Archive For The “Uncategorized” Category

Thank you to everyone who participated in Transcription Challenge last week.  We had over 60 responses!  This week we have more mystery names to decipher from Sacred Heart (Boston), Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cambridge), and St. Joseph (Boston) parishes, including one special challenge from Sacred Heart of Jesus in Cambridge!  Visit our Transcription Challenge page to offer a suggestion.

Here are the chosen transcriptions from last week’s challenge:

#1. Boudrot, Boudreau

#2. Kelsey

#3. Gratia

#4. Harriet

#5. Ebenisam, Eben

Read more »

We are very excited to announce the creation of a new searchable database of authenticated Mayflower Pilgrim genealogies; Mayflower Families Fifth Generation Descendants, 1700-1880. The General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD) has published the 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. Also known as the “Silver Books” this series is organized with separate volumes for each for these founding families.

Through a newly announced partnership with GSMD, American Ancestors is delivering this database with a full index of the fifth-generation descendants coupled with the page images for those people. The volumes in this collection are aligned with the volume numbers of the original series of books. Thanks to the hard work of our dedicated volunteers, we are releasing the following volumes today:

• Chilton, James and More, Richard (Vol. 15)
• Eaton, Francis (Vol. 9)
• Fuller, Edward (Vol. 4)
• Fuller, Samuel (Vol. 10)
• Howland, John (Vol. 23, p. 2)
• Priest, Degory (Vol. 8)
• Winslow, Edward (Vol. 5)

This database index includes birth, baptism, marriage, death, and deed records for these individuals, and where available, the names of parents and spouses.

Read more »

We’re announcing an update to Massachusetts: (Image Only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900.  The new records come from the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Cambridge (12 volumes) and St. Mary’s in Waltham (8 volumes).   Sacred Heart of Jesus was the first Catholic church in Cambridge, originally known as St. John’s.  Catholics from Waltham, Watertown, Newton, Lexington, and Concord gathered to worship in Waltham as early as 1830, ministered to by mission priests from Boston.

The following volumes comprise this update:

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

St. Mary (Waltham) Baptisms, 1852-1855

St. Mary (Waltham) Baptisms, 1864-1889

St. Mary (Waltham) Baptisms, 1889-1896

St. Mary (Waltham) Baptisms, 1896-1900

St. Mary (Waltham) Confirmations, 1877-1891

St. Mary (Waltham) Marriages, 1850-1855

St. Mary (Waltham) Marriages, 1864-1890

St. Mary (Waltham) Marriages, 1891-1900 

Read more »

Thank you to everyone who participated in Transcription Challenge last week.  We had over 80 responses!  This week we have 5 more mystery names to decipher from Holy Cross and St. Joseph (Boston) parishes and we would love your help.  Visit our Transcription Challenge page to offer a suggestion.

Here are the chosen transcriptions from last week’s challenge:

#1. McCrea

#2. Anna

#3. Moore

#4. Blacco, Placco

#5. Stinson

Read more »

Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900 has a new update–8 volumes of baptisms from St. Joseph’s parish in Boston’s West End.  Thanks to our wonderful volunteers, these volumes are now part of our searchable database!  This update consists of the following volumes:

St. Joseph (Boston) Baptisms, 1862-1876

St. Joseph (Boston) Baptisms, 1877-1879

St. Joseph (Boston) Baptisms, 1879-1882

St. Joseph (Boston) Baptisms, 1882-1884

St. Joseph (Boston) Baptisms, 1884-1889

St. Joseph (Boston) Baptisms, 1889-1895

St. Joseph (Boston) Baptisms, 1895-1900

St. Joseph (Boston) Baptisms, 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 .

Read more »

Thank you to everyone who participated in Transcription Challenge last week.  We had over 60 responses!  This week we have 5 more mystery names to decipher and we would love your help.  Visit our Transcription Challenge page to offer a suggestion.

