The New England Historic Genealogical Society

I just discovered a fantastic, absolutely essential website/resource for anyone who has New England ancestors: the NEHGS. Founded in 1845, this is the oldest genealogical society in the U.S.

There are no requirements to join, other than paying an annual fee of $80. There are increasingly expensive membership options also-- going all the way up to a one-time payment of $6000 for a lifetime membership with assorted perks such as long consultations with professional genealogists.

Not being overburdened by worldly wealth, I'm sticking with the cheapest plan. It's well worth the money to have access to all of their databases; they have records from Massachusetts from 1841 to 1915, which enabled me to find birth and marriage records for my paternal grandmother, as well as her parents and grandparents. I also found birth and marriage records for my maternal grandfather and his parents.

You also get a subscription to two periodicals, as well as access to the records at the NEHGS headquarters in Boston.

If you have New England roots (or New York roots, as they also have records from there), I would strongly encourage you to join and take advantage of the wonderful information they have in their many databases.