Middlesex County, Massachusetts Genealogy

Guide to Middlesex County, Massachusetts ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
Middlesex County was one of the four original counties when Massachusetts Bay Colony created counties in 1643. When established, it had no defined western or northern border. These borders were more clearly defined when Worcester County was created in 1731 on the west and the Province of New Hampshire in 1680 to the north, but this border remained in dispute until 1741. Early settlers in this county went north, west, and south to establish new settlements in the 1600s and 1700s. The oldest college in the United States was established in Cambridge in 1636 - Harvard College, now Harvard University. Lowell, on the Merrimack River, became one of the centers of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1800s that drew many immigrants to work in the mills, especially Irish and French-Canadian. The county government was abolished on 1 July 1997, but its former jurisdiction is used for state offices as a district.

The county was named for Middlesex, England. It is located in the North-central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Middlesex County Courthouse 200 Trade Center Woburn, MA 01801 Phone: 781-939-2700 Middlesex County Website

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

History Timeline
The basic data are from the historical county boundary series with additions from various sources.

Business, Commerce, and Occupations

 * 1837-1965 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Images only

Census Records

 * 1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records
The court system can appear to be complex. The system was reorganized in 1686/1692, 1859, and 1978. Described below are the most commonly used records for history and genealogy, but realize that this list is incomplete. For more detailed information regarding court structure, see Understanding the Massachusetts Court System. Older records 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] County Court This court was active from 1636 (called a quarterly court and then the county court when Suffolk was created in 1643) to 1692. The court heard all civil causes up to 10 shillings (raised to 40 shillings in 1647) and all criminal causes not concerning life, limb, or banishment. These were all jury trials. Some records can be found in the Suffolk Files.

Online Court Indexes and Records
 * 1600-1799 (*) Middlesex County Clerk of Courts at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * 1643-1674 Middlesex County, MA: Abstracts of Court Records, 1643-1674 at American Ancestors — index & images ($)
 * 1648-1798 (*) Middlesex County Clerk of Courts at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * 1650-1800 (*) Middlesex County Clerk of Courts at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * 1649-1699 (*) Middlesex County Court at FamilySearch Catalog - images

At the Massachusetts Archives:
 * County Court Folio Collection, card index.
 * County Court, File Papers, Folio Collection, Folios 1-303, 1649-1728; 1B-200A, 1693-1790.
 * County Court, File Papers, Folio Collection, Index.
 * County Court, File Papers, Folio Collection, Contents, Folios 1-251B, 1-4.
 * County Court, Record Books, 1649-1663, 1671-1686 (Pulsher trans.).

Derivative Records Published:
 * Melinde Lutz Sanborn, Ages from Court Records 1636 to 1700 (Baltimore, 2003), 227 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); . Digital version at Ancestry ($).

Quarterly Court of General Sessions of the Peace This court was active from 1692 to 1827. The court heard criminal cases and had authority over county affairs that included levying taxes, reviewing town bylaws, highways, licensed liquor, regulated jails, supervised the administration of the poor laws, and appointed some county officials.

Online Court Indexes and Records
 * 1600-1799 (*) Middlesex County Clerk of Courts at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * 1650-1800 (*) Middlesex County Clerk of Courts at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * County court papers and index, 1648-1798 (includes vital records),.
 * 1686-1799 (*) Middlesex County Court of General Sessions of the Peace at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * 1686-1809 (*) Middlesex County Court of General Sessions of the Peace at FamilySearch Catalog - includes early Inferior Court of Common Pleas records, images
 * 1808-1831 (*) Middlesex County Court of Sessions at FamilySearch Catalog - images

At the Massachusetts Archives:
 * Court of General Sessions, record books, 1686-1831.

Inferior Court of Common Pleas This court was active from 1692 to 1859. The court heard all civil cases over 40s unless a case involved freehold or was appealed from a justice of the peace.

