Bristol County, Massachusetts Genealogy

United States Massachusetts  Bristol County

County Courthouse
Clerk Courts has court records from 1796 and naturalization records; Town clerks have birth, marrriage and death records, marriage and death records; Probate Court has divorce records 1921 and probate records

Towns Organized Before 1800: Attleboro 1694, Berkley 1735, Dartmouth 1652, Dighton 1712, Easton 1725, Freetown 1683, Manfield 1770, New Bedford 1787, Norton 1710, Raynham 1731, Rehoboth 1645, Sandwich 1638, Somerset 1790, Swansea 1667, Taunton 1639, Westport 1787

Parent County

 * Created 2 June 1685 from Plymouth Colony lands.
 * Bristol County is one of very few counties that border on another county with same name - Bristol County, Rhode Island.

Boundary Changes

 * In 1746, Bristol, Barrington, and Warren were awarded to Bristol County Rhode Island. At the same time, part of Attleborough, Massachusetts was annexed to Cumberland, Providence, Rhode Island. And Tiverton and Little Compton were transferred to Newport County, Rhode Island.
 * In 1862, part of Seekonk (now East Providence, Rhode Island) and the entirety of East Pawtucket were transferred to Providence County, Rhode Island. At the same time, land ceded from Rhode Island was added to Fall River and Westport.

Populated Places
Attleboro | Fall River | New Bedford | Taunton

Towns
Acushnet | Berkley | Dartmouth | Dighton | Easton | Fairhaven | Freetown | Mansfield | North Attleborough | Norton | Raynham | Rehoboth | Seekonk | Somerset | Swansea | Westport

Neighboring Counties
Norfolk | Plymouth | Rhode Island counties: Bristol | Newport | Providence

Cemeteries

 * Cemeteries of Bristol county Massachusetts at Find A Grave
 * Bristol county Massachusetts Cemeteries Database at The Plymouth Colony Pages
 * Rehoboth Cemeteries and Cemetery Transcriptions at USGenWeb

Individual cemeteries:


 * Oak Grove Cemetery, Fall River BillionGraves

State Census
1855 Massachusetts State Census—a free searchable index and images to the 1855 Massachusetts State Census can be viewed on the FamilySearch Record Search. This index includes every name listed on the census and is linked to an image including information about each person’s residence and age in 1855, birthplace, occupation, other family members, and neighbors.

1865 Massachusetts State Census—a free searchable index and images to the 1865 Massachusetts State Census can be viewed on the FamilySearch Record Search This index includes every name listed on the census and is linked to an image including information about each person’s residence and age in 1865, birthplace, occupation, other family members, and neighbors.

Directories

 * Fall River: 1896 | 1905 part 1 | 1915 | 1918 | 1921

Land
There are three Registry of Deeds in the county, located at


 * Fall River - Fall River District Registry of Deeds
 * New Bedford - Southern District Registry of Deeds
 * Taunton - Northern District Registry of Deeds

Local Histories
History of Rehoboth Massachusetts by George H. Tilton at Google Books

History of Bristol County, Massachusetts by Duane Hamiton Hurd at Internet Archive

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * North Dartmouth Massachusetts Family History Center

Web Sites

 * The Bristol County MAGenWeb Project, an member of The MAGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Bristol County
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Bristol County (backup site)
 * Family History Library catalog for Bristol County