Archive For The “Uncategorized” Category

Archdiocese of Boston: Patronage of St. Joseph (Somerville) now searchable

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Detail of Union Square with the Catholic Church labeled from an 1884 Map of the City of Somerville http://maps.bpl.org [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

Today we’ve added six new volumes to Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 from the Patronage of St. Joseph in Somerville. This update adds over 55,208 records and over 160,785 names to search.

The Patronage of St. Joseph was the original Catholic parish in Somerville, off of which St. Ann and St. Catherine of Genoa would later split.  Prior to the establishment of this church in Union Square, Somerville’s Catholics often attended Mass at St. Mary (Charlestown) or St. Peter (Cambridge).

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

The new volumes are listed below:

Patronage of St. Joseph (Somerville) Baptisms, 1869-1895
Patronage of St. Joseph (Somerville) Baptisms, 1896-1905
Patronage of St. Joseph (Somerville) Confirmations, 1873-1920
Patronage of St. Joseph (Somerville) First Communions, 1878-1895
Patronage of St. Joseph (Somerville) First Communions, 1896-1917
Patronage of St. Joseph (Somerville) Marriages, 1869-1920

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

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Rhode Island Roots Volume 40 (2014) Added

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Picture from page 33 of volume 40.

We are very happy to add volume #40 (2015) to the Rhode Island Roots genealogical journal database. This update adds over 260 pages and nearly 2,700 searchable names.

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. If you have some time and would like to get involved in the digitization and indexing process for genealogical databases 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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Enhanced Database Browse and Category Updates

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Enhanced Browse Databases Page

Today we introduced an enhancement to the Browse Databases A-Z page, recategorized some databases to improve searchability.

The Browse Databases A to Z page has been enhanced to dynamically adjust the list of databases as you type. This can speed up the search process for finding a specific database. The user interface has been changed slightly, so that the field for entering your search terms is now above the list of databases, rather than on the left. You can see this in the image above. We hope that you will enjoy this update.

Database Category changes have been made ensure that all the databases in the Journals and Periodicals category have the same approach to indexing and search. Specifically, the records contain first and last name, and the year contains the year of publication. The following eleven databases primarily contain birth, marriage, death records, so they have been moved to the Vital Records category:

  • Albany Argus: Records of Deaths and Marriages, 1826-1828
  • Boston Recorder and Telegraph: Death reports, 1827-1828
  • Boston Recorder and Telegraph: Marriages, 1827-1828
  • Christian Intelligencer: Death reports of Reformed Dutch Church, 1830-1871
  • Christian Intelligencer: Marriages (Reformed Dutch Ch.), 1830-1871
  • New Canaan [CT] Era: Marriages and Deaths in New York State, 1868-1871
  • New Hampshire Gazette: Vital Records, 1756-1800
  • New Hampshire: Marriage and Death Notices Published in Newspapers, 1848-1856
  • Otsego County, NY: Newspaper Records, 1808-1831
  • Portsmouth, NH: Abstracts from Newspapers, 1776-1800
  • Springfield [MA] Republican: Marriages and Deaths, 1847

As a reminder, the category specific search pages search all databases in that category at once. The blue button on the top right side of the page provides a link to the current list of databases in the category. The search tips provide information on what the best fields are for searching them. For reference, the full list of categories can be found on American Ancestors under the Search menu, They can also be found on the Advanced Search page on the right side of the page.

If you have any additional questions, please email us at webmaster@nehgs.org.

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Boston, MA: Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society Immigration Records, 1904-1929

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Steamer Franconia, 1914 (Folder 7).

Our new database Boston, MA: Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society Immigration Records, 1904-1929 presents the earliest records of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) in Boston, thanks to our partnership with the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center at New England Historic Genealogical Society (JHC).  This database will contain 12 folders from the HIAS collection held by the JHC. Six folders are available now for search as part of our initial launch of the database. The other six folders will become available later in 2020. These folders are from Box 211; for a complete listing of boxes within the collection, see the finding aid.

