Massachusetts Research Guide

massachusetts map

Your Guide to Researching Massachusetts Ancestors

Wikipedia's Massachusetts entry gives facts and information about the state and you can click on any of the links at the bottom of the page for information about a county, city or other local information.

See also Wikipedia's List of Counties in Massachusetts
and
List of Municipalities in Massachusetts

Massachusetts State Facts and Information
( Move your cursor over the map to locate a county; Click on a county on the map to get facts and informaton for that county)

* Basic Guides *Statewide Sites of Interest * Maps *
*Websites of Libraries, Archives and Societies * Records *
* Share Research * More Links *

Basic Guides to Massachusetts Research

First, bookmark or print out the Family History Library Massachusetts Research Outline.
Also bookmark the Family History Library Massachusetts Research Wiki
Ancestry Redbook, 3rd ed. Massachusetts section online at the Ancestry.com wiki (note you will click the links to the right to see further topics)

Books you might purchase or use in a library include

Schweitzer. Massachusetts Genealogical Research -- scroll down to print out the order form. This was published in 1990 and will cover print sources and on site research (find in a library)
Lainhart. Researcher's Guide to Boston. 2003 (find in a library)
New England Family Histories and Genealogies:State of Massachusetts

Audiotapes of lectures taped at genealogy conferences with the word "Massachusetts" in the title.

Each of the three reference books listed below has a small section covering each state that includes maps, historical information, vital records coverage and a bibliography of resources for that state. (note: some libraries may have earleir editions; those are usable)

Handybook for Genealogists ( 11th edition) (find in a library)
Ancestry's Redbook, 3rd ed, revised. (find in a library) (see above for online copy)
The Family Tree Resource Book for Genealogical Research (find in a library)

Maps

Bookmark or print out this coumty map of Massachusetts
Good state maps are available in the Handybook or Redbook mentioned above. The Redbook map is also available online.
- Note you will have to use this chart to locate the names of each county.
Normally I like the Redbook map, but in this case I think the following two maps are much better.
- Massachusetts Cities and Towns -- great for determining proximity of towns without regard to county boundaries. (Print from Adobe, not your browser --the print copy is quite readable.)
- And here is a copy with the county boundaries outlined.
A Massachusetts county outline map (.pdf) may be useful if you want to annotate the map.
The Southern Essex District Register of Deed put digital copies of these atlases online.
- 1895 Atlas - Massachusetts has a state map, a map for each county and index of towns and cities.
- 1871 Atlas of Massachusetts. -- use the index that first appears then "click here" at the top to find the pages.
- 1891 Atlas of Massachusetts -- no index on this one; it will take some digging to find the maps you want!
- 1904 Atlas of Massachusetts -- use pull down to read cover, map or index. Use the "Click here" to see a listing of each page.
Descriptions of Massachusetts counties and towns from Haywards 1839 Gazetteer.
Old Maps of Massachusetts
Massachusetts Maps
Perry Castenada collection: Massachusetts Maps
Book: Historical Data Relating to the Counties, Cities and Towns of Massachusetts. 5th ed. (find in a library)
Village, Section or Neighborhood Names of Massachusetts Communities
The Massachusetts Cemetery Directory places a township map of each county on the page listing the cemeteries for that county!

Statewide sites of Interest

Next, see what is available for your counties of interest at at one of these statewide sites. For each, use the county selection list to find out what is available for the various counties. Content will vary, but in usually you wil find the GenWeb site to be the most robust. All are volunteer driven sites; all data free, but as time goes by, the upkeep of many of these sites seems to be falling by the wayside.

Websites of Libraries, Archives and Societies

Massachusetts State Library -Genealogy
Massachusetts Archives
Massachusetts Historical Society -Library
Massachusetts is served by the National Archives -- New England Branch (Boston) and Northeast Branch ( Pittsfield )
- Records of genealogical interest and New England Branch
- Records of genealogical interest at Northeast Branch
Massachusetts Society of Genealogists
Local genealogical Societies in Massachusetts
Massachusetts Library Directory of city and town public libraries.

Records

bibles, diaries and family papers ,
cemetery, census, church, city directories,
histories, court & legal, military, land and property, naturalizations, newspapers, probate, vital

Use the place name search of the Family History Library catalog a to find out what has been filmed covering the state, counties and towns of Massachusetts

Remember: In New England states records at the town level are especially important.

