Massachusetts Town Records

In New England the town clerk is the principal record keeper at the local level. The earliest records are called proprietor's records. Town records generally begin with the founding of a town and are kept to the present.

Town records may contain records of births, marriages, burials, cemeteries, appointments, earmarks, estrays (records of stray animals), freemen's oaths (men eligible to vote), land records, mortgages, name changes, care of the poor, school records, surveys, tax lists, town meeting minutes, voter registrations, and "warnings out" (of town).

The Massachusetts City and Town Directory has an alphabetical list of cities and towns with their addresses, phone and fax numbers, email addresses, web site addresses, and hours.

The Family History Library has microfilms of many Massachusetts town records, from the beginning of the town to the mid-1860s. The original town records are at local town clerk's offices and at historical and genealogical societies. Some have been published separately or as part of town histories and are available in libraries with major New England collections.

Websites

 * A collection of 351 towns and their records: http://www.americanancestors.org/ This is a subscription website.
 * Many of the town and vital records are available for free from the Massachusetts Vital Records Project
 * Vital Records of Sudbury, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Newton, MA to the year 1850
 * Vital Records of Scituate, MA to the year 1850
 * Town Records of Groton, MA, 1662-1678
 * Town Records of Brookline, MA, 1634-1889
 * Vital Records of Essex, MA to the End of the Year 1849
 * Vital Records of Topsfield to the End of the Year 1849
 * Vital Records of Billerica to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Newbury, MA to the End of the Year 1849 Vol. I - Births
 * Vital Records of Beverly, MA to the End of the Year 1849 Vol. II - Marriages and Deaths
 * Vital Records of Alford, MA to the End of the Year 1849
 * Vital Records of Gloucester, MA to the End of the Year 1849, Vol. I - Births
 * Vital Records of Dunstable, MA to the End of the Year 1849
 * Vital Records of Hinsdale, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Dover, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Foxborough, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Saugus, MA to the End of the Year 1849
 * Vital Records of Abington, MA to the Year 1850, Vol. I - Births
 * Vital Records of Templeton, MA to the End of the Year 1849
 * Vital Records of Medford, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Richmond, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Shrewsbury, MA to the End of the Year 1849
 * Vital Records of Medfield, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Montgomery, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Southborough, MA to the End of the Year 1849
 * Vital Records of Oxford, MA to the End of the Year 1849
 * Vital Records of Williamstown, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Middlefield, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of New Braintree, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Gill, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Worthington, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Barre, MA to the End of the Year 1849
 * Vital Records of Palmer, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Pelham, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Hardwick, MA to the Year 1850
 * Vital Records of Chilmark, MA to the Year 1850