Beyond-the-Basics Genealogy Resources for Tracing Massachusetts Ancestors

Around Thanksgiving, you might stand a bit taller with pride in your Mayflower Pilgrim roots.

Whether your Massachusetts ancestors include Pilgrims (who were actually headed for Virginia, but strayed off-course during a storm), Massachusetts Bay Colony settlers, Irish or French Canadian immigrants, or other Bay State residents, you can delve deeper into their genealogy records with help from our Massachusetts Genealogy: Beyond the Basics webinar.

If you’ve already done basic research using federal censuses and state-level vital records, take this opportunity to learn about more-advanced resources from Massachussetts genealogy expert Laura Prescott. Examples include:

• Massachusetts and Maine (then part of Massachusetts) Direct Tax List of 1798
• Massachusetts state censuses in 1855 and 1865
• school, business, meeting, freemen and other town records (in Massachusetts, towns are the basic record-keeping unit)
• probate, land and other court records
• the resources of the New England Historic and Genealogical Society, Massachusetts Archives and other state-specific repositories

The webinar is Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT, 5 p.m. MT, 4 p.m. PT). Anyone who registers gets access to view the webinar again as often as desired, plus handouts of the webinar slides.

Go here to learn more about the Massachusetts Genealogy: Beyond the Basics webinar and to register.