Author Archive

Archdiocese of Boston: new searchable records from Dorchester

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Map of the neighborhoods of Dorchester (Image by Sswonk, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Today we’ve added 5 new volumes to Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 from St. Ann in Dorchester. This update adds over 6,100 records and over 22,300 names to search.

The parish of St. Ann in Neponset celebrated its first Mass on Christmas in 1880 after breaking off from St. Gregory’s. The church was dedicated in 1892 and continued to grow into the new century.

We’d like to thank Sam Sturgis for his help making these parishes available online.

The new volumes are listed below:

St. Ann (Dorchester) Baptisms, 1904-1915
St. Ann (Dorchester) Baptisms, 1915-1920
St. Ann (Dorchester) Confirmations, 1906-1920
St. Ann (Dorchester) First Communions, 1906-1920
St. Ann (Dorchester) Marriages, 1889-1920

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

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Updated journal: Rhode Island Roots (Volume 42)

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Newport [Rhode Island] Scene, Edward Mitchell Bannister, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Today we’ve added a new volume to our database Rhode Island Roots, Volume 42 from 2016. This update adds over 2,400 new records.

The Rhode Island Genealogical Society publishes Rhode Island Roots quarterly. It features many Rhode Island records, such as cemetery and tax lists, General Assembly petitions, civil and military records, and genealogical articles — all focusing on Rhode Island families. Other features include articles about Rhode Islanders in other state census records, queries and a list of RI research volunteers. The authors include well-known genealogists as well as RIGS members with stories of their own families to tell.

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.

The entire run of Rhode Island Roots is available at the NEHGS Boston research library, call number F78 .R2.

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

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Updated journal: Vermont Genealogy (Volume 20)

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Map of Bennington County, VT from Child’s Gazetteer and Directory. Volume 20, No. 1 of Vermont Genealogy focuses on Peru, VT which can be seen in the upper right corner of this map.

Today we’ve updated our database: Vermont Genealogy, adding Volume 20 from 2015. This database is available thanks to our partnership with the Genealogical Society of Vermont. This update adds over 3,900 new records.

The indexing for this database includes full names, Publication year (not the year of the record), and article titles and authors.

Vermont Genealogy made its debut as a quarterly journal in January 1996. In addition to featuring compiled genealogies, the journal often contains other material including: freeman’s lists; church memberships and dismissals; newspaper vital record abstracts; probate abstracts, cemetery transcriptions, Bible records; Civil War journals; 1890 Census reconstructions; book reviews; and “Seen Elsewhere,” a bibliography of other journal articles relevant to Vermont.

In 2009, Vermont Genealogy switched to semi-annual publication with spring and fall issues. Appointed editor in 2016, Michael F. Dwyer, FASG, has expanded the scope of coverage to include nineteenth-century century immigrant studies, “Gems from the Vermont State Archives,” and continuation of family sketches from “Vermont Families in 1791.”

This update is made possible by the efforts of our volunteer David Anderson.

The entire run of Vermont Genealogy is available at our NEHGS Boston research library, call number F48.V48 1996.

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

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Archdiocese of Boston: new searchable records from Ashland, Arlington and Franklin

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Bird’s eye view of Franklin, O.H. Bailey for Bailey & Hazen, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Today we’ve added 5 new volumes to Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 from St. Cecilia (Ashland), St. James the Apostle (Arlington) and St. Mary (Franklin). This update adds over 9,300 records and over 37,000 names to search.

We’d like to thank Sam Sturgis for his help making these parishes available online.

The new volumes are listed below:

St. Cecilia (Ashland) Baptisms & Marriages, 1884-1910

St. James the Apostle (Arlington) Marriages,1914-1920

St. Mary (Franklin) Baptisms, 1877-1896
St. Mary (Franklin) Baptisms, 1896-1920
St. Mary (Franklin) Marriages, 1877-1920

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

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Archdiocese of Boston: new searchable records from Everett

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1892 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Everett, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. St. Mary’s Church is visible in the upper center of the map.

Today we’ve added 4 new volumes to Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 from Immaculate Conception in Everett. This update adds over 12,100 records and over 47,500 names to search.