Online Court Indexes and Records
 * 1600-1799 (*) Middlesex County Clerk of Courts at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * 1650-1800 (*) Middlesex County Clerk of Courts at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * County court papers and index, 1648-1798 (includes vital records),.
 * 1686-1809 (*) Middlesex County Court of General Sessions of the Peace at FamilySearch Catalog - includes early Inferior Court of Common Pleas records, images
 * 1699-1783 (*) Middlesex County Inferior Court of Common Pleas at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * 1783-1847 (*) Middlesex County Circuit of Common Pleas at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * 1812-1821 (*) Middlesex County Circuit Court of Common Pleas at FamilySearch Catalog - images

At the Massachusetts Archives:
 * Court of Common Pleas, 1686-1689, 1699-1847.

Superior Court The Quarterly Court of General Sessions was merged into the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in 1827, and that court was reorganized in 1859 to created the Superior Court as the new lower (i.e. trial) court. It covers both criminal and civil matters.

Online Court Indexes and Records
 * 1887-1938 (*) Middlesex County Superior Court at FamilySearch Catalog - images

At the Massachusetts Archives:
 * Divorce Docket Books 1887-1938

Supreme Judicial Court The Supreme Judicial Court was established by the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 that combined the former Governor and Council with the Superior Court of Judicature creating the highest state court. This court hears appeals, writ of error, capital offenses, and crimes against the public good. That included divorces until that action was moved to the lower court in 1887.

Online Court Indexes and Records
 * 1650-1800 (*) Middlesex County Clerk of Courts at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * 1797-1850 (*) Middlesex County Supreme Judicial Court at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * 1851-1887 (*) Middlesex County Supreme Judicial Court at FamilySearch Catalog - images

Originals at Massachusetts Archives
 * Court Records, 1797-1850
 * Court Records 1851-1887 (includes divorces)

Directories

 * 1864-1865 Lowell Directory 1864-1865 at MyHeritage — index & images ($)
 * 1873 Middlesex County Directory,1873 at MyHeritage — index & images ($)
 * 1875 Middlesex County Directory, 1875 at MyHeritage — index & images ($)

Land and Property Records
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. Middlesex County is divided into two districts. The county was one district until the creation of the Northern District in 1855. The original records are held by the Registry but closed to the public.

Middlesex North Registry of Deeds 360 Gorham Street Lowell, MA 01852 Phone: 978-322-9000 Email: [mailto:lowelldeeds@comcast.net lowelldeeds@comcast.net] Website This district includes Billerica, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Lowell, Tweksbury, Tyngsborough, Westford, and Wilmington. Online Land Indexes and Records - North Middlesex South Registry of Deeds 208 Cambridge Street Cambridge, MA 02141 Phone: 617-679-6300 Email: [mailto:middlesexsouth@sec.state.ma.us middlesexsouth@sec.state.ma.us] Website This district included the entire county up to 1855 and all southern towns not listed above after that. Online Land Indexes and Records - South
 * 1620-1986 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; images only
 * 1639-1950 (*) Middlesex County Register of Deeds at FamilySearch Catalog - images; records are for the entire county up to 1855, only for Middlesex South after 1855.
 * Instructions for online record searches at Middlesex North Registry of Deeds. Select Search Criteria at top left menu, then select appropriate entry from listing; for example: Unindexed Pre-1855 Books; Pre-1976 Grantor (or Grantee) Index; various searches by Book (Books 1 through 2789 can be searched by volume and page).
 * Instructions for online record searches at Middlesex South Registry of Deeds. Select Search Criteria at top left menu, then select appropriate entry from listing.

