Good afternoon, everyone. :-) For those of you who don't know me, I'm the county coordinator for Essex and Middlesex counties. Over the past several years, with the aid of many people, I've been working on getting the "Tan Book" series of vital records transcribed and online. I have always said that I would consider the job done if I got them done or I could get one of the pay sites to make theirs firee. The latter is soon to come to pass. I had a talk with the New England Historical and Genealogical Society (NEHGS). We have come to preliminary agreement. NEHGS is going to convert their database of the early vital records of Massachusetts from 1600-1849 to the format that I have been putting online. (For those unfamiliar with these, visit http://www.rootsweb.com/~maessex/VitalRecords.) These will be made entirely free to everyone. These will be indexed by both exact name and soundex. Indexing should still include year, or range of years. Hopefully, the indexing will go even further over time. Also, images of the book pages will be available. This is all still in the early planning stages. For instance, who is going to do the actual conversions - my transcribers and me or NEHGS? They have about 164 towns already done. When those are converted, it will still be necessary to transcribe the remainder, about 50 or so towns. The first steps are being made. NEHGS has begun scanning. They have already sent me all 3 volumes of the Gloucester vital records and they are online. This is in addition to what I already had up. It will depend on their volunteers and their other needs as to how fast they can scan the rest and send them to me. I think that this is going to be one of the biggest boons to those with New England roots in a very long time. Thank you. John Slaughter In loving memory of our son, Brennan. 11/10/88-5/31/01. http://john-slaughter.rootsweb.com/Brennan.html MA-Bay-Colony list moderator USGenWeb County Coordinator Essex County, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~maessex Middlesex County, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~mamiddle USGenWeb Town Coordinator Ipswich, Essex, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~macipswi _________________________________________________________________ Don’t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/

Hi John, Thank you for all the work you are doing ! I've been reading different discussions about "the Tan Books" on the MA Lists for 6 months or so, but, just now, after reading your definition on the web site, realized that you were talking about the "Vital Records.." books for each town .. which are kept in the Local History Rooms in both the Billerica and Chelmsford Libraries ! I'm sorry I can't volunteer to do any work ! But, I wanted to mention that in both the Billerica and Chelmsford Libraries the cost of copying is 15 cents each page ! And, considering the size of what I call "the Vital Records books," it would be costly to copy them at the Library ! And, they are "reference books" so cannot be borrowed ! I would imagine that most Libraries in Greater Boston have a Local History Room where at least a small collection of the "Vital Records books" can be found ! I'm curious which cities have the largest collection ! I was at the Cambridge Public Library a couple years ago, and I seem to remember they had a large collection in their "Local History Room" on one of the top floors ! Betty (near Lowell, MA) ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Slaughter" <maessexgenweb@hotmail.com> To: <MAMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2006 8:03 PM Subject: Early Vital Records of Massachusetts > Good afternoon, everyone. :-) > For those of you who don't know me, I'm the county coordinator for Essex > and Middlesex counties. Over the past several years, with the aid of many > people, I've been working on getting the "Tan Book" series of vital > records transcribed and online. I have always said that I would consider > the job done if I got them done or I could get one of the pay sites to > make theirs firee. > > The latter is soon to come to pass. > > I had a talk with the New England Historical and Genealogical Society > (NEHGS). We have come to preliminary agreement. > > NEHGS is going to convert their database of the early vital records of > Massachusetts from 1600-1849 to the format that I have been putting > online. (For those unfamiliar with these, visit > http://www.rootsweb.com/~maessex/VitalRecords.) These will be made > entirely free to everyone. These will be indexed by both exact name and > soundex. Indexing should still include year, or range of years. Hopefully, > the indexing will go even further over time. Also, images of the book > pages will be available. > > This is all still in the early planning stages. For instance, who is > going to do the actual conversions - my transcribers and me or NEHGS? They > have about 164 towns already done. When those are converted, it will still > be necessary to transcribe the remainder, about 50 or so towns. > > The first steps are being made. NEHGS has begun scanning. They have > already sent me all 3 volumes of the Gloucester vital records and they are > online. This is in addition to what I already had up. It will depend on > their volunteers and their other needs as to how fast they can scan the > rest and send them to me. > > I think that this is going to be one of the biggest boons to those with > New England roots in a very long time. > > Thank you. > > > > John Slaughter > In loving memory of our son, Brennan. 11/10/88-5/31/01. > http://john-slaughter.rootsweb.com/Brennan.html > > MA-Bay-Colony list moderator > USGenWeb County Coordinator > Essex County, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~maessex > Middlesex County, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~mamiddle > USGenWeb Town Coordinator Ipswich, Essex, MA - > http://www.rootsweb.com/~macipswi > > _________________________________________________________________ > Don't just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! > http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ > > ______________________________

