Strategy: Boarding House Registers
By Dale E. Lee and AI
2025.11.26
Boarding House Registers
While the usual resources are undeniably valuable, digging deeper often requires creativity and knowledge of less conventional sources. One such overlooked treasure trove lies in boarding house registers; a hidden gem for genealogists seeking to discover the lives of ancestors during transitional or undocumented phases of their lives.
What Are Boarding House Registers?
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, boarding houses were a common form of lodging for single men and women, recent immigrants, transient workers, or those just starting anew in a different town or city. Unlike hotels, which catered to short-term visitors, boarding houses offered meals and longer-term accommodations. Many kept handwritten registers or logbooks to track the names, dates of stay, occupations, and even hometowns of their guests.
These registers, though not always preserved in public archives, can provide remarkable insights into where an ancestor lived temporarily; particularly in between censuses or outside of traditional family households.
Why They Matter in Genealogy Research
Boarding house registers are especially valuable for tracking individuals who may not appear in family groupings during census years. This includes:
- Single adults who left the family home for work or school
- Immigrants newly arrived in the United States or other countries
- Women working as domestic staff, teachers, or nurses
- Men employed seasonally or itinerantly (e.g., railroad workers, miners, sailors)
- Divorced or widowed individuals who moved into temporary housing
These populations often left few paper trails, making them harder to trace using conventional resources. A boarding house register can plug gaps in a person’s timeline and open new avenues of investigation.
Where to Find Boarding House Records
Unfortunately, these records are not centralized or consistently preserved. However, diligent researchers can find them in a variety of places:
- Local historical societies often preserve personal papers or business records from well-known boarding houses.
- Municipal archives may hold building permits, business licenses, or tax records connected to boarding house operations.
- Special collections in libraries might house diaries, ledgers, or visitor logs donated by former proprietors or residents.
- University archives, particularly those of institutions that hosted student boarders in nearby homes, can include relevant documents.
- Newspapers may contain classified ads, guest lists for social events, or crime reports mentioning boarding house addresses.
Even if an original register is unavailable, supplemental documents like city directories or fire insurance maps can help identify likely boarding house locations and their proprietors.
Specific examples
1. New York Historical Society (NYHS)
- Collection: Boarding House Ledger, 1880–1892
- Details: This ledger from a Manhattan boarding house lists names, dates, and sometimes occupations.
- Access: Available in-person and partially digitized; searchable through the NYHS archives portal.
2. Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley
- Collection: San Francisco Boarding House Records, 1890s–1920s
- Details: Includes boarding house receipts, guest books, and tenant correspondence from various San Francisco establishments.
- Access: On-site only; request via the Bancroft Reading Room.
3. Boston City Archives
- Collection: Boston Licensing Board Records (including lodging house licenses and inspection reports)
- Details: While not guest registers per se, these often list proprietors and can help identify locations where registers might have originated.
- Access: In-person; searchable finding aids online.
4. Library of Congress – Manuscript Division
- Collection: D.C. Boarding House Guest Book, 1870s
- Details: A private boarding house register detailing guests, their origin cities, and professions.
- Access: On microfilm and by appointment in Washington, D.C.
5. Denver Public Library – Western History and Genealogy Department
- Collection: Lodging House Register, 1894–1902 (J.H. Denton’s House)
- Details: Contains guest names, dates of stay, and some occupations.
- Access: Available on-site with digital catalog descriptions.
6. Minnesota Historical Society
- Collection: St. Paul Rooming and Boarding House Licenses, 1900–1915
- Details: These include records from city inspectors, often noting the names of boarders and room assignments.
- Access: On-site; searchable through MNHS catalog.
7. New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library (Massachusetts)
- Collection: Boarding House Ledger of Mrs. Phoebe Howland, 1840s–1850s
- Details: Maintained during the height of whaling industry; lists names of seamen and transient laborers.
- Access: In-person; digitized selections in online exhibits.
8. Chicago History Museum Research Center
- Collection: South Side Boarding House Records, ca. 1910
- Details: Limited registers survived but include a logbook showing immigrant lodgers and job placements.
- Access: On-site request; contact archivist for access.
9. Local City Directories
- Bonus Source Type: Not registers themselves, but city directories often list boarding houses by name or proprietor. Once identified, these names can be cross-referenced with local historical archives or newspapers to locate the actual records.
10. Digitized Newspapers (via Chronicling America, Newspapers.com, GenealogyBank)
- Examples:
- Social columns sometimes mention “Miss Jane Smith has taken up rooms at Mrs. Anderson’s boarding house on Main Street.”
- Advertisements list open rooms, names of proprietors, or even guest lists for boarding house parties or events.
How to Use Boarding House Registers Effectively
If you’re lucky enough to find a boarding house register relevant to your ancestor, here’s how to extract its value:
- Cross-reference names: Compare entries with census, immigration, or employment records to confirm your ancestor’s identity.
- Note the date ranges: Knowing exactly when someone stayed at a boarding house can help you zero in on travel dates, job changes, or other life events.
- Look at neighbors: Check who else was living in the house. You may find siblings, cousins, future spouses, or coworkers listed alongside your ancestor.
- Identify patterns: Was your ancestor moving frequently? Did they return to the same place seasonally? Patterns like these can offer deeper context.
- Explore the host: Learn about the boarding house keeper or owner. Some houses had a particular clientele; immigrant groups, students, factory workers; which might hint at your ancestor’s background.
Case Study Example
Consider a researcher tracing her great-grandmother, who seemingly disappears between the 1900 and 1910 censuses. The family lore suggested she moved to Boston as a young woman. A search of a local historical society revealed the 1905 guest ledger of a women’s boarding house near Boston Common. The ledger listed her name, hometown, and occupation as a seamstress. Not only did this confirm her whereabouts during that time, but it also supported oral history and provided a specific location to explore city directories and employer records.
Final Thoughts
While not as universally accessible as censuses or church records, boarding house registers can be the key to unlocking hidden chapters of your ancestor’s life. Their importance lies in shedding light on transitional periods; times when your ancestor might have been unattached, mobile, or simply trying to establish themselves in a new place.
For those willing to look beyond the mainstream, these ephemeral ledgers offer a rare and intimate glimpse into the rhythms of everyday life in eras past. As you continue your family history journey, don’t overlook the dusty, handwritten registers tucked away in archival boxes; they just might hold the missing piece of your genealogical puzzle.
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