Massachusetts, United States Genealogy

United States Massachusetts 

Guide to Massachusetts ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Massachusetts Information
Massachusetts became the twenty-second state admitted to the United States in 1819. Massachusetts was created form Massachusetts Territory and is located in the southeast region of the United States.

Massachusetts Clickable Map
Many genealogy records are kept on the county level in the United States. Click on a county below to go to the county Wiki article listing more information.

Counties
Obsolete Jurisdictions of Massachusetts:  Cornwall (ME) · Devonshire (ME) · Dominion of New England · Dukes (NY) · Maine · Massachusetts Bay Colony · New Hampshire · New Netherland · Norfolk (old) · Plymouth Colony · Yorkshire (ME)

FamilySearch Resources
Below are FamilySearch resources that can assist you in resourcing your family.
 * Facebook Communities - Facebook groups discussing genealogy research
 * Learning Center - Online genealogy courses
 * Historical Records - databases and record images on FamilySearch
 * Family History Center locator map

Additional Resources
Massachusetts *Access Genealogy – Genealogy guide for Massachusetts
 * Cyndi's List - Massachusetts genealogy sites on the internet
 * Ancestorhunt.com - resources for Massachusetts genealogy research
 * Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness - Guide to Ancestry and Family Tree Records for Massachusetts
 * Massachusetts Research Outline – Original Family History Library research outline; contains many out of date links

Historical Background
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts entered the Union on February 6, 1788, as the sixth state. It is governed under its original constitution, which was adopted in 1780. Boston (also known as "The Hub" and "Beantown") became the capitol city of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1632. It has served as the state capitol since 1780. For more information about the history of Massachusetts, see the Massachusetts History article.

Research Tools

 * The Massachusetts GenWeb Project provides county information about formation date, parent county, county seat, bibliography, cemeteries, census, churches, towns, history, look ups, obituaries, queries, repositories, surname registry, and many Internet links.
 * Massachusetts Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Massachusetts Genealogy - Guide to Ancestry and Family Tree Records information on ordering vital records, city and government links, history and facts of MA counties, printable genealogy forms, list of MA archives and societies, and terminology of genealogical terms
 * Rotating Formation Massachusetts County Boundary Maps and Atlases
 * Massachusetts Land Records provides access to indexes and search tools to find recorded records. Some counties have records, with images, available back to 1900.
 * Massachusetts Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Massachusetts Genealogy index to many record sources
 * County Creation Dates and Divisions showing dates they were created or renamed and counties created from older counties.
 * David Rumsey Map Collection is a large online collection of rare, old, antique historical atlases, globes, maps, charts plus other cartographic treasures.

Wiki articles describing these collections are found at:


 * Massachusetts Births and Christenings (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts Birth Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts Deaths and Burials (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetta Deaths (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts Marriage Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts 1855 Census (FamilySearch Historical Records
 * Massachusetts 1865 Census (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts, Naturalization Index (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts Springfield Vital Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Massachusetts, State Vital Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)



Obtain additional help

 * Call or chat with an experienced researcher
 * Join a Facebook Group
 * Consult a Professional Genealogist

Help with the Massachusetts Wiki pages
In order to make this wiki a better research tool, we need your help! Many tasks need willing volunteers. You can help:


 * Expand county articles
 * Check links on pages
 * ...and more

Find more opportunities to help with the Massachusetts pages.

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