Local Histories
Works written on the county include:
 * Massachusetts: Historical Data Relating to Cities and Towns at American Ancestors — index & images ($)
 * Biographical Review ... containing life sketches of leading citizens of Middlesex County, Massachusetts (Boston, 1898), 838 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); . Digital versions at Internet Archive and Torrentz.
 * Henry J. Cadbury, "Quakers and their abettors, Middlesex County, Massachusetts" in the Bulletin of Friends' Historical Association, 27 [Spr. 1938]: 9-16. WorldCat (Other Libraries); . Digital version at Project Muse.
 * Edwin P. Conklin, Middlesex County and its People: a history (New York, 1927), 5v. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * Samuel Adams Drake, ed., History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county ... (Boston, 1880), 2v. WorldCat (Other Libraries); (with digital link) or . Digital versions at Internet Archive (v. 1 and v. 2) and Google Books (v. 2 only).
 * Levi Swanton Gould, Ancient Middlesex with brief Biographical Sketches of the Men who served the county officially since its settlement ([Somerville], Mass., 1905), 336 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); . Digital versions at Internet Archive, Hathi Trust, and Ancestry ($).
 * D. Hamilton Hurd, ed., History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men ... (Philadelphia, 1890), 3v. in 4. WorldCat (Other Libraries); (with digital link). Digital versions at Internet Archive (v. 1, v. 2, and v. 3), Google Books (v. 1 and v. 3 only), and Ancestry ($).
 * Christopher Roberts, The Middlesex Canal, 1793-1860 (Cambridge, Mass., 1938), xii, 252 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); Not at FS Library.
 * Samuel Sewall, "A Brief Survey of the Congregational Churches and Ministers in the County of Middlesex, and in Chelsea in the County of Suffolk, Ms., from the first settlement of the country to the present day" in American Quarterly Register, 11 [1838-1839]: 45-55, 174-197, 248-279, 376-402; 12 [1839-1840]: 234-250; 13 [1840-1841]: 37-57; 14 [1842]: 251-264, 393-411.
 * The Middlesex County MAGenWeb Project, an member of The MAGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Middlesex County
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Middlesex County (backup site)

Maps and Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

There are so many published maps of interest to genealogists and historians that this list will not be recreated here. The focus is with resources you can access online.
 * F. W. Beers, Middlesex County, Massachusetts (1875), for view or sale at Historic Map Works.
 * Newberry Library, Chicago, online version of their Massachusetts Historical County Boundaries.
 * Henry F. Walling, Map of Middlesex County, Massachusetts (1856), at the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library.

Military Records
Revolutionary War
 * 1775-1783 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1805-1845 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

Naturalization and Citizenship
Naturalization records were created on a variety of governmental levels from the Federal down to the city at the same time. The county records for all levels are outlines below. For more information, see the Massachusetts state page for more on naturalization.

Online Naturalization Indexes and Records - Covering Multiple Courts
 * 1971-1991 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1906-1817 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

Federal Naturalization Records for Middlesex County

Middlessex County Naturalization Records
 * Hendrik Hartog, "The Public Law of a County Court: Judicial Government in Eighteenth Century Massachusetts" in American Journal of Legal History, 20 [1976]: 282-329. A study of the records of the Middlesex County Court of General Sessions, 1728-1803. WorldCat (Other Libraries); . Digital version at Jstor ($).
 * Nathaniel Harris, Records of the Court of Nathaniel Harris, one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace within and for the county of Middlesex, holden at Watertown from 1734 to 1761 ... (Watertown, Mass., 1938), 135 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.

Newspapers

 * 1800-Current Massachusetts, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's Current at Ancestry — index & images ($)

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.

Middlesex County operates one office for the entire county holding all the records. Most probates are handled by one of the four satellite offices in the county.

Middlesex County Probate and Family Court 208 Cambridge Street East Cambridge MA 02141 Phone: 617-768-5800 Email: [mailto:middlesexprobate@middlesexprobate.com middlesexprobate@middlesexprobate.com]

