Massachusetts has some of the best vital record collections in the United that go back to the 1600s. Thus researching in the state can be a real treat compared to states that started closer to 1900. While the records are very good there are exceptions, especially for non-Anglo European people. And you will find some gaps in the records for all populations.
Vital records in Massachusetts are recorded at the town level by the local Town Clerk. This is true even to this day. Therefore the completeness of the records will vary town by town.
In 1841, vital records were required to be copied to the state. Uniform recording wasn’t accomplished until 1850. Starting with 1850 you should find vital records at both the town level and a copy at the state level for each town in Massachusetts.
Accessing Vital Records
If you need certified copies of Massachusetts vital records then contact the sources listed in this chart.
| Years | Location |
| 1926 – present | Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records |
| 1841-1925 | Massachusetts State Archives or local town clerks |
| Pre-1841 | Local town clerks – list of city and town websites |
Published Vital Record Collections
The New England Historical Genealogical Society (NEHGS) received a grant to published the vital records of individual towns. As a result NEHGS and other Massachusetts organizations were able to create what is now known as the Tan Books (because of the color of the covers) or the official series. There are separate books for each town and they cover vital records to 1850. Of the 351 towns and cities in Massachusetts, 206 are covered by the Tan Books, mostly in central and eastern Massachusetts. Later books have also been published for some towns that are not part of this series.
Online Vital Records Resources
If you are doing genealogical research and you don’t need certified copies then you will easily find what you need online. Some are available with free access at FamilySearch.org while others are at the large genealogy subscription database sites like Ancestry.com, AmericanAncestors.org, MyHeritage, and Findmypast.
The records you find online will be a mix of scans of the originals from local town halls, scans of the copies sent to the State of Massachusetts (starting in 1841) or scans of transcribed collections such as the Tan Books. Some online collections will even contain all three types in one database. It can be difficult to know what you are looking at online so be careful to read the collection description or view the front matter of publications or the first images in a database collections.
Searching for your Ancestors online
If you know the Massachusetts town your ancestors came from, then your best strategy with the large database sites would be to use their main search function rather than drilling down to an individual database. The reason for this is that the larger sites often have multiple overlapping vital records collections. If you search in one specific online collection you might miss the records in a similar online collection. When you use the main search be sure to specify the town for birth, marriage or death (but not all three at the same time), particularly if your ancestor has a common name.
The only website where you shouldn’t follow this strategy is AmericanAncestors.org. They have a large collection of New England records and their results page is more cumbersome that the other sites. So in this case drilling down to search by individual collections for best results.
Online Vital Records Collections from the Major Genealogy Sites
AmericanAncestors.org
AmericanAncestors.org (subscription site) has numerous searchable online Massachusetts vital and church record collections. These are four main collections you should focus on first:
- Massachusetts Vital Records, 1620-1850
- Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910
- Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911-1915
- Massachusetts Vital Records, 1916-1920
There are also collections focused on Boston and individual towns. The collections list is alphabetical which makes it easy to search for the name of your town. Here the vital record collections available for Boston:
- Boston, MA: Births, 1700-1800
- Boston, MA: Births, 1800-1849
- Boston, MA: Deaths, 1700-1799
- Boston, MA: Deaths, 1799-1825
Here are two examples of individual town collections:
- Braintree, MA: Vital and Church Records, 1638-1850
- Hingham, MA Vital Records, 1637-1845
FamilySearch.org
FamilySearch.org is a free genealogy website though you do need to create a free account to access the records. FamilySearch is known for having microfilmed the genealogy records of the Unites States and around the world as much as possible. In recent years they have been converting their microfilms to digital collections which are available on their website. Following are the major Massachusetts vital record collections on FamilySearch. There are additional collections on the website which you should also check.