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:
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.
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 after 1910 remain in municipal clerks' offices or at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Registry of Vital Records and Statistics.
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.