New England Historical and Genealogical Register

Let's take a break from Delaware County and take a look at the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. This 50 volume set was published between 1847 and 1896 and includes three volumes of indexes. As the oldest genealogical registers in the United States, this publication has been distributed quarterly since 1847 and is still being published today.

From the New England Historical and Genealogical Society website:

"A wide variety of genealogies and source material have been published in the Register for over 160 years, with an emphasis on New England. Authoritative compiled genealogies have always been a primary focus of the Register. Thousands of New England families have been treated in the pages of the journal, and many more are referred to incidentally. Typically, these articles solve a genealogical problem, identify immigrant origins, or present a full-scale treatment of multiple generations."

There's no doubt about it, this set is one of my favorites. The aesthetics alone are enough to make any book collector swoon. Fifty three volumes of 100 year old leather of one of the oldest and most prestigious genealogical journals in the country. The content within these registers is varied and rich. They contain everything from foldout pedigrees, to vital record extracts and articles on historical events. They have two indexes, one by surname making it easy to locate an individual and the other by place assisting those interested in a particular geographic region. I've only begun to tap into this vast resource.

I've seen very few of these sets available for sale - occasionally a clothe version is offered but I've never seen a leather set (other than the one I purchased) for sale. I was able to speak with the current editor of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Henry Hoff concerning the history of this set. He confirmed that the Register has been published as a quarterly, softbound publication since the beginning. Though he didn't have specific proof, he thought that the society had published bound sets to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

The early editions were published by a Samuel G. Drake, one of the original, founding members of the society. Drake was a farmer from New Hampshire but later sold his land and eventually opened the first antiquarian bookstore in 1828 in Boston (what I'd do to have a time machine and visit that shop!). It was in Boston that he founded the society in 1847 along with Charles Ewer (1790–1853), Lemuel Shattuck (1793–1859), , John Wingate Thornton (1818–1878), and William Henry Montague (1804–1889). He served as the Editor and Publisher of the register and in 1858 as the President. His contributions, along with his associates have led to our nations greatest Historical and Genealogical Society and one of our finest genealogical publications.

Today "NEHGS maintains a large web site with more than 100 million names in its databases, the largest such online collection of any genealogical society. It includes vital records, compiled genealogies, and a suite of scholarly journals, such as The New England Historical and Genealogical Register and The American Genealogist, the leading independent journal in American genealogy. In addition to American Ancestors (formerly New England Ancestors), NEHGS publishes other periodicals: The Register, the flagship journal of American genealogy, American Ancestors Journal, an annual supplement to The Register, and The Great Migration Newsletter, a quarterly publication of the Great Migration Study Project." Membership with this society is well worth its price. Along with New England Historical and Genealogical Register you can access millions of other records on their site.