Archive For The “Uncategorized” Category

New Transcription Challenge!

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(Photo by Anna, CC BY 2.0 httpscreativecommons.orglicensesby2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Thank you to everyone who participated in the last Transcription Challenge! We had 40 responses and everyone provided helpful feedback and suggestions! Please check out our new set of challenges by going to the “Transcription Challenge” tab at the top of the page and submitting your suggestions in the comments.

This week was difficult! After discussing the possibilities with others, and going back and forth on the letters many times, the names we have settled on are:

1a – Dinivan

1b – Meloy

2 – Hoogs

3a – Divner

3b – Maredin, Mardin

We appreciate everyone’s help and are excited to see the suggestions for the next set of challenges!

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New sketches: Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784

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Postcard of the Episcopal Church in Brattleboro, Vermont, c. 1905 (public domain via Wikimedia Commons; available from the New York Public Library’s Digital Library)

Today we’ve added 3 new sketches and updated 4 sketches in Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784. The people profiled in the new and updated sketches lived in Brattleboro, Chester and Putney.

With this study project, Scott Andrew Bartley researches the 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.

The new sketches are listed below:

Moore, Jonas (Putney)

Whipple, Daniel (Brattleboro)

Whipple, Joseph (Brattleboro)

The updated sketches are listed below:

Gile, Moses (Chester)

Wells, Jonathan (Brattleboro)

Wells, Samuel (Brattleboro)

Wilder, Tilly (Brattleboro, Newfane, Townshend)

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

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Vermont Genealogy: Volume 21 (2016) now available

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Vermont Mountain View, 2018 (Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons).

Today we’ve updated our database: Vermont Genealogy, adding Volume 21 from 2016. This database is available thanks to our partnership with the Genealogical Society of Vermont. This update adds over 4,200 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. We’d also like to thank Sam Sturgis for his help in making this volume available online.

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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The Connecticut Nutmegger: Volume 50 (2017) now available

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New London, Connecticut, by William M. Hart, c. 1870 (Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons, courtesy of Columbus Museum, Georgia).

Today, we have added Volume 50 (2017) to The Connecticut Nutmegger database. This update adds over 240 pages and more than 1,800 searchable names.

The Connecticut Nutmegger has served as the “journal of record” for the Connecticut Society of Genealogists, Inc. (CSG) for forty years. During this time, it has captured a wealth of information for genealogists. Vital records, probate records, bible records, headstone records, memorials and other useful records have been published and made readily accessible for genealogical research. Well-documented family histories and genealogical articles, covering hundreds of families – mainly with Connecticut ties – have been presented. Published articles include commentary on and corrections to previously published family lines, vital records and town histories. Book reviews, research tips, queries and other valuable tools for genealogists have been presented.

The index 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.

We would also like to than Sam Sturgis for his help in making this volume available online.

The entire run of The Connecticut Nutmegger is available at the NEHGS Boston research library, call number F91.C82.

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

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New Transcription Challenge!

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(Photo by Anna, CC BY 2.0 httpscreativecommons.orglicensesby2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Thank you to everyone who participated in the last Transcription Challenge! We had 60 responses, and everyone provided helpful feedback and suggestions! Please check out our new set of challenges by going to the “Transcription Challenge” tab at the top of the page and submitting your suggestions in the comments.

After going through every response, the names we have settled on are:

#1a – Donolan

#1b – Dowely

#1c – Desmond

#1d – Kaefes, Keefes

#1e – McGinnis

#2 – Demeris, Demaris

#3 – Rooney

We appreciate everyone’s help and are excited to see the suggestions for the next set of challenges!

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The Essex Genealogist: Volume 37 (2017) now available

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Image showing ships off of the coast of Cape Ann, Massachusetts, c. 2008 (public domain via Wikimedia Commons).