Cambridge Satellite Session 121 Third Street Cambridge MA 02141

Concord Satellite Session 305 Walden Street Concord MA 01742

Marlborough Satellite Session 45 Williams Street Marlborough MA 01752

Lowell Satellite Session 360 Gorham Street Lowell MA 01852

Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1600-1799 (*) Middlesex County Clerk of Courts at FamilySearch Catalog - index
 * 1635-1991 Massachusetts Wills and Probate Records 1635-1991 at Ancestry.com — index & images ($)
 * 1648-1871 Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871 at American Ancestors — index & images ($)
 * 1648-1871 (*) at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * 1648-1924 (*) Middlesex County Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog - images, includes docket (index), papers
 * 1659-1692 (*) By Alice E. Busiel at FamilySearch Catalog - index
 * 1870-1949 (*) Massachusetts Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog - index
 * 1871-1909 Middlesex County Massachusetts Probate Index 1648-1870 at Ancestry.com — index only($)
 * 1872-1886 (*) Middlesex County Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog - images

Original Records on Microfilm at the Massachusetts Archives:
 * Docket books, #1-45383;
 * Record books, v. 1-609; File papers, #1-19846 through 1871
 * Miscellaneous index and records, 1659-1692

Manuscript Records:
 * Thomas Bellows Wyman, "Abstract of Middlesex Court files from 1649 [to 1675]," Mss 596, R. Stanton Avery Special Collections, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston ($) (with digital link).

Published Records:
 * Robert H. Rodgers, Middlesex County in the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay in New England: Records of Probate and Administration (Boston, 1999-2005), 3v. Note: Vol. 1, 1649-1660; Vol. 2, 1661-1670; Vol. 3, 1671-1676.;WorldCat (Other Libraries) (WorldCat v. 1, v. 2, v. 3;
 * Index to the Probate Records of the County of Middlesex, Massachusetts (Cambridge, Mass., 1912-1953), 10v. First Series, 1648-1870; Second Series, 1871-1909; Third Series, 1910-1924; Fourth Series, 1925-1939; Fifth Series, 1940-1949
 * First Series: FamilySearch Digital Library, American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).
 * Second Series: FamilySearch Digital Library (Vol. 1), FamilySearch Digital Library (Vol. 2), Internet Archive (Vol. 1), Internet Archive (Vol. 2)
 * Third to Fifth Series:.
 * WorldCat (Other Libraries)
 * William A. Richardson, "Judges of Probate, County of Middlesex, Mass." in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 29 [1875]: Internet Archive (pgs. 61-66); American Ancestors by NEHGS ($). ; WorldCat (Other Libraries).

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
 * 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Town Records

 * 1626-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images.

Birth

 * 1626-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1753-1900 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1800-1855 Rhode Island and Pawtucket, Massachusetts Birth Index, 1800-1855 at Ancestry - index nd images ($)
 * 1840-1910 Massachusetts, Birth Index, 1840-1910 at MyHeritage - index ($)
 * 1841-1920 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

Marriage

 * 1600-1961 Massachusetts, United States Marriages at at Findmypast — index($) — index $
 * 1626-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1841-1915 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1841-1915 Massachusetts, Marriages, 1841-1915 at MyHeritage - index ($)
 * 1841-1920 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

Death

 * 1626-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1840-1910 Massachusetts Death Index at MyHeritage - index only ($)
 * 1841-1920 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

Divorce

 * 1887-1938 (*) Middlesex County Superior Court at FamilySearch Catalog - images

FamilySearch Centers

 * Boston Massachusetts FamilySearch Center
 * Marlborough Massachusetts FamilySearch Center
 * Mount Hope Massachusetts FamilySearch Center
 * Worcester Massachusetts FamilySearch Center
 * Harvard-Yenching Library - an affiliate library
 * New England Historic Genealogical Society - an affiliate library
 * Worcester Public Library - an affiliate library

Libraries
Woburn Public Library 36 Cummings Park Woburn, MA 01801 Phone: 781-933-0148 Website For information on additional archives and repositories, see Massachusetts Archives for information on additional archives and repositories

Societies
Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Inc. P. O. Box 215 Ashland, MA 01721-0215 Website Facebook Bristol, Merrimack Valley, Middlesex and Worcester Counties

Websites

 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.

Research Guides

 * Massachusetts Genealogy Guide