While the State Library is a government research library, it does hold some materials useful for genealogical research. The information below lists publications available here at the State Library as well as materials available online. While the State Library is unable to answer complex genealogical research questions, reference librarians are available to help guide you through our materials.

Geographical Resources:

Annual Reports of Towns
These publications provide details of transactions recorded by town officials. Some towns published the names in recorded births, marriages, and deaths, though some recorded only the statistics of these events. Some reports contain jury lists and taxpayer lists and assessments. A browsing list of our holdings by town is found on the web site.


Histories of Towns, Cities, and Counties
The State Library has collected volumes about cities, towns, and counties across the Commonwealth and listed them in the online public catalog (1975 to date) and in the card catalog (pre-1975).


Probate Records
The collection has some publications of early probate records of Barnstable, Bristol, Essex, Middlesex, and Plymouth counties and some index volumes for Middlesex (1648-1870), Suffolk (1636-1922), and Worcester (1731-1904) counties.
Titles are listed in the online public catalog (1975 to date) and in the card catalog (pre-1975). Suggested searches are by subject ("probate records Massachusetts <county name>" in either catalog) or by keyword ("probate and index and <county name>" in the Online Public Catalog).


Vital Records Series (to 1850)
The State Library's book collection contains published volumes for many Massachusetts cities and towns. Most of these volumes were published in an extensive series by the New England Historic Genealogical Society. For a few towns we have only microfiche of the manuscript records.
Each title is listed by city or town in the online public catalog (1975 to date) or in the card catalog (pre-1975). One can locate such material by doing a subject search under "<town name> genealogy" (in both catalogs) or by keyword, "<town name> and vital records" (in the Online Public Catalog).


Historical Newspaper Collection
Some of the newspapers are available on microfilm, in particular the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Evening Transcript, and a few smaller newspapers. Each title is listed in the online public catalog (1975 to date) and in a browsing list on the web site.

Rarer holdings are kept in their original form in Special Collections. A complete index of these holdings can be found online: Historic Newspaper Index


City/Town Directories