Author Archive

Today we’re announcing one new sketch in Alicia Crane Williams’s Early New England Families, 1641-1700.  Early New England Families, 1641-1700 is a study project focused on families listed in Clarence Almon Torrey’s manuscript, New England Marriages Prior to 1700.  The new sketch pertains to Guido Bayley (m. 1641).  Bayley lived in Salem, Beverly, and Bridgewater.  He died before 1702/3.  Bayley married twice and had five children.

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

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Today we’re announcing an update to a database, Milford, CT: Records of the First Church, 1640-1829.  This database is based on a manuscript in our library that contains baptisms and marriages from the First Church in Milford.  This database now has images and is searchable by first name, last name, record type, parents’ and spouse’s names where available, year, and record type.  It is thanks to the efforts of our wonderful volunteers that we have been able to accomplish this update.  This database offers over 2,600 records and over 5,600 names to search.

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, New England (Image only): Marriage Manuscript of Clarence A. Torrey, 1583- 1700.  This database contains images of Torrey’s original manuscript. “Torrey,” or Torrey’s Marriage Index, as it’s often called, is a compilation of approximately 37,000 known or presumed marriages that occurred prior to 1700, arranged alphabetically by groom. The work is so huge and so comprehensive (it is estimated that 99% of all marriages are included), that it has become one of the principal resources for seventeenth-century New England genealogy.  This new database is a complement to New England Marriages to 1700, the fully searchable, transcribed version of this information.  If something in New England Marriages to 1700 does not make sense, you could consult New England (Image only): Marriage Manuscript of Clarence A Torrey, 1583-1700 to see if the original holds the answers to your question.

This database contains browsable images only and is searchable only by Volume and/or Page. Entering a name, location or year range on the search page will result in zero search results. Page images are contained in volumes “A” through “X-Y-Z” and contain the grooms surnames in alphabetical order. To locate a name from the search page, select the appropriate volume from the Volume menu and enter “1” as the page number. (It’s recommended that page “1” be used in initial search attempts, as the volumes vary significantly in length.) Once viewing a page in the volume, use the page forward, page backward or “go to page” controls to manually move through the pages. To move to a new Volume while viewing page images, select that volume from the Volume menu on the image display page.

For more information on this collection (particularly the New England Marriages to 1700 version), you may want to read Alicia Crane William’s Vita Brevis post from February 2017, As Is.

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

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Today we’re announcing three new parishes, all called Immaculate Conception, that have been added to Massachusetts: (Image only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900.  These fourteen new volumes come from Everett, Malden, and Stoughton and contain over 2,300 new images to browse.  We’d like to thank the following volunteers for their help with these volumes: Ross & Linda Weaver, Jeff Erickson, Francis Alix, Andrea Whalen, Tom Dreyer, Alice Fristrom, Eileen McCarthy, and Genevieve Niessen.  Be sure to watch our how-to video for tips on navigating this collection.  The new volumes are listed below:

Immaculate Conception (Everett) Baptisms, 1885-1893
Immaculate Conception (Everett) Baptisms, 1893-1900
Immaculate Conception (Everett) Marriages, 1885-1900

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

Immaculate Conception (Stoughton) Baptisms and Marriages, 1859-1884
Immaculate Conception (Stoughton) Baptisms, 1859-1900
Immaculate Conception (Stoughton) Baptisms, 1884-1898
Immaculate Conception (Stoughton) Confirmations, 1898
Immaculate Conception (Stoughton) Marriages, 1872-1900

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Today we’ve added seven volumes from St. Leonard of Port Maurice in Boston’s North End to Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900.  This update adds over 14,000 records and over 56,000 names, representing the North End’s first Italian parish.

We are immensely grateful to the following volunteers for their work in indexing this database: Jane Papa, Mirca Sghedoni, Debbie Lansing, Julia Moynihan, Sandy Caldwell, Paul McCool, Maureen Keillor, Mary Coyne, and Liz Barnett.

The new volumes are listed below:

St. Leonard of Port Maurice (Boston) Baptisms, 1873-1887
St. Leonard of Port Maurice (Boston) Baptisms, 1887-1897
St. Leonard of Port Maurice (Boston) Baptisms, 1897-1900
St. Leonard of Port Maurice (Boston) Baptisms, 1900
St. Leonard of Port Maurice (Boston) Confirmations, 1876-1900
St. Leonard of Port Maurice (Boston) Marriages, 1873-1899
St. Leonard of Port Maurice (Boston) Marriages, 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 20 new volumes in Massachusetts: (Image-Only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900 from four different parishes.  We’ve added volumes from St. Mary of the Assumption in Brookline, Mary Immaculate of Lourdes (Newton), Sacred Heart (Newton), and St. John the Baptist in Quincy.  We’d like to thank the following volunteers for their help with these parishes: Tim Belgrad, Francis Alix, Ross and Linda Weaver, Eileen McCarthy, Tom Dreyer, Jeff Erickson, Will Whearty, Nell Nies, Rachel Adams, Alice Fristrom and Ethan Pike. The new volumes are listed below:

