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 UMass Amherst Libraries Home  »  Subject Research Guides Home  »  Genealogy

Genealogy 

A guide to selected genealogical resources at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library.
Last update: Jun 10th, 2009 URL: http://guides.library.umass.edu/genealogy  Print Guide  RSS Updates

Vital Records             Print Page
  
 

Introduction

Vital records contain essential genealogical information - birth, marriage, and death dates. As required by comprehensive state laws, Massachusetts cities and towns maintain extensive collections of these civil records. Original Massachusetts vital records exist in various repositories for the following time segments:

  • Pre-1841
    Massachusetts registered vital records beginning in 1639-19 years after the Pilgrims' arrival. Pre-1841 vital records reside at the local level with the respective city and town clerks. Only one set of records exists at the municipal level.
  • 1841-1910
    Statewide collection of vital records in Massachusetts began in 1841. A new law required every city and town clerk to submit annual copies of all vital records to a central state office in Boston. Thus, two sets of records, at the local and at the state level, exist for almost every birth, marriage, and death since 1841. The Massachusetts Archives "holds the registration books of births, marriages, and deaths for all Massachusetts cities and towns" for 1841-1910. Later records are transferred to the Massachusetts Archives at 5-year intervals.

Vital records information may also appear in such secondary sources as church, court, military, and probate records; census schedules; city directories; newspapers; pension applications; and tombstone inscriptions.

The W.E.B. Du Bois Library's collection is especially rich in Massachusetts resources and also includes some vital records from other states, Canada, and Europe.

 

Guides

  • Red book: American state, county, and town sources
    Call Number: Reference CS 49 R44 2004
    A handbook for genealogical research in every state. Examines the availability and locations of vital, census, local history, land, probate, court, tax, cemetery, church, and military records.
  • Guide to the public vital records in Massachusetts - Historical Records Survey (Mass.)
    Call Number: Reference CD 3291 H48
    In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Works Projects Administration compiled a list of available vital records in the United States. Massachusetts was one of 40 states which participated in this Historical Records survey program. This guide inventories state, county, city, and town vital statistics. It is arranged in three sections - births, marriages, and deaths. Each of these sections contains two parts - "an inventory of state records" and "an inventory of county, city, and town records."
  • The librarian's guide to public records/taken directly from the database of The Public Record Research Library
    Call Number: Reference JK 468 P76 L53 1996
    Lists addresses, telephone numbers, and hours for "major state and county level government agencies where public records are maintained." Includes vital records information for each state.
 
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