Suffolk County, Massachusetts Genealogy

United States Massachusetts  Suffolk County

Brief History
Suffolk County was one of the four original counties when Massachusetts Bay Colony created counties in 1643 and had an undefined western border. It established and claimed as far west as Woodstock, Connecticut. Initially, the county included Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Dedham, Braintree, Weymouth, Hingham, and Nantasket [now Hull]. In 1671, Mendon was added from Middlesex. For a brief time, the county was part of the Dominion of New England from 1686 to 1689. The county was eventually became part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. All towns were lost to the creation of Norfolk County to the south. What remained were Boston and Chelsea. Hingham and Hull protested and thus remained in Suffolk County until they were transferred to Plymouth County in 1803. Boston was incorporated as a city in 1822. The city started annexing towns back: Roxbury (1868), Dorchester (1870), Brighton (1874), Charlestown (1874), West Roxbury (1874), and Hyde Park (1912). The county government was abolished in 1999, but its former jurisdiction is used for state offices as a district.

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

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Towns and Cities
The following is a list of present-day towns and cities in the county that are linked to their own individual pages. There you will find a list of other names used for the town or city and a list of villages and sections of the town or city. There will be a future master list found from the state page. Boston (1630) - Chelsea (1739) - Revere (1846) - Winthrop (1852) Boston needed to grow its tax base, so over the years, various towns were annexed to Boston. These towns had a vibrant history and their own set of records before they became part of Boston and thus Suffolk County. These towns are: Roxbury (1630-1868) Dorchester (1630-1870) Brighton (1807-1874) Charlestown (1630-1874) West Roxbury (1851-1874) Hyde Park (1868-1912) Top of Page

County Histories
Works written on the town include:

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 * B. B. Edwards, "Complete List of the Congregational and Presbyterian Ministers in Suffolk Co." in American Quarterly Register, 7 [1834]: 28-30. Digital version at Google books.
 * Alden Bradford, "Juridical Statistics for the County of Suffolk viz. Judge of Superior Court of Judicature and of Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts; and Barristers, Counsellors, and Attorneys, with brief notices of those who have deceased or retired from public life" in American Quarterly Register, 13 [1840-1841]: 417-432. Includes birth, education, bar admission, associates, and death. Digital version at Google books.
 * N. I. Bowditch, Suffolk Surnames (Boston, 3rd ed., 1861), xxv, 757 pp. Digital version at Internet Archive and Google books. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * Justin Winsor, The Memorial History of Boston, Including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880 (Boston, 1880-1883), 4v. v. 1 - The early and colonial periods; v. 2 - The provincial period; v. 3 - The Revolutionary period and the last hundred years, pt. 1; v. 4 - The last hundred years, pt. 2, and special topics (education, libraries, philosophic thought, women, drama, Fine Arts, music, architecture, science, medicine, bench and bar, horticulture, and charities). Digital versions at Internet Archive (v. 1, v. 2, v. 3, v. 4), Google books (v. 1, v. 2, v. 3, v. 4), and Ancestry ($). WorldCat (Other Libraries); (with digital links).
 * Professional and Industrial History of Suffolk County, Massachusetts (Boston, 1894), 3v. Digital versions at Internet Archive (v. 1, v. 2, v. 3) and Google books (v. 2 only). (Other Libraries);.
 * George H. Brennan, "The Early Massachusetts Court Records" in New England Magazine, 17 [1894]: 301-310.
 * John Tyler Hassam, "Early Records and Registers of Deeds for the County of Suffolk, Massachusetts, 1639-1735" in Massachusetts Society Society Publications, 2nd Ser., 12 [1895-1896]: 203-250. Digital versions of off print at Internet Archive and Google books. Also part of the introduction of Suffolk Deeds, v. 10 (see below). . Reprint of continuation as "Registers of Deeds for the County of Suffolk," 2nd Ser., 14 [1900-1901]: 34-104..
 * John Tyler Hassam, "Registers of Probate for the County of Suffolk, Massachusetts, 1639-1799" in Massachusetts Society Society Publications, 2nd Ser., 16 [1902]: 23-125. Digital versions at Internet Archive and Ancestry ($). WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * Richard D. Brown, "The Confiscation and Disposition of Loyalists' Estates in Suffolk County, Massachusetts" in William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., 21 [1964]: 534-550. Digital version at JStor ($ - for free at some libraries).
 * The Suffolk County MA GenWeb Project, an member of The MAGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Suffolk County
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Suffolk County (backup site)
 * Suffolk County Wikipedia page.