Here are the chosen transcriptions from last week’s challenge:

1. Edward Coyle
2. Edwd., Edward Foley
3. Hannah and John Lyod, Lloyd
4. James and James Killmartin, Kilmartin
5. Alice and Arthur Timmons
6. Gul., Gulielmus, William O’Brien and Mar. A., Mary A. Reynolds
7. Gul. T., Gulielmus T., William T. Horrigan and Marg., Margaret O’Mara
8. Gabel F. Bryant

Read more »

Addition to the North American Cemetery Transcriptions
Five new volumes have been added to the North American Cemetery Transcriptions from NEHGS Manuscripts, 1642-1977 database which provide extensive coverage of Franklin County, Maine. The excellent indexing efforts of our volunteers has added over 30,000 new records and 57,000 new searchable names. The new volumes are:

• ME, Franklin: Various (MSS A 4724 Vol. 1)
• ME, Franklin: Various (MSS A 4724 Vol. 2)
• ME, Franklin: Various (MSS A 4724 Vol. 3)
• ME, Franklin: Various (MSS A 4724 Vol. 4)
• ME, Franklin: Various (MSS A 4724 Vol. 5)

Franklin county was formed from lands previously belonging to Kennebec, Oxford, and Somerset counties on May 9, 1838. It is in the west of the state, and as of the 2010 census, it was the second least populated county in Maine. Simon Titcomb, Jr., 1782-1830, is said to be the first child born to the settlers in Franklin County, and the transcription of his cemetery marker can be found here.

The index for these records includes birth and death records with full names, cemetery locations, and names of parents and spouses where available.

Read more »

The records from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross are now available in Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1900.  This update includes over 555,000 names searchable by first name, last name, parents’ names, spouses’ names, witnesses’ names, record type, year, and location.

We want to extend our vast gratitude to our volunteers who helped make this update possible–they have contributed hundreds of hours scanning the books, reading the pages, and proofreading spreadsheets.  We could not have done this without their help!

This update consists of the following volumes:

Holy Cross (Boston) Baptisms & Marriages V.1, 1789-1810
Holy Cross (Boston) Various V.2, 1810-1823
Holy Cross (Boston) Baptisms V.3, 1823-1830
Holy Cross (Boston) Baptisms V.4, 1831-1838
Holy Cross (Boston) Baptisms V.5, 1838-1844
Holy Cross (Boston) Baptisms V.6, 1844-1850
Holy Cross (Boston) Baptisms V.9, 1850-1853
Holy Cross (Boston) Baptisms V.10, 1853-1858
Holy Cross (Boston) Baptisms V.11, 1858-1868
Holy Cross (Boston) Baptisms V.12, 1868-1876
Holy Cross (Boston) Baptisms V.13, 1876-1888
Holy Cross (Boston) Baptisms V.14, 1889-1900
Holy Cross (Boston) Baptisms V.15, 1900-1900
Holy Cross (Boston) Marriages V.7, 1823-1844
Holy Cross (Boston) Marriages V.8, 1844-1856
Holy Cross (Boston) Marriages V.9, 1856-1876
Holy Cross (Boston) Marriages V.10, 1876-1897
Holy Cross (Boston) Marriages V.11, 1897-1900
Holy Cross Confirmations, 1864-1876
Holy Cross Confirmations, 1877-1895
Holy Cross Confirmations, 1895-1906

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 .

Read more »

Thank you to everyone who participated in Transcription Challenge last week.  We had over 150 responses!  This week we have 8 more mystery names to decipher and we would love your help!  Visit our Transcription Challenge page to offer a suggestion.

Here are the chosen transcriptions from last week’s challenge:

1. Kezia M. Ahern
2. Timothy O’Driscoll
3. Stephen Donovan
4. Lenor, Serah Donovan
5. Law., Lawrence Traynor
6. Annie O’Toole
7. James Keane
8. Mary Gabily, Cahill

Read more »

We have been making some updates to better standardize our database names and make them more convenient for your research. Highlights include:

• Location oriented databases – They are consistently prefixed. For the United States and Canada, they will start with the city and state or province code, followed by the description, and ended with the year range for that collection (when possible). For databases from other countries, they will start with the country name. Examples include:
  o Massachusetts: Jewish Cemeteries from American Jewish Historical Society, 1875-2012
  o New Castle, NH: Record Book, 1745-1937
  o Australia: Fortune Hunters, 1808-1857
• Census – National census start with the country name then year and description, and local censuses have the city and state or provide code followed by the year. Examples include:
  o Norway: Census, 1875
  o Massachusetts: 1855 State Census
  o Framingham, MA: Census of the East Ward, 1837
• Journals and Periodicals – These start with the name of the journal and periodical. If the database contains only extracted records and dates from the journal or periodical, a description and year range is included. Examples include:
  o Connecticut Nutmegger
  o Albany Argus: Records of Deaths and Marriages, 1826-1828
  o New Hampshire Gazette: Vital Records, 1756-1800

Of course, you can always browse the Database List A-Z to search the full range of databases if you don’t immediately find what you are looking for. And if you have bookmarked specific pages or saved search results in your trees – fear not, these references will be automatically redirected to use the new database names.

Read more »