Boston Public Library. Boston, Massachusetts -- Genealogy and Local History Sections

Boston Public Library

Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts

Main Reading Room

The Library, photo taken from Copley Square, in front of the Trinity Church. It was built in 1895, a modern addition was done in 1972, and another large addition is being constructed now (August 2015).

Large collection of genealogy books. See Genealogy and Family History Resources link HERE.

Facing the genealogy books, more to the left and right.

One of my often used genealogy book is the blue, Cemeteries of the United States. (Bottom shelf, middle book.) It has been in this spot for over 10 years.

Courtyard where you can just relax or eat a lunch. This is where genealogy friends, Thomas MacEntee, Heather Rojo and I had lunch last October.

Cafe, first floor, area used to be the Microtext area. You may bring your food to the couryard or out of the building.

Microtext Room where I met genealogist and facebook friend, Diane MacLean Boumenot yesterday.

Additional photos taken August 2015

On the left is scaffolding, not a piece of art. "The scaffolding, running 80 feet high, is required for access to repair plaster around skylights and to replace light fixtures in the ceiling." from the BPL web page.

 Tech Central (rather new, the last time I was in this room there were two desks and nothing else.

Note: Excellent post by Mass Moments about the Library. See: http://www.massmoments.org/index.cfm

Two Samuel Newells, The Wills and the Deaths

As I organized  and re-read some of my ancestor's wills the other day, I remembered my confusion about the death dates of a father and son many years ago. Both had the same name. It wasn't until I got home that I discovered the son died two years before the father. It was pure luck that I printed both wills out, only because I looked at all the names on the reel with the same first and last name. Never had time to read any wills at the library, it was always done later.


The copies I made were on 11" x 17" size paper, so I could read them, and were copied at the New England Historic Genealogical Society's library in Boston many years ago. My two Samuel Newells were both from Farmington, Hartford Co., Connecticut. One record dated 1751, the other 1753. They followed each other on the microfilm, Roll 93 Probate Records C69 Hartford District, 1641-1880 (Neuberth - Norris, G.).


Because of the size of the wills, I brought the wills to FedEx yesterday, where they were scanned to a flash drive.

Samuel Newell died 1751 (the son)

Samuel Newell died 1753 (the father)

Genealogy report of my Newell Line, as presented in a previous post.
Gravestone photos of very early Newell ancestors.

Sunday in the Park with the Family

My grandparents and mother in a NYC park, late fall, 1919.

Fellows -- Surname Saturday

There are two Fellows lines in my tree. The one below is my direct line, and I also have my male cousins Fellows line for 11 generations, to where it meets my first generation below. This line is from Massachusetts and Connecticut. My direct lines are bolded in green. Please write if you would like more information or sources.

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Generation No. 1

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1.	WILLIAM FELLOWS (NOBLE FELLOWS1) was born ABT 1610 in Foxton, Leicestershire Co., England, and died BET 29 NOV 1676 AND 21 DEC 1676 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts. He married MARY AYRES ABT 1637 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts, daughter of Mr. AYRES. She died AFT 29 NOV 1676.
	Children of WILLIAM FELLOWS and MARY AYRES were: + 2   i. Isaac FELLOWS was born ABT 1637, and died 6 APR 1721 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts. + 3   ii. EPHRAIM FELLOWS was born MAR 1641, and died AFT 1713 in Prob. Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut. 4   iii. Samuel FELLOWS was born ABT 1643, and died BET 14 APR 1712 AND 11 DEC 1713 in Rowley, Essex Co., Massachusetts. 5   iv. Mary FELLOWS was born ABT 1646. She married Josiah BROWNE 23 FEB 1667 in Reading, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. 6   v. Joseph FELLOWS was born ABT 1650, and died ABT 1693. He married Ruth FRAIL 19 APR 1675 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts. She died 1729. 7   vi. Elizabeth FELLOWS was born ABT 1653, and died AFT 29 NOV 1676. 8   vii. Abigail FELLOWS was born ABT 1655, and died AFT 1722. She married Samuel AYRES 16 APR 1677 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts. 9   viii. Sarah FELLOWS was born 26 JUL 1657 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts, and died AFT 3 FEB 1723.

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Generation No. 2

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2.	Isaac FELLOWS (WILLIAM FELLOWS2, NOBLE FELLOWS1) was born ABT 1637, and died 6 APR 1721 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts. He married Joanna BOREMAN 29 JAN 1672 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts, daughter of Thomas BOREMAN. She was born ABT 1646 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts, and died 20 MAR 1732 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts.
	Children of Isaac FELLOWS and Joanna BOREMAN were: 10   i. Isaac FELLOWS was born 27 NOV 1673 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts. + 11   ii. Samuel FELLOWS was born 8 FEB 1676 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts, and died 1707 in Hampton, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire.