This new database contains over 6,000 records and names, with more to come. Records include passenger lists, ship arrivals, correspondence, and lists of immigrants who were detained and deported.  The contents of each volume vary greatly. Folders 2 and 9 are image-only. Use the blue arrows (on the image pages) to browse these volumes.

The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) was founded in New York City in the 1880s by the Russian Jewish community of New York in response to the influx of Russian Jewish immigrants fleeing the pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe. The Boston office of HIAS was chartered in 1904. HIAS in Boston operated autonomously from the national office in New York, even after their merger in 1916. HIAS ensured that Jewish immigrants had access to holiday and religious services and kosher food; provided shelter and social services; and assisted immigrants with finding employment and schools, often on short notice.

Starting in 1930, HIAS began to keep case files on the individuals whom they helped.  The Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center is digitizing these files and making them available in Digital Collections in the Harris Poorvu Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (Boston) Digital Archives.

Immigrants in this database simply traveled through Boston.  While Boston or another town in Massachusetts were the final destinations of many, immigrants to locations throughout the United States and Canada are represented in this database.  Far-flung or popular locations include New York (city and state); St. Louis, Missouri; Wisconsin; Winnipeg, Ontario; North Carolina; Maryland; California and more.

The creation of this database was funded by the family of Harris Poorvu, former president and treasurer of HIAS Boston. We’d like to thank volunteers Bill Wolfendale, Eileen McCarthy, Ria Bhandarkar , Max Agigian, and David Anderson for their help scanning and indexing these folders.

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

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Western Massachusetts Families in 1790: 3 new sketches

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A View from the Berkshire Hills, near Pittsfield, Massachusetts by Sanford Robinson Gifford, 1863 Sanford Robinson Gifford [Public domain]

Today we’re announcing three new sketches in Western Massachusetts Families in 1790 featuring Joseph Fairfield from Pittsfield, Joseph Badger from Blandford, and Jonathan Keet from Leverett.

This study project focuses on individuals 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 project home page.

We’d like to thank Sam Sturgis for his help making this update possible.

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

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New Database: The Mayflower Quarterly

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Edward Winslow House, 1754. Public Domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Just in time for 2020 and the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower sailing, we are very excited to announce the new database based on the first fifty years of the The Mayflower Quarterly. There are approximately 5,000 pages and 92,000 searchable names in this database.

The Mayflower Quarterly is a publication of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD). The Quarterly contains news, pictures and articles on activities and events surrounding GSMD and its Member Societies throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. Articles often include names of GSMD and Member Society leadership.

This new database is the second major deliverable from our partnership  with GSMD, which previously resulted in the publication of the database Mayflower Families Fifth Generation Descendants, 1700-1880.

This database index includes all names and article titles for the first fifty years of publication, from 1935 through 1984. The database is organized into volumes that correspond to the issues of the Quarterly, and the volume name includes the year it was issued (in parenthesis).

This update is made possible by the efforts of our volunteers: Nell Nies, Elizabeth Handler, Lois Houghton, Tom Clements, Renda Smith, Jan Lundquist, Gale Stevenson, Wendy Sheppard, Ron Wilson, Meg Mills, Karen Ristic, Ray Ristic, Carol Botteron, Diane Arbuckle, Marie Wells. If you have some time and would like to get involved in the database digitization and indexing process please contact Rachel Adams, Database Services Volunteer Coordinator via email at rachel.adams@nehgs.org.

The entire run of The Mayflower Quarterly is available at the NEHGS Boston research library, call number F72.E7 E62.

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

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Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries Database Updated

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Gravestone of Nathaniel G. Carpenter from Swan Point Cemetery in Providence (41°51’10.37″N 71°22’58.8″W).

