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Massachusetts Public Records
| How
To Search Public and Vital Records -
Vital records are records of life events important enough that
some level of government acquires, organizes, and preserves
them. While the term "vital records" is often applied
to a wide variety of life events... Read
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Massachusetts Vital Records
No state in the Union can boast the depth and breadth of vital records
sources that is available in Massachusetts. Starting with the arrival
of the Pilgrims, vital events have been diligently, although not completely,
recorded, preserved, and published. Vital records have been registered
in Massachusetts since 1635. Statewide data collection began in 1841.
206 (out of 364) towns had all their vital records to 1850 published
under the Systematic Series, and are available at the Massachusetts
State Archives and the FHL, as well as select other repositories.
Other towns' vital records have been published or microfilmed since
publication of the Systematic Series. There is no state-wide index
which includes all the towns' records for vital events before 1841.
This makes it necessary to know the appropriate town in which to locate
a record before that date.
The Registry of Vital Records and Statistics in the Department of
Public Health has the records of births, deaths and marriages for
Massachusetts from 1906 to the present. Every five years the earliest
five years of records maintained at the Registry are transferred to
the custody of the State Archives. The next transfer will occur in
2001. After the transfer any restrictions that may be on the transferred
records will be removed. Records from 1841-1905 are located at The
State Archives. The city or town clerk in the city or town where the
event occurred has all records prior to 1841. Also, copies of records
since 1841 are available at the city or town where the event occurred.
For birth and death records after 1 January 1906,
write:
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Registry of Vital Records & Statistics
470 Atlantic Avenue, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02210
Tel: 617-753-8600
http://www.state.ma.us/dph/vitrecs.htm
For records between 1841-1905, write:
Massachusetts State Archives
220 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125
Tel: 617-727-4319
Fax: 617-288-4505
Email: archives@mecn.mass.edu
http://www.magnet.state.ma.us/sec/arc/arcidx.htm
Massachusetts Land Records
Land ownership in Massachusetts descended initially from colony
to proprietor and eventually to private ownership by individuals.
The general court for each colony, acting as a legislative body,
established towns by granting to a group of proprietors blocks of
land. The proprietors then divided the land among the settlers in
the town. See Roy Akagi, The Town Proprietors of the New England
Colonies (1924; reprint, Gloucester: P. Smith, 1963). Published
grants before county formation (1643 in Massachusetts Bay, 1685
in Plymouth) are found among the records of the colony, and in Nathaniel
B. Shurtleff and David Pulsifer, eds., Records of the Colony of
New Plymouth in New England, 1620–1691, 12 vols. (Boston: Commonwealth
Printer, 1855–61)
When a county system became established, land transactions
became part of the county's records. Eventually, land was sold by
proprietors to individuals and then sold between individuals in
the form of deeds. While the usual location for deeds is the county
seat, larger counties were later divided into districts. For more
information on these districts, consult Alice Eichholz, editor,
Ancestry's Redbook: American State, County, and Town Sources. (Salt
Lake City: Ancestry, Inc., 1992). The County Resources section below
clarifies the later divisions in counties. The FHL also has microfilm
copies of early through mid nineteenth-century deeds.
Massachusetts Court Records
Court records entail probate records, guardianship, naturalization,
and a wide variety of other sources. It should be remembered that
there are different levels of jurisdiction for courts in the United
States, all of which should be considered for research under various
circumstances. Court of Common Pleas, Orphan's Court, Probate Court,
District Court, Superior Court, and Supreme Court. See: "Research
in Court Records" by Arlene H. Eakle, found in Loretto Dennis
Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, eds., The Source: A Guidebook
to American Genealogy, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997).
Massachusetts Military Records
Many of Massachusetts' military records have been published. The
records in print for earlier periods of conflict are covered in
George M. Bodge's Soldiers in King Philip's War (1896; reprint,
Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1967) and six volumes jointly
published by the Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts and New England Historic Genealogical Society: Mary
E. Donahue, ed., Massachusetts Officers and Soldiers, 1702-1722;
Myron O. Strachiw, ed., Massachusetts Officers and Soldiers, 1723-1743:
Dummer's War to the War of Jenkins' Ear (both published in 1980);
Robert E. Mackay, ed., Massachusetts Soldiers in the French and
Indian Wars, 1744-1755 (pub. 1978); Nancy S. Voye, ed., Massachusetts
Officers in the French and Indian Wars, 1748-1763 (pub. 1975); and
Doreski, Carol, ed., Massachusetts Officers and Soldiers in the
Seventeenth Century Conflicts (pub. 1982).
Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary
War (Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1896-1908) is comprised
of seventeen volumes. Twenty-thousand names found after the publication
were entered on cards and are on microfilm at Massachusetts State
Archives and New England Historic Genealogical Society. War of 1812
(Records of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia Called Out by the
Governor of Massachusetts to Suppress a Threatened Invasion during
the War of 1812-14 (Boston: Adjutant General's Office, 1913)) and
Civil War (Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the Civil
War. (Norwood, MA: Norwood Press, 1932)) are both covered in print
and usually available at research libraries with New England collections.
Original extant records for the period 1643-1783
are at Massachusetts State Archives, as well as some materials related
to Shays' Rebellion, the War of 1812, and the Spanish American War.
Civil War records and later, including the Korean War, are at the
Adjutant General's office, War Records, 100 Cambridge Street, Boston,
MA 02202. The Massachusetts Military History Research Institute,
143 Speen Street, Natick, MA 01760, has an excellent collection
of material from 1774 through the Vietnam War with a heavy concentration
on the Civil War. For further reference, see:
Neagles, James C. U.S. Military Records: A Guide
to Federal and State Sources. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, Inc., 1994.
Additional Sources
Bowen, Richard LaBarron. Massachusetts Records: A Handbook for Genealogist,
Historians, Lawyers, and Other Researchers. Rehoboth: privetly printed,
1957.
Schweitzer, George K. Massachusetts Genealogical
Research. Knoxville: the author, 1990.
Marcia Wiswall Lindberg's Genealogist's Handbook
for New England Research. Boston: The New England Historic Genealogical
Society, 1985.
Crandall, Ralph J., editor. Genealogical Research
in New England. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984.
Massachusetts Vital
Records:
Event: Birth or death
Cost of copy: In person: $6.00, Mail request: $11.00
State Archives: $3.00
Address:
Registry of Vital Records and Statistics
470 Atlantic Avenue, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02210-2224
Remarks: State office has records since 1906. For
earlier records, write to The Massachusetts Archives at Columbia
Point, 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125 (617) 727-2816.
Check or money order should be made payable to Registry
of Vital Records. Personal checks are accepted. To verify current
fees, the telephone number is (617) 753-8600. This will be a recorded
message.
Search All Massachusetts Records
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Event: Marriage (State)
Cost of copy: In person: $6.00, Mail request: $11.00
State Archives: $3.00
Address:
Registry of Vital Records and Statistics
470 Atlantic Avenue, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02210-2224
Remarks: Records since 1906.
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Event: Divorce (State)
Cost of copy: See remarks
Address:
Registry of Vital Records and Statistics
470 Atlantic Avenue, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02210-2224
Remarks: Index only since 1952. Inquirer will be
directed where to send request. Certified copies are not available
from State office.
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Event: Divorce (county)
Cost of copy: $3.00
Address: See remarks
Remarks: Registrar of Probate Court in county
where divorce was granted.
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