CENTER FOR LOWELL HISTORY – UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL LIBRARIES

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BOSTON AND MAINE RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTION
     The Boston and Maine Railroad Collection housed at the Center for Lowell History is not the official archive of the B&M Railroad, but rather materials gathered by the B&M Railroad Historical Society, a group of very dedicated enthusiast.  The historical society has acquired scattered B&M Railroad Employee Lists 1874-1939.  In response to frequent genealogy and family history requests for information regarding Boston and Maine Railroad employees, the Center for Lowell History created a merged index of all the B&M Railroad Employee Lists (about 6,000 names).  Please Note: there are no additional employee lists or employee information available.
   
  
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY - OBITUARY DATABASE
     The Boston Public Library has developed a Obituary Database with full-length obituaries 
that appeared in the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald.  Currently, this database includes obituaries published in these newspapers between 1971-1974 and 1983-2002.
  
  
CEMETERY PROJECTS
     Over the years, there have been a number of projects documenting the gravestones in the Lowell cemeteries.  In the 1970s, the Lowell Historical Society funded the Lowell State College History Club in making Gravestone Rubbings of the slate stones.  In 1904 P. Hildreth Parker copied epitaphs from the Hildreth Burying Ground (Hildreth Street); Old Burying Ground (Varnum Avenue); Pawtucket (Mammoth Road); Woodbine (West Meadow Road).  The Swain Family have documented many other Northern Middlesex County Cemeteries.  Also visit local cemeteries websites: Lowell Cemetery,  Saint Patrick’s Cemetery  and Saint Mary’s Cemetery.
  
CITY ATLASES AND MAPS: BOSTON
      Atlases show lots, buildings and property owners and are available for 1874, 1898, and 1928.
 
 
CITY ATLASES AND MAPS: LOWELL
     Atlases show lots, buildings and property owners and are available for 1879, 1882, 1892, 1896, 1906, 1924, 1936, and 1977.  There are additional Lowell Maps showing some buildings, wards, and streets for 1821, 1825, 1832, 1845, 1850, 1866, 1878, 1888, 2004, 2007Lowell: Geographic Information System.
 
 
CITY DIRECTORIES: BOSTON
     Tufts University developed a database of Boston City Directories including 1845, 1855, 1865, 1870,1872,1872,1875,1885,1905, and 1925.
 
 
CITY DIRECTORIES: BOSTON, MA
     Distantcousin.com scanned 1800 and 1860 Boston City Directories and 1904 Boston 
Business Directory.  Note that in a business directory not everyone who was living in the city 
in 1904 is listed.
   
  
CITY DIRECTORIES: LOWELL
     Lowell Directories are available from 1832 to 1990.  They include: Resident Directory arranged by name, listing work address, occupation, and home address; Business Directory arranged by product; and Advertisements.  In 1836 they had a Female Supplement City Directory. After 1881, dates of death are noted.  Beginning in 1883, most directories contain a ward and street map.  Beginning in 1917, wives' names are listed and there is a section arranged by street address. 
 
 
CITY DIRECTORIES: NEW ENGLAND
     City Directories of major textile cities and towns in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts are available on microfiche.
 
 
DRACUT - VITAL RECORDS  1908-1970
     Volunteers are working on Dracut, MA Vital Records.
 
FRANCO AMERICAN ORPHANAGE AND SCHOOL RECORDS
     In 2006, the University of Massachusetts of Lowell, Center for Lowell History in partnership with the Lowell National Historical Park and the Franco American School developed the Franco American Orphanage Project. The goal of this project was to preserve and make available to the public Franco American Orphanage and School Records from 1908-1972.  For additional information see the Timeline of Orphanages in Massachusetts and the United States. 
 
 
LOWELL’S CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS AND SAILORS
     A small group of volunteers have transcribed the 4 volumes that contain the 3,525 names of the Soldiers and Sailors mustered from Lowell that served in the Civil War (1861-1865). Many of these men were from Lowell and the surrounding towns. They are listed alphabetically.
 
 
LOWELL CORPORATION HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
     The following is an index of the Lowell Corporation Hospital, Patient Register, 1840-1887.  The register contains about 4,250 records.  Most of the patients are women who work for one of the major Lowell textile companies. They come from all over New England, as well as Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, and other parts of the United States. 
 
 
LOWELL HIGH SCHOOL CLASS RECORDS: 1928-1939
     List of Lowell High School Students from 1928-1939 in Latin and College English Classes taught by Mary Louise Martin (1888-1964).  Mary Louise Martin grew up in Lowell, her father owned a grocery store on Gorham Street.  Mary gradated from Smith College in 1910 and taught at Lowell High School until 1956.  Prepared by Kevin Martin.
 
LOWELL INSTITUTE FOR SAVINGS BANK COLLECTION
     Lowell Institute for Savings 1829-1992 was one of the earliest savings banks established in the United States.  When the LIFS was closed by federal authorities, hundreds of ledgers and files were were donated to the University.  Including Lists of Depositors; bank records, directors' minutes, and correspondence. 
 
  
LOWELL - VITAL RECORDS ENDING IN 1849
     Thanks to Libby Ziegenfuss, and Janine Whitcomb for transcribing the Lowell Vital Records (Birth, Marriage, Death) Ending in 1849. Although this project is not yet completed, we are grateful for their efforts to make genealogical resources on Essex and Middlesex Counties available on the web.
 
 
LOWELL - VITAL RECORDS 1865-1970
     As part of an ongoing effort to document the City's History, a small but determined group of volunteers in conjunction with the Center for Lowell History staff are gathering Lowell Vital Records (Birth, Marriage, Death) from local newspapers.  The indexes are far from complete but new information is added frequently. 
 
