Free Massachusetts Vital Records

Vital Records of Bellingham Massachusetts to 1850

This is a collection of free vital records books, most of them known by “Tan Books” for Massachusetts towns. Generally, these records go up to 1849/1850 at which, the genealogist can use the census records to assist in identifying the family connections further. They’re called “tan books” because they were bound by tan cloth. Included with this article is an account of why and how these manuscripts were published along with links to all 205 Massachusetts vital records pdfs which can be freely read or downloaded.

Leach Genealogy of Bridgewater, Massachusetts

James Cushing Leach

This page treats the Leach Genealogy of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, starting with Lawrence Leach, the immigrant ancestor, and descending to the James Cushing Leach family of Bridgewater, Mass.

Ezekiel Cheever and some of his Descendants

Ezekiel Cheever and some of his descendants

The paper entitled Ezekiel Cheever and Some of his Descendants was prepared for, and published in, the New England Historical and Genealogical Register for April 1879. The same type has now been used to print a few copies in pamphlet form, for private distribution. There has been added to it, as an Appendix, the Cheever Manuscript in the Library of the Boston Athenaeum, now for the first time printed in full.