Volume 37 (2017) of The Essex Genealogist is now available! This update adds over 200 pages and 1,200 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. Within the pages of this journal are selections of cemetery transcriptions, bible records, vital and church records relating to families from Essex County. The Essex Genealogist has had published numerous Ahnentafels (Ancestor Tables) for the ancestry of their members, as well as verbatim transcriptions of lectures over the years.

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.

We’d also like to thank Sam Sturgis for his assistance in making this volume available online.

The entire run of The Essex Genealogist is available at the NEHGS Boston research library, call number F68 .S64.

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

Read more »

New Transcription Challenge!

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(Photo by Anna, CC BY 2.0 httpscreativecommons.orglicensesby2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Thank you to everyone who participated in the last Transcription Challenge! We had 58 responses, and everyone provided helpful feedback and suggestions! Please check out our new set of challenges by going to the “Transcription Challenge” tab at the top of the page and submitting your suggestions in the comments.

It was really interesting and helpful to see how many ways everyone transcribed this difficult handwriting. After going through every response, the names we have settled on are:

#1 – Nighy

#2 – Carleman

#3 – Dwyre

We appreciate everyone’s help and are excited to see the suggestions for the next set of challenges!

Read more »

Suffolk, MA Probate File Papers: new records

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Dartmouth Street, Boston, by Enrico Meneghelli, c. 1875 (Public domain via Wikimedia Commons, courtesy of Vose Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts).

Today we’re announcing a major update to Suffolk County, MA Probate File Papers.  This addition includes case numbers 50000-61999, a total of 348,886 new file papers.

This database was created from digital images and index contributed to NEHGS by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.  The probate cases include wills, guardianships, administrations, and various other types of probate records.  We’d like to thank Sam Sturgis for his work on this update.

The complete Suffolk County File Papers collection will eventually cover cases 1-94,757, which includes years up to 1893. The cases are indexed chronologically, which allows us to present them in sections while digital photography is taking place. We will continue to add additional cases as they become available.

If you have questions on how to search this database, or about our collaboration with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives, please watch our video, How to Search Massachusetts Probate File Papers.  The Massachusetts Archives also have a very helpful website that serves as a directory as to where you can find which pieces of probate information.

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

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Brimfield, MA: Deaths and Burials, 1808-1850 Now Fully Indexed and Browsable

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Excerpt of Map of Hampden County, Massachusetts, by Henry Francis Walling, 1855 (Public domain via Wikimedia Commons, courtesy of the Library of Congress).

Today we are releasing an updated version of our Brimfield, MA: Deaths and Burials, 1808-1850 database. This updated version includes the images from the collection and the index now includes full names, relationships, and locations where available.

In 1930, Walter E. and Lottie S. Corbin transcribed a record book in the possession of the Chairman of the Cemetery Commissioners. In the introduction to the transcription they note that many items in the original record book were apparently copied from previously kept records that were no longer in existence. They also note that “practically every entry in the [original] records gives the locations of that particular grave in the cemetery … the location of the grave is given here only when it contains data of genealogical value.”

Therefore, this database is more useful to those wishing to determine a date of death than to those who wish to locate the cemetery in which an individual is buried (the cemetery is often not identified). It should also be noted that the information contained in the record books may not exactly match that of the gravestone inscription.

The original text is available to NEHGS members at the R. Stanton Avery Collections room at the NEHGS Library, call number MSS A 3286.

This project was made possible by the efforts of our wonderful volunteer, Jayn Stillson.

If you 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.

Please note: This database is available to all NEHGS members, including Guest members and NEHGS affiliates. Consider membership.

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Transcription Challenge is Back!

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(Photo by Anna, CC BY 2.0 httpscreativecommons.orglicensesby2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

After a long hiatus, we are excited to announce that the Transcription Challenge has returned! You can participate by going to the “Transcription Challenge” tab at the top of the page and submitting your suggestions in the comments.

We will review your comments every week and will post new challenges as we find them!

We look forward to hearing from you and appreciate your help!

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