Archive For The “Uncategorized” Category

Archdiocese of Boston: new browsable records from Brookline and Cambridge

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The Reservoir Church in North Cambridge, formerly Our Lady of Pity, image by Beyond My Ken [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

Today we’ve added 22 new volumes and updated 7 volumes in Massachusetts: (Image-Only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 from 5 parishes across the archdiocese. This update adds over 3,500 new pages to browse.

The new and updated parishes include: Immaculate Conception (Cambridge), Our Lady of Pity (Cambridge), St. Aidan (Brookline), St. Mary of the Assumption (Cambridge), and St. Paul (Cambridge).

If you need help navigating the image-only collection, please consult our most recent webinar, Archdiocese of Boston Catholic Records Project: We’re Expanding! 

The new volumes in Massachusetts: (Image-Only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, 1789-1920 are listed below. Volumes with an asterisk have been updated. Previously they were truncated to only display records from before January 1, 1901. Now they are presented on our site either in their complete form or with the records up to December 31, 1920:

Immaculate Conception (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1909-1914
Immaculate Conception (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1914-1920
Immaculate Conception (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1920
Immaculate Conception (Cambridge) Confirmations, 1921-1920
Immaculate Conception (Cambridge) Deaths, 1911-1920
Immaculate Conception (Cambridge) Deaths, 1920
Immaculate Conception (Cambridge) First Communions, 1918-1920
Immaculate Conception (Cambridge) Marriages, 1910-1913
Immaculate Conception (Cambridge) Marriages, 1913-1920
Immaculate Conception (Cambridge) Various, 1909-1931

Our Lady of Pity (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1892-1908*
Our Lady of Pity (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1908-1917
Our Lady of Pity (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1918-1920
Our Lady of Pity (Cambridge) Confirmations, 1899-1920*
Our Lady of Pity (Cambridge) First Communions, 1902-1920
Our Lady of Pity (Cambridge) Marriages, 1892-1908*
Our Lady of Pity (Cambridge) Marriages, 1908-1920

St. Aidan (Brookline) Baptisms, 1911-1920
St. Aidan (Brookline) Marriages, 1911-1920

St. Mary of the Assumption Baptisms, 1913-1920
St. Mary of the Assumption Baptisms, 1900-1913*
St. Mary of the Assumption Marriages, 1897-1920*

St. Paul (Cambridge) Baptisms 1875-1908*
St. Paul (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1908-1918
St. Paul (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1918-1920
St. Paul (Cambridge) Confirmations 1875-1920*
St. Paul (Cambridge) Marriages, 1908-1930
St. Paul (Cambridge) Marriages update 1875-1908

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

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Early New England Families, 1641-1700: 1 new sketch

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Postcard from Fairfield, Connecticut (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Today we’ve updated Early New England Families, 1641-1700adding one new sketch. This new sketch features George Squire m. 1642. George and his family lived in Concord, MA and Fairfield, CT. His wife’s name was Ann, and they had six children.

The Early New England Families, 1641-1700 study project is led by Alicia Crane Williams. This project highlights heads of families mentioned in Torrey’s New England Marriages to 1700, focusing on individuals who immigrated from 1641 through 1700, grouped by year of marriage. Barry E. Hinman collaborated with Alicia Crane Williams to produce this sketch.

We’d like to thank Sam Sturgis for his help adding these sketches to our database.

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

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New Database Salem, MA: United States 1810 Census

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Printed map
Plan of the town of Salem in the commonwealth of Massachusetts: from actual surveys, made in the years 1796 & 1804; with the improvements and alterations since that period as surveyed, by Saunders, Jonathan Peele, 1785-1844. Map reproduction courtesy of the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library.

We are very happy to announce a new database: Salem, MA: United States 1810 Census. This project is the result of a partnership between the Phillips Library/Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) and American Ancestors/NEHGS.

Censuses enumerated from 1790 to 1820 were originally filed in their respective district court (state) or superior court (territory). Eventually, in 1830, the courts were asked to forward their 1790-1820 census holdings to the Department of State. Unfortunately, some courts took poor care of the first four censuses, so many of these records have been lost or presumed lost, as was the case with the 1810 census for the City of Salem.

