Massachusetts Colonial Records: Difference between revisions

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| link1=[[United States Genealogy|United States]]
| link1=[[United States Genealogy|United States]]
| link2=[[United States Colonial Records|U.S. Colonial Records]]
| link2=[[United States Colonial Records|U.S. Colonial Records]]
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| link5=[[Massachusetts Colonial Records|Colonial Records]]
| link5=[[Massachusetts Colonial Records|Colonial Records]]
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==Online Records==
''Many records from the colonial era in New England were kept at the town or county level. Search the catalog at the town or county level to locate those records.''
*{{FSC|1055547|item|disp='''1622-1788'''- Massachusetts State Archives collection, colonial period}}-index & images. ''This collection includes agricultural, dispositions, ecclesiastical, estates, foreign affairs, Hutchinson's correspondence, Indian affairs, maritime, military, and other records.''
*{{FSC|341084|item|disp='''1628-1777'''- Colony records}}- images only.
*{{FSC|300720|item|disp='''1718-1772'''- Court records and account books}}- images only.
*{{FSC|339255|item|disp='''1760-1786'''- Divorce records}}-images only.
*{{RecordSearch|2548057|'''1767-1833'''- Muster rolls (index file cards) of the Revolutionary War, Massachusetts}}-index & images.
*{{FSC|1471369|item|disp='''1603-1779'''- French and Indian War muster roll index cards}}- images only.
==History==
==History==
The Plymouth Colony in 1620 and the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 were the first permanent European settlements. The Bay Colony originally included parts of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Southern Maine.<ref>Christina K. Schaefer, ''Genealogical encyclopedia of the colonial Americas : a complete digest of the records of all the countries of the Western Hemisphere'' (Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c1998), 243. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39622039 WorldCat (Other Libraries)]; {{FSC|822639|item|disp=FS Catalog book 929.11812 D26 1998}}</ref>
The Plymouth Colony in 1620 and the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 were the first permanent European settlements. The Bay Colony originally included parts of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Southern Maine.<ref>Christina K. Schaefer, ''Genealogical encyclopedia of the colonial Americas : a complete digest of the records of all the countries of the Western Hemisphere'' (Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c1998), 243. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39622039 WorldCat (Other Libraries)]; {{FHL|822639|item|disp=FHL book 929.11812 D26 1998}}</ref>


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| width="25%" bgcolor="#cc9999" align="left" |'''Earliest Newspapers'''
| width="25%" bgcolor="#cc9999" align="left" |'''Earliest Newspapers'''
|-
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|1620
| 1620
|1620
| 1620
|1620
| 1620
|1704
| 1704
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<ref>Christina K. Schaefer, ''Genealogical encyclopedia of the colonial Americas : a complete digest of the records of all the countries of the Western Hemisphere'' (Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c1998), 183, 192. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39622039 WorldCat (Other Libraries)]; {{FSC|822639|item|disp=FS Catalog book 929.11812 D26 1998}}</ref>
<ref>Christina K. Schaefer, ''Genealogical encyclopedia of the colonial Americas : a complete digest of the records of all the countries of the Western Hemisphere'' (Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c1998), 183, 192. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39622039 WorldCat (Other Libraries)]; {{FHL|822639|item|disp=FHL book 929.11812 D26 1998}}</ref>
 
==Resources==


==Statewide Records and Resources==
[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1055547?availability=Family%20History%20Library 1622-1788, Massachusetts State Archives collection, colonial period]. Digitized but not indexed. This collection includes agricultural, dispositions, ecclesiastical, estates, foreign affairs, Hutchinson's correspondence, Indian affairs, maritime, military, and other records.
===Court Records===
===Court Records===
 
Under the Charter of 1629, all official meeting notes were listed as "courts."<ref>Christina K. Schaefer, ''Genealogical encyclopedia of the colonial Americas : a complete digest of the records of all the countries of the Western Hemisphere'' (Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c1998), 243, [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39622039 WorldCat (Other Libraries)]; {{FHL|822639|item|disp=FHL book 929.11812 D26 1998}}</ref><br>
* {{FSC|267953|item|disp=Records of the court of Assistants of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay, 1630-1692}}. 3 Vols. (Boston: County of Suffolk, 1901-1928, film 046679).
'''General Court (1620-1684, 1692-1825)'''.
 
:*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/341084?availability=Family%20History%20Library 1628-1777]. Film 0954385. Digitized but not indexed.<Br>
'''Court of Assistants (1630-1686, 1689-1692)''' This was the appellate court for county and inferior courts. It also was the jurisdiction for capital crimes and divorces. For a short time in the 1680s, the Court of Assistants  was under the Governor and Council appointed by the Crown.<ref>Christina K. Schaefer, ''Genealogical encyclopedia of the colonial Americas : a complete digest of the records of all the countries of the Western Hemisphere'' (Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c1998), 243. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39622039 WorldCat (Other Libraries)]; {{FHL|822639|item|disp=FHL book 929.11812 D26 1998}}</ref>
:*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/267953?availability=Family%20History%20Library Records of the court of Assistants of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay, 1630-1692]. 3 Vols. (Boston: County of Suffolk, 1901-1928, film 046679).
'''Vice-Admiralty Court (1714-1772, 1692-1775)'''<br>
:*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/300720?availability=Family%20History%20Library 1718-1772, Court records and account books]. Film 902790. Digitized but not indexed.
'''Massachusetts Governor and Council'''<br>
:*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/339255?availability=Family%20History%20Library 1760-1786, Divorce Records]. Film 0946895, item 3. Digitized but not indexed.
===Military Records===
===Military Records===
:*{{RecordSearch|2548057|1767-1833, Muster rolls (index file cards) of the Revolutionary War, Massachusetts}}. Digitized and indexed.
:*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1471369?availability=Family%20History%20Library 1603-1779, French and Indian War muster roll index cards]. Digitized but not indexed.


