Massachusetts Genealogy Guide
Massachusetts Genealogy Guide
by GFLGeorge
Presented on America Online - November 1, 1992
I. Introduction
Massachusetts was the first state to be permanently settled by western man and also the first state to establish laws governing public record keeping. It is said that it is easier to trace genealogy in Massachusetts than in any other state. The reason is because more records are available. The problem is that unlike Connecticut, no one agency has taken the initiative to collect all types of records in one place and for the beginning genealogist, finding the location of particular records is a study in itself.
II. History
The first white settlers found several Indian tribes living in the Massachusetts region. They were Eastern Woodland Indians of Algonquian stock. The major tribes were the Nauset on Cape Cod, the Massachuset, and the Wampanoag. Many of the Indians in southern New England were killed or driven off during King Philip's War, which began in 1675.
Most of the Bay State's earliest white settlers were Puritans from England. From 1630-1642, 15-20,000 people settled in Massachusetts Bay Colony. A far-ranging merchant and whaling fleet brought wealth to the Bay State through the 1800's. The Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812 produced a great, long-range benefit fostering American manufacturing. Many new factories arose in Massachusetts. Significant immigration from other European countries began in the 1840's as many people came to work in the mills.
Prior to 1880, 95% of the population came from Britain, Ireland and Northern Europe. In the 1870's large numbers of Canadians, especially the French Canadians, began to move overland into the state. A significant change in the immigration patterns occurred after 1880. A wave of Italian and Portuguese immigration began in the late 1800's and reached its high point just prior to WWI. In 1907, 80% of the emigrants to Massachusetts were from southern and eastern Europe including large numbers from Poland and Russia.
Today about 9 percent of its people are foreign born. Of the total foreign population, the largest groups had their origins in Canada, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Blacks make up 3.8 percent of the state's population.
III. Vital Records
The early vital records were recorded by the town clerks. Massachusetts is unique in that most of their towns published their vital records (215 to date) prior to 1850. These include the births, marriages, and deaths. The information in these publications came from not only the town clerks but church, cemetery, county, and other records. There are still about 100 towns that have not as yet published their vital records.
The Society of Mayflower Descendants has published vital records for many towns in Plymouth and Barnstable counties in their "Mayflower Descendant" and most of these records have been published with indexing by Leonard H. Smith of Clearwater, Florida.
The Rhode Island Society of Mayflower Descendants has published in book form the vital records of Falmouth, Marshfield and Yarmouth. These are towns on or around Cape Cod. Other vital records have been published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register.
The Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield is custodian of the "Rollin H. Cooke Collection" which includes church, town, and cemetery records for all the towns in Berkshire County and other towns in surrounding counties.
You can obtain copies of birth, marriage and death certificates, 1841 to 1890, by writing:
Massachusetts State Archives at Columbia PointFor copies of birth , marriage, and death records from 1890 to present:
220 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02108
Registrar of Vital StatisticsDivorce Records from 1738 to 1888 can be found in the county court records, Governors council records, superior court of judicature, or supreme judicial court. After 1888, preceedings were usually filed at the county probate court and superior court.
Harbor Plaza Building
470 Atlantic Ave
Boston, MA 02210-2224
IV. Probate and Land Records
In Massachusetts, all Probate and Land records are at the county level. There are five counties which have more than one registry office. The researcher must be aware of the dates of creation of various counties and districts. Massachusetts pioneered the New England system of towns with its grants by the legislature (General Court) to groups of settlers, who in turn oversaw land distribution within their town area. Often the General Court had likely frontier areas surveyed into convenient town six tracts - six-mile squares were common - and offered publicly to potential proprietors for settlement.
The Massachusetts Bay colonial records of such grants are in Nathaniel B. Shurtleff's "Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England" 5 Volumes.
Plymouth Colony records are in Shurtleff"s "Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in the New England" 12 Volumes.
The deeds for Massachusetts were recorded in town records until the creation of counties, roughly 1643. Plymouth colony was joined by charter with Massachusetts Bay in late 1691. In 1685, it had been divided into three counties that recorded conveyances.
Several Massachusetts counties were later divided into deed-registration districts: Berkshire into three districts in 1788, Bristol into two in 1837, Middlesex into two districts in 1854, Essex into two in 1869, and Worcester into two in 1884, each with its own courthouse. The Salem registry of Essex County, aside from having its own deeds, also has those of old Norfolk County (1637-1714) and Ipswich (Newbury and later Rowley) town deeds 1640-1694. The important county of Suffolk (Boston) has its deeds (1629-97) published as "Suffolk Deeds", 14 volumes. It should be obvious that you must allow for variations in where, when, and what local land records survive.
This also brings out what I said earlier that finding the location of particular records is a study in itself.
V. Military Records
Military matters in Massachusetts are well-recorded. Two major sets of bound volumes are important first references: "Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War" (17 volume, plus microfilm supplement) and "Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in the Civil War (9 volumes). There are also single published Volumes for King Philip's War and other colonial wars. The "DAR Patriot Index" should be checked as well. The original military records of colonial Massachusetts (which includes Maine) are at the Massachusetts State Archives. A Microfilm copy of the "General Index to compiled Military Service Records of Revolutionary War Soldiers" is at the National Archives - Boston Branch.
Most military records for the War of 1812, the Civil War, The Spanish American War, and more recent wars are at:
War Records Office of the Adjutant GeneralVI. Naturalization and Citizenship Records
100 Cambridge Street
Boston, MA 02202
Naturalization records were filed in the various county and district courts. New England naturalization records for 1791 to 1906 were copied and Soundex indexed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930's. The index gives the name and location of the court, the date of the naturalization, and the volume and page number (of certificate number) of the naturalization record. The copies and index are at the National Archives - Boston.
VII. Archives and Libraries
Massachusetts State Archives at Columbia Point
220 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02108
National Archives - Boston Branch
380 Trapelo Road
Waltham, MA 02154
Massachusetts Society of Genealogists
PO Box 215
Ashland, MA 01721
Massachusetts Historical Society
1154 Boylston St
Boston, MA 02215
State Library of Massachusetts
341 State House
Boston, MA 02133
New England Historical and Genealogical Society
101 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116
General Society of Mayflower Descendents
PO Box 3297
Plymouth, MA 02361
Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendents
101 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116The Genealogy Forum - Main Page
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