Essex County, Massachusetts Genealogy

United States Massachusetts  Essex County

This is a historical and genealogical guide to the county of Essex. 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
Essex County was one of the four original counties when Massachusetts Bay Colony created counties in 1643 which includes the area known as Cape Ann. The only major change came with the addition of three miles on the northern border when the Old Norfolk County was eliminated in 1680. It was first settled in 1623. This was a major port for the United States through the late 1800s. Fishing was a thriving industry from the beginning, and is still notable in Gloucester. The most popular historical event was the witch trials of Salem in 1692. Haverhill, on the Merrimack River, became one of the centers of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1800s. As the city expanded with all the immigrant growth, the city annexed the town of Bradford on the south side of the river. The county government was abolished on 1 July 1999, but its former jurisdiction is used for state offices as a district.

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

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county. Top of Page

Towns and Cities
The following list of present-day Plymouth 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. Amesbury (1668) - Andover (1646) - Beverly (1668) - Boxford (1694) Danvers (1752) - Essex (1819) - Georgetown (1838) - Gloucester (1642) Groveland (1850) - Hamilton (1793) - Haverhill (1641) - Ipswich (1634) Lawrence (1847) - Lynn (1635) - Lynnfield (1782) - Manchester (1645) Marblehead (1633) - Merrimac (1876) - Methuen (1725) - Middleton (1728) Nahant (1853) - Newbury (1635) - Newburyport (1764) - North Andover (1855) Peabody (1855) - Rockport (1840) - Rowley (1639) - Salem (1630) Salisbury (1639) - Saugus (1815) - Swampscott (1852) - Topsfield (1648) Wenham (1643) - West Newbury (1819) Extinct Town: Bradford (1675)

County Histories
Works written on the county include:

