Massachusetts Fast Facts and Key Resources

• First federal census: 1790

• State censuses: 1855,1865

• State-land state

• Statewide birth, marriage, and death records begin: 1841

• Counties: 14

• Contact for vital records:

Registry of Vital Records and Statistics 150 Mount Vernon St., First Floor Dorchester, MA 02125 (617) 740-2600

<www.mass.gov>: Click the Residents tab, Family, then Vital Records.

Web sites

• 1895 US Atlas: Massachusetts

<www.livgenmi.com/1895/MA>

• Cyndi’s List: Massachusetts

<cyndislist.com/ma.htm>

• The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633

<www.newenglandancestors.org/research/database/greatmigrations>

• Information and Historical Data on Cities, Towns and Counties

<www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cisctlist/ctlistidx.htm>

• Mass Moments <www.massmoments.com>

• Massachusetts Research Outline

<www.familysearch.org>: Click Guides, then Research Outline, and scroll to the Ms.

• Massachusetts Society of Genealogists

<rootsweb.com/~masgi>

• New Bedford Free Public Library Whaling Collection Archives

<www.ci.new-bedford.ma.us/services/library/whalingproject/whaling.htm>

Books

• Genealogist’s Handbook for New England Research, 4th edition, by Marcia D. Melnyk (NEHGS)

• The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634-1635, 3 volumes, by Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn and Melinde Lutz Sanborn (NEHGS)

• Guide to Massachusetts Cemeteries by David Allen Lambert (NEHGS)

• Inhabitants and Estates of the Town of Boston, 1630-1800 and The Crooked and Narrow Streets of Boston, 1630-1822 by Annie Haven Thwing (NEHGS)

• Massachusetts: A Concise History by Richard D. Brown and Jack Tager (University of Massachusetts Press)

• Revolutionary Boston, Lexington, and Concord by Joseph L. Andrews Jr. (Commonwealth Editions)

• Witches, Rakes and Rogues: True Stories of Scam, Scandal, Murder and Mayhem in Colonial Boston by D. Brenton Simons (Commonwealth Editions)

Organizations and Archives

• Archdiocese of Boston

Attn: Archives, 2121 Commonwealth Ave., Brighton, MA 02135, (617) 746-5797, <www.rcab.org/Archives/HomePage.html>

• Boston Public Library

700 Boylston St., Copley Square, Boston, MA 02116, (617) 536-5400, <www.bpl.org>

• Connecticut Valley Historical Society Museum

220 State St., Springfield, MA 01103, (413) 263-6800, <www.springfieldmuseums.org/museums/history>

• Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston

Box 610366, Newton, MA 02461, (617) 796-8522, <www.jgsgb.org>

• Massachusetts Archives

Columbia Point, 220 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125, (617) 727-2816, <www.sec.state.ma.us/arc>

• Massachusetts Historical Society

1154 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02215, (617) 536-1608, <www.masshist.org>

• Massachusetts National Guard Museum

44 Salisbury St., Worcester, MA 01609, (508) 797-0334, <www.mass.gov/guard/Museum/Museum_Home.htm>

• NARA Northeast Region — Boston

Frederick C. Murphy Federal Center, 380 Trapelo Road, Waltham, MA 02452, (781) 663-0130, <archives.gov/northeast/boston>

• NARA Northeast Region — Pittsfield

10 Conte Drive, Pittsfield, MA 01201, (413) 236-3600, <archives.gov/northeast/pittsfield>

• New England Historic Genealogical Society