Massachusetts Vital Records

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Early Records of Births, Marriages, and Deaths
Early Massachusetts vital records were recorded by town clerks. Records of births, marriages, and deaths to 1850 for about 215 towns have been published. Most of these are on microfilm and microfiche at the Family History Library. These often include information from town, church, cemetery, county, and other records. Although records of about 100 towns have not been published in book form, many of these records have been published in periodicals such as the Mayflower Descendant, with concentration on Plymouth, Bristol, and Barnstable Counties.

For Boston the Family History Library has microfilms of:


 * Birth records, 1630-1799, 1849-1890
 * Index to birth records, 1630-1955
 * Marriage records, 1646-1889
 * Index to marriage records, 1646-1910
 * Death records, 1630-1970
 * Index to death records, 1630-1848, 1870-1955

Many of the births and marriages recorded in the town records have been extracted and are listed in the International Genealogical Index at www.FamilySearch.org. The Clarence Torrey collection of New England marriages prior to 1700 is at the New England Historic Genealogical Society and on microfilm at the Family History Library:

Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Andover, Massachusetts: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1985. (Family History Library film 1320548 item 14; for source notes, see films 929494–500 [films do not circulate to Family History Centers].) Lists 17th-century marriages of Colonial New England with approximate dates.

Torrey's Bibliography to His Source Notes for New England Marriages Prior to 1700. N.l.: Williams Word Processing, 1984. Has an alphabetical list of his source notes indicating book title, author, publication date, and manuscript titles.

Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700, is on CD, edited and published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society. It has complete citations for almost all the sources cited. See also www.NewEnglandAncestors.org.

Sanborn, Melinde. Supplement to Torrey's Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1991.Has additional marriages found in Torrey's notes after his death in 1962.

Sanborn, Melinde. Second Supplement to Torrey's Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1995. Provides additional marriages found in Torrey's notes after his death in 1962.

Sanborn, Melinde Lutz, Third Supplement to Torrey's Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., [date not handy], includes the first and second supplements. It has many marriages from the Great Migration Study Project, sponsored by the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

State Records of Births, Marriages, and Deaths
The Family History Library has records of births, marriages, and deaths beginning as early as 1603, although state records start in 1841. They can be found in a Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under MASSACHUSETTS - VITAL RECORDS.

Most vital records from 1841 to 1910 are online at www.NewEnglandAncestors.org, open to members of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. You can also obtain copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates for 1841 to 1915 by writing to:

Massachusetts State Archives at Columbia Point 220 Morrissey Boulevard Boston, MA 02125 Telephone: 617–727–2816 Fax: (617) 288-8429 Email: [mailto:archives@sec.state.ma.us archives@sec.state.ma.us] Internet: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcidx.htm

Writing to the town clerkcan be the quickest way to get birth, marriage, and death information. The Family History Library has some of the vital records on microfilm:

Secretary of the Commonwealth, Massachusetts. Births, Marriages (1841–1895); Indexes to Births and Marriages (1841–1905), Deaths (1841–1971). (On 398 rolls of film, beginning with Family History Library film 961262.) Microfilms of original records are in the Division of Vital Statistics, Massachusetts.

For copies of birth, marriage, and death records from 1916 to the present, write to:

Registrar of Vital Statistics150 Mt. Vernon Street, 1st Floor Dorchester, MA 02125-3105 Telephone: 617–740–2600

State your relationship to the individual you want information about and the reason you want the information.

The current fees for copies of state records can be found at: www.vitalrec.com

Massachusetts State Archives has put the Death Record Index for the State of Massachusetts on-line, 1841-1910, Read more.

Images of certificates are online at New England Historic Genealogical Society

Many eloping couples went to Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts to be married avoiding the waiting period between the time of issuing a license and the performance of the marriage.

Divorce Records
From 1738 to about 1888, divorce records may have been filed in the county court, governor's council records, superior court of judicature, or supreme judicial court. After 1888 proceedings were usually filed at the county probate court and superior court. The library has some of these court records, including:

Massachusetts, Secretary of the Commonwealth. Divorce Index, 1952–1970. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1974. (Family History Library films 959804-5.)

Websites
The New England Historic Genealogical Society has vital records of 351 Massachusetts towns from their inception to 1850, statewide vital records from 1841-1910, and vital records 1911-1915. This is a subscription website.

The Massachusetts Vital Records Project has transcribed many of the vital records of Massachusetts to 1850.

Google Online Books: Vital Records of Massachusetts to the Year 1850 571 online books with full preview and fully searchable.

The Massachusetts Archives has a free online search of the indexes for vital records for many towns in Massachusetts for 1841-1910. After finding the record you desire from this index, you can find the applicable microfilm at the Family History Library to see the actual record.