Massachusetts Research Tips and Strategies

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Purpose of Research Tips and Strategies Wiki Page

The Massachusetts Research Tips and Strategies page consists of links to specific research strategies for Massachusetts. It also contains general tips and other resources for finding your ancestors in this locality.

Massachusetts Research Strategies[edit | edit source]

Below are links to different research strategy pages to help you locate your ancestors in Massachusetts:

Finding Massachusetts Birth, Marriage or Death Records[edit | edit source]

Finding Massachusetts Records[edit | edit source]

Massachusetts Statewide Databases[edit | edit source]

Massachusetts Research Process[edit | edit source]

Massachusetts Research Tips[edit | edit source]

These tips will help you as you research your ancestors in Massachusetts:

Birth and Death information:

  • Statewide registration: Birth and Death records in Massachusetts on the state level start in 1841. General compliance date is unknown.[1]
  • Town Records: Town records included information about birth, marriage, and death before state registration in 1841. Town records can start as early as the 1630s or when the town was established.[2]
  • Access to records: See Massachusetts Vital Records for more information about birth, marriages, and deaths in Massachusetts.


Substitute Records:

  • Secondary source: Substitute records are used when primary sources do not exist for an event, such as birth, marriage, and deaths. Secondary sources list information about the event but they were not recorded at the time of the event and they are not an official record of the event.
  • Accuracy: Because the information about an event in substitute records was not the official recording of the event (such as, cemetery or obituary records) inaccuracy may occur. Use other substitute records to help verify information.
  • List of substitute records: See Massachusetts Substitute Records for more information.


Finding Parents:

  • Death records: Death records created in the town records or by the state starting in 1841 may include information about the parents. However, information was not always provided and the accuracy of the information was limited by the grieving relatives' memory.
  • Obituaries: Official obituaries can also include the names of parents and other family members. See Massachusetts Newspapers and Massachusetts Obituaries for more information.
  • Church records: Knowing the denomination of the church the family belonged to helps in locating information about the parents. See Massachusetts Church Records for more information.


Census Records:

  • Check all census years: Always look for your ancestor in every possible census to learn more about them and their family members. See Massachusetts Census Records for more information.
  • Clues to other records: There are clues in censuses regarding immigration, naturalization, and occupation that can lead to other records.
  • Finding families: Starting in 1850, all members of the household were listed in the census. By 1880, relationship to the head of household was added.

Further Massachusetts Research[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Massachusetts Research Outline. Salt Lake City, Utah: Intellectual Reserve, Inc., Family History Department, 1997, 30-33. (Accessed 20 Feb 2025). Online at: BYU University - Provo
  2. ↑ Massachusetts Research Outline. Salt Lake City, Utah: Intellectual Reserve, Inc., Family History Department, 1997, 30-33. (Accessed 20 Feb 2025). Online at: BYU University - Provo
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