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Episode 089-December 1, 2019
American genealogists begin their research here in the US, gathering all the clues they can that will lead them back to Quebec. That necessitates a dive into US Catholic church records. Even our Canadian listeners might have a branch or two of the family that either moved permanently to the states or who moved back and forth across the border for a while. Again, a dive into US Catholic church records is inevitable.
Certified genealogist Margaret Fortier is going to walk us through these valuable records and tell us where we can find them online.
US Catholic Church Records Online
Margaret and I discussed the following:
Records created by the Catholic church
Sacramental records of baptisms, marriages, and burials
Cemetery records
Institutional records (ex: orphanages and homes for the aged)
Diocesan and parish histories
Catholic newspapers
History
The Council of Trent (1545-1563) defined the seven sacraments and established rules for recording baptisms, marriages, confirmations, and burials. This included the rule that proof of baptism was required before entering into marriage. This became part of Canon Law.
Catholic records online
Catholic records online cover 13th- to 21st-century records in fifty countries on five continents. The majority are from the 1600s-1900s. Download Margaret’s handout here.
Online records
Americanancestors.org includes:
Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920
Massachusetts: (Image only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920
Boston, MA: St. Augustine Cemetery Records, 1819-1859
Argentina: Baptisms, 1645-1930
American Canadian Genealogical Society: Index of Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1840-2000 (This database contains records from twenty-one churches in New York State, twenty-one in New Hampshire, five in Massachusetts, and three in Vermont.)
Ancestry.com: Includes Massachusetts, Boston Archdiocese Roman Catholic Sacramental Records, 1789-1900; do a title and keyword search for “Catholic” and your location.
FamilySearch.org: Do a title, subject, and keyword search for “Catholic” and your location. Be sure to check off “Online.”
New York Genealogical and Biographical Society: Archdiocese of New York records (partial but nearing completion)
Find My Past: Archdiocese of New York records; also some Chicago, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Missouri, New York, Ohio, and Philadelphia church records
Cemetery records
Cemetery records are mostly put online through the Diocesan Catholic Cemetery Association (Google “Catholic Cemetery Association” and your location.)
Institutional records
Orphanages-usually sealed except for descendants
Homes for the aged or unwed mothers
School records
Colleges and universities
Fraternal organizations like Knights of Columbus
Most of these are not online except for some fraternal organizations. Find My Past is starting to explore some of these private collections.
Parish and diocesan histories
These are typically written in English. They often include lists of prominent members. They also can identify mother and daughter parishes. For online histories, check Margaret’s handout, archivegrid, or Google it.
Catholic newspapers
These newspapers are in English and published by the diocese. The Boston Pilot is the oldest Catholic newspaper in the US. In the 19th century, the Pilot covered New England and Irish news as well. Boston College provides access to the Pilot from 1838-1857 and 1858-1883. A Google search will point to other locations.
Ancestor Hunt has a list of Catholic newspapers online, including those from Quebec, Montreal, and Trois-Rivières. (See Historical U.S. and Canada Free Online Catholic Newspapers and Historical French American Newspapers Online.)
Sacramental records online
Problems
Typically written in Latin or French
Difficult handwriting. Digitizing records makes them more legible.
Clues
See Maple Stars and Stripes’s Dissecting a Baptism Record, Dissecting a Marriage Record, and Dissecting a Burial Record, as well as George Findlen’s episode on Canon Law.
Beginning In 1907, priests had to record marriages in the margin of that person’s baptism record. Sometimes burials are included.
In conjunction with burial records, be sure to get a copy of the cemetery’s lot record. Sometimes people buried in the plot are not found on the tombstone.
Guidelines
Check regularly for added and updated collections.
These church records are private. Act accordingly.
Ethnic groups sometimes attended national parishes. Use city directories to identify Catholic churches.
Do not contact a Catholic church the week before Easter or the week before Christmas.
Call or email before mailing a request.
Request a scan of the record instead of a transcription.
Make a small donation to the parish.
Contact Margaret Fortier
Margaret’s website
Board for Certification of Genealogists website
Association of Professional Genealogists website
NARA researchers list (scroll down)
Linked In profile
Email: mrf [at] ourchateau [dot] net
Announcements
Listener support
A big thanks goes out to Michael Fenn for his support of the podcast! Thank you, Michael.
Journal Rundown
The ACGS journal, the American-Canadian Genealogist (Issue #155, Vol. 45, number 2) includes the following articles:
What the Many Québec Archives Have to Tell Us translated by Larry Autotte
How the French Helped Win the American Revolution by Bob Zeller of the American Battlefields Trust
Etoile d’Acadie: Cape Breton Doucet Connection, Part I by Barbara LeBlanc
Check for journal swaps at your nearest French-Canadian library, or contact the ACGS for information on getting a copy.
French-Canadian News
The Franco-American Centre
December 13, 6-10 pm, at the Stark Brewing Company in downtown Manchester, NH: Soirée de Noel and Volunteer Appreciation night. Celebrate the holidays with French and English songs and carols. The public is welcome.
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How can I trace family that have served as priests or nuns?
To trace a family that served as priests or nuns, you have to determine what order they belonged to. For priests, they are either diocesan, which means you can contact the archives of the diocese where they served, or belong to an order, like the Franciscans or Jesuits. For the orders, there is usually a website with links to an archive. This is the same for nuns. you can also look for news articles which might give some clues.
Good luck!
My family emigrated to Burlington VT in 1837-1838. I cannot find birth or baptism records for their children born in VT, NH, or MA, but I am using only Ancestry database at this point. It is possible that some were born out of wedlock, but I don’t know. Any suggestions for where to go from here? Thank you!
Dianne-Can you give us more information? Names? Approximate dates of birth? Family structure? Have you found them in any of the US censuses? What is listed as place of birth on those? Are they consistent throughout the various censuses?