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 * Benjamin F. Arrington, ed., Municipal History of Essex County in Massachusetts (New York, 1922), 4v. WorldCat (Other Libraries); (with digital link). Digital versions at Internet Archive (v. 1, v. 2, v. 3, and v. 4) and Google Books (v. 1, v. 2, v. 3, and v. 4).
 * Thomas E. Babson, "Evolution of Cape Ann Roads and Transportation, 1623-1955" in Essex Institute Historical Collections, 91 [1955]: 302-328. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * Henry Wyckoff Belnap, Trades and tradesmen of Essex County, Massachusetts, chiefly of the seventeenth century (Salem, Mass., 1929), 96 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); Not at FHL.
 * John James Currier, Historical Sketch of Ship Building on the Merrimac River (Newburyport, Mass., 1877), 80 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); Not at FHL. No digital version found.
 * William I. Davisson and Dennis T. Dugan, "Commerce in Seventeenth-Century Essex County, Massachusetts" in Essex Institute Historical Collections, 107 [1971]: 113-142. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * George Francis Dow, comp., Two Centuries of Travel in Essex County, Massachusetts, a collection of narratives and observations made by travelers, 1605-1799 (Topsfield, Mass., 1921), xvi, 189 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); . Digital versions at Internet Archive, Hathi Trust, and Ancestry ($).
 * "Essex County Loyalists" in Essex Institute Historical Collections, 43 [1907]: 289-316. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * Dean A. Fales, "A List of Congregational and Presbyterian Ministers who have been settled in the county of Essex, Mass. from its first settlement to the year 1834" in American Quarterly Register, 7 [1834-1835]: 246-261. WorldCat (Other Libraries); Not at FHL. Digital versions on Internet Archive and Google Books.
 * Stephen C. Foster, "Gravestone Carving and Artistic Intent in Essex County" in Old-Time New England, 64 [1973]: 43-54. Note: This author's Master thesis was on Massachusetts Gravestones (Univ. of Ill., 1969). WorldCat (Other Libraries); Not at FHL.
 * "A Forgotten Horror" [Smallpox epidemics and their treatment in Essex County] in Essex Institute Historical Collections, 35 [1899]: 304. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * Historical Records Survey, Inventory of the County Archives of Massachusetts, no. 5, Essex County (Boston, 1937), 370 leaves. Note: The only county in Massachusetts that was published. WorldCat (Other Libraries); . Digital version at Internet Archive.
 * D. Hamilton Hurd, ed., History of Essex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men (Philadelphia, 1888), 2v. WorldCat (Other Libraries); (with digital link). Digital versions at Internet Archive (v. 1 and v. 2), Google Books (v. 1 and v. 2, pt. 1), Hathi Trust, and Ancestry ($) (v. 1 only).
 * "Indians of Essex County, Massachusetts" in Essex County Historical and Genealogical Register, 2 [1895]: 74-75, 93-94. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * David Thomas Konig, "Community Custom and Common Law: Social Change and Development of Land Law in Seventeenth-Century Massachusetts" in American Journal of Legal History, 18 [1974]: 137-177. The article is limited to Essex County. WorldCat (Other Libraries); . Digital version at Jstor ($).
 * David Thomas Konig, "A New Look at the Essex 'French': Ethnic Frictions and Community Tensions in Seventeenth-Century Essex County, Massachusetts" in Essex Institute Historical Collections, 110 [1974]: 137-177. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * David Thomas Konig, Law and Society in Puritan Massachusetts: Essex County, 1629-1692 (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1979), xxi, 215 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); Not at FHL.
 * Darius Francis Lamson, "Emigration from New England to New Brunswick, 1763-1764" in Magazine of American History, 25 [1891]: 118-119. Focused solely on Essex County. WorldCat (Other Libraries); . Digital versions at Internet Archive and Google Books.
 * Paul Donald Marsella, "The Court of General Sessions of the Peace in the Eighteenth Century" in Essex Institute Historical Collections, 117 [1981]: 105-118. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * Paul Donald Marsella, Crime and community in early Massachusetts: Essex County, 1700-1785, 1700-1785 (Lexington, Mass., 1983), xiii, 146 pp. Reprint of the author's thesis presented to the University of New Hampshire, 1983, under title: Criminal cases at the Essex County, Massachusetts, Court of General Sessions, 1700-1785. WorldCat (Other Libraries); Not at FHL.
 * Susan L. Norton, "Marital Migration in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the Colonial and early Federal Periods" in Journal of Marriage and the Family, 35 [1973]: 406-418. WorldCat (Other Libraries); Not at FHL. Digital version at Jstor ($).
 * Susan Linda Norton, "Age at Marriage and Marital Migration in Three Massachusetts Towns, 1600-1850," Ph.D. Dissertation, Univ. of Mich., 1981, 211 pp. The three towns studied were Boxford, Topsfield, and Wenham in Essex Co. WorldCat (Other Libraries); Not at FHL.
 * Michael Joseph O'Brien, "The Pioneer Irish of Essex County, Massachusetts" in Journal of the American-Irish Historical Society, 26 [1927]: 137-149. WorldCat (Other Libraries); or  (available FHL-wide).
 * Sidney Perley, The Indian Land Titles of Essex County, Massachusetts (Salem, Mass., 1912), 144 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); . Digital versions at Internet Archive, Google Books, and Hathi Trust.
 * Sidney Perley, "Persecution of the Quakers in Essex County" in Essex Antiquarian, 1 [1897]: 135-140. WorldCat (Other Libraries); or . Digital versions at Internet Archive, Google Books, and American Ancestors ($).
 * Eben Putnam, "Militia Officers, Essex Co., Mass. 1761-1771" in Essex Institute Historical Collections, 29 [1892]: 177-183. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * Sylvanus Smith, Fisheries of Cape Ann ([Gloucester], Mass., 1915), vi, 131 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); Not at FHL. No digital version found.
 * Barbara Miller Solomon, "The Growth of the Population in Essex County 1850-1960" in Essex Institute Historical Collections, 95 [1959]: 82-103. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * John Wingate Thornton, The Landing at Cape Anne; or, the charter of the first permanent colony on the territory of the Massachusetts Company ... (Boston, 1854), xii, 84 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); Not at FHL. Digital versions at Internet Archive and Google Books.
 * Cyrus Mason Tracy, Standard History of Essex County, Massachusetts, embracing a history of the county from its first settlement to the present tie, with a history and description of its towns and cities (Boston, 1878), 424 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); . Digital versions at Internet Archive and Google Books.
 * The Essex County MAGenWeb Project, an member of The MAGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Essex County.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Essex County (backup site).
 * FamilySearch Catalog for Essex County.