Bible, Diaries and Family Papers : For general information, see Guide to Bible Records, this website

FamilySearch Wiki: Massachusetts Bible Records
Pre Revolutionary War Diaries at the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Family Papers in the manuscript collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Cemetery: For general informaton, see Guide to Cemetery records, this website

Family Search Wiki: Massachusetts Cemeteries
Ancestry Redbook Wiki: Massachusetts Cemetery Records
Lambert. Guide to Massachusetts Cemeteries (find in a library)
Massachusetts Cemetery Directory
Findagrave -- you can limit your search of a surname to a state or county.
Cemetery Junction: to find a listing of cemeteries in Massachusetts , with links to some that have been transcribed online
Interment.net: to search some Massachusetts online cemetery transcriptions.
Cemetery Lookup forum: Massachusetts
U.S. Gen Web Tombstone Transcription Project for Massachusetts

Census: For general inforamtion, see guide to census records, this website.

FamilySearch Wiki: Massachusetts Census --includes a chart with links to online census records.
Census links: Massachusetts -- note you can click the folders for individual counties to find census links specific to a county.
CensusFinder.com
CensusOnline
U.S. GenWeb Census Project. U.S. GenWeb Census Project Census Researchers FAQ gives information for using this site.
Rootsweb.com census records (goes into U.S.Genweb)

Church: For general information, see Guide to Church Records, this website.

FamilySearch Wiki: Massachusetts Church Records
Ancestry Redbook Wiki: Massachusetts Church Records
You might want to see what Archives Publishing offers for sale

City and County Directories: For general information, see guide to City and County directories, this website.

FamilySearch Wiki: Massachusetts Directories
Massachusetts Directories available online at DistantCousin.com
See what Massachusetts city directories are available at libraries -- note this does NOT list every owning library.
This list of city directories gives links to the few online versions availale.
You can search the Massachusetts city directories at Ancestory.com, but if you don't have a subscription you will be unable to discern which city! See if your local library has a subscription.

County and Local Histories: For general informaton, see guide to county histories, this website

Court & Legal; For general information, see guide to law libraries, this website

FamilySearch Wiki: Massachusetts Court Records
Anestry Redbook: Massachusetts Citizenship records covers court records.
Massachusetts Black Sheep ancestors may have been in trouble with the legal system!
Menand. Research Guide to the Massachusetts Courts and Their Records. 1987; out of print. (find in a library)

Land & Property: For general information, see guide to land records, this website.

FamilySearch Wiki: Massachussetts Land & Property
Ancestry Redbook Wiki: Massachusetts Land Records
This page gives address information and links ito online websites for each of the county Register of Deeds in Massachusetts.

Military; For general inforamtion, see guide to military records, this website

FamilySearch Wiki: Massachusetts Military Records
Ancestry Redbook Wiki: Massachusetts Military Records
In2Genealolgy: Massachusetts Military Records
Military Records at the Massachusetts Archives
Massachusetts Genealogy: links to information about military records and units on the web. (Some links to subscription sites)
Archive Publishing Massachusetts military records in some town record books. (for sale on microfiche)

Naturalizations; For general informaton, see guide to naturalizations, this website

FamilySearchWiki: Massachusetts Naturalization and Citizenship

Newspapers: For general information, see guide to newspapers, this website

Massachusetts Newspaper Project
- Massachusetts newspapers on microfilm (ask your local library to obtain film rolls by interlibrary loan.
Massachusetts Obituary Lookup
Chronicling America list of newspapers published in Massachusetts -- click a title to get more information
Historical Newspapers at the Massachusetts State Library

Probate: For general inforamton, see guide to probate records, this website

Ancestry Redbook overview: Massachusetts Court Records
Family Search Wiki: Massachusetts Court Records

Tax Records

Ancestry Redbook overview: Massachusetts Tax Records
Family Search Wiki: Massachusetts Tax Records

Vital: For general information, see Guide to Vital Records, this website.

Ancestry Redbook overview: Massachusetts Vital Records
- You will also want to look at the section on town resources.
Family Search Wiki: Massachusetts Vital Records
Massachusetts Vital Records (official)
Vitalrec Massachusetts Page
Massachsetts Vital Records Project (to 1850) -- indexes the published town records. To think.. I went through them one by one.

Queries & Help

Check the Massachsetts Genweb county pages for look up volunteers in that county.
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindnes: Massachusetts -- please read their guidelines if this is your first request.
Genealogy.com Gen Forum Boards -- all state only.
Ancestry/Rootsweb message boards -- there is one for the full state and one for each county.