*''Massachusetts Officers and Soldiers, 1702-1722: Queen Anne's War to Dummer's War'' by Mary E. Donahue. (Boston: Society of Colonial Wars, 1980).
*''Massachusetts Officers and Soldiers, 1723-1743: Dummer's War to the War Jenkins' Ear'' by Myron O. Stachiw. (Boston: Society of Colonial Wars, 1979).
*''Massachusetts Officers in the French and Indian Wars, 1748-1763'' by Nancy S. Voye. (Boston: Society of Colonial Wars, 1975).
*[https://archive.org/details/massachusettsoff00dore ''Massachusetts Officers and Soldiers in the Seventeenth Century Conflicts'' by Carole Doreski. (Boston: Society of Colonial Wars, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1982)].
*''Massachusetts Soldiers in the French and Indian Wars, 1744-1755'' by David K. Goss. (Boston: Society of Colonial Wars, 1985).
*{{FSC|306798|item|disp=''Membership Roll of Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, 1637-1744, Massachusetts Bay Colony''}}.
*''Soldiers in the French War from Essex County, 1775-1800'' by Eben Putnam. (Salem, MA: Historical Society of Essex, 1892).
*[https://archive.org/details/soldiersinkingp00bodggoog/page/n9 ''Soldiers in King Philip's War''] by George M. Bodge. (1906. Reprint. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1991).
*''[https://archive.org/details/historyofwoburnm00sewa/page/n6/mode/2up Woburn Men in the Indian and Other Wars Previous to the Year 1754]'' by Arthur Greene Loring. (Boston, Mass.: David Clapp & Son, 1897).
===Newspapers===
*[https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/567919-redirection ''Checklist of Boston Newspapers, 1704-1780''] by Mary Farwell Ayer. (Boston: Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 1907).
*{{FSC|230790|item|disp=''Index of Obituaries in Boston Newspapers, 1704-1800''}}. 3 Vols. (Boston: G.K. Hall, 1968).
===Manuscript Collections===


*''Berkshire Athenaeum'', Pittsfield Public Library. Massachusetts family history files, 1550-1990.
==Manuscript Collections==
*[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&query=%2Bkeywords%3ACollections%20%2Bkeywords%3Aof%20%2Bkeywords%3Athe%20%2Bkeywords%3AMassachusetts%20%2Bkeywords%3AHistorical%20%2Bkeywords%3ASociety ''Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society''].
==Additional Reading==
*{{FSC|549995|item|disp=''Elmer I. Shepard Collection: Massachusetts family group records, 1550-1900''}}. Partially digitized but not indexed.
*''The Judd Manuscript Collection, 1625-1850'' at the Forbes Public Library in Northamption.
*''Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants: The Bowman Files'' by George Ernest Bowman. (Boston: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1983).
*''Rollin H. Cooke Collections''. A series of town records. Some of these records have been digitized on FamilySearch, and can be found by searching for the town of interest in the library catalog.
*{{FSC|199269|item|disp=''Walter E. Corbin Manuscript Collection''}} at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston. Digitized but not indexed.


==References==
== References ==


[[Category:Massachusetts,_United_States]]
[[Category:Massachusetts,_United_States]]
<references />

Revision as of 10:02, 20 December 2019

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History[edit | edit source]

The Plymouth Colony in 1620 and the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 were the first permanent European settlements. The Bay Colony originally included parts of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Southern Maine.[1]

Earliest Church Records Earliest Land Records Earliest Court Records Earliest Newspapers
1620 1620 1620 1704

[2]

Statewide Records and Resources[edit | edit source]

1622-1788, Massachusetts State Archives collection, colonial period. Digitized but not indexed. This collection includes agricultural, dispositions, ecclesiastical, estates, foreign affairs, Hutchinson's correspondence, Indian affairs, maritime, military, and other records.

Court Records[edit | edit source]

Under the Charter of 1629, all official meeting notes were listed as "courts."[3]
General Court (1620-1684, 1692-1825).

  • 1628-1777. Film 0954385. Digitized but not indexed.

Court of Assistants (1630-1686, 1689-1692) This was the appellate court for county and inferior courts. It also was the jurisdiction for capital crimes and divorces. For a short time in the 1680s, the Court of Assistants was under the Governor and Council appointed by the Crown.[4]

Vice-Admiralty Court (1714-1772, 1692-1775)

Massachusetts Governor and Council

Military Records[edit | edit source]


Manuscript Collections[edit | edit source]

Additional Reading[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Christina K. Schaefer, Genealogical encyclopedia of the colonial Americas : a complete digest of the records of all the countries of the Western Hemisphere (Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c1998), 243. WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 929.11812 D26 1998
  2. ↑ Christina K. Schaefer, Genealogical encyclopedia of the colonial Americas : a complete digest of the records of all the countries of the Western Hemisphere (Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c1998), 183, 192. WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 929.11812 D26 1998
  3. ↑ Christina K. Schaefer, Genealogical encyclopedia of the colonial Americas : a complete digest of the records of all the countries of the Western Hemisphere (Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c1998), 243, WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 929.11812 D26 1998
  4. ↑ Christina K. Schaefer, Genealogical encyclopedia of the colonial Americas : a complete digest of the records of all the countries of the Western Hemisphere (Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c1998), 243. WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 929.11812 D26 1998
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