Vital Records
In Massachusetts, the original vital records (of births, marriages, marriage intentions, 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 (except the intentions) were submitted to the county court. These copies can be found in the list of Miscellaneous Court Records below. 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. Top of Page

Land Records and Atlases
Land transfers, commonly called deeds, are recorded on the county level in Massachusetts. Not all deeds were recorded as is common practice today. The earliest transactions were charters or grants from the English Crown. Once local government was established, the colony would grant land to settlers directly or to towns to dole out. Some towns first start out as proprietorship and records were recorded there. Once towns were established, deeds were recorded on the county level. Essex County is divided into two districts. The county was one district until the creation of the Northern District in 1869.

Northern Essex Registry of Deeds 354 Merrimack Street Suite #304 (Entry C) Lawrence MA 01843 Phone 978-683-2745 Email [mailto:Lawrence.Deeds@sec.state.ma.us Lawrence.Deeds@sec.state.ma.us] This district includes Andover, Lawrence, Methuen, and North Andover. Original records The records since 1986 (indexes and other records are earlier) can be viewed from their new (as of 23 July 2013) Search Page. Click on the specific search you want from the menu at the left. Their older records are stored at the Southern District office. To view the originals, call ahead to determine where to go.

Southern Essex Registry of Deeds 45 Congress Street Suite 4100 Salem MA 01970 Phone 978-542-1700 This district covered the entire county until 1869. Original records Original records on microfilm Published records Published maps Top of Page
 * Land deeds, 1639-present, online. The "classic" online search is still available covering indexes from 1964 and deeds from 1983 to present. Call the office ahead of time to see the older volumes. The county is currently in a restoration project to conserve the first 100 volumes. The first 20 volumes (1641-1709) have been conserved and viewable online. When you enter a volume and page, and click on the tif link, the image of the page is automatically downloaded to your device.
 * Land deed indexes, 1640-1799, 1800-1854, 1855-1950, 1951-1963, are online.
 * Plans, 1741-present, online.
 * Land court (registered land), 1899-present, online.
 * Essex County Atlases: Essex County, 1795 (mss.). Essex County, 1830 (mss.). Essex County, 1872. Essex County, 1884.
 * Essex County Deed Indexes, Grantor/Grantee, 1639-1799, 1800-1819, 1820-1834, 1835-1839, 1840-1844, 1845-1854, and 1855-1879. Essex County Deeds, v. 1-695 (1639-1866)..
 * Essex County unregistered deeds, ca. 1700-ca. 1820..
 * Essex County miscellaneous probate records and deeds, 1779-1846..
 * Essex County Deeds 1639-1678 abstracts of volumes 1-4, copy books, Essex County, Massachusetts (Bowie, Md., 2003), [2], 389 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * Essex County Deeds 1675 abstract of volume 5, copy books, Essex County Massachusetts (Bowie, Md., 2008), [2], 104 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); Not at FHL.
 * H. F. Walling, "Essex County, Massachusetts Land Ownership Map, 1856..
 * George H. Walker &amp; Co., Essex County, Massachusetts, Map, 1884. (southern) and  (northern).

Probate Records
Probate and Family Court is organized on a county level in Massachusetts since the creation of the counties. The main records genealogists seek are testate (wills), intestate (administrations), guardianships, and divorces (since 1922), though there are many more that are valuable to any researcher, too. See a further discussion of the topic in general on the Massachusetts page.

Essex Probate and Family Court 36 Federal Street Salem MA 01970 Phone 978-744-1020 x383

Lawrence Satellite Office 2 Appleton Street Lawrence MA 01840 Phone 978-686-9692 This office, starting sometime before 1990, serves Andover, Lawrence, Methuen, and North Andover. All records are maintained in Salem. Online Probate Records
 * 1635 – 1991 Massachusetts Wills and Probate Records 1635-1991 at Ancestry.com — index and images, $
 * 1638 – 1840 Essex, Massachusetts Probate Records 1638-1840 at Ancestry.com — index only, $

Original Records Older records (before 1882) are held by: Supreme Judicial Court Archives (administration - records stored in several off-site facilities and the Mass. Archives) 16th Floor, Highrise Court House 3 Pemberton Square Boston MA 02109 Phone 617-557-1082 Email [mailto:Elizabeth.Bouvier@sjc.state.ma.us Elizabeth.Bouvier@sjc.state.ma.us] Note: By early 2014, another block of older records will be moved to the archives.


