Essex County, Massachusetts Genealogy

United States Massachusetts  Essex County

This is a historical and genealogical guide to the county of Plymouth. 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.

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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.
 * Sideny 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).
 * Family History Library catalog for Essex 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. 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.br&gt; 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 County 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. 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
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