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Massachusetts
Research Outline
   

Table of Contents
Records Of The Family History Library
Family History Library Catalog
Archives And Libraries
Bible Records
Biography
Cemeteries
Census
Church Records
Court Records
Directories
Emigration And Immigration
Gazetteers
Genealogy
History
Land And Property
Maps
Military Records
Naturalization And Citizenship
Newspapers
Obituaries
Periodicals
Probate Records
Societies
Taxation
Town Records
Vital Records
For Further Reading
Comments And Suggestions

TAXATIONLook this term up in the glossary.

Tax records were recorded by state and town officials. They help identify the residence of the taxpayer. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of state tax valuations for various years from 1760 to 1771, 1780 to 1792, and 1810 to 1811. These are listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

MASSACHUSETTS - TAXATIONMASSACHUSETTS, [COUNTY], [TOWN] - TAXATIONMASSACHUSETTS, [COUNTY], [TOWN] - TOWN RECORDS

The 1771 lists have been published in:

Pruitt, Bettye Hobbs, ed. The Massachusetts Tax Valuation List of 1771. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1978. (FHL book Q 974.4 R4m; computer number 85052.)

A federal 1798 direct tax census and surname index is:

United States, Secretary of the Treasury. Massachusetts and Maine Direct Tax Census of 1798. Cambridge, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1978. (FHL film 940072-89 [does not circulate to Family History Centers]; computer number 211511.)

The original 1798 tax records are at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. These are described in:

Gorn, Michael H., ed. An Index and Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Massachusetts and Maine Direct Tax Census of 1798. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1979. (FHL book 974.R42i; computer number 300981.)

Boston tax lists of the 1800s are at:

Boston Public Library
Copley Square
Boston, MA 02177
Telephone: 617–536–5400

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TOWN RECORDSLook this term up in the glossary.

In New England the town clerk is the principal record keeper at the local level. The earliest records are called proprietor's recordsLook this term up in the glossary.. Town records generally begin with the founding of a town and are kept to the present.

Town records may contain records of births, marriages, burials, cemeteries, appointmentsLook this term up in the glossary., earmarksLook this term up in the glossary., estraysLook this term up in the glossary. (records of stray animals), freemen'sLook this term up in the glossary. oaths (men eligible to vote), land records, mortgagesLook this term up in the glossary., name changes, care of the poor, school records, surveys, tax lists, town meeting minutesLook this term up in the glossary., voter registrations, and “warnings outLook this term up in the glossary.” (of town).

The Family History Library has microfilms of many Massachusetts town records, from the beginning of the town to the mid-1860s. The original town records are at local town clerk's offices and at historical and genealogical societies. Some have been published separately or as part of town histories and are available in libraries with major New England collections.

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