 * Old series, 1638-1881: Docket index: 1638-1840, v. 1-16 1841-1881, v. 17-37. Probate records: Original volumes renumbers, so add 300 to original number. Books 1 - 124 (1671-1867), 425 - 737 (1867-1916).
 * New series, 1816-1885: Probate records: Books 1 - 300 (1816-1885).
 * Second series, 1882-1917: Index, 1882-1917. Probate docket, v. 38 - 76, #58039-124204 (1882-1916). Note: These volumes index the continuous of the records listed above.

The records above are also microfilmed at and at the Massachusetts Archives. The records are stored at the Supreme Judicial Archives at the same location. The original file papers exist at the archives, never microfilmed, but have been digitized in 2011 and 2012, though the Supreme Judicial Archives has yet to make that public (as of Aug. 2013).

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 * Probate records, 1638-1691, . Note: It is not clear from the cataloging if this is an earlier filming of the earliest records or something else.
 * William P. Upham, Melinde Lutz Sanborn, trans., Essex County, Massachusetts, Probate Index, 1638-1840 (Boston, 1987), 2v. WorldCat (Other Libraries); . Digital version at Ancestry ($). Also, the surname's beginning with "P" in a database style derived from these indexes at Ancestry ($).
 * George Francis Dow, Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts, [1635-1681] (Salem, Mass., 1916-1920), 3v. WorldCat (Other Libraries); or . Digital versions at Internet Archive (v. 1, v. 2, and v. 3), Google Books (v. 1, v. 2, and v. 3), and Ancestry ($).
 * Melinde Lutz Sanborn, "Essex County, Massachusetts Probate Records, Supplement" ([Derry, N.H.], 1998), a database, online at Ancestry ($). Regarding the source records: If the volume is a Roman numeral the records were published in Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, volumes 1-9 (Salem: The Essex Institute, 1911-1975). If the volume number is an Arabic numeral the records can be found in the unpublished typescript copies done by the WPA, and in the custody of the Peabody Essex Museum at the James Duncan Phillips Library. Volume 53 is missing from that collection, and as a result there are no entries in this database from the September 1692 to March 1693 courts.

Other Court Records
The court system can appear to be complex. The system was reorganized in 1686/1692, 1859, and 1978. Described below are the most commonly used records for history and genealogy, but realize that this list is incomplete. For more detailed information regarding court structure, see Understanding the Massachusetts Court System. Some records may be found in the Old Norfolk County records. Older records are held by: Supreme Judicial Court Archives (administration - records stored in several off-site facilities and the Mass. Archives) 16th Floor, Highrise Court House 3 Pemberton Square Boston MA 02109 Phone 617-557-1082 Email [mailto:Elizabeth.Bouvier@sjc.state.ma.us Elizabeth.Bouvier@sjc.state.ma.us] Top of Page

County Court
This court was active from 1636 (called a quarterly court and then the county court when Suffolk was created in 1643) to 1692. The court heard all civil causes up to 10 shillings (raised to 40 shillings in 1647) and all criminal causes not concerning life, limb, or banishment. These were all jury trials. Some records can be found in the Suffolk Files.

The records microfilmed:


 * County Quarterly Court, 1634-1686: WPA transcript at Mass. Archives. Court records, 1638-1692; Court papers, 1655-1666; and Court paper index, 1636-1671, . Court records, 1636-1641,.
 * County Court, 1682-1685, at the Mass. Archives.
 * Essex County Court index, 1636-1692, and Court of Common Pleas index, 1692-1694 [seven double-paged typescript volumes], at the Mass. Archives.

The records published:


 * Records and files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County Massachusetts [1636-1686] (Salem, Mass., 1911-1921, 1975), 9v. WorldCat (Other Libraries); . All nine volumes are available online at http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Essex/index.html -- the Internet Archive and Google Books provide more robust access, but do not have all nine volumes (see the table below for coverage):

The published volumes' coverage stops in 1685 or 1686 (depending on the court location). For quarterly courts held after that (i.e. from about 1685 to 1694) it may be necessary to search the 57 typescript volumes of Archie N. Frost, comp., Verbatim Transcriptions of the Records of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, 1636-1694 (Salem, Mass., 1939). These were at one point held at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem.

Derivative records published:

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 * Melinde Lutz Sanborn, Ages from Court Records 1636 to 1700 (Baltimore, 2003), 227 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); . Digital version at Ancestry ($).
 * Melinde Lutz Sanborn, "Essex County, Massachusetts Depositions, 1636-86" online at Ancestry ($).
 * Else L. Hambleton, Daughters of Eve: Pregnant Brides and Unwed Mothers in Seventeenth-Century Massachusetts (New York, 2004), xix, 192 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); Not at FHL. A study of cases of fornication, bastardy, and paternity cases brought before the courts in Essex County between 1640 and 1692.

