Massachusetts, City of Boston Voter Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection includes voter registration records for men from 1857-1900, women from 1920-1940 and men from 1921-1940. The registers are not a comprehensive listing of all registered voters. The period 1857-1895 includes only naturalized males and for the period 1920-1940 other sets of registers were used to register voters. The collection has been divided into four series: Naturalized male voter indexes; Naturalized male voter registers; Naturalized and Native male voter registers; and Women voter registers. The fourth series is labeled "Women voters" because the books were initially used to register women in 1920 and are labeled as such. These volumes do include men after 1920.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:
 * Name
 * Age
 * Occupation
 * Address

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The residence of your ancestor

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor in the voter registers, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may be new details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the information found in the voter registers to search for county or state vital records, such as birth, marriage, and death
 * Search for the family in census records, both federal and state
 * Search for the family in land and probate records in the town where they lived
 * Search the town records for information on the individual and their family

I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the surnames
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in the state of Massachusetts.
 * Massachusetts Guided Research
 * Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Research

General Information About These Records
Tax records are based on the property owned by people. Only the person who owned the taxable property was listed on the tax record; other residents, living on the property, were not listed.

Tax records are considered a primary source. They are usually reliable because they are kept by the county clerk in the local courthouse, who usually recorded the event at or very near the time it occurred.

The information given in town land records is generally reliable, although there may be errors made in transcribing the town’s copy from the original deed.

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.