This CD, like many other recently released CD-ROM disks from NEHGS, is a second form of publication for a new book to be published by the society. In this case, the Vital Records of Springfield, Massachusetts to 1850 is being released both as a CD-ROM and as a four-volume hardcover book set. Apparently production times are shorter for CD-ROM disks than for printed books: the CD-ROM is available now, but the printed books will not be available until sometime this winter.

The installation and operation of this CD-ROM is very similar to other recent products from the New England Historic Genealogical Society that I have reviewed in recent months. Macintosh users will be pleased to know that this disk works on both Macintosh and Windows systems. During installation you are presented with a choice to install all the data to your hard drive or to use the data on the CD-ROM disk. Installing everything to the hard drive speeds up all the data searches but has the disadvantage of consuming a lot of disk space. Those without a lot of available space will probably elect to search the CD-ROM for data, even though that method is significantly slower.

The Vital Records of Springfield, Massachusetts to 1850 CD-ROM uses Folio Views software as its database "engine," a good choice in my opinion. I was able to easily navigate around this disk without referring to the built-in Help files. There is no printed manual and none is needed. I was able to do both simple and complex Boolean searches and to print pages as I wished. I was especially pleased to see that the normal "copy and paste" functions operated properly on this CD-ROM. Many of the CDs produced by other companies and societies that I have used in the past have the "copy-and-paste" function disabled. That makes it very difficult to copy data from the CD-ROM to a genealogy program or to a word processor.

As an example of "copy and paste," I copied the following words from the CD-ROM to the Windows Clipboard and then pasted the words directly into the word processor I use to write this newsletter, all without re-typing:

On 1 January 1846, Springfield town clerk Joseph Ingraham inserted the following declaration on a page of marriage intentions in Book One of Springfield town vital records:

Preserve this book. It will be a curiosity to the Generations that must follow us.

Indeed, Mr. Ingraham’s prediction made 156 years ago certainly was accurate; it is a curiosity to many with ancestors from western Massachusetts. I suspect that a computer and a CD-ROM disk would have been equally curious to him.

Springfield was founded in 1641 and was the first settlement in western Massachusetts. The following words by Clifford L. Stott describe the data contained within the new books and CD-ROM disk: "The present work contains not only the town vital records but also vital information from twenty-one cemeteries, ten churches, eleven newspapers, the Massachusetts State vital records, the records of Judge John Pynchon, and the private records of Springfield resident John S. Edwards. While the town vital records provide the greatest number of vital entries, they are far from the final word on the families of Springfield. Thousands of entries in these supplementary sources contain information not available in the town records. This is especially true of the early nineteenth century, when the town vital records were kept rather sporadically. Because of size and time constraints, the scope of the project was limited to vital events occurring before 1 January 1850."

The history, importance, location, custody, condition, and significant features of the various documents and cemeteries are also discussed. These records have not been published previously as one collection. As a result, this is probably the most important reference now available for Springfield records.

As with most collections of vital records, there is no fixed format. Those who recorded the information many years ago had no concept of database fields or fixed formats. They wrote whatever seemed appropriate at the time. For example, here are a few examples of records about people with the same surname as my own:

• Mrs. Sarah Eastman died 8 November 8th 1828. aged 45 Years.
• Mr Samuel Eastman of Hardwick enters his Intention of Marriage with Miss Sarah Pynchon of Springfield November 25th 1809. Notification posted next day
• Married – At Cabotville, on the 12th of March, by the Rev. Mr. Warren, Mr. Charles B. Eastman, to Miss Catharine Hanscom, both of Cabotville.
• [Died] At Cabotville, Oct. 10, Mrs. Abigail Eastman, aged 55, relict of Mr. Samuel Eastman of Hadley.

Anyone with ancestors in or around Springfield will be very interested in this new set of books, either the CD-ROM version or the printed version. So will historians studying the area. There are lots of "gems" of information on this new disk. These books and/or the CD also belong in the reference section of every library that has a collection of books dealing with New England ancestry or history.

It is interesting to note the price difference between the CD-ROM version and the printed version of this new release. The CD-ROM sells for $39.95 while the same data published in four hardbound volumes will cost $150.00 when it becomes available.

To safely order the Vital Records of Springfield, Massachusetts to 1850, compiled by Clifford L. Stott, on NEHGS’s secure webserver, go to: www.newenglandancestors.org/store/browse/product.asp?sku=114672338