Wednesday 14 July 2021

More records added to Boston's Provident Savings collection

AmericanAncestors.org has updated its Irish-rich Boston MA - Provident Institution for Savings, 1817–1882 collection. Three more volumes, or ledgers, have been added.

This collection launched on the New England Historic Genealogical Society's database in October 2020 and I blogged about its value to Irish family historians at the time. I'd recommend you take a quick read of my blogpost Many Irish in Boston Provident Savings Ledgers, 1817-82, which explains the contents of the ledgers and their potential usefulness to resarchers whose ancestors immigrated or settled in Boston, Massachussets.

Shortly after the arrival of the launch ledger – a Signature Book dating from 1854 to 1858 – a Waste Book was added, dating from 1821 to mid-1822. Waste Books are transaction ledgers, showing how much each named individual had deposited on the given dates. They usually record the customer's residence and, sometimes, an occupation.

This latest update means the database holds the following volumes:

  • Waste Book 1A, 1817-1820
  • Waste Book 1B, 1820
  • Waste Book 1D*, 1 Mar 1821 - 5 Jun 1822
  • Waste Book 1E, 1822-1824
  • Signature Book 10*, 17 May 1854 - 9 Jun 1858

This database is still a work in progress. When complete, it will contain a total of six Signature Books and six Waste.

The Boston Athenaeum holds the original record books and performed the digitization of all the images. The indexed online database is being created by NEHGS volunteers.

You'll need an Individual-level and above NEHGS membership to search or browse this collection.