynn Farnell and volunteers from St. Mary’s Episcopal Church created an index of the birth and death information contained in this this book and generously donated it to NEHGS to create this online database. The database contains over 140 pages of the book and over 3,700 searchable names.
The vast majority of records in the database start in 1815, though there are some births that date back to 1767. When parent and spouse names are clearly documented in the source material, we have included them in this database. The record types in this database are Birth and Death.
This book is also available in the library F74.N56 H87 2000.
Please note: This database is available to all NEHGS members.
Today we have added 5 new volumes and updated 2 volumes for the Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920. Today’s additions include two parishes in Jamaica Plain: Blessed Sacrament, and St. Thomas Aquinas. This update includes 17 volumes, over 2,600 pages, and nearly 143,000 searchable names.
As the population of Jamaica Plain grew, St. Thomas Aquinas was created out of St. Joseph’s parish in Roxbury. Mass was held for the first time here in 1869. Today, Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood of Boston. When the parish began, Jamaica Plain was still part of West Roxbury, which did not become part of the city of Boston until 1874.
Blessed Sacrament was established in 1892 as the Catholic population in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain grew and grew. It was offset from the territories of a few different parishes including Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Roxbury) and St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain). The Jamaica Plain Historical Society republished an article from 1913 in the Boston Daily Globe which describes the laying of the cornerstone for the new church building.
We thank our dedicated volunteer Sam Sturgis for his work on this release. If you would like to become part of the team working on rewarding genealogical projects, please contact Rachel Adams, Database Services Volunteer Coordinator via email at rachel.adams@nehgs.org.
There are six volumes that were updated in this release:
• Blessed Sacrament (Jamaica Plain) Baptisms, 1892-1903
• Blessed Sacrament (Jamaica Plain) Confirmations, 1892-1910
• Blessed Sacrament (Jamaica Plain) Marriages, 1892-1907
• St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain) Baptisms, 1893-1901
• St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain) Confirmations, 1869-1911
• St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain) First Communions, 1899-1920
The eleven new volumes in this release are:
• Blessed Sacrament (Jamaica Plain) Baptisms, 1903-1908
• Blessed Sacrament (Jamaica Plain) Baptisms, 1908-1915
• Blessed Sacrament (Jamaica Plain) Baptisms, 1916-1920
• Blessed Sacrament (Jamaica Plain) Confirmations, 1913-1920
• Blessed Sacrament (Jamaica Plain) Marriages, 1908-1920
• St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain) Baptisms, 1902-1907
• St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain) Baptisms, 1908-1908
• St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain) Baptisms, 1908-1915
• St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain) Baptisms, 1915-1920
• St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain) Confirmations, 1914-1920
• St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain) Marriages, 1901-1907
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.
We are very happy to add a new volume to The American Genealogist database. This update adds volume 87 which covers the years 2014 and 2015, and was published in years 2015. This update adds 380 pages and nearly 6,500 searchable names.
Founded in 1922 by Donald Lines Jacobus, The American Genealogist (TAG) has been published quarterly and represents an important body of scholarly research covering the breadth of the United States. TAG is edited by a quartet of NEHGS members: Editor and publisher, Nathaniel Lane Taylor, FASG; coeditors Roger D. Joslyn, FASG and Joseph C. Anderson II, FASG, who is also editor of The Maine Genealogist; and consulting editor, David L. Greene, FASG. These distinguished genealogists, along with dozens of highly-regarded contributors, uphold and advance the standards for genealogical scholarship so carefully articulated by Jacobus and the Jacobus “School.”
The indexing for these records includes full names, Publication year (not the year of the record), and article titles and authors.
This update is made possible by the efforts of our volunteer David Anderson. If you are interested in getting involved in the database digitization and indexing process please contact Rachel Adams, Database Services Volunteer Coordinator via email at rachel.adams@nehgs.org.
The entire run of The American Genealogist is available at the NEHGS Boston research library, call number F104.N6 A6.
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.
Today, we have added a new volume to The Connecticut Nutmegger database. This update adds volume 46 for the year 2013 and adds over 340 pages and 14,500 searchable names.
The Connecticut Nutmegger has served as the “journal of record” for the Connecticut Society of Genealogists, Inc. (CSG) for forty years. During this time, it has captured a wealth of information for genealogists. Vital records, probate records, bible records, headstone records, memorials and other useful records have been published and made readily accessible for genealogical research. Well-documented family histories and genealogical articles, covering hundreds of families – mainly with Connecticut ties – have been presented. Published articles include commentary on and corrections to previously published family lines, vital records and town histories. Book reviews, research tips, queries and other valuable tools for genealogists have been presented. The indexing for these records includes full names, Publication year (not the year of the record), and article titles and authors.
This update is made possible by the efforts of our volunteer David Anderson. If you have some time and would like to get involved in the database digitization and indexing process please contact Rachel Adams, Database Services Volunteer Coordinator via email at rachel.adams@nehgs.org.
The entire run of The Connecticut Nutmegger is available at the NEHGS Boston research library, call number F91.C82.
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.