Archive For The “Uncategorized” Category
Today we’re announcing a new database, Norfolk County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1793-1877. This database was created from digital images and index contributed to NEHGS by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. The collection contains the records of 20,904 Norfolk County probate cases filed between 1793 and 1877. The probate cases include wills, guardianships, administrations, and various other types of probate records except adoptions, which are not public records in Massachusetts. The cases range in length from one to over 2,500 pages, with a total of over 515,000 individual file papers. If you have questions about using this collection, or our partnership with the Massachusetts Supreme Court Judicial Archives, be sure to watch our short video, How to Search Massachusetts Probate File Papers.
Downtown Natick, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Today we’re announcing an update to Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900, adding the records from St. Patrick in Natick. This update includes over 15,000 records and 52,000 names. If you’re interested in learning more about this project, watch Jean Maguire’s webinar. The new volumes are listed below.
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
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.
Embarkation of the Pilgrims, by Robert W. Weir. Protestant pilgrims are shown on the deck of the ship Speedwell before their departure for the New World from Delft Haven, Holland, on July 22, 1620. William Brewster is holding the Bible. Public Domain in the United States, courtesy of Wikimedia.
We have added the William Brewster volumes to the searchable database of authenticated Mayflower Pilgrim genealogies, Mayflower Families Fifth Generation Descendants, 1700-1880. This set of volumes comes from the Mayflower Families in Progress; also known as the “Pink Books”. This update adds 640 pages, 10,000 records, and over 28,000 searchable names related to the descendants of William Brewster, organized into the following volumes:
- Brewster, William (MFIP, Jonathan)
- Brewster, William (MFIP, Love)
- Brewster, William (MFIP, Patience)
This database is being constructed from the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD) very well-known series of books Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: Descendants of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Mass., December 1620 which document the first generation of descendants of the Pilgrims. Through our partnership with GSMD, American Ancestors is delivering this database with a full index of the fifth-generation descendants, and their children, coupled with the page images for those people.
William Brewster was born around 1566. He was an Elder and teacher of the church in Leiden, and he continued his leadership in Plymouth. William was involved with printing religious materials in Leiden, which forced him to go into hiding from English authorities before the departure of Mayflower. He was the highest ranking Separatist church official to voyage on Mayflower. William married a woman named Mary around 1592, with whom he had 5 surviving children. Two of their children were Mayflower passengers, while the elder three joined the family in America later. He died in Duxbury in 1644.This biography is also available on our Mayflower 2020 site here.
This database index includes birth, baptism, marriage, death, and deed records for these individuals, and where available, the names of parents and spouses. We thank our volunteers for all their efforts in bringing this newly searchable data to you!
This update is made possible by the invaluable efforts of our growing team of volunteers, including; Nell Nies, Margaret Parker, Karen and Ray Ristic, Ron Wilson, and David Anderson. We genuinely appreciate their dedication. If you are interested in joining the team, please contact Bianca Renzoni, Database Services Volunteer Coordinator bianca.renzoni@nehgs.org.
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.
The Newest Transcription Challenge is up! Check out our Transcription Challenge page to keep up to date with the newest challeneg and to offer your suggestions!
We really appreciated all of your help and suggestions from the last couple weeks! We received over 50 responses and we have sorted out the issue some of you had with not being able to open the images!
#1: Saint Anthony’s of Padua, Allston, Baptisms 1900 
Horatius
#2: Saint Anthony’s of Padua, Austin, Baptisms 1800
a. Bouzoun
b. Hedros W. Bouzoun
c. DaKuis
#3: Saint John the Baptist, Lowell, Confirmation 1870
a. Thuor
b. Bauer
#4: Saint John the Baptist, Lowell, Confirmation 1870
Under Further Review
#5: Saint John the Baptist, Lowell, Confirmation 1872
a. Joseph Belonie
b. Leas Joseph
c. Fidelin Fidelis
d. Obertha Agnes
e. Learers
Search Results page with new View Image link highlighted
We have just released a new View Image link on the Search Results page. As shown in the image above, you can click the View Image link to go directly to the Image Display page. Several people have requested this time saving option, and we are happy to release it today. If you click on the name information you will continue to go to the Record display. from Search Results. Also, if the search result is for an index-only database this link does not appear.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to us at webmaster@nehgs.org.
New record display page with record text and image thumbnail
We are excited to deliver another enhancement to the search experience today: The Record Display page. When you select a record from your search results, you automatically get the new page, as shown above.
At the top of the page you see all the indexed text from the record you requested on the left side, and large thumbnail of the image for that page on the right. In cases where there is no image text available, there is placeholder noting that there is no image available for that database (see below).