The NH Historical Society Library and The NH State Library both have quite a collection of the "Tan Books".... RHT in NH ----- Original Message ----- From: "Betty" <bbffrrpp@comcast.net> To: <MAMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, March 12, 2006 12:29 PM Subject: [MAMiddle] Re: Early Vital Records of Massachusetts > Hi John, > > Thank you for all the work you are doing ! > > I've been reading different discussions about "the Tan Books" on the MA > Lists for 6 months or so, but, just now, after reading your definition on > the web site, realized that you were talking about the "Vital Records.." > books for each town .. which are kept in the Local History Rooms in both the > Billerica and Chelmsford Libraries ! > > I'm sorry I can't volunteer to do any work ! But, I wanted to mention > that in both the Billerica and Chelmsford Libraries the cost of copying is > 15 cents each page ! And, considering the size of what I call "the Vital > Records books," it would be costly to copy them at the Library ! > > And, they are "reference books" so cannot be borrowed ! > > I would imagine that most Libraries in Greater Boston have a Local History > Room where at least a small collection of the "Vital Records books" can be > found ! I'm curious which cities have the largest collection ! I > was at the Cambridge Public Library a couple years ago, and I seem to > remember they had a large collection in their "Local History Room" on one of > the top floors ! > > Betty (near Lowell, MA) > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "John Slaughter" <maessexgenweb@hotmail.com> > To: <MAMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2006 8:03 PM > Subject: Early Vital Records of Massachusetts > > > > Good afternoon, everyone. :-) > > For those of you who don't know me, I'm the county coordinator for Essex > > and Middlesex counties. Over the past several years, with the aid of many > > people, I've been working on getting the "Tan Book" series of vital > > records transcribed and online. I have always said that I would consider > > the job done if I got them done or I could get one of the pay sites to > > make theirs firee. > > > > The latter is soon to come to pass. > > > > I had a talk with the New England Historical and Genealogical Society > > (NEHGS). We have come to preliminary agreement. > > > > NEHGS is going to convert their database of the early vital records of > > Massachusetts from 1600-1849 to the format that I have been putting > > online. (For those unfamiliar with these, visit > > http://www.rootsweb.com/~maessex/VitalRecords.) These will be made > > entirely free to everyone. These will be indexed by both exact name and > > soundex. Indexing should still include year, or range of years. Hopefully, > > the indexing will go even further over time. Also, images of the book > > pages will be available. > > > > This is all still in the early planning stages. For instance, who is > > going to do the actual conversions - my transcribers and me or NEHGS? They > > have about 164 towns already done. When those are converted, it will still > > be necessary to transcribe the remainder, about 50 or so towns. > > > > The first steps are being made. NEHGS has begun scanning. They have > > already sent me all 3 volumes of the Gloucester vital records and they are > > online. This is in addition to what I already had up. It will depend on > > their volunteers and their other needs as to how fast they can scan the > > rest and send them to me. > > > > I think that this is going to be one of the biggest boons to those with > > New England roots in a very long time. > > > > Thank you. > > > > > > > > John Slaughter > > In loving memory of our son, Brennan. 11/10/88-5/31/01. > > http://john-slaughter.rootsweb.com/Brennan.html > > > > MA-Bay-Colony list moderator > > USGenWeb County Coordinator > > Essex County, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~maessex > > Middlesex County, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~mamiddle > > USGenWeb Town Coordinator Ipswich, Essex, MA - > > http://www.rootsweb.com/~macipswi > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > Don't just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! > > http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ > > > > ______________________________ > > > > ============================== > Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. > New content added every business day. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx > >

what a wonderful email. You have probably help alot of people. My original family starts in 1630 John Gallop (Gallup, Gollop)who came to america on the Winthrop fleet from England. Thank you so much for your hard work. Sharon Gallup ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Slaughter" <maessexgenweb@hotmail.com> To: <MAMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2006 7:03 PM Subject: [MAMiddle] Early Vital Records of Massachusetts > Good afternoon, everyone. :-) > For those of you who don't know me, I'm the county coordinator for Essex > and Middlesex counties. Over the past several years, with the aid of many > people, I've been working on getting the "Tan Book" series of vital > records transcribed and online. I have always said that I would consider > the job done if I got them done or I could get one of the pay sites to > make theirs firee. > > The latter is soon to come to pass. > > I had a talk with the New England Historical and Genealogical Society > (NEHGS). We have come to preliminary agreement. > > NEHGS is going to convert their database of the early vital records of > Massachusetts from 1600-1849 to the format that I have been putting > online. (For those unfamiliar with these, visit > http://www.rootsweb.com/~maessex/VitalRecords.) These will be made > entirely free to everyone. These will be indexed by both exact name and > soundex. Indexing should still include year, or range of years. Hopefully, > the indexing will go even further over time. Also, images of the book > pages will be available. > > This is all still in the early planning stages. For instance, who is > going to do the actual conversions - my transcribers and me or NEHGS? They > have about 164 towns already done. When those are converted, it will still > be necessary to transcribe the remainder, about 50 or so towns. > > The first steps are being made. NEHGS has begun scanning. They have > already sent me all 3 volumes of the Gloucester vital records and they are > online. This is in addition to what I already had up. It will depend on > their volunteers and their other needs as to how fast they can scan the > rest and send them to me. > > I think that this is going to be one of the biggest boons to those with > New England roots in a very long time. > > Thank you. > > > > John Slaughter > In loving memory of our son, Brennan. 11/10/88-5/31/01. > http://john-slaughter.rootsweb.com/Brennan.html > > MA-Bay-Colony list moderator > USGenWeb County Coordinator > Essex County, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~maessex > Middlesex County, MA - http://www.rootsweb.com/~mamiddle > USGenWeb Town Coordinator Ipswich, Essex, MA - > http://www.rootsweb.com/~macipswi > > _________________________________________________________________ > Don't just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! > http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ > > > ============================== > Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the > last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx > >