Massachusetts Genealogy

This page of our website provides links to Massachusetts genealogy databases and historical narratives about Massachusetts. These genealogical records may include, vital records (birth, marriage and divorce, death), ethnic records (Native American), court records (land, probate and wills, criminal and civil), church records (Bibles, baptisms, marriages, burials and histories), cemeteries, census records, military records directories and yearbooks.

Massachusetts Biographies

Massachusetts Cemetery Records

Massachusetts Census Records

  • Massachusetts Census Records
    • State Census
      State census records of Massachusetts were taken every ten years from 1855 to 1945, but only the original population schedules for the 1855 and 1865 census still exist.
      • 1855 Massachusetts State Census
        This project was indexed in partnership with the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS). Name index and images of population schedules listing inhabitants of the State of Massachusetts in 1855.
      • 1865 Massachusetts State Census
        This project was indexed in partnership with the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS). Name index and images of population schedules listing inhabitants of the State of Massachusetts in 1865.
      • 1910 Massachusetts Census Map
    • The Massachusetts Tax Valuation List of 1771
      This collection contains the names and descriptions of taxable property of nearly 38,000 individuals who resided in 152 Massachusetts towns in 1771. Data items include type and value (in pounds, shillings, and pence) of real estate, buildings, and other assets, as well as tabulation of livestock and farm commodities produced. Specific variables pertaining to value of real estate, buildings, and other assets include annual worth of whole real estate, tons of vessels, value of trading stock, value of factorage or commissions, value of money lent at interest, and types of buildings (e.g., tanhouses, stillhouses, warehouses, gristmills, superficial feet of wharf, ironworks). With respect to tabulation of livestock, variables provide information on number of horses, oxen, cows, goats, sheep, and swine. Data describing farm commodities cover acres of pasture, number of cows the pasture will keep, acres of tillage, bushels of grain produced per year, barrels of cider produced per year, acres of salt marsh, tons of salt marsh hay per year, acres of English and upland mowing land, tons of English and upland hay per year, acres of fresh meadow, and tons of fresh meadow hay per year. Other variables specify taxpayer name, title (e.g., widow, doctor, blacksmith), and status of taxpayer (e.g., decedent, landlord, free Negro).

Massachusetts Church Records

Massachusetts County History and Genealogies

Massachusetts Court Records

Essex County

Hampshire County

Hampshire County MA Inferior Court of Common Pleas Records, 1677-1837
These twenty-six folio volumes of records come from the Inferior Court of Common Pleas of Hampshire County MA which were held at Springfield and Northampton Massachusetts. These courts handled civil and minor criminal matter, and the majority of volumes appear to be unindexed. Regardless, these records will prove to genealogists with ties to Hampshire County Massachusetts. The physical copies of these volumes are held at the Amherst Library at the University of Massachusetts. They have made them freely available in PDF format for download.

Massachusetts Directories

Massachusetts Family Genealogy

  • Alvord Genealogy
    • A genealogy of the descendants of Alexander Alvord
      This volume presents an extensive genealogy of the descendants of Alexander Alvord, an early settler of Windsor, Connecticut, and Northampton, Massachusetts. Its preparation rests upon more than forty years of intermittent research, revision, and expansion, drawing together the efforts of several generations of family historians.
  • Bacon Genealogy
    • Michael Bacon of Dedham Massachusetts and his descendants
      This is a genealogy of Michael Bacon of Dedham and his descendants. Michael arrived in Dedham, Massachusetts in 1640 after sailing aboard an unnamed ship, likely from County of Suffolk, England, but possibly from Ireland. Baldwin treats the descendants of each of the three sons of Michael—Michael Jr., Daniel, and John—in a separate chapter, the first chapter being devoted to Michael Sr. and his English roots. The early descendants settled in Bedford, Billerica, Bridgewater, Cambridge, Dedham, Newton, Salem, Watertown, and Woburn Massachusetts.
  • Blanchard Family
    • Commemorative of Calvin and Luther Blanchard
      This commemorative work by Alfred Sereno Hudson is a historical tribute to Calvin and Luther Blanchard, two brothers who served as Acton Minute-Men during the onset of the American Revolution. Hudson explores the dramatic events of April 19, 1775, specifically highlighting Luther Blanchard’s role as the fifer who led Captain Isaac Davis’s company toward the Old North Bridge to the defiant tune of “The White Cockade.” Beyond documenting the military maneuvers and the “shot heard round the world,” the author integrates local genealogy and oral tradition to establish that Luther eventually died from wounds sustained during the conflict.
  • Chaffin Family
    • History of Robert Chaffin and his descendants
      William L. Chaffin’s 1913 genealogical study, *History of Robert Chaffin and his descendants*, chronicles the Chaffin family lineage from colonial origins to the early 20th century. It explores Robert Chaffin, the immigrant ancestor, and his marriage to Abigail Davis in 1719, including their life in Massachusetts and the challenges faced by their family. The book emphasizes the connection between family history and broader historical events, such as the Revolutionary War, while acknowledging the limitations of historical records and oral traditions.
  • Dickinson Family
    • Lyman, Dickinson, Partridge Genealogy
      This 1865 pamphlet is a genealogical record focused on the Lyman, Dickinson, and Partridge families of New England and Canada. Compiled by James T. Dickinson, the text reconstructs lineage through historical deeds, probate records, and tombstone inscriptions to correct previous errors (pre 1865) in published family histories. The document centers on the Lyman branch in Middlefield, the Dickinsons of Montreal, and the Partridges of Hatfield, documenting their arrival and subsequent settlement in New England. Detailed pedigree charts and narrative biographies illustrate connections to significant colonial figures, including several governors and prominent ministers.
  • Fletcher Family
    • Descendants of Robert Fletcher of Concord, Massachusetts
      Edward H. Fletcher presents a structured history of the Fletcher family, tracing the surname from its French occupational origin meaning “arrow-maker” to its establishment and growth in England and North America. It identifies Robert Fletcher as the principal progenitor in New England, settling at Concord in 1630, from whom three major family lines developed. Rather than limiting itself to names and dates, the work situates the family within its social and historical context, noting associations with the English gentry and participation in early American military events. Through biographical sketches and compiled vital records, it follows the family’s progression from early Puritan settlers to prominent figures in law, medicine, the military, and other professions.
  • Lyman Family
    • Lyman, Dickinson, Partridge Genealogy
      This 1865 pamphlet is a genealogical record focused on the Lyman, Dickinson, and Partridge families of New England and Canada. Compiled by James T. Dickinson, the text reconstructs lineage through historical deeds, probate records, and tombstone inscriptions to correct previous errors (pre 1865) in published family histories. The document centers on the Lyman branch in Middlefield, the Dickinsons of Montreal, and the Partridges of Hatfield, documenting their arrival and subsequent settlement in New England. Detailed pedigree charts and narrative biographies illustrate connections to significant colonial figures, including several governors and prominent ministers.
  • Partridge Family
    • Lyman, Dickinson, Partridge Genealogy
      This 1865 pamphlet is a genealogical record focused on the Lyman, Dickinson, and Partridge families of New England and Canada. Compiled by James T. Dickinson, the text reconstructs lineage through historical deeds, probate records, and tombstone inscriptions to correct previous errors (pre 1865) in published family histories. The document centers on the Lyman branch in Middlefield, the Dickinsons of Montreal, and the Partridges of Hatfield, documenting their arrival and subsequent settlement in New England. Detailed pedigree charts and narrative biographies illustrate connections to significant colonial figures, including several governors and prominent ministers.
  • Patten Family
    • William Patten of Cambridge 1635 and his descendants
      The Patten genealogy is quite expansive in its 290 pages, as it presents known descendants of William Patten of Cambridge down through nine generation. Published in 1908 it lacks the source and quality control of more recent professional genealogies, but still provides Patten descendants with plenty of material for their genealogical research. Early descendants of William Patten resided in Amesbury, Billerica, Cambridge, and Tewksbury, Massachusetts; as well as Killingly, Stafford, and Windham, Connecticut and Lincoln County, Maine.
  • Ranney Family
    • Middletown Upper Houses
      A history of the north society of Middletown, Connecticut, from 1650 to 1800, with genealogical and biographical chapters on early families and a full genealogy of the Ranney family
  • Shepard Family
  • Stone Family
    • Ancestry and Descendants of Dea. Gregory Stone of Cambridge, Massachusetts
      Gregory Stone Genealogy: Ancestry and Descendants of Dea. Gregory Stone of Cambridge, Mass. 1320–1917 was compiled by Bartlett J. Gardner and published in Boston in 1918 under the auspices of the Stone Family Association. It represented the first comprehensive genealogical study of all known descendants of Deacon Gregory Stone. Gregory was an early settler of New England who arrived in 1635 from Great Bromley and Nayland, England. Gardner includes detailed research into Gregory’s English ancestry.
  • Winchell Family
    • Genealogy of Robert Winchell of Egremont Massachusetts
      The Winchell family of Egremont, Mass. stems originally from that of Robert Winchell of Windsor, Conn. The “Genealogy of the Winchell Family” by Alexander Winchell (early edition of 1869 and a new and revised edition of 1917), seems to give the earlier generations of this family correctly, but it fails to make the proper connection for David and Azariah and Joseph Winchell of Egremont. This book corrects that.
  • Woodworth Family

Massachusetts Genealogy and History

Massachusetts Bay Records 1628-1686
The “Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England” is a five-volume collection that documents the proceedings of the Massachusetts Bay Company and its early colonial government from 1628 to 1686. The first two volumes cover events leading to the 1630 charter transfer and subsequent General Court records. Later volumes encompass significant government activities until the provincial charter of 1692. The records have been carefully transcribed from fragile manuscripts to preserve original spelling and include supplemental indexes for key historical figures.

Massachusetts Genealogy Websites

USGenWeb Project

Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, Worcester

American History and Genealogy Project

Massachusetts Immigration and Emigration Records

The Original Lists of Persons of Quality
The Original Lists of Persons of Quality by Totten is an important printed source for the study of early English emigration to America in the seventeenth century. It offers a consolidated presentation of surviving official and semi-official records relating to passengers who left England during the decades prior to organized colonial record keeping in the United States. Researchers value the work for its accuracy, the breadth of material gathered, and the fact that it reproduces records that might otherwise require consultation across dispersed archives. For the period before regular colonial vital records and town records, these lists often provide the first documented appearance of an emigrant.

Massachusetts Land Records

  • Massachusetts Land Records website
    Massachusetts is divided into 21 registry districts with an elected Register of Deeds responsible for each office. Documents related to the ownership of real estate within the district are recorded at the Registry of Deeds. Recorded documents are assigned a sequential identifying number (known as the book and page number) and are then scanned into the registry’s computer system. The resulting images are available for viewing on and printing from public access terminals at the registry and at your home or office over the Internet. In addition, all registries microfilm all recorded documents and most continue to produce record books containing document images on paper. In most cases, original documents are returned to the land owner. To assist customers in finding relevant documents, registries create a searchable index that contains the names of all parties to a document and the property address.

Massachusetts Military Records

Massachusetts Native American Records

Massachusetts Newspapers

Massachusetts Town History, Genealogy and Records

Massachusetts Vital Records

Massachusetts Yearbooks and School History