The Genealogy & Family History Social Network
Where'd they go? My People left Lithuania and went to Massachusetts
South Boston, Brockton, Cambridge....these were just some of the Lithuanian hotspots in Mass.
City Directories:
The 1925 Boston City Directory.
The Cambridge, MA "Blue Book" (Directory) for 1910.
The Mass. Election Dept. produced directories of residents for the various voting districts. These have been scanned by the Boston Public Library and put on www.archive.org. Roughly speaking, from 1930 onward, South Boston (East side) is ward 7 and South Boston (West side) is ward 6. However, before that, voting districts moved often. I'll be posting links to the directories here, focusing on South Boston addresses. If you click on the book image, you can search for your relatives in the upper right corner by typing in the first few letters of their surname.
1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950
Ward 6 (West side): 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935
1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950
1924: Ward 10
1910: Ward 13, Ward 15
Government Resources:
The Massachusetts State Archives 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125
Phone: (617) 727-2816
E-mail: archives@sec.state.ma.us
Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics
For birth, death certificates, etc.
Local Resources:
Brockton: The USGenWeb page for Brockton, including info on libraries, historical societies, cemeteries, etc.
Lithuanian Catholic Churches/Diocese Information:
The Archives of the Diocese of Boston might be helpful in finding some Catholic marriages and baptisms. Also, here is a list of the closed and merged parishes within the Boston Diocese.
The Diocese of Fall River.
The Diocese of Springfield.
The Diocese of Worcester.
There is no online resource for St. Augustine's Cemetery, South Boston, where I think many Boston area Lithuanians are buried. It's an old cemetery, pre-dating Lithuanian immigration. You'll have to contact the old-fashioned way: St. Augustine Cemetery
Established in 1818
225 Dorchester St, South Boston, MA 02127-2876
Phone: (617)269-9506
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Augustine_Chapel_and_Cemete...
Lithuanian Catholic Parishes:
St. Francis
105 Main Street
Athol, MA 01331
Phone: 978-249-2738
Fax: 978-249-0447
Email: ourladyrectory@hotmail.com
http://www.nqcatholic.org/Information.htm
St. Casimir, South Boston, MA. 1895-1908. Replaced by St. Peter's, founded 1904.
St. Peter's, founded 1904.
50 Orton-Marotta Way
South Boston, MA, 02127-2006
Phone: 617-268-0353
Fax: 617-268-2585
Email: klebonas@me.com
Email: Daiva, Church Secretary donavickas95@hotmail.com
http://www.stpeterlithparish.catholicweb.com/
St. Casimir, founded 1898. CLOSED?
21 Sawtell Avenue
Brockton, MA 02402
Phone: 508-586-2226
Fax: 508-559-2761
Article about history & closure
Records possibly at St. Michael's, 87 N. Main Street, Avon, MA 508-586-7210/fax: 508-586-7211
Immaculate Conception, founded 1910. CLOSED
432 Windsor Street
Cambridge, MA, 02141-1343
Records at:
Sacred Heart Parish Rectory
49 Sixth Street
Cambridge, MA 02141-1594
Phone: 617-547.0399
Fax: 617-441-8648
St. George, Haverhill, MA. Founded 1917. CLOSED
Records at:
All Saints Parish Rectory
120 Bellevue Ave., Haverhill, MA, 01832-4711
Phone: 978-372-7721
Fax: 978-372-2085
Email: sjshav@comcast.net
http://www.sjshav.com/
St. Francis of Assisi, founded 1903. CLOSED
94 Bradford Street
Lawrence, MA
Records at:
Holy Rosary/Corpus Christi Parish Rectory
35 Essex Street
Lawrence, MA 01840
Phone: 978-685-1711
Fax: 978-691-5927
pastor@corpuschristilawrence.org
http://www.corpuschristilawrence.org/
St. Joseph, Founded 1908. MERGED
151 Rogers Street
Lowell, MA, 01852
Records at:
Immaculate Conception
3 Fayette Street, Lowell, MA 01852-1234
Phone 978-458-1474
Fax 978-446-0790
EMail: Immconparish@aol.com
http://world.std.com/~icp/index.html
St. George, founded 1912. CLOSED>
36 St. George Avenue
Norwood, MA
Records at:
Saint Catherine of Siena Parish Rectory
547 Washington Street
Norwood, MA 02062-0547
Phone: 781-762-6080 (8:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m., weekdays and weekends / closed holidays)
Fax: 781-255-9312
Email: parish@stcatherinenorwood.org
http://www.stcatherinenorwood.org
St. Casimir's Church, Westfield, MA. CLOSED.
Records at:
St. Peter's
22 State Street
Westfield, MA 01085-3814
Our Lady of Vilna, Worcester. CLOSED.
St. Casimir, founded 1894. CLOSED 2009.
41 Providence Street
Worcester, MA
http://www.stcasimirworc.org/ --the website is still there with detailed history.
Records at:
St. John's
44 Temple Street
Worcester, MA
(508) 756-7165
Views: 6623
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Robert Michelson on
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My families all came to the Boston and Brockton areas to work in the Shoe factories.