In 2021, it was discovered that The Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum had the only surviving copy. Before returning the original pages to the National Archives and Records Administration (the current guardian of historic US Federal Censuses) the Phillips Library digitized the pages in color. These pages were provided to NEHGS to be indexed and are now available for the first time in a searchable form in this new database.

This database contains the full 100 pages of the 1810 Federal Census with over 2,200 records and searchable names. It is searchable by first and last name. All records are of type Census, and they are records with the location Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts.

Rhonda McClure has written a blog about the re-discovery of the Salem Census of 1810 in Vita Brevis. A searchable index of the rest of the United States 1810 Census is also available on American Ancestors.

We thank our volunteer John Hagerty, who indexed all the names for this project. 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 both guest and Individual NEHGS members. Consider membership.

Handwritten census page
A sample page from the Salem, MA: United States 1810 Census database

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New volumes: Boston, MA: Provident Institution for Savings, 1817-1882

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Detail from the front matter of One Hundred Years of Savings Bank Service

Today we’ve added three new volumes to Boston, MA: Provident Institution for Savings, 1817-1882.

The new volumes are:
Waste Book 1A, 1817-1820
Waste Book 1B, 1820
Waste Book 1E, 1822-1824

The Provident Institution for Savings in the Town of Boston was one of the first savings bank to be incorporated in the United States. About 80% of the individuals represented in the early records of this bank were immigrants to Boston. The Waste Books provide lists of daily transactions that happened at the bank–often one person is depositing money in benefit of another person. Residence locations are provided (usually a town), and occupations are often recorded.

If you are interested in the subject of bank records in general, be sure to watch genealogist Eileen Pironti’s webinar, Using Bank Records in Family History Research.

This database is still a work in progress. When complete, the database will contain 6 signature books and 6 “waste” (transaction) books. One signature book and four waste books are currently available.

This database is possible through our partnership with the Boston Athenaeum. The Boston Athenaeum holds the original record books and performed the digitization of all the images. The full collection at the Boston Athenaeum is Provident Institution for Savings in the Town of Boston Records.

We’d like to thank volunteers and interns Paul McCool, Amanda Opalenik, Katherine Pozgay, Annie Tucker and Kennedy Smith for their work on this update.

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

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Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784: 2 new sketches

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

Today we’ve added 2 new sketches to Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784. The two new sketches feature Isaac McCune who married Lydia Chandler and William McCune, Isaac’s father who married Elizabeth Whitney. Both families lived in Brattleboro.

We’ve also updated two existing sketches:
Butterfield, Benjamin (Brattleboro)
Willard, Nathan (Fort Dummer)

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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Archdiocese of Boston: New searchable records for Haverhill and Lowell

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Inside St. Patrick (Lawrence) from One Hundred Years of Progress, p.388

Today we have added 6 new volumes to the Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 () database. Today’s addition delivers the parishes of St. Patrick in Lowell, and St. Rita in Haverhill. This update includes over 600 pages, 12,000 records and over 44,000 searchable names.

St. Patrick was Lowell’s first parish, and the large church building was dedicated on July 3, 1831.

St. Rita’s was established for the Lithuanian and Italian communities in Haverhill. The wooden framed church of St. Rita was dedicated on October 10, 1915. It was originally a mission of St. James parish.

The volumes published today are:
• St. Patrick (Lowell) Baptisms, 1908-1915
• St. Patrick (Lowell) Baptisms, 1915-1920
• St. Patrick (Lowell) Confirmations, 1901-1920
• St. Patrick (Lowell) Marriages, 1908-1920
• St. Rita (Haverhill) Baptisms, 1915-1920
• St. Rita (Haverhill) Marriages, 1915-1920

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

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Archdiocese of Boston: new records from Haverhill and Lowell

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Excerpt from a 1910 print of the Haverhill waterfront (Smith Bros. Printing Co., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Today we’ve added seven new volumes to Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 from St. James in Haverhill and St. Margaret of Scotland in Lowell. This update adds over 26,500 records and over 76,400 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. James (Haverhill) Baptisms, 1908-1914
St. James (Haverhill) Baptisms, 1914-1920
St. James (Haverhill) First Communions, 1910-1920
St. James (Haverhill) Marriages, 1908-1920

St. Margaret of Scotland (Lowell) Baptisms, 1910-1920
St. Margaret of Scotland (Lowell) Confirmations, 1912-1920
St. Margaret of Scotland (Lowell) Marriages, 1911-1920

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 for Chelsea

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Monocrome Postcard
Chelsea Square 1906 Post Card. Public Domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Today we have added 5 new volumes for the Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920. Today’s addition is for Our Lady of the Assumption in Chelsea and includes over 200 pages, 2,00 records, and 6,000 searchable names.