Here are some are the key benefits of the new record display:
- Transcript and image – can be viewed at the same time,and on one screen
- View button – displays the full screen image with the ability zoom in and out, print and download
- “Also on this page” – when other records exist on the page, they are listed on the right and you can navigate to one just by clicking on it
- Comments and Questions at top right – if you want to contact NEHGS about the record, just enter a comment in the box and press “send”
- Citation information – available to view or copy just below the transcript and image
- Database description and search tips – available on the same page
We hope you enjoy this new streamlined way to view your search results. Please address any feedback or comments to webmaster@nehgs.org. We love to hear from you!
Sample record display page when no image is available
The Landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock, 1620. Painted by Peter Frederick Rothermel, engraved by J. Andrews. Public Domain, courtesy of Wikimedia.org.
We have added the Thomas Rogers volume to the searchable database of authenticated Mayflower Pilgrim genealogies, Mayflower Families Fifth Generation Descendants, 1700-1880. This addition adds 430 pages, 6,000 records and over 18,000 searchable names related to the descendants of Thomas Rogers.
This database is being constructed from the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD) very well-known series of books Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: Descendants of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Mass., December 1620 which document the first generation of descendants of the Pilgrims. Through our partnership with GSMD, American Ancestors is delivering this database with a full index of the fifth-generation descendants, and their children, coupled with the page images for those people.
When Thomas Rogers was about 48 he arrived on the Mayflower from Leiden with his son Joseph, who was about 17. Thomas died during the first winter in Plymouth. His son Joseph survived and had a family. Thomas’s son John came to Plymouth later, possibly along with two of his daughters. This biography is also available on our Mayflower 2020 site here.
This database index includes birth, baptism, marriage, death, and deed records for these individuals, and where available, the names of parents and spouses. We thank our volunteers for all their efforts in bringing this newly searchable data to you!
This update is made possible by the invaluable efforts of our growing team of volunteers, including; Diane Arbuckle, Jan Lundquist, Patricia Dalpiaz, Nell Nies, and David Anderson. We genuinely appreciate their dedication. If you are interested in joining the team, please contact Bianca Renzoni, Database Services Volunteer Coordinator bianca.renzoni@nehgs.org.
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.
The Newest Transcription Challenge is now up! Visit our Transcription Challenge page to offer a suggestion.
These new challenges come from Saint Anthony’s of Padua in Austin and Saint John the Baptist in Lowell!
We really appreciated all of your help and suggestions from the last couple weeks! We received over 50 responses and we have sorted out the issue some of you had with not being able to open the images!
Here are the results:
#1: a) Laseana J.
b) Edward Trainor
#2: Greenwood
#3: Pakilan Jr
#4: Under Further Review
#5: Joannes Ignatius Taylor
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
We’ve added 21 new volumes to Massachusetts: (Image Only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900, from St. Mary (Marlborough) and St. Patrick (Stoneham). St. Mary’s was the church attended by the French Canadian Catholics in Marlborough. St. Patrick’s was established in 1868 to minister to Catholics living north of Boston. The new volumes are listed below:
St. Mary (Marlborough) Baptisms, 1854-1861
St. Mary (Marlborough) Baptisms, 1862-1865
St. Mary (Marlborough) Baptisms, 1865-1866
St. Mary (Marlborough) Baptisms, 1866-1868
St. Mary (Marlborough) Baptisms, 1868-1869
St. Mary (Marlborough) Baptisms, 1870-1880
St. Mary (Marlborough) Baptisms, 1881-1890
St. Mary (Marlborough) Baptisms, 1890-1896
St. Mary (Marlborough) Baptisms, 1896-1900
St. Mary (Marlborough) Confirmations and Deaths, 1871-1880
St. Mary (Marlborough) Confirmations, 1871-1890
St. Mary (Marlborough) Confirmations, 1890-1900
St. Mary (Marlborough) Deaths, 1882-1884
St. Mary (Marlborough) Deaths, 1884-1886
St. Mary (Marlborough) Deaths, 1886-1888
St. Mary (Marlborough) Deaths, 1888-1893
St. Mary (Marlborough) Deaths,1898-1900
St. Mary (Marlborough) Marriages, 1858-1869
St. Mary (Marlborough) Marriages, 1870-1892
St. Mary (Marlborough) Marriages, 1894-1895
Eugene D. Moran Wildlife Management Area near Windsor, MA By John Phelan (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Noah Benson, Jr. (Partridgefield) Partridgefield is the modern town of Peru, MA.
Noah Benson, Sr. (Plainfield)
Amasa Converse (Windsor)
Robert Walker (Windsor)
Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.