Massachusetts, United States Genealogy

United States Massachusetts

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

For a detailed research guide for Massachusetts, see the Massachusetts Genealogy Guide page. Welcome to the Massachusetts page, the Bay StateMost unique genealogical features:


 * New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS)
 * Published BMDs of 215 towns to 1850
 * Large number of family histories
 * Mayflower, &amp; Great Migration records
 * Congregational Church records
 * Warnings out town records

Counties
For a list of the cities and towns of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with the dates of when they were settled, when incorporated as a town and, if applicable, when incorporated as a city, as well as the county in which there are located, see Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates.

Click on the map below to go to a county page. Hover over a county to see its name. Obsolete Jurisdictions of Massachusetts:  Cornwall (ME) · Devonshire (ME) · Dominion of New England · Dukes (NY) · Maine · Massachusetts Bay Colony · New Hampshire · New Netherland · Norfolk (old) · Plymouth Colony · Yorkshire (ME)

Major Repositories
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Migration Routes
Bay Road· Catskill Road· Coast Path· Greenwood Road· Kennebunk Road· King's Highway · Boston Post Road· Massachusetts Turnpike· Mohawk Trail· Old Connecticut Path· Old Roebuck Road· Connecticut River· Atlantic Coast Ports

Historical Background
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts entered the Union on February 6, 1788, as the sixth state. It is governed under its original constitution, which was adopted in 1780. Boston (also known as "The Hub" and "Beantown") became the capitol city of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1632. It has served as the state capitol since 1780. For more information about the history of Massachusetts, see the Massachusetts History article.

Research Tools

 * The Massachusetts GenWeb Project provides county information about formation date, parent county, county seat, bibliography, cemeteries, census, churches, towns, history, look ups, obituaries, queries, repositories, surname registry, and many Internet links.
 * Massachusetts Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Massachusetts Genealogy - Guide to Ancestry and Family Tree Records information on ordering vital records, city and government links, history and facts of MA counties, printable genealogy forms, list of MA archives and societies, and terminology of genealogical terms
 * Rotating Formation Massachusetts County Boundary Maps and Atlases
 * Massachusetts Land Records provides access to indexes and search tools to find recorded records. Some counties have records, with images, available back to 1900.
 * Massachusetts Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Massachusetts Genealogy index to many record sources
 * County Creation Dates and Divisions showing dates they were created or renamed and counties created from older counties.
 * David Rumsey Map Collection is a large online collection of rare, old, antique historical atlases, globes, maps, charts plus other cartographic treasures.

Wiki articles describing these collections are found at:


 * Massachusetts Births and Christenings (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts Birth Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts Deaths and Burials (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetta Deaths (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts Marriage Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts 1855 Census (FamilySearch Historical Records
 * Massachusetts 1865 Census (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts, Naturalization Index (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts Springfield Vital Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts, State Vital Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)



Obtain additional help

 * Call or chat with an experienced researcher
 * Join a Facebook Group
 * Consult a Professional Genealogist

Help with the Massachusetts Wiki pages
In order to make this wiki a better research tool, we need your help! Many tasks need willing volunteers. You can help:


 * Expand county articles
 * Check links on pages
 * ...and more

Find more opportunities to help with the Massachusetts pages.

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