Quarterly Court of General Sessions of the Peace
This court was active from 1692 to 1827. The court heard criminal cases and had authority over county affairs that included levying taxes, reviewing town bylaws, highways, licensed liquor, regulated jails, supervised the administration of the poor laws, and appointed some county officials.

The records microfilmed:


 * Court of General Sessions, record book, 1693-1719, 1726-1744, 1749-1778; index, 1726-1744, at the Mass. Archives and (records to 1796).

Derivative records published:


 * Melinde Lutz Sanborn, Lost Babes: Fornication Abstracts From Court Records Essex County, Massachusetts 1692 to 1745 (Derry, N.H., 1992), xvii, 84 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.

Inferior Court of Common Pleas
This court was active from 1692 to 1859. The court heard all civil cases over 40s unless a case involved freehold or was appealed from a justice of the peace.

The records microfilmed:

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 * Court of Common Pleas, record books, 1692-1726, at the Mass. Archives and.
 * Court of Common Pleas, court records, v. 1-142, 1749-1865 (inc. divorces), at the Mass. Archives, (1749-1782),  (1782-1811, 1821-1859), and  (1811-1821).
 * Court of Common Pleas, court records, 1686-1726, at the Mass. Archives.
 * Court of Common Pleas, executions, 1686-1783, at the Mass. Archives and.
 * Essex County Court index, 1636-1692, and Court of Common Pleas index, 1692-1694 [seven double-paged typescript volumes], at the Mass. Archives.
 * Essex County Consolidated Index (Court of Common Pleas, 1749-1859; Superior Court, 1859-1904; Supreme Judicial Court, 1797-1904), at the Mass. Archives.

Superior Court
The Quarterly Court of General Sessions was merged into the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in 1827, and that court was reorganized in 1859 to created the Superior Court as the new lower (i.e. trial) court. It covers both criminal and civil matters.


 * Court records, v. 130-142 (1859-1865),.
 * Essex County Consolidated Index (Court of Common Pleas, 1749-1859; Superior Court, 1859-1904; Supreme Judicial Court, 1797-1904), at the Mass. Archives.

Supreme Judicial Court
The Supreme Judicial Court was established by the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 that combined the former Governor and Council with the Superior Court of Judicature creating the highest state court. This court hears appeals, writ of error, capital offenses, and crimes against the public good. That included divorces until that action was moved to the lower court in 1887.

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 * Court dockets, 1802-1812, and Court records, 1797-1826,.
 * Supreme Judicial Court, Salem Witchcraft trials, v. 1-4, at the Mass. Archives and (papers). For the trial and more, see the Salem Witch Trails Documentary Archive and Transcription Project.
 * Essex County Consolidated Index (Court of Common Pleas, 1749-1859; Superior Court, 1859-1904; Supreme Judicial Court, 1797-1904), at the Mass. Archives.

Naturalization Records
Naturalization records were created on a variety of governmental levels from the Federal down to the city at the same time. The county records for all levels are outlines below. For more information, see the Massachusetts state page for more on naturalization. Federal Naturalization Records for Essex County Essex County Naturalization Records Top of Page | Top of Court

Miscellaneous Court Records
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 * Vital records filed with the County Court, 1636-1692, and Court of General Sessions of the Peace, 1692-1795,.
 * Notary Public record books, 1723-1769, at the Mass. Archives.

Family History Centers
Essex Society of Genealogists PO Box 313 Lynnfield MA 01940-0313 This society is based at the Lynnfield Public Library where they house their collections.

Haverhill Public Library 99 Main Street Haverhill MA 01830 Phone 978-373-1586 Local History Collection guide

Lynnfield Public Library 18 Summer Street Lynnfield MA 01940 Phone 781-334-5411 Local History and Genealogy room

James Duncan Phillips Library Peabody Essex Museum 132 Essex Street Salem MA 01970 Phone 978-745-9500 x3053 This is the premier repository for Essex County research. The have large print and manuscript collections focused on pre-1860 material. This is the facility for government records on Essex County including the original court records, customhouse records, maritime records, and (on microfilm) probate records. The paper catalog is in process of conversion to their online catalog. Top of Page