Author Archive

Today we’re announcing eight new volumes in Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900 from St. Charles Borromeo in Woburn.  There are 21,261 new records and 82,907 names included in this update.  St. Charles Borromeo was the Archbishop of Milan in the 1500s who was known for his Counter-Reformation work within the Catholic Church.  St. Charles Borromeo in Woburn was established around 1852.  We’d like to thank Sam Sturgis for his work on this parish.  The new volumes are listed below:

St. Charles Borromeo (Woburn) Baptisms, 1857-1878
St. Charles Borromeo (Woburn) Baptisms, 1878-1888
St. Charles Borromeo (Woburn) Baptisms, 1888-1895
St. Charles Borromeo (Woburn) Baptisms, 1895-1899
St. Charles Borromeo (Woburn) Baptisms, 1899-1900
St. Charles Borromeo (Woburn) Confirmations, 1898-1899
St. Charles Borromeo (Woburn) Marriages, 1857-1895
St. Charles Borromeo (Woburn) Marriages, 1895-1900

Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.

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Today we’ve added four new volumes to Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900 from two new parishes.  Sacred Hearts in Malden was established in East Malden in 1890 as the Catholic population grew.  St. Francis Xavier in Weymouth was the first Catholic church in Weymouth.  When Sacred Heart (Weymouth) began, St. Francis Xavier became a mission of the newer church.  This addition adds over 4,900 records and over 20,400 names.  The new volumes are listed below:

Sacred Hearts (Malden) Baptisms, 1891-1898
Sacred Hearts (Malden) Baptisms, 1898-1900
Sacred Hearts (Malden) Marriages, 1891-1900
St. Francis Xavier (Weymouth) Baptisms and Marriages, 1866-1869

Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.

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Today we’ve added twelve new volumes to Massachusetts: (Image-Only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900 from three parishes in Somerville and Lynn.  Sacred Heart (Lynn) was founded as Lynn’s population grew, becoming a more convenient location for the parishioners in West Lynn.  This parish separated from St. Mary (Lynn) in 1894.  St. Jean Baptiste (Lynn) was established in 1886 by Lynn’s French Canadian population.  St. Ann (Somerville) was established in 1881 in the Winter Hill neighborhood.  This update adds over 1,400 new images to browse.  If you need help navigating this collection, be sure to watch our how-to video.  We’d like to thank the following volunteers for their help with this update: Ross and Linda Weaver, Maoz Bizán, Angela Napolitano, and Eileen McCarthy.  The new volumes are listed below:

Sacred Heart (Lynn) Baptisms, 1894-1900
Sacred Heart (Lynn) Baptisms, 1900
Sacred Heart (Lynn) Marriages, 1894-1900

St. Ann (Somerville) Index to Baptisms, 1881-1897
St. Ann (Somerville) Baptisms, 1881-1897
St. Ann (Somerville) Index to Baptisms, 1898-1900
St. Ann (Somerville) Baptisms, 1898-1900
St. Ann (Somerville) First Communions and Confirmations, 1883-1900
St. Ann (Somerville) Marriages, 1881-1900

St. Jean Baptiste (Lynn) Baptisms, 1886-1892
St. Jean Baptiste (Lynn) Baptisms, 1893-1900
St. Jean Baptiste (Lynn) Marriages, 1886-1900

Please note: This database is available to all NEHGS members.

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Today we’ve added 9 new volumes to Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900 from St. Peter in Lowell.  This update adds 41,579 records and 172,137 names to our database.  St. Peter (Lowell) was the second Catholic church in Lowell.  In One Hundred Years of Progress, James Sullivan relates how to establishment of this congregation was contentious, as some parishioners who lived far from St. Patrick’s (the original parish) wanted a geographically convenient church, while others would have preferred not to split the church.  The first Mass was held in 1842, and from then the parish continued to grow.  We’d like to thank Sam Sturgis for his help making this update possible.  The new volumes are listed below:

St. Peter (Lowell) Baptisms, 1841-1865
St. Peter (Lowell) Baptisms, 1866-1883
St. Peter (Lowell) Baptisms, 1883-1888
St. Peter (Lowell) Baptisms, 1888-1894
St. Peter (Lowell) Baptisms, 1894-1898
St. Peter (Lowell) Baptisms, 1898-1900
St. Peter (Lowell) Marriages, 1842-1862
St. Peter (Lowell) Marriages, 1863-1883
St. Peter (Lowell) Marriages, 1883-1900

Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.

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Today we’re announcing a major update to Suffolk County, MA Probate File Papers.  This addition includes case numbers 21388-33065, years 1801-1841, a total of 251,000 new file papers.  This addition more than doubles the size of this database–these case files represent a 130% increase to what we previously had available. The complete collection now contains 442,000 file papers and 33,556 names.

This database was created from digital images and index contributed to NEHGS by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.  The probate cases include wills, guardianships, administrations, and various other types of probate records.  We’d like to thank our wonderful volunteers Sam Sturgis, Bruce Shaw, and David Anderson without whom this update would not have happened.