Land Records and Atlases
Land transfers, commonly called deeds, are recorded on the county level in Massachusetts. Realize that deeds were not required to be recorded, though this 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 of a proprietorship and records was recorded there. Once counties were created, deeds were records there. For Suffolk County, they start in 1639.

Suffolk Registry of Deeds 24 New Chardon Street Boston MA 02114 Phone 617-788-6250 Email [mailto:Suffolk.Deeds@sec.state.ma.us Suffolk.Deeds@sec.state.ma.us] Original records The records since 1976 can be viewed from their Search Page. Note the search criteria and search option menus in the upper left corner. This is a relatively new site (2012) and less transparent than before.


 * Land Record books. Note: Records from 1893 (v. 2171) are online as "unindexed property." From the search page above, go to the Search Criteria menu and click on "Unindexed Property Search" and enter the volume and page you want and click search. A dialogue box appears below. Click on any link and another dialogue box appears to the right. Click on the tab "View Images" and a pop-up window will display the page (if it does not, you need to allow this site or disable your pop-up blocker). Record location: Deeds, v. 7871 (1964) to present are in the main section of the Registry. Deeds, v. 4553-7870 (1924-1964) are in the "Old" Bookroom at the back of the Registry building. Deeds, v. 2171-4552 (1893-1924) are not currently physically accessible (but are online as mentioned above). Deeds, v. 101-2170 (1800-1893) are at:


 * Massachusetts Archives 220 Morrissey Blvd. Boston MA 02125 Phone 617-727-2816 (ask for Archives Reference Desk).
 * Deeds, v. 1-100 (1639-1799) are at the Archives above, but restricted. These deeds can be seen on microfilm and have been transcribed verbatim to 1688 (see published records below).

Original records on microfilm Published records Suffolk Deeds Online
 * Land Court records.
 * Grantor/Grantee index, 1961-1978 (online).
 * Old Recorded Land Plan books, v. 1-5, 7 (from 1800s).
 * Recorded Land Plan Index, 1935-1999 (online).
 * Suffolk County Atlases (online): Boston, 1874, 1890 (w/Roxbury), 1899, 1910, 1917, 1938 (all w/S. Boston). Brighton, 1897, 1917, 1925. Charlestown, 1875, 1901, 1912 (w/E. Boston). Chelsea, 1874, 1914, 1981. Dorchester, 1904, 1910, 1933. East Boston, 1892, 1901, 1912 (see Charlestown). Hyde Park, 1912. Roxbury, 1890 (see Boston), 1895, 1899, 1906, 1931. West Roxbury, 1874, 1896, 1905, 1914.
 * Suffolk County Deeds, 1639-1885, grantor/grantee index, 1639-1920, miscellaneous index, 1639-1799..
 * Suffolk County Deeds, 1885-1900 [vols. 1707-2727]..
 * Suffolk County Miscellaneous Papers (chronological), 1679-1808, includes deeds.
 * Suffolk Deeds (Boston, 1880-1906), 14v. Covers from 1629 to 1688 and some of 1697. Each book includes a grantor and grantee index that gives an abstract of the record, an other names index, place index, and miscellaneous (i.e. subject) index. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * Volume - Years covered - Links


 * - 1629-1653 - Internet Archive and Google books.
 * - 1653-1656 - Internet Archive and Google books.
 * - 1656-1661 - Internet Archive and Google books.
 * - 1661-1665 - Internet Archive and Google books.
 * - 1665-1668 - Internet Archive and Google books.
 * - 1668-1672 - Internet Archive and Google books.
 * - 1670-1672 - Internet Archive and Google books.
 * - 1672-1674 - Internet Archive and Google books.
 * - 1674-1676 - Internet Archive and Google books.
 * - 1676-1678 - Internet Archive and Google books.
 * - 1678-1680 - Internet Archive and Google books.
 * - 1680-1683 - Internet Archive and Google books.
 * - 1683-1686 - [No Internet Archive version found] and Google books.
 * - 1686-1688, 1697 - Internet Archive andGoogle books.

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