Massachusetts Vital Records

Vital records, as their name suggests, are connected with central life events: birth, marriage, and death. Maintained by civil authorities, they are prime sources of genealogical information; but, unfortunately, official vital records are available only for relatively recent periods. These records, despite their recent creation in the United States, are critically important in genealogical research, often supplying details on family members well back into the nineteenth century. The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, by Loretto Szucs and Sandra Luebking.

Registry of Vital Records and Statistics
150 Mount Vernon St., 1^st Fl.
Dorchester, MA 02125-3105
Main Telephone: (617) 740-2600

The cited fee is for mail requests; other requests may be less expensive. Check or money order should be made payable to Registry of Vital Records. Personal checks are accepted. To verify current fees, the telephone number is (617) 753-8600. This will be a recorded message.

Mail order Form
(Requires Acrobat Reader)

Birth Cost: $11.00

State office has records beginning 1901. For earlier records, write to The Massachusetts Archives.

Death Cost: $11.00

State office has records beginning 1901. For earlier records, write to The Massachusetts Archives.

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The Plymouth Colony Archive Project at the University of Virginia

• Analysis of Selected Wills

Divorce  Cost: Varies

Index only beginning 1952. Certified copies are not available from State office, which will direct inquirer where to send request. Records may be requested directly from the Registrar of Probate Court where divorce was granted.

Marriage  Cost: $11.00

State office has records beginning 1901.

Attleboro, Massachusetts - The Sun Chronicle

Online Vital Records

Vital & Church Records (paid database, free search)
This collection contains records from the following towns: Abington, Acton, Arlington, Ashburnham, Ashfield, Bellingham, Boston, Bradford, Brimfield, Brockton, Carver, Chester, Dartmouth, Dover, Dracut, Ebridge, Essex, Framingham, Gill, Granville, Groton, Holden, Holliston, Hopkinten, Hummards, Lawrence, Lexington, Lincoln, Lynn, Medford, Medway, Middlefield, Montgomery, New Ashford, New Bedford, New Braintree, Pembroke, Rehobeth, Richmond, Shelburne, Shrewsbury, Shirley, Sturbridge, Taunton, Templeton, Tewksbury, Tisbury, Tyringham, Wayland, Washington, Watertown, Westminster, Westport, West Springfield, Winchendon, Windsor, and Worthingham.

Barnstable County

Berkshire County

• Adams Marriages prior to 1800

• Alford to 1850

• Becket to 1850

• Cheshire Marriages to 1800

• Dalton to 1850

• Great Barrington to 1850

• Great Barrington 1894-1899

• Hinsdale to 1850

• Lee to 1850

• New Ashford

• Peru to 1850

• Pittsfield to 1850 (Deaths Only)

• Richmond to 1850

• Sheffield 1900-1913

• Stockbridge to 1895-1909

• Tyringham to 1850

• Washington to 1850

• West Stockbridge to 1850

• Windsor to 1850

Bristol County

Dukes County

• Edgartown
  Index to Death and Marriage Notices in the Vineyard Gazette 1884 - 1939
  A-K  L-Z

Essex County

• Andover to 1850

• Essex to 1850

• Essex, Register of Births (1843-1861), Marriages (1843-1854), and Deaths (1843-1855)

• Topsfield 1850-1899, 1915

Franklin

Hampden

• Granville to 1850

• Westfield prior to 1700

Hampshire

• Northampton to 1840

  • Grooms

  • Brides

  • Deaths

Middlesex

• Carlisle Vital Records to 1850

• Lexington Marriages to 1854

• Marlborough Marriages to 1800

Norfolk

• Medway Births, Marriages and Deaths: 1850-1900

• Walpole to 1850

Plymouth

• Hanson Marriages to 1850

Suffolk (many of these towns later appeared in other counties)

Worcester County

• Leominster to 1850

• Leominster 1873, 1887-1914

• Sterling to 1850

Ancestry.com Boston Vital Records, 1630-99
Believed to contain all the birth, marriage, and death records of the first seventy years of Boston, this work was intended to be comprehensive. As a result this database contains over thirty thousand vital records as reported to the Records Commission between 1630 and 1699. In addition to these vital records, baptisms in the Boston First Church for the same time period are included. The database is organized by year and category (i.e. birth, marriage, and death, respectively) and nearly every entry includes parents (in births) and spouses (in marriage and deaths) along with the date of the event.  (Requires Ancestry.com Membership) Get 14 Days Free Access!!!

Ancestry.com Massachusetts State Database
A large collection of databases of births, deaths, marriages, census, obituaries, directories, estate records, and service records.  Get 14 Days Free Access!!!