St. Mary of the Assumption (Brookline) Baptisms and Marriages, 1852-1856
St. Mary of the Assumption (Brookline) Baptisms, 1852-1856
St. Mary of the Assumption (Brookline) Baptisms, 1857-1873
St. Mary of the Assumption (Brookline) Baptisms, 1874-1887
St. Mary of the Assumption (Brookline) Baptisms, 1887-1900
St. Mary of the Assumption (Brookline) Baptisms, 1900
St. Mary of the Assumption (Brookline) Confirmations, 1855-1891
St. Mary of the Assumption (Brookline) Confirmations, 1889-1891
St. Mary of the Assumption (Brookline) Marriages, 1857-1897
St. Mary of the Assumption (Brookline) Marriages, 1897-1900

Mary Immaculate of Lourdes (Newton) Baptisms, 1893-1900

Sacred Heart (Newton) Baptisms, 1890-1900

St. John the Baptist (Quincy) Baptisms and Marriages, 1863-1871
St. John the Baptist (Quincy) Baptisms, 1872-1879
St. John the Baptist (Quincy) Baptisms, 1879-1885
St. John the Baptist (Quincy) Baptisms, 1885-1900
St. John the Baptist (Quincy) First Communions and Confirmations, 1868-1881
St. John the Baptist (Quincy) Confirmations, 1882-1900
St. John the Baptist (Quincy) First Communions, 1882-1900
St. John the Baptist (Quincy) Marriages, 1872-1900

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Today we’re announcing an update to Berkshire County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1761-1917.  Cases 21,144 –30,601 from years 1901-1917 have been added to the original Berkshire County File Papers collection. This update contains an additional 214,000 file papers.

The database was created from digital images and index contributed to NEHGS by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. The collection contains the records of 30,601 Berkshire County probate cases filed between 1761 and 1917. The probate cases include wills, guardianships, administrations, and various other types of probate records. The cases range in length from one to over 1,000 pages, with a total of over 623,800 individual file papers.

Berkshire County was originally part of Hampshire County and became a separate county in 1761. The Berkshire probate records begin with case number 727.  For information on how to navigate this database, be sure to watch our how-to video.

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Today we’ve added thirteen volumes from three new parishes to Massachusetts: (Image Only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900.  The new volumes come from St. Anthony of Padua in Cohasset, St. Joseph in Pepperell, and St. Patrick in Roxbury.  We’d like to thank the following volunteers for their help scanning these volumes: Tim Belgrad, Jeff Erickson, Megan McDonogh, Patrick Henehan, Ross & Linda Weaver, Tom Dreyer, Eileen McCarthy, and Angela Napolitano.  This update adds over 4,400 new images to browse.  If you need help understanding how to navigate this collection, be sure to watch our how-to video.  The new volumes are listed below:

St. Anthony of Padua (Cohasset) Baptisms, 1886-1900

St. Joseph (Pepperell) Baptisms, 1885-1900
St. Joseph (Pepperell) Marriages, 1885-1900

St. Patrick (Roxbury) Baptisms, 1836-1852
St. Patrick (Roxbury) Baptisms, 1852-1858
St. Patrick (Roxbury) Baptisms, 1858-1871
St. Patrick (Roxbury) Baptisms, 1872-1882
St. Patrick (Roxbury) Baptisms, 1883-1890
St. Patrick (Roxbury) Baptisms, 1890-1900
St. Patrick (Roxbury) Confirmations, 1871-1893
St. Patrick (Roxbury) Confirmations, 1894-1900
St. Patrick (Roxbury) Marriages, 1836-1881
St. Patrick (Roxbury) Marriages, 1881-1900

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Today we’ve added three new sketches to two of our study projects.  To Western Massachusetts Families in 1790, edited by Helen Schatvet Ullmann, CG, FASG, we’ve added Noah Bardwell (Whately), and Prince Williams (Greenwich). This study project focuses on heads of families enumerated in the 1790 census in historic Berkshire and Hampshire counties, an area which also includes modern Franklin and Hampden counties.  Thomas Cornish (m. 1641) is new to Alicia Crane Williams’ Early New England Families, 1641-1700.  This project focuses on immigrants to New England, using Torrey’s New England Marriages as a guide.

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

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Today we’ve added 6 new volumes to Massachusetts: (Image-Only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900 from St. Columbkille in Brighton.  This update adds over 1,200 new images to this browsable collection.  If you have questions about how to navigate this database, be sure to watch our how-to video.  We’d like to gratefully thank the following volunteers who worked on this parish: Ross and Linda Weaver, Eileen McCarthy, Will Whearty, Angela Napolitano, and Nell Nies.  The new volumes are listed below:

St. Columbkille (Brighton) Baptisms, 1857-1881
St. Columbkille (Brighton) Baptisms, 1881-1894
St. Columbkille (Brighton) Baptisms, 1985-1900
St. Columbkille (Brighton) Confirmations, 1855-1895
St. Columbkille (Brighton) Confirmations, 1897-1900

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