3.	EPHRAIM FELLOWS (WILLIAM FELLOWS2, NOBLE FELLOWS1) was born MAR 1641, and died AFT 1713 in Prob. Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut. He married MARY BEF 1666 in Salisbury / Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut. She died 23 FEB 1671 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts. He married Anne CROSS BEF 1685 in Ipswich, MA / Plainfield, CT, daughter of Robert CROSS. She was born 1651, and died AFT 1710.
	Children of EPHRAIM FELLOWS and MARY were: 12   i. William FELLOWS was born 1666 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts, and died 12 APR 1737 in Prob. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He married Elizabeth RUST 7 DEC 1693 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts. + 13   ii. JOHN FELLOWS was born ABT 1668 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts, and died 20 OCT 1748 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut. 14   iii. Mary FELLOWS was born FEB 1671 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts. She married Nathaniel HOVEY ABT 1693 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts. He died 1696. She married John BROWN AFT 31 MAR 1696 in Newbury / Salisbury, Essex Co., Massachusetts. He was born 1678. Children of EPHRAIM FELLOWS and Anne CROSS are: 15   i. Elizabeth FELLOWS was born 14 SEP 1685. 16   ii. Anna FELLOWS was born 26 FEB 1693.

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Generation No. 3

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11.	Samuel FELLOWS (Isaac FELLOWS3, WILLIAM FELLOWS2, NOBLE FELLOWS1) was born 8 FEB 1676 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts, and died 1707 in Hampton, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire. He married Deborah SANBORN 15 NOV 1698 in Hampton, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire. She was born 1681, and died 1725 in Hampton Falls, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire.
	Child of Samuel FELLOWS and Deborah SANBORN was: + 17   i. Isaac FELLOWS was born 20 JAN 1700 in Hampton, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire, and died 1773 in Exeter, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire.

13.	JOHN FELLOWS (EPHRAIM FELLOWS3, WILLIAM FELLOWS2, NOBLE FELLOWS1) was born ABT 1668 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts, and died 20 OCT 1748 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut. He was buried in Old Plainfield Cemetery, Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut. He married RACHEL VARNEY 14 OCT 1692 in Chebacco (Ipswich), Essex Co., Massachusetts, daughter of THOMAS VARNEY and ABIGAIL PROCTOR. She was born ABT 1676 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts, and died BEF 1731 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut.
	Children of JOHN FELLOWS and RACHEL VARNEY were: 18   i. Varney FELLOWS was born 25 MAR 1694 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut. 19   ii. Nathan FELLOWS was born SEP 1696, and died 24 SEP 1732 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut. He married Priscilla WARREN 29 JAN 1730 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut. 20   iii. Issac FELLOWS was born 1 SEP 1696 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut, and died 26 AUG 1755 in Tolland, Tolland Co., Connecticut. He married Abigail HUTCHENS 9 NOV 1721 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut. 21   iv. Rachel FELLOWS was born 22 OCT 1698 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut. She married Wait HERRICK 26 JUN 1741. 22   v. Abigail FELLOWS was born 13 MAY 1701 in Windsor, Hartford Co., Connecticut. She married Samuel HALL 4 JAN 1720. + 23   vi. JOHN FELLOWS was born 3 MAR 1704 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut, and died AFT 30 AUG 1757 in Sheffield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. 24   vii. Anne FELLOWS was born 1710. 25   viii. Mary FELLOWS was born 1712.

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Generation No. 4

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17.	Isaac FELLOWS (Samuel FELLOWS4, Isaac FELLOWS3, WILLIAM FELLOWS2, NOBLE FELLOWS1) was born 20 JAN 1700 in Hampton, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire, and died 1773 in Exeter, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire. He married Abigail SLEEPER, daughter of Aron SLEEPER and Elizabeth w\o Aron SLEEPER. She was born 17 APR 1700 in Hampton, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire, and died 9 NOV 1779.
	Child of Isaac FELLOWS and Abigail SLEEPER is: + 26   i. Samuel FELLOWS was born 22 OCT 1722 in Hampton, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire, and died APR 1805 in Hampton, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire.

23.	JOHN FELLOWS (JOHN FELLOWS4, EPHRAIM FELLOWS3, WILLIAM FELLOWS2, NOBLE FELLOWS1) was born 3 MAR 1704 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut, and died AFT 30 AUG 1757 in Sheffield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. He married JERUSHA DOUGLAS 22 OCT 1728 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut, daughter of WILLIAM DOUGLAS and SARAH PROCTOR. She was born 26 APR 1706 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut, and died in Sheffield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts.
	Children of JOHN FELLOWS and JERUSHA DOUGLAS are: 27   i. William FELLOWS. 28   ii. Ezra FELLOWS was born 9 APR 1730 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut. + 29   iii. RACHEL FELLOWS was born 31 JAN 1733 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut, and died in (Prob.) Egremont, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. 30   iv. Sarah FELLOWS was born 28 SEP 1733 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut. 31   v. John FELLOWS was born 7 JUL 1735 in Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut, and died 1 AUG 1808 in Sheffield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts.

