Author Archive

We’ve added 2 new parishes to Massachusetts: (Image Only) Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900: St. Anthony of Padua in Allston, and St. Margaret in Dorchester.  Both of these parishes grew out of existing parishes as the Catholic population in Boston grew in the late 1800s.  St. Margaret branched off from St. Peter’s in Dorchester.  The plans for constructing this church were officially embarked upon on June 10, 1893, the feast of St. Margaret.  St. Anthony’s grew from St. Columbkille in Brighton.  The cornerstone was laid in 1894.  James S. Sullivan’s One Hundred Years of Progress, written in 1895 to celebrate the centennial of the Archdiocese, describes in detail the construction of the church which was still in progress, explaining the future location of the altar (to be made of stone and marble) and the choir loft.

A note on St. Margaret (Dorchester) Baptisms and Marriages, 1893-1900:  This volume consists of two books which began separately and were later bound together.  Usually at the front of a volume in this collection, we have an “Index” page which should give you an idea of how best to browse through the book.  This volume has two different indexes, one for the marriages, and one for the baptisms.  I’ve created Index_1 which explains how to browse the marriages, and Index_2 which explains how to browse the baptisms.  Pages are numbered as B_1 or M_1 to allow for the fact that there are two pages called one, for example, in this volume.

This update consists of the following volumes:

St. Anthony of Padua (Allston) Baptisms, 1986-1900

St. Anthony of Padua (Allston) Marriages, 1896-1900

St. Margaret (Dorchester) Baptisms, 1893-1899

St. Margaret (Dorchester) Baptisms and Marriages, 1893-1900

St. Margaret (Dorchester) Confirmations, 1894-1900

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Alicia Crane William’s study project, Early New England Families, 1641-1700 focuses on immigrants to New England , using Torrey’s New England Marriages as a guide.

The newest sketch in this collection features Richard Lowell.  It isn’t exactly clear when Richard came to Massachusetts, but he had certainly arrived by 1641/2 when his daughter was born in Newbury, MA.  He had one or two wives, one of whom was named Margaret.  See Williams’s commentary on page six for more details on Richard Lowell’s potential marriages.  He had four children, one of whom, Samuel, is particularly well-documented due to disputes relating to a relationship with a woman to which he was not married.  Richard died in 1682 in Newbury.

Click here to download a complete pdf list of all Early New England Families sketches with links to each sketch.

Click here to visit our bookstore to purchase a print compilation of the first 50 sketches in the series.

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

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We have added a new parish to Massachusetts: (Image Only) Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900.  St. Leonard of Port Maurice was Boston’s first Italian parish, established in 1873 to minister to the growing Italian population in the North End.  This update to our database adds over 2,200 pages of records, and consists of the following eight volumes:

St. Leonard of Port Maurice Baptisms, 1873-1887

St. Leonard of Port Maurice Baptisms, 1887-1897

St. Leonard of Port Maurice Baptisms, 1897-1900

St. Leonard of Port Maurice Baptisms, 1900

St. Leonard of Port Maurice Confirmations, 1876-1900

St. Leonard of Port Maurice Index to Baptisms, 1873-1900

St. Leonard of Port Maurice Marriages, 1873-1899

St. Leonard of Port Maurice Marriages, 1900

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We have added five new sketches to Western Massachusetts Families in 1790. This database focuses on families listed in the 1790 census in historic Berkshire and Hampshire counties, an area which includes parts of modern Franklin and Hampden counties as well. Sketches are submitted by NEHGS researchers and members and edited by Helen Schatvet Ullmann, CG, FASG. The following sketches comprise this update:

Isaac Sanderson – Whately
Asa Sanderson – Whately
David Prince – Windsor
Asa Hall – Windsor
Josiah Wright – Pittsfield

 

