The Boston Transcript newspaper (or Boston Evening Transcript) is sometimes cited as a source of genealogical information about New England families. For a long time, I wondered about that. Eventually I noted some entries I wanted to see, and accessed it on microfilm at the Boston Public Library and more recently, online.
The Boston Transcript
The Boston Transcript was a Boston, Massachusetts newspaper that regularly carried a page of genealogical questions and answers. That feature ran for several decades in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s.
It is indexed in the books of the AGBI (American Genealogical and Biographical Index) published by the Godfrey Memorial Library (Middletown, Connecticut) and carried in many libraries that have significant genealogical holdings. The AGBI, and therefore the Boston Transcript genealogy column, is also found on Ancestry.com, as an index only.
Here is what the top of the Genealogy page looks like:
The Genealogical section usually takes up one page, or less.
A sample entry:
This is a simple Question entry – note that it has a number
This is an Answer entry:
This sample Answer I pulled out relates to a family that moved from Martha’s Vinyard to Lebanon, Conn. – just like my Martins
A sample Notes entry:
These notes relate to Gashet/Pitts/Godfrey – I believe these families fall in the early part of my Baldwin tree
Genealogists from around the country could subscribe to just the Monday and Wednesday papers if they chose.
You Can Access the Boston Transcript for Free
Many issues from the period 1873-1915 of the Boston Transcript are available on Google News Archives.
Honestly, this looks so intriguing. Some of the entries were very long and informative. While the shorter queries and answers were not footnoted (by a long shot), sources were sometimes mentioned (such as “I saw in the Sudbury birth records …” or “Savage says …”). In the longer pieces, genealogical journals are often cited and longer quotes are sometimes given from wills and deeds. The longer Notes are often more like conversations among experts.
The 1905 Facebook? Blog? RSS Feed?
In many ways, the whole experience reminds me of the random connections one can make while blogging or otherwise communing on the internet. You never know what you will find, and if you can see a source, that can be a great clue. And even if it’s not your family, it can be fun to see what everyone else is doing. I think the experience of perusing it on Monday and Wednesday evenings must have been very similar to pulling up an RSS feed or a social networking page. Something to look forward to.
Just by randomly opening a few pages while writing this post, I stumbled upon some items of interest to me (above) and an article (below) about my ancestor Brotherton Martin, son of Thomas. I had already traced his unusual migration from Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., to Lebanon, Conn., to Horton, Kings, Nova Scotia in the 1700’s. But the article in the “Notes” section is a conversational speculation about the Martin family from someone who was clearly an expert. I had never noticed this article coming up in an Ancestry.com search; to see it, one must either link directly to the AGBI Index on Ancestry.com, or do a general search there and choose “Stories, Memories and Histories” and then “Family Histories, Journals, and Biographies”.
Martin Family article, signed “B.A.”, May 1, 1905, page 12
Martin Note, part 2
Martin Note, part 3
The Note is by “B.A.” – that doesn’t seem likely to be the Martha’s Vineyard historian, Charles Edward Banks – but maybe it is.
How to find issues NOT on Google News
If you are anxious to get an entry that you’ve seen in the AGBI, but can’t find on Google News, the Godfrey Memorial Library accepts orders for Boston Transcript Genealogical column entries. They can be ordered for $10 each, use the form from this web page at the Godfrey Library website. If there are other sources, I will be happy to list them here in the future.
To see libraries that have holdings for the Boston Transcript (sometimes called Boston Evening Transcript) see this Chronicling American link:
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84023792/
and go to the bottom of that screen to click “View complete holdings.” A list will come up of various libraries that have the newspaper on microfilm.
Update
FamilySearch.org has placed some of the columns online, freely available, 1911-1940. Access them here. The earlier entries in that set are for normal marriage and death Notices found in the rest of the newspaper pages; not the genealogy column. Thanks to reader Mary for alerting me to this!
What’s Next
Now that I know how to access the Boston Transcript from home, I’m going to use it more.
The post you are reading is located at: http://wp.me/p1JmJS-AS
Thanks for your post! I’ve been enjoying the transcript column for some time now and have seen a number of my MA/RI/CT ancestors mentioned there.
Q: Aside from the AGBI index for raw searches, has anyone ever attempted to collate the scattered questions and answers together in a tidy, numerical-order resource? That task should be doable (but probably labor-intensive).
Mike, I ask myself that question all the time! The AGBI has indexed them and I suppose one could search at the Godfrey Library site, narrowing the search to AGBI. Possibly that would require a membership, I’m not sure.
But I totally agree, why hasn’t some group done a great job of rearranging this resource into a much more usable format? I have thought about it for many years. A great project there for the taking.
The Boston Evening Transcript can also be found on FamilySearch.org for free at this link: https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/11/boston-transcript-online/
Scroll down to find the issue with the dates you need, then click on the camera icon to the right to access the digital images.
I tested it today and it is freely accessible with no restrictions. FamilySearch volunteers helped the NEHGS digitize their collection of the Transcript, so it makes sense the records would be on FamilySearch (see this article: https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/11/boston-transcript-online/).
Thanks for the great article describing the records, I have found it very helpful!
Hi Mary. Thank you so much for your note. I think you may have accidentally copied the same link twice – is there a link to these papers on Familysearch.org? I don’t see it online. Let us know. many thanks Diane
OK, I’m seeing what’s there now. I’ll make a note on the post. The collection online seems to be 1911-1940 at this point. The earlier entries are actually just Marriage & Death notices from the regular newspaper; not the genealogy column. Thanks again Mary.
I have tried the following suggested link, https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/11/boston-transcript-online/
Yet when I go to the pages I am asked to join before I can see the page I want to see (Nov 3, 1921 – 4745). Am I missing something and doing it wrong?
Hi. I doubt that NEHGS will offer this content for free. But FamilySearch.org has that year available for free. Go back into the blog post and you will see that link near the bottom. — Diane
Hi! I’m so interested in accessing the Boston Transcripts, Volume 65, Page 421. Is there any way you could assist me? Any help would be so appreciated!
Thanks,
Sally
Hi Sally. Everything I know on this is in the post. I hope it helps you.
Most of the George Martin info is word for word the same as in Banks’ “History of Martha’s Vineyard” 2:127-9.
Thanks so much David. I was wondering if it was Banks. Just goes to show you the kind of notes that were sent in for that column.
Thanks for bringing up the BOSTON TRANSCRIPT queries . Didn’t the YANKEE magazine also used to have GENEALOGICAL QUERY ads in the back pages ? Family History Swaps ?? I wondered if all the names in those old YANKEE magazines were ever indexed ??
Thanks Heather and Magda. Magda, I have to say, that Yankee Magazine feature is something I’m not familiar with. If anyone out there knows of an index, please let us know.
From the Yankee web site: “YANKEE’s Swopper’s Column first appeared in the magazine in 1935 and remains today as a feature on our Web site. In addition to our general swops search we also offer searches specific to family reunions and genealogy. Search our listings by selecting a category and/or enter a keyword. Or, post your own listing.”
[http://www.yankeemagazine.com/genies/index.php] READERS NOTE – this link no longer works.
Thanks, Robin. Your blog –
http://genealogyink.com/
– looks very interesting! –Diane
Thanks for this! I used the original old papers at NEHGS, too, for many, many years. I thought I had exhausted all the good information in them, but I just found another name from my tree in the link you gave above. Goes to show how electronic searches can be a real advantage!
This is great news. I went to NEHGS to read the Transcript before– they have the original papers and they are fragile but readable.
thanks for sharing
Great post! Seems like I need to get reading the Boston Transcript too. Thanks for finding it in the Google Archives!