I have tried to make it a point in my blogs to give heartfelt thanks to indexing efforts of the New England Historic Genealogy Society (NEHGS) volunteers whenever we bring a new or updated collection online. Several people have asked me exactly how volunteers fit in..

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Regina Shober Gray [1] often used her final diary entries for a year to review the previous twelve months. At the end of the year 1864, death was much on her mind, with the recent loss of..Continue reading →

In this diary entry Mrs. Gray [1] depicts some of the economic forces on an upper-class Boston family, one dependent on the largesse of wealthier family members. Her brother John Bedford..Continue reading →

As it happened, Mrs. Gray [1] was too late to reach her brother’s deathbed:

Philadelphia, Sunday, 4 December 1864: One week to-day since our precious brother[2] died – died to earth with..

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The NEHGS Library is always adding new and interesting items to our collections. These come from purchases we make, and from numerous donations to the Society.

You can keep current with additions to our collections by viewing our monthly list of new titles, available..

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The last months of 1864 marked the beginning of the end of the Civil War, as well as the final illness of Mrs. Gray’s [1] beloved brother John Shober. An effort at economy – by giving up a..Continue reading →

Mrs. Gray’s diary [1] continues, with the results of the 1864 presidential election:

61 Bowdoin Street, Boston, Wednesday, 9 November 1864: The great election-day passed off without..

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The diarist Regina Shober Gray [1] began the Civil War with mixed feelings about the new American president; by late 1864 she had no doubts about his integrity or his importance to the..Continue reading →

By the fall of 1864, hints of the ultimate outcome of the American Civil War could be discerned. For Regina Shober Gray, [1] the period was also marked by worry about her family members’..Continue reading →

[Author’s note: This series, on Mrs. Gray’s reading habits, began here.]

After a summer holiday in Manchester, the Grays [1] were back in Boston. The engagement of a family friend reminded..Continue reading →