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

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We’ve added St. Mary’s parish in Charlestown to our searchable collection of Archdiocese of Boston records, Massachusetts: Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900.  St. Mary’s was the first parish established as a separate parish from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, in 1828.   The Boston Public Library has a Charlestown Flickr page with images of St. Mary’s interior, repairs to the roof, and a fire that happened in the building.  Scroll about three quarters of the way down the page to view these images.  This update adds over 44,000 new records and over 168,000 new names.  We’ve added the following 10 volumes:
St. Mary (Charlestown) Baptisms, 1829-1855
St. Mary (Charlestown) Baptisms, 1856-1868
St. Mary (Charlestown) Baptisms, 1869-1887
St. Mary (Charlestown) Baptisms, 1887-1894
St. Mary (Charlestown) Baptisms, 1894-1897
St. Mary (Charlestown) Baptisms, 1897-1900
St. Mary (Charlestown) Deaths and Burials, 1823-1831
St. Mary (Charlestown) Deaths and Burials, 1830-1836
St. Mary (Charlestown) Marriages, 1830-1868
St. Mary (Charlestown) Marriages, 1869-1900

If you have found any interesting stories or important information about your ancestors within the Archdiocese of Boston records, we would love to hear from you!  Please email me (Molly Rogers) at webmaster@nehgs.org.

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

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We have just added three new volumes to Massachusetts: (Image Only) Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900, from St. Bernard’s in Newton.  St. Bernard began as a mission attached to St. Mary’s church in Waltham.  The church was dedicated in 1874.  The original structure burned down in 1889, but they were able to rebuild a new church by 1890.  The new volumes include:

St. Bernard (Newton) Baptisms, 1876-1894

St. Bernard (Newton) Baptisms, 1894-1900

St. Bernard (Newton) Marriages, 1876-1900 

 

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We have added 12 new volumes to Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900 from Sacred Heart of Jesus in Cambridge.  The first Catholic church in Cambridge, Sacred Heart of Jesus was originally called St. John.  The twelve new volumes are listed below:

Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1842-1856

Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1857-1871

Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1871-1874

Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1874-1878

Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1878-1885

Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1885-1891

Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1891-1895

Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1895-1899

Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cambridge) Marriages, 1842-1873

Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cambridge) Marriages, 1874-1897

Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cambridge) Sick Calls, 1884-1900

Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cambridge) Sick Calls, 1900

If you have found any interesting stories or important information about your ancestors within the Archdiocese of Boston records, we would love to hear from you!  Please email me (Molly Rogers) at webmaster@nehgs.org.

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

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After a busy August, we’re back with our next Transcription Challenge!  Visit our Transcription Challenge page to offer a suggestion.  These new challenges come from Immaculate Conception in Salem.

We really appreciated all of your help and suggestions from last month!  Over 50 participants offered suggestions.  Here are the final answers we have settled on:

1. McCourt, McCant
2. Sre.
3. Finucane, Finnegan
4. Kell, Ted
5. Sunnig, Shunig

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We’re announcing 7 new volumes in Massachusetts: (Image Only) Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900.  These volumes come from St. George in Framingham and St. Patrick in Natick.  The Catholic population swelled in these towns as immigrants from Ireland, French Canada, and elsewhere came to work in the mills. The new volumes are listed below.

St. George (Framingham) Baptisms, 1878-1900

St. George (Framingham) Baptisms and Marriages, 1848-1859

St. George (Framinhgam) Marriages, 1894-1900

St. Patrick (Natick) Baptisms, 1890-1900

St. Patrick (Natick) Baptisms and Marriages, 1860-1890

St. Patrick (Natick) First Communions and Confirmations, 1866-1900

St. Patrick (Natick) Marriages, 1890-1900

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We’ve added a new volume of Chatham vital records to Massachusetts Vital Records, 1620-1850.  This new volume appears as “Chatham – V3” in Massachusetts Vital Records, 1620-1850. The first 100 or so pages of vital records in the current volume were also published in “Chatham – V1” in the same collection.  Chatham – V1 includes records originally published in the Mayflower Descendant between 1907 and 1917. This set of records (Chatham – V3) was originally published by the Chatham Historical Society in 1991. They are electronically published here with permission of the Society.  Records are indexed by first name, last name, spouse’s name, parents’ names, location, date, and record type.

 

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