Immaculate Conception (Everett) was initially called St. Mary’s. It began as a mission church of Chelsea. In 1885 it became a full parish along with Revere (which later split off). 

We’d like to thank Sam Sturgis for his help making this parish available online.

The new volumes are listed below:

Immaculate Conception (Everett) Baptisms, 1903-1909
Immaculate Conception (Everett) Baptisms, 1909-1916
Immaculate Conception (Everett) Baptisms, 1916-1920
Immaculate Conception (Everett) Marriages, 1913-1920

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

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Dartmouth, MA: Quaker Records, 1699-1920: new database

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Mary [Eddy] Morton, one of the Quakers from Dartmouth represented in this new database. Photo Credit: Martha B. Leonard

Today we’re announcing a new database, Dartmouth, MA: Quaker Records, 1699-1920. The Dartmouth Historical and Arts Society (DHAS) has digitized and is transcribing the original record books for the Dartmouth monthly meeting of Friends (Quakers).  These digitized images and transcriptions (when complete) are available on their website: https://www.dartmouthhas.org/quaker-transcriptions.html.

The DHAS has also partnered with us to make these records available on AmericanAncestors.org.

When finished, this database will encompass 16 volumes pertaining to the monthly meeting in Dartmouth from 1699-1920.  Currently, the database presents “removal records” from seven volumes.  An every name index will be added to those volumes for which it is missing when complete.  By agreement, no records less than 100 years old will be posted. These meeting records provide valuable insight into the lives of early New England Quakers.

The partnership between DHAS and AmericanAncestors.org has initially focused on information-dense “removal certificate” entries in the Men’s and Women’s Minute books and the special journals dedicated to just “removals’.  Since these reflect geographic connections of individuals and families at documented times they provide valuable facts to genealogists and historians regarding the homes and travels of their ancestors. Removal records can take three forms as they document the movement of individuals or families in Dartmouth.  The three basic types of removal records include: (1) Marriage (to someone from a different Monthly Meeting (MM), either at Dartmouth MM or at some other MM); (2)Temporarily ‘visiting’ Dartmouth from another MM or going to another MM to ‘visit’ ; and (3) Permanently relocating to the Dartmouth MM from some other MM or to some other MM from Dartmouth.

Today we’re launching the database with seven of the 16 volumes currently available.  More will be added throughout the year as our partnership continues.  Today’s launch includes over 5,200 records and over 6,500 names.

The new volumes are listed below:

Removals, 1792-1821 (Vol. 13) 

Removals, 1822-1847 (Vol. 14)

Men’s Minutes, 1699-1727 (Vol. 6)       

Men’s Minutes, 1727-1762 (Vol. 7)       

Men’s Minutes, 1762-1785 (Vol. 8)

Men’s Minutes, 1785-1803 (Vol. 9)       

Women’s Minutes, 1699-1782 (Vol.15) 

Excerpt from Volume 2, page 738 showing Mary Eddy’s birth (Mary Eddy of the above portrait).

The mission of the Dartmouth Historical and Arts Society, a non-profit located in Dartmouth Massachusetts, is to support, promote, preserve, and disseminate the historic and cultural diversity of Dartmouth, Massachusetts.   A significant part of that history is the early settlement of the community by members of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers. For more information on the Quaker Project, visit https://dartmouthhas.org/quakerproject.html.  We’d like to thank the DHAS team and volunteers who have contributed to this project so far.

Please note: This database is available to all NEHGS members.  Learn more about becoming a NEHGS guest member (free).

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Archdiocese of Boston: new searchable records from Foxborough, Holbrook, Marlborough, Maynard and South Boston

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St. Vincent de Paul (South Boston) (from the Archdiocese of Boston archives)

Today we’ve added 15 new volumes to Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 from five parishes: Immaculate Conception (Marlborough), St. Bridget (Maynard), St. Joseph (Holbrook), St. Mary (Foxborough) and St. Vincent de Paul (South Boston). This update adds over 9,500 records and over 33,900 names to search.

We’d like to thank Sam Sturgis for his help making these parishes available online.