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Permalink Reply by Richie C. on
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Yeah, here in New England, we made shoes! Robert, what was the last name? How far back have you gotten?
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Permalink Reply by Joan Bonner on
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My family went to the Westfield, MA area
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My Lithuanian family first settled in Hardwick, MA then moved to Gardner, MA to work in the furniture factories. I am wondering if the small town of Hardwick, MA might hold some info on them and/or others from Lithuania. I understand there were a number who went there to work in the woolen mills, etc.
I do have a photocopy of my great uncle's passport. That is the old document I am aware of in the family. His name was Juseff Gippolitov-Bankovskiy and it was dated 1907 He was discharged from the military over there on April 2, 1907 and left for the USA on April 11, 1907 on the Russian-American Line. Have tried many times to look into passengers' list on that line and cannot find him. I was told that he traveled with my great aunt, two guncles and my grandmother.
If anyone has any suggestions, I would be most grateful.
Thank you. Carol Davick Boynton -
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Carol,
I thought I'd replied to this...guess not. Getting old! What can you tell us (if anything) about Juseff's hyphenated name? Seems unusual to me. Regarding immigration, it seems that'd make searches difficult, and you already have to deal with a dozen spellings of Bankovsky, Bankowsky, Bankoffsky, etc....and also all the different 'nationalities' that have those names: Austrian, Russian, Hungarian (Magyar), etc. What was Juseff's birthday/year?
As for any records pertaining to his time in Hardwick, I think it's best you start with libraries and historical societies in the area. There are two libraries listed from the "Departments" tab on the town's homepage. I'd give them a call.
Another suggestion is to look for Juseff's Naturalization papers. If he came over in 1907, he probably got naturalized at a time when information provided on Naturalization papers was given in greater detail. You may find his hometown, birthplace, father's name. I'll post some links to the naturalization process, where and how to search, on the group's main page. -
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Richie,
Thank you for your response. Since this email, I have been able to find 1910, 1920, & 1930 Census records for my gfather in Worcester County, Massachusetts. Thank you to whomever listed the info on how to get onto HertigageQuest.com through a library. I now have a Maine State Library card and am able to use this program. It is limited to mostly census info.
Juseff Gippolitov-Bankovskiy was my guncle but he was the only one I had any paperwork on (copy of passport.) Was not successful going forward on him. Do not know why his name was hyphenated. I had his passport translated into English and perhaps the translator just added the hyphen.
I only have my gparents' names and locations but it was enough to searh HeritageQuest.com and discover them in the census records. Gfather's name was spelled differently on each census record.
1910 listed him as John Devackis, lodger at 37 Greenwood Place, Gardner, MA, 30 yrs, single, born in Russ. Lith, & immigrated in 1907 & alien.
1920 listed him as John Davikis, head, married living at 261 Main St., Gardner, MA, 40 yrs, alien with same other info. Gmother was first listed as Hellen Davikis, wife, 26 yrs, immigrated in 1914, alien with Russ Lith birthplace and three children: Anna, 8 yrs; Lida, 7 yrs; my father John, 4 yrs.
1930 census listed gfather as John Davack living at 194 Union St., Gardner, MA, wife Zelis (Gmother's maiden name), 48 yrs but under Naturalization was written Pa whatever that means? Gmother and children all listed as well. One discrepancy would be yr of immigration for both gparents being now listed as John, 1910 and Zelis, 1911.
My next step, I think, should be locating gfather's naturalization papers. Hopefully, if they exist, they will provide more info. Cannot seem to find anyone entering USA through Ellis Island but am going to keep trying.
Thank you for all of your help and support. Carol Davick Boynton -
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Carol,
On the census where it said 'Pa' under naturalizaton, that means your gfather had filed 'papers', but had not yet been naturalized. So yes, you're on the right track to be looking for his naturalization papers next.
And the name and date discrepancies are par for the course, in my experience.
-Rich C. -
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Permalink Reply by Katherine Parent on
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What are the implications if it says "AL" on the census? Does that mean they had not even filed papers yet? (Why would they wait more then 10 yrs to file papers though?)
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Katherine,
"Al' should mean 'alien' and that they had not filed papers yet. Some people waited a long time before they started the naturalization process. Some people filed their papers, but never got naturalized. I've seen some that did get naturalized, but then moved back to Lithuania anyway. I suppose there are as many reasons as there were immigrants.
-Rich C. -
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ok thanks...my g-grandparents must have indeed waited a long time...I have them on the census as aliens in 1930 when they came here in 1913/1914
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If we assume for the moment that your g-grandfather did get citizenship eventually, then it might work out better for you. Later naturalizations generally contained more information (birthplace, father's name, etc.). Also, you won't have to go to the local courthouse to find it, you can try the Mass. Archives or the National Archives (see group main page on Naturalizations).
But I guess that leaves the hanging question, was he ever naturalized at all? -
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There are 2 great sources that will help you do research in ma. #1--Ma. State Archives,Dorchester,Ma. across from the kennedy library. Free. The Bureau of Vital Statistics to the left of the Bayside building. First floor. LAst time I used it the fee was $9/hr. so best to have all your ducks lined up before going there.
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