One Little Delete

With 41,121 people in my family tree, I have a lot of source citations from the 99 repositories I've used. Thanks to RootsMagic4, they provided these statistics, but right now my source citations have been deleted by 703, all because of one little delete. Am I obsessed with having as many sources as possible, or do I just have too much free time? 


How could this happen with a source I should have known. Ever hear of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS)? Well, they have a library, a quarterly publication, bound yearly, called The Register (NEHGR) and a quarterly magazine called, "American Ancestors." As a member, you receive both publications. I use these frequently because of all my New England ancestors.


From day one, I used "NEHG Register" as my source, and I'm not sure why, but now realizing it needed to be corrected to "NEHGR," this was the day I decided to change the wrong to a right. My RootsWeb tree also had the wrong source name, and that's not all, each of the 703 NEHGR sources had the same incorrect footnote text (see below).


Below is my first printed page, and under NEHG Register, you'll see the text in the footnote, which appeared on all those 703 individual files. What am I going to do about it, nothing since there is no way possible I can redo each file. How did it happen? I wasn't paying 100% attention and thought the delete would apply to one file only, not all of them, all individual notations were lost. So, I learned a lesson, and I hope people who use other's trees with sources will learn that not all online trees are correct!

This was entered for all 703 individuals.

Now, I'm going to think about this instead.

40 Nationalities of Lowell, Massachusetts

 Polish monument in front of City Hall, the Greek and Irish monuments are to the side of City Hall.

The Polish, Greeks, Irish, Portuguese, Cambodians, Indians, Canadian and French Canadians all settled or are now settling in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Follow-up for September 16, 2015:
Since I first posted the above in June 2012, I have seen quite a few more memorials, and will post them soon. In the meantime, I want to share a piece about 40 nationalities in Lowell, and I took it this weekend, shown below.

 This place card is located on the Northern Canal, near the Wannalancit Mills.

 From Forty Nations
"Lowell's residents have emigrated from all around the world. Soon after the city's factories began operations, mill agents looked beyond Yankee farms and villages for workers and increasingly hired new immigrants.

Beginning with the Irish before the Civil War, Immigrants arrived in waves, often settling into ethnic enclaves. So many French Canadians settled here during the second half of the 19th century that this section of the city become known as Little Canada.

A 1912 map identified Little Canada as well as Greek, Polish, Portuguese, and Jewish neighborhoods. School records from this era listed children from forty nations.

In the late 20th century, Latinos, southeast Asians, Africans, Brazilians and others settled in Lowell's old neighborhoods and introduced new customs to the city."

Canadian workers, 1900   Chinese immigrant, 1890s    Portuguese worker, 1910    Syrian couple, 1917    Vietnamese woman, 1980s         Russian Jewish couple, 1910

City Hall is located on the far left.

Historical Society -- Boothbay, Maine

Boothbay Region Historical Society, Maine

Over the past two years, I've taken a lot of Historical Society photos. Sometimes I couldn't remember if I had, because I also do a series on Libraries with genealogy collections. Below, is a running list of all the societies with appropriate links. (The list will be applied to each new Historical Society photo I post.)

CONNECTICUT

Wethersfield, Connecticut
Windsor, Connecticut

MAINE

Boothbay, Maine

Brunswick, Maine

Wells and Ogunquit, Maine

MASSACHUSETTS

Acton, Massachusetts

Andover, Massachusetts

Billerica, Massachusetts

Bolton, Massachusetts

W. Boylston, Massachusetts

Carlisle, Massachusetts

Chelmsford, Massachusetts

Cohasset, Massachusetts

Dracut, Massachusetts

Groton, Massachusetts

Harvard, Massachusetts

Lexington, Massachusetts

Nahant, Massachusetts

No. Andover, Massachusetts

Townsend, Massachusetts

Westford, Massachusetts

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Ashland, New Hampshire
Cheshire, New Hampshire
Exeter, New Hampshire
Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire
Londonderry, New Hampshire
Nashua, New Hampshire
New Castle, New Hampshire
New Ipswich, New Hampshire
Rindge, New Hampshire


RHODE ISLAND
Newport


CANADA
Quebec
Missisquoi County Historical Society

Boston from the Top of the Prudential Building

The Prudential Center

800 Boylston Street 
Boston, MA 02199

Website: http://www.prudentialcenter.com/shop_detail.html?id=64

The Skywalk Observatory is Boston's only sky-high vantage point for sweeping 360 degree views of Greater Boston and beyond. I went here after a library visit on June 15, 2012. Although alone, I really enjoyed the view on the semi-hazy  day.

Red Sox display.

Fenway Park above.

There were numerous flower boxes throughout the building. Nothing could be nicer than pink orchids.