The new volumes are listed below:

Immaculate Conception (Marlborough) Baptisms, 1911-1920
Immaculate Conception (Marlborough) First Communions & Confirmations, 1915-1920

St. Bridget (Maynard) Baptisms, 1908-1917
St. Bridget (Maynard) Baptisms, 1917-1920
St. Bridget (Maynard) Confirmations, 1910-1920
St. Bridget (Maynard) Marriages, 1917-1920

St. Joseph (Holbrook) Baptisms, 1913-1920
St. Joseph (Holbrook) First Communions & Confirmations, 1914-1920
St. Joseph (Holbrook) Marriages, 1907-1914
St. Joseph (Holbrook) Marriages, 1913-1920

St. Mary (Foxborough) Baptisms, 1901-1920
St. Mary (Foxborough) Confirmations, 1902-1920
St. Mary (Foxborough) Deaths & Burials, 1907-1911
St. Mary (Foxborough) Marriages, 1902-1920

St. Vincent de Paul (South Boston) Marriages, 1910-1920

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

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Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 – new towns

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O.H. Bailey & Co., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Today we’re announcing the addition of vital records from nine new towns in western Massachusetts to Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850.

This update includes over 36,000 records and 80,400 names.

Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 presents the vital records of many (but not all) towns in Massachusetts. The volumes that comprise this database come from a variety of different sources including vital records published by NEHGS, vital records published by other individuals or organizations (such as Franklin P. Rice, the Essex Institute, or the General Society of Mayflower Descendants), and manuscripts from the NEHGS collection.

The new records added in this update come from the Corbin Collection, specifically the 2003 CD that transcribes the contents of the original manuscript collection located in the R. Stanton Avery Special Collections here at NEHGS.

Walter and Lottie Corbin, the genealogists who created the Corbin Collection lived in Florence, MA themselves (one of the new towns added in this update). According to the introduction to the CD, Walter and Lottie “traveled throughout western Massachusetts transcribing and compiling records until they had assembled perhaps the largest and most valuable collection of materials ever created for this area. The Corbins traversed the countryside transcribing church records, vital records, cemeteries, probate records, and many private records. They visited individuals in their homes, traipsed through overgrown cemeteries, and carefully examined dusty, centuries-old volumes in clerk’s offices, libraries, and churches.” The Corbins’ collection of records, most of which pertain to the 1650-1850 time period was purchased by NEHGS in 1964.

We’d like to thank Sam Sturgis for his help in making these towns available online.

The new volumes are listed below:

Blandford – V1
Florence – V1
Goshen – V1
Haydenville – V1
Huntington – V1
Middlefield – V2
Monson – V1
Pelham – V2
Plainfield – V1

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

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New sketches: Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784

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Whetstone Falls, Brattleboro, VT (Detroit Publishing Company, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Today we’ve added six new sketches to Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784. The people profiled in the new sketches all lived in Brattleboro. The new sketches are listed below:

Andrews, James
Andrews, Seth
Calkins, Simeon
Chamberlain, Joseph
Chamberlain, Thomas
Compton, John

With this study project, Scott Andrew Bartley researches heads of families who lived in Vermont prior to the Revolutionary War.  These sketches illustrate major players on political and religious fronts, uncover the migration patterns for this period in the region, and identify all those just looking to better their lives on the new frontier.  This project is proceeding in two series, settlers to 1771 and 1772-1784.  The work so far has been geographical, focusing on Windsor and Windham Counties.

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

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New sketches: Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784

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Brattleboro, VT (Scan by NYPL, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Today we’ve added four new sketches to Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784. The new sketches pertain to the Brattleboro area and include:

Alexander, John (Fort Dummer)
Cook, Oliver (Brattleboro)
Cook, Thomas (Brattleboro)
Frost, Jesse (Brattleboro)

With this study project, Scott Andrew Bartley researches heads of families who lived in Vermont prior to the Revolutionary War.  These sketches illustrate major players on political and religious fronts, uncover the migration patterns for this period in the region, and identify all those just looking to better their lives on the new frontier.  This project is proceeding in two series, settlers to 1771 and 1772-1784.  The work so far has been geographical, focusing on Windsor and Windham Counties.

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

Read more »