The complete Suffolk County File Papers collection will eventually cover cases 1-94,757, which includes years up to 1893. The cases are indexed chronologically, which allows us to present them in sections while digital photography is taking place. The digital photography is expected to continue through 2020. We will continue to add additional cases as they become available.

If you have questions on how to search this database, or about our collaboration with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives, please watch our video, How to Search Massachusetts Probate File Papers.  The Massachusetts Archives also have a very helpful website that serves as a directory as to where you can find which pieces of probate information.

Please note: This database is available to all NEHGS members.

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Today we’re announcing six new volumes in Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900 from St. Thomas Aquinas in Jamaica Plain.  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.  Jamaica Plain is currently 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.  This update adds over 18,300 new records and 58,000 new names.  We’d like to thank all of our volunteers who have helped make this update possible, including Kayla Hinrichsen, Meredith Madyda, and Sara Calautti.  The new volumes are listed below:

St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain) Baptisms and Confirmations, 1869-1884
St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain) Baptisms, 1885-1893
St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain) Baptisms, 1893-1900
St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain) Confirmations, 1869-1900
St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain) First Communions, 1899-1900
St. Thomas Aquinas (Jamaica Plain) Marriages, 1869-1900

Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.

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Today we’ve added three new sketches to Western Massachusetts Families in 1790 from Dalton, MA.  Dalton is named for Tristram Dalton (see portrait above), who was a U.S. senator from Massachusetts from 1789-1791.    This study project focuses on heads of families enumerated in the 1790 census in historic Berkshire and Hampshire counties, also including modern Franklin and Hampden counties.  Sketches for this project are submitted to editor Helen Schatvet Ullmann, CG, FASG by NEHGS members and other interested researchers.  If you are interested in submitting a sketch for Volume 5, please review our Submission Guidelines.  The new sketches are listed below:

Justin Cole (Dalton)
Abraham Porter (Dalton)
Andrew Spaford (Dalton)

Please note: These databases are available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.

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Today we’re announcing five new sketches in Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784.  These sketches feature heads of families from Sharon, Vermont.  Sharon was established in 1761, named for Sharon, Connecticut.  In 1805 it became the birthplace of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Scott Andrew Bartley’s study project tracks heads of families who lived in Vermont prior to the Revolutionary War.  His sketches so far have focused on Windham and Windsor counties.

The new sketches are listed below:

Howe, Jonathan (Sharon)
Hutchins, Silas (Sharon)
Marsh, Isaac (Sharon)
Russell, Josiah (Sharon)
Spaulding, Reuben (Sharon)

Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.

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Today we’re announcing a new database, Franklin County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1812-1915.  This database was created from digital images and index contributed to NEHGS by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. The collection contains the records of 18,089 Franklin County probate cases filed between 1812 and 1915. The probate cases include wills, guardianships, administrations, and various other types of probate records. The cases range in length from one to over 530 pages, with a total of over 440,600 individual file papers.

Franklin County was created in 1811 from the northern third of Hampshire County. Earlier probate records in the area may be searched in our companion database, Hampshire County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1660-1889.

To learn more about how to navigate this collection, be sure to watch our short video, How to Search Massachusetts Probate File Papers.

We want to thank the amazing volunteers who have made this database possible including Sam Sturgis, David Anderson, Bruce Shaw, Fran Danico, and Arlys LaFehr.

This database is free; you just need an NEHGS guest membership to view these records.

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Today we’ve updated both our browsable and our searchable Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston collections.  New to our searchable collection, Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900 is Immaculate Conception in Malden.  This five volume update adds over 18,200 new records and over 72,300 new names to search.  The first Mass at Immaculate Conception (Malden) was celebrated on Christmas Day in 1854.  At the time, the parish attracted Catholics from many towns north of Boston including Medford, Melrose, Wakefield, South Reading, Stoneham, Winchester, and Everett.

St. Joseph (Waltham) is new to Massachusetts: (Image-Only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900.  This seven volume update adds over 360 new pages to browse.  St. Joseph was the French Canadian parish in Waltham.  The first Mass was said in 1894.

We’d like to thank the following volunteers for their help in making these updates possible: Eileen McCarthy, Angela Napolitano, Ross and Linda Weaver, and Francis Alix.

The new volumes are listed below:

Immaculate Conception (Malden) Baptisms, 1859-1868
Immaculate Conception (Malden) Baptisms, 1868-1883
Immaculate Conception (Malden) Baptisms, 1884-1897
Immaculate Conception (Malden) Marriages, 1861-1868
Immaculate Conception (Malden) Marriages, 1868-1900

St. Joseph (Waltham) Baptisms, 1894-1900
St. Joseph (Waltham) Confirmations, 1896-1900
St. Joseph (Waltham) Deaths, 1895-1900
St. Joseph (Waltham) First Communions and Confirmations, 1895-1900
St. Joseph (Waltham) First Communions, 1895-1900
St. Joseph (Waltham) Marriages and Deaths, 1895-1900
St. Joseph (Waltham) Marriages, 1895-1900

Please note: Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1780-1900 is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.

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