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.

Ward 7 (East 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

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:
????????

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Chrystine Jordan on March 5, 2010 at 5:50am

Good morning everyone. I just wanted to share with the group an article I read yesterday in the Brockton Enterprise. This Saturday at St. Michael's Church, 87 North Main St. Avon, St. Casimir Feast Day and Lithuanian Independence will be celebrated with a Mass at 4 p.m. followed by a dinner and reception. There is a request for a 10 dollar donation and a number to call for reservations: 508 586 0650. I myself have never been to this church, but live close enough that I may try to attend. It sounds like a great oppotunity to network and learn about Lithuanian culture and tradition. Have a great weekend. Chrystine

Permalink Reply by Irena C on March 20, 2010 at 1:58pm

Hi, Chris,

googling on some info on my Mom's uncles I came accross this discussion.

My Mom, 78, asked me to do my best to find her Father's two late brothers, Vincas and Jonas TULEVICIUS. May be you or somebody from your family have heard this name?

They immigrated circa 1920s. Vincas' last record was from 1930 Cambridge, Mass. Jonas - Austin, Minnessota, 1946-47. Searching in interesting, but old history is hidden deep.....

I am myself from Vilnius.

Regards,
Irena

Permalink Reply by Ellynmarie on March 25, 2011 at 10:06am

Hello!

I'm new here so please bear with me!!

Our family is LT and also Polish but from NOW LT. All our branches immigrated to the South Shore of MA.

Our LT branch is Glebo (Gleba, Glabas, Glibo, et) and Krasnowsky/Krasnosky and they immigrated from the Varenos Parish and the village of Kirklionis/Kirklyonis(sp?). Our great grandmother, Petronele (later Beatrice) immigrated to her brother, Josef, who lived in Brockton. (Josef later moved to Worcester and had a family...the trail runs cold after that) Beatrice married Walter Krasnowsky and had 5 daughters. They lived in the Montello section of Brocton until Beatrice's death in 1977. She worked in the shoe factories, as did her daughters, and Walter died in the 1950's. The family belonged to St. Casmir's Parish. One of the daughters, Bronia, owned Martin's Bakery in Abington.

Does anyone know about St. Rocco's? I rec'd 2 baptismal records for the same person...2 different parish letterheads! Any clues?

I'd love to hear about the St. Casimir's Feast Day if anyone attended last year! It sounds like a great resource!

Permalink Reply by Richie C. on May 8, 2011 at 3:17pm

Ellynmarie,

The 2 baptismal records on different letterheads could be because one church closed, or merged with another one. I don't know about St. Rocco's--sounds Italian--so maybe the Lith. parish was closed or merged into an Italian one. I try to put the closed churches (and where the records are now) on the main page for each state.

I know I've seen Gleba, Glebas, Glabas and Krasnowsky, Krasnauskas names in posts either here, or more likely on the Lithuanian Genealogy group on Yahoo. If you haven't joined that, make sure you do. The link is on the main page of this group.

Lastly, welcome to the group; thanks for joining!

-Richie C

Permalink Reply by Jim Zuis on May 16, 2011 at 2:14pm

Ellynmarie -

The parish in Brockton, MA was originally St Rocco's before it became St Casmir's:

http://www.wickedlocal.com/brockton/homepage/x501038764#axzz1MY0KK4b4

St Casimir's closed about 3 years ago, & the records are now at St. Michael's in Avon, as I understand it. My step grandmother had friends in the Lit community in Brockton, but unfortunately I never knew their names. Her husband had a brother, ?Victor Sinkeivich, who lived there for a number of years as well.

I don't have any information on the feast of St Casmir, but Our Lady of Sorrows convent on Thatcher St. has been holding their Lithuanian fairs on Labor Day once again over the last two years. I haven't heard anything about this year as of yet, but hopefully they will do it again.

- Jim Z

Permalink Reply by Ellynmarie on October 2, 2011 at 11:09am

Jim and Richie,

Thanks so much for the info. I'm sorry it has taken so long to reply but summer is always very hectic! (What lazy days of summer,I'd like to know!)

Jim, that article was great! I find it interesting that St. Casmir's was not established until 1950 and yet all but one of the documents I secured, weddings and baptisms, all are attributed to that parish.

My Glebo/Gliba and Krasnosky family research is all but a dead end in Brocton. However, I'll keep plodding along.

Richie, thanks...I'll check out the YAHOO group for leads.

Best to all on the search of our ancestors.