Massachusetts Bible Records

Online Resources and Website
Listed below are resources for Bible records specific to Massachusetts. To find more resources, go to the United States Bible Records page.

Databases

 * Bible Record for the Murray and Clark Families at American Ancestors Digital Library & Archives ($)
 * Family Records: Cemetery and Bible Records Mainly Michigan and Massachusetts at Ancestry ($)
 * The Family Bible Index - Massachusetts at Yancey Family Genealogy.

Transcriptions, Indexes, and Images

 * Bible Records (of Massachusetts families) at FamilySearch Catalog; Scroll down to Film/Digital Notes, then select the camera icon to view images.
 * Pickett Family Bible at I Dream of Genealogy; transcription.

Other places to look for Bible Record Collections

 * Copies, or abstracts of old family Bibles that are no longer known to exist, may survive in Revolutionary War Pension application files at NARA, Washington, D.C., which are available online at three commercial websites: Ancestry, Fold3, and Heritage Quest Online.
 * Family records: Check home sources by reaching out to older members of the family asking if they know of any Family Bibles and who might have it in their possession.
 * FamilySearch Catalog: Using the keyword search, type in the surname you are looking for and the word "Bible."
 * Card Catalog at Ancestry ($)
 * Periodical Source Index (PERSI): Many periodicals publish family data from Bible records. Periodical Source Index (PERSI) is an index to many of these periodicals. Learn how to use Periodical Source Index (PERSI).

Why Search for Family Bibles
Many families have traditionally recorded births, marriages, and deaths in a family bible, family record book, or book of remembrance. A bible was often given by relatives to a bride as a wedding gift, where she recorded information about her immediate family and close relatives. Relationships were seldom stated but were often implied. Names of parents, children, and their spouses, including maiden names, were frequently given along with dates of birth, marriage, and death. Sometimes the age of a person was given at the time of death. Many families kept bible records from the 1700s (and sometimes earlier) to more recent times, although few have survived. Family bibles that are no longer in the possession of the family may be at a historical or genealogical society. They are sometimes transcribed and published in genealogical periodicals or other databases

Bible records can be used as a substitute in providing birth, marriage, and date information when vital record information was not recorded.