Massachusetts Vital Records

United States   Massachusetts    Vital Records

This data has been superseded by the Vital Records section on the new Massachusetts Genealogy Guide. Go there to find much more information and more online record links.

Birth, Marriage, and Death Records
The original vital record resides in the town or city where the event occurred (in colonial times, a family group of birth can include events from other towns). The recording of these records was ordered by the government as early as 1639, though not all places followed the law. Both Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Colony started to collect these records in a central location, but the practice died out by the mid-17th Century. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts was the first state to create a permanent, statewide recording system starting in 1841. It is notable that the city of Boston lagged behind in reporting to the state and its records do not show up in the state system until a tougher regulation was implemented in 1850 (though the city did record these records locally). The only vital records closed to the public are the original births of amended records and those can be opened by a judge.

The original record still is found with the clerk of the town or city. All these records back to the earliest settlement of a town can always be viewed at the town or city clerk’s office. Most all town and city vital records have been microfilmed by the Family History Library and microfiched by the Holbrook Research Institute of Oxford, Mass. [now Archive Publishing of Provo, Utah]. This tends to be the most complete record of the event. Since 1841, there should be a second copy with the state and sometimes has abbreviated information from the original. This second copy is the most widely available source for researchers. It has been preserved by the same two vendors listed above and can be found on online in a variety of places and forms as listed below. Top of Page

Pre-1850 and "Tan Books"
Before 1900, a few towns started publishing their own vital records in book form. The records were usually re-arranged into alphabetical order but separated by births, marriages, and deaths. Church and private records were added to get a more complete record and were clearly noted. The Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants published a few of these volumes along with the Systematic History Fund (a state fund); Essex Institute in Salem; Topsfield Historical Society, and others. The greatest number were published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston, in part from their Eddy Town-Record Fund. About two-thirds of the state (roughly 236 towns) has been published from the original town records and a few still are being released today. Check the Mass. Town Pre-1850 Published Vital Records Guide for a listing of the towns published so far. There are links to some online versions below. A search in Google will reveal many town / region specific sites that have reproduced the volumes online or pdf versions available for downloading.

Tan Books For most Massachusetts towns, the New England Historical & Genealogical Society, the Salem Institute, and several other entities published the vital records of the town up to 1850 as part of a somewhat coordinated project. These are called the Tan Books. Because they were published in the early 20th century, they are out of copyright and are widely available in digitized form. When entities such as Ancestry advertise databases containing vital records up to 1850, they are usually talking only about these books.--Massachusetts Online Vital Records Research Guide Top of Page

Pre-1850 Online
AmericanAncestors.org ($)


 * Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 [Not complete, but list available by "volume" menu]

Ancestry.com ($)

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 * Massachusetts Town Birth Records
 * Massachusetts Town Marriage Records
 * Massachusetts Town Death Records [Only a handful of volume have been uploaded]
 * Massachusetts Marriages, 1633-1850 [extracted from FHL films of original records, not complete, but extensive]
 * Frederic W. Bailey, Early Massachusetts Marriages Prior to 1800 [church records only]

1841 - 1920
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts was the first state to create statewide vital records in the modern sense starting in 1841. It is notable that the city of Boston lagged behind reporting to the state and its records do not show up at the state until about 1850 (though the city maintained its own records before then). The original state records are held by:

Massachusetts Archives 220 Morrissey Blvd. Boston MA 02125 Phone 617-727-2816 Email [mailto:archives@sec.state.ma.us archives@sec.state.ma.us] Hours and Directions

Visitors can make their own copies from the microfilmed copies or request certified copies per their rules. The archives only has the amended records up to v. 42 (1900). They have an online index to the records for 1841 to 1910 that is searchable for first name, last name, town, start year, end year, and type of record. Note that this is exact spelling searches only. Records can be ordered by email. No more than five requests per order and they are billed with your photocopies.

These records can be viewed online in two locations:

New England Historic Genealogical Society 99 - 101 Newbury Street Boston MA 02116 Phone 888-296-3447

The NEHGS has two online databases at their American Ancestors website for 1841 to 1910 and 1911 to 1915. You must be a member of the Society to access these indexes and the actual records which are linked from this index. The records are searchable in the same manner as the Mass. Archives above, though the last name can be searched by Soundex. If you go to the library, there are book indexes in five-year blocks for births, 1900-1950, marriages, 1900-1955, 1966-1970, and deaths, 1900-1980. They also have the amended birth records indexes for to 1929 (1 v.) [going back to 1841], to 1944 (2 v.), to 1962 (3 v.), to 1965 (1 v.), and to 1968 (1 v.). These indexes beyond 1920 are not generally available elsewhere.


 * Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910 ($) [all indexes, records, and amended births]
 * Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911-1915 ($) [all indexes, records, and amended births]

Family History Library 35 North West Temple Street Salt Lake City UT 84150 Phone 866-406-1830

This library and its many branches (where you can borrow the microfilm for a small fee) will have all the same records as listed above. You can access online for free:

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 * Births, 1841-1915 [index and records from 1909 to 1915 ONLY]
 * Marriages, 1841-1915 [index and records from 1905(?) to 1915 ONLY]
 * Deaths, 1841-1915 [index and records from 1910(?) to 1915 ONLY]
 * Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920 [ACTUALLY, only 1916 to 1920, browsable by volume and page only]

1921 - present
The original state records are held by:

Registry of Vital Records and Statistics 150 Mount Vernon St., 1st Floor Dorchester MA 02125 Phone 617-740-2600 Email [mailto:vital.recordsrequest@state.ma.us vital.recordsrequest@state.ma.us] They have limited research hours

This office only makes certified copies of vital records. There are several ways to purchases copies both online and in person. This office also has the amended birth records after v. 42 (1900) and a statewide index to divorces from 1952 to the present (though the record itself will be with the probate court). There is a computerized index for the most recent records and five-year block indexes for births, marriages, and deaths onsite.

Every five years, another block of five years is transferred to the State Archives and at the same time is made available through the New England Historic Genealogical Society and to the Family History Library. This office restricts access only by the fact that they are the only ones with the records. These records are open to the public. The original town copies are always open to the public.

Ancestry.com has the following (index only):

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 * Massachusetts, Death Index, 1901-1980 ($)
 * Death Index, 1970-2003 ($)

Divorce Records
Divorce records have been handled by the probate court system since 1922 and commonly filed where the couple last lived together. These are public records (with minor exceptions). There is a statewide index that starts in 1952 at the Registry listed above. Before that, the county Superior Court had jurisdiction. From 1786 to 1887, all cases were administered through the Supreme Judicial Court. All these records are held at the Judicial Archives in the Mass. Archives facility. The earliest divorce records are scattered through a variety of courts who held joint jurisdiction.

The Supreme Judicial Court created a fact sheet for the public in 2004 and the summary of it is below:

For the location of the records, use the chart below that was created by the Supreme Judicial Court Archives in 2004: Location of Massachusetts Divorce Records Top of Page

Adoption Records
Like most all states, Massachusetts seals the records of adoption that include the original birth certificate with the biological parents. These records stay sealed unless opened by court order. Who can see this sealed information is limited by law. There is no way a person can know they are adopted without being told by someone. There are several registries online set up to assist adoptees and biological parents help find each other. To order your pre-adoption birth certificate, download the instructions and form. To learn more about the history of adoption in Massachusetts, see Joseph Ben-Or, "The Law of Adoption in the United States: Its Massachusetts Origins and the Statute of 1851" in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 130 [1976]: 259-269, and online at American Ancestors ($). Thanks to the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants for their contributions to this page