In 1903 and 1907 the Society of the Assumption petitioned for a separate French congregation to be established in Chelsea. Starting on May 5, 1907 the worship began in the basement of St. Rose’s parish school. The following year a basement church was built on Broadway. The construction of the upper church began in 1924, and it was dedicated on November 28, 1925 by Father Rabel

The five new volumes in this release are:
• Our Lady of the Assumption (Chelsea) Baptisms, 1912-1920
• Our Lady of the Assumption (Chelsea) Confirmations, 1914-1920
• Our Lady of the Assumption (Chelsea) Deaths, 1912-1920
• Our Lady of the Assumption (Chelsea) First Communions, 1911-1920
• Our Lady of the Assumption (Chelsea) Marriages, 1912-1988

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 for Brockton and Framingham

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Map
1909 Map of Brockton by the Walker Lith. & Pub. Co. Public Domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Today we have added 7 new volumes to the Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 database. Today’s addition delivers the parishes of St. Margaret of Scotland in Brockton, St. Colman of Cloyne in Brockton, and St. Stephen in Framingham. This update includes over 700 pages, 10,000 records and over 40,000 searchable names.

St. Colman of Cloyne was founded in 1910 in the eastern side of Brockton. Father Joseph J. Dermody constructed a basement church. His successor Rev. William J. Fennessy finished the upper structure and it was dedicated on October 7, 1928.

St. Margaret of Scotland in Brockton was also a basement church in 1903. The superstructure was blessed on August 17, 1924 and the dedication by Cardinal O’Connell was October 7, 1928.

St. Stephen was established as a parish in 1878. St. George in the Saxonville neighborhood of Framingham was the first Catholic church in the area. St. Bridget and St. Stephen (in South Framingham) branched off from St. George.

The volumes published today are:
• St. Colman of Cloyne (Brockton) Baptisms, 1911-1920
• St. Margaret of Scotland (Brockton) Baptisms, 1902-1913
• St. Margaret of Scotland (Brockton) Baptisms, 1913-1920
• St. Margaret of Scotland (Brockton) Confirmations, 1902-1913
• St. Margaret of Scotland (Brockton) Marriages, 1902-1908
• St. Margaret of Scotland (Brockton) Marriages, 1908-1920
• St. Stephen (Framingham) Baptisms, 1902-1926

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

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New Database Portsmouth, NH: High School Students, 1846-1902

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Monochrome photograph
Lantern slide of the original Portsmouth High School on Daniel Stree. Courtesy of the Portsmouth Athenaeum.

We are very happy to announce the new database: Portsmouth, NH: High School Students, 1846-1902. This project is the result of an excellent partnership between the Portsmouth Athenaeum and NEHGS. The information about the students in this database can provide a more personal insight into their high school experience. This database contains eight volumes with over 2,300 pages of information about the High School students and includes over 48,000 searchable records and 50,00 searchable names.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire first established a system of primary schools in 1846 through an act of the General Assembly. In 1848 Portsmouth organized its system of education and elected a School Board to oversee its affairs.
The Portsmouth Athenaeum has held the city’s historic school records on deposit since 1991, and in 2020 partnered with The New England Historic and Genealogical Society to digitize and index records related to Portsmouth High School for the years 1846 through 1902. These records include students’ names, information about their studies, when they graduated, and occasionally students’ birth dates and names of parents or guardians.

The records included in this database are now housed in the collections of Portsmouth Public Library. Since most records do not provide an age for the student, we have primarily used a record type of Residence, meaning that the student lived in Portsmouth when the records was written. Some birth records are included in this database.

We thank the volunteers who have made this database possible, including; Carol Demers, Carol Farrington, Joan Hammond, Peggy Hodges, Pamela Hugie, Susan Kindstedt, Ginny Marshall, Linda Martin-Berke, Robin Merrow, Melissa Millay , Alan Phelps, Bob Rainville , Carol Sawyer, John Seavey, Gail Wine, Mara Witzling, and Elaine Wood. 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.

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