 
LOWELL - WARD MAP 1850-1870
     A scanned map of Lowell, Massachusetts showing the wards from 1850 - 1870.
 
 
MASSACHUSETTS - COUNTIES AND TOWNS
     An alphabetical list of Massachusetts' Towns arranged by County.
 
 
MASSACHUSETTS - POPULATION CENSUS
     The Commonwealth of Massachusetts conducts a Population Census every ten years.  This State Census is available on microfilm for 1855 and 1865.  Additional State Census information is available in manuscript form in the State Archives at Columbia Point, Boston.
 
 
MASSACHUSETTS - VITAL RECORDS 1600s-1850
     Available for most Massachusetts towns and cities including Lowell, these published volumes contains Birth, Marriage, and Death Records compiled from local records, cemetery records and church records.  They are arranged alphabetically. 
 
 
MASSACHUSETTS - VITAL RECORDS 1841-1910
     Massachusetts State Archives indexed and microfilmed Vital Records 1841-1910 [Birth, Marriage, and Death], which provide basic information, including name, residence, nationality, and parents.  At the Center for Lowell History these records are available on microfilm and online through a subscription to New England Historical and Genealogical Society. 

Copies of Vital Records 1841-1910 are also available on request through the Massachusetts Archives: 
Using the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s website , located a Massachusetts Vital Record and then send a written request with the correct information and $.50 cents per record to the Massachusetts Archives address below.  Allow 6 weeks for delivery. 

Massachusetts Archives
Attn: Reference Desk
220 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA  02125
 
 
MASSACHUSETTS - WORLD WAR I DRAFT CARDS
     Young men at the age of 18 were required to register for the United States Selective Service.  The State microfilmed these records from 1917-1919.  They are arranged by Local Draft Board # (3 Boards in Lowell) and then alphabetically by name.  Information includes age, eye color, hair color, service, and nearest relative. 
 
 
MERRIMACK MANUFACTURING COMPANY: 
ACCIDENT REPORTS 1890-1899
     In 1823, the Merrimack Manufacturing Company was the first textile company established in East Chelmsford [now Lowell] to produce cloth. Very few of their company records have survived, but the Lowell National Historical Park has one volume of accident reports 1890-1899, recorded for insurance purposes. The staff at the Center for Lowell History has created an index of these reports and is making it available to the public. This file is arranged alphabetically.
 
 
TEWKSBURY ALMSHOUSE
     Tewksbury, MA   A comprehensive index of the inmate case histories of the Tewksbury State Almshouse for the period covering October 1860 through January 1896 compiled from microfilm available at the Center for Lowell History. These case histories may contain such information as the inmate's age, birthplace, information on parents or other family members, date of arrival in this country, places they have resided, occupation and reason for admittance.
     In 1852, the Tewksbury Almshouse became one of three State facilities responsible for caring for the rapidly growing number of paupers, who were part of the unprecedented influx of new immigrants into Massachusetts. The Tewksbury Historical Society has created an online archive of reports and primary documents about the History of the Tewksbury Hospital.
     In 1883, the newly-elected governor of Massachusetts, Benjamin F. Butler of Lowell, initiated an investigation of charges against the Tewksbury Almshouse. The Tewksbury Historical Society has created an online Archive of Newspaper Articles published in the Lowell Sun regarding this investigation.
 
TEWKSBURY HOSPITAL RECORDS
     This website includes several sections: Patient Biographies submitted by family members to honor and remember their loved ones who died at Tewksbury Hospital. Some of these patients will not be found in the online databases of death records due to the time frame in which they died. Photo Gallery features images of the headstones and memorials in the Pine Cemetery, as well as the buildings and grounds of Tewksbury Hospital. Death Records transcribed from vital records reporting deaths at the Tewksbury Hospital to the State of Massachusetts. These records are presented in two separate databases – alphabetically by last name and chronologically by date of death. You may contact Massachusetts State Archives in Boston to obtain copies of any of these death records.
   
  
US - POPULATION CENSUS
     The Center for Lowell History has available for onsite researchers Ancestry.com.  This fee base website provides a wide variety of genealogical resources including the US Population Census from 1790-1930 (1890 was destroyed). In the US Population Census from 1790-1840, only the Heads of Households are listed.  In the US Population Census from 1850-1930 each member of the household is listed. The 1880 US Census is available for free. US - Census Summaries 1790 - 2000.
 
 
US - POPULATION CENSUS NAME INDEX
     There are published Massachusetts name indexes for 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, and 1850, with reference to county, town/city, and microfilm page number.  The Massachusetts 1860 name index is on CD.  There are several additional Genealogy CDs available at the front desk. 
 
 
US - POPULATION CENSUS STREET GUIDES
     Street Guides for the 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 US Population Census, are arranged alphabetically by street name with reference to enumeration district number and microfilm page number.  Used in conjunction with the City Directories, these Street Guides quickly limit a Census search.  This series includes: Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Lawrence, Lowell, Methuen, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, and Westford, Massachusetts . To find big city Ed # for 1930 Census. Also the NARA 1930 website.
 
 
US - SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH BENEFITS RECORDS
     President Franklin Roosevelt established the US Social Security Office in 1937.  These records list those who have died and provided Social Security Benefits from 1937 through December 1993.  They are arranged alphabetically by name, with reference to social security #, date of birth, date of death, and state.  A more complete version of these records can also be found on the Web.
 
 
US - UNION VETERANS AND WIDOWS OF VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR
     The 1890 manuscript records of US Union Civil War Veterans lists surviving soldiers, sailors, and marines, as well as, widows of soldiers, sailors, and marines.  The Center developed a name index to this series as a substitute for the 1890 US Population Census that was destroyed many years ago.

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