Massachusetts, Delayed and Corrected Vital Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Massachusetts 

What is in the Collection?
These records include Index and images of births, marriages and deaths housed at the Massachusetts State Archives in Boston. The collection covers the years 1753 to 1900.

Coverage Map
To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of Massachusetts marriages click here.

Collection Contents
The records may include any of the following:


 * Name of the primary
 * Date and place of event
 * Parents' names, their race and residence
 * Name of spouse
 * Race
 * Residence
 * Birth place of parents
 * Number of child in family
 * Ages
 * Gender
 * Marital status
 * Occupation of deceased
 * Cause of death
 * Date and place of burial

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know the following:


 * The place where the event occurred.
 * The approximate date the event occurred.
 * The name of the primary individual or individuals such as the names of the bride and groom, the infant, or the deceased.

To search the collection by name: Fill in the requested information on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about those in the list to what you already know about your own ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person.

To browse by image: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒ Search the collection image by image select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the appropriate "Volume Number" ⇒ Select the appropriate "Record Type" ⇒ Select the appropriate "Towns and Year Range" which takes you to the images

Look at the images one by one. Again you will need to compare the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor.

Be aware that with either search you may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line video at FamilySearch Search Tips.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. For example:


 * Use the names and relationships as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information.
 * Use the names and residence or place to find the family in census records and to locate church and land records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have lived in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to employment records or other types of records such as military records.
 * Compiling the entries for every person who has the same surname as the primary individuals is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one record to another record.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

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

 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Check for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning or end of each volume. In addition, local historical and genealogical societies may have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

Related Websites
Massachusetts State Archive

Related Wiki Articles

 * Massachusetts
 * Massachusetts Vital Records

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image. Collection Citation

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation