Middlesex County, Massachusetts Genealogy

United States Massachusetts  Middlesex County

This is a historical and genealogical guide to the county of Middlesex. You will find help with town histories, vital records, deeds and land records, city directories, cemetery records and cemeteries, churches, town records, newspapers, maps, and libraries.

Brief History
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Historical Data
The basic data are from the historical county boundary series with additions from various sources.

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Towns and Cities
The following list of present-day Middlesex County towns and cities links them to their individual pages. There you will find a list of other names used for the town or city and of villages and sections of the town or city. Acton (1735) | Arlington (1807) | Ashby (1767) | Ashland (1846) Ayer (1871) | Bedford (1729) | Belmont (1859) | Billerica (1655) Boxborough (1835) | Burlington (1799) | Cambridge (1636) | Carlisle (1780) Chelmsford (1655) | Concord (1635) | Dracut (1701) | Dunstable (1673) Everett (1870) | Framingham (1700) | Groton (1655) | Holliston (1724) Hopkinton (1715) | Hudson (1866) | Lexington (1713) | Lincoln (1754) Littleton (1715) | Lowell (1826) | Malden (1649) | Marlborough (1660) Maynard (1871) | Medford (1630) | Melrose (1850) | Natick (1781) Newton (1688) | North Reading (1853) | Pepperell (1775) | Reading (1644) Sherborn (1674) | Shirley (1775) | Somerville (1842) | Stoneham (1725) Stow (1683) | Sudbury (1639) | Tewksbury (1734) | Townsend (1732) Tyngsborough (1809) | Wakefield (1812) | Waltham (1738) | Watertown (1630) Wayland (1780) | Westford (1729) | Weston (1713) | Wilmington (1730) Winchester (1850) | Woburn (1642) Annexed to Boston: Brighton (1806) | Charlestown (1630)

County Histories
Works written on the county include:

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 * The Middlesex County MAGenWeb Project, an member of The MAGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Middlesex County
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Middlesex County (backup site)
 * Family History Library catalog for Middlesex County

Vital Records
In Massachusetts, the original vital records (of births, marriages, and deaths) have been created and maintained by the town or city in which the event occurred. In very early colonial times, copies of these records were submitted to the county, but that practice died out long before 1700. There were marriage intentions commonly recorded in the bride's home town and additional recordings maybe found in the groom's home town and their current residence.

Massachusetts was the first state to bring a unified state-level recording of these events (but not marriage intentions) in 1841 (Boston excluded until 1850). The associated records of divorce and adoption are handled by the courts. The state has maintained a state-wide index to divorces since 1952, but adoption records will require more researching to discover.

It is easiest to start with the state vital records for events since 1841, though realize the original record is with the town or city. More details can be found on the Massachusetts Genealogy Guide page.

Land Records
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Probate Records
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Other Court Records
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Taxation Records
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Maps
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Middlesex County Massachusetts Genealogy Societies
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