Fourth Day of Research--Boston

Today, I concluded my research in New England. I am now in Boston, where I spent all morning at the Massachusetts State Archives, which is on the UMass campus, across from the JFK Library.

The MA State Archives holds microfilm copies of most of the births, marriages, and estate records for state residents. The equipment is ancient though, and does not allow patrons to scan copies to pdf. Rather, your options are either to take digital images of the microfilm screen and/or print copies (which surprisingly are free). Interestingly, I found out that Samuel Kneeland, the colonial Boston printer and sometimes publisher, died broke (assets less creditors' claims). I wrote an article on Kneeland in the journal, Printing History (for my article summary, click here), but did not include his estate records or legal claims against his partner, Timothy Green. I hope to include more of this information in my upcoming presentation at the American Society of Church History annual meeting at Washington D.C. next January.

After finishing my research, I returned my rental car and checked into the Marriott Long Warf in Boston. This is a sweet hotel on the east side of historic Boston. One of the perks of working for a state university is that I can book hotel rooms as a government employee. In fact, I must do this to be reimbursed by UTC. As a government employee my hotel expense must be at the designated per diem rate. So in my case, I booked a room at the Marriott Long War for $201 even though the normal rate for my room was around $400.

I was hoping to do some sightseeing today before I fly home tomorrow, but as it raining, I may stay inside and start sorting through the material I have collected. Overall, this has been a fun and fruitful research trip.