We are very happy to have expanded the content in the Rhode Island: Historical Cemeteries, 1647-2000 database. In this update we have added gravestone images for over 8,000 people that did not have them before. In addition, we have added over 10,500 new records and searchable names to the database.

This update was made possible by support from John Sterling and the transcriptions and images produced by the volunteers of Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries Transcription Project who work in cemeteries across Rhode Island.

This database is organized into 42 volumes based on the city or town of the cemetery and provides information for 460,000 people and over 932,000 searchable names. The efforts to capture images of the gravestones is not complete; approximately 25% of the records have an image to go with them. For the remainder, there is a placeholder noting that the image is not available and that you can see the birth and death details on the transcript page.

For most of the cemeteries, there GPS coordinates displayed on the transcript. This can be copied and pasted into a web site such as Google Maps to see where the cemetery is located.

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

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Archdiocese of Boston: Our Lady of Pity (Cambridge) now searchable

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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 three new volumes to Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 from Our Lady of Pity in Cambridge. This update adds over 5,000 records and over 19,800 names to search.

Also known as Notre Dame de Pitie, Our Lady of Pity was the French parish in North Cambridge, established in 1892. Prior to the establishment of this parish, French-Canadians living in Cambridge may have attended Mass at other churches in Cambridge or traveled all the way to Our Lady of Victories in Boston.

We’d like to thank Debbie Lansing, Bob Anderson, Julie Roffo, Shaune-Marie Berg, Kathy Oberley and Becki Clarke for their help making this parish available on our site.

The new volumes are listed below:

Our Lady of Pity (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1892-1908
Our Lady of Pity (Cambridge) Confirmations, 1899-1919
Our Lady of Pity (Cambridge) Marriages, 1892-1908

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

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The Maine Genealogist Volume 36 Available

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York Harbor, Coast of Maine, 1877, by Martin Johnson Heade. Image of painting courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, and Wikimedia Commons. This is in the public domain in the United States.

We are very happy to add volume 36 for the year 2014 to The Maine Genealogist database. This update adds over 230 pages and 4,500 searchable names.

Published since 1977, The Maine Genealogist is the quarterly journal of Maine Genealogical Society, founded in 1976. Beginning as a newsletter for the society, the publication evolved into The Maine Seine, published until 1990. The title was changed to The Maine Genealogist in 1991, and each issue, now 48 pages, contains scholarly articles on Maine families, emphasizing the solving of long-standing problems and primary source documentation.

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. If you have some time and would like to get involved in the database digitization and indexing process please contact Rachel Adams, Database Services Volunteer Coordinator via email at rachel.adams@nehgs.org.

The entire run of The Maine Genealogist is available at the NEHGS Boston research library, call number F16 .M345.

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

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Essex Genealogist Volume 34 (2014) Now Available

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Geological map of Essex County, Massachusetts, Author: Sears, John Henry. Publisher: Essex Institute Date: 1893. Wikimedia.org under the Creative Commons 2.0 Generic License in 2008.

We are very happy to have added Volume 34, covering the year 2014, to the genealogical journal The Essex Genealogist database. This update contains over 250 pages and 2,100 searchable names.

The leading publication for genealogical research in Essex County, Massachusetts, this quarterly journal has been published since 1981 by The Essex Society of Genealogists (founded in 1975). Within the pages of this journal are selections of cemetery transcriptions, bible records, vital and church records relating to families from Essex County, Massachusetts. The Essex Genealogist has had published numerous Ahnentafel’s (Ancestor Tables) of the ancestry of their members, as well as verbatim transcriptions of lectures over the years. This journal continues to serve those researching Essex County families with valuable resources now entering nearly four decades in print.

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. If you have some time and would like to get involved in the database digitization and indexing process please contact Rachel Adams, Database Services Volunteer Coordinator via email at rachel.adams@nehgs.org.

The entire run of The Essex Genealogist is available at the NEHGS Boston research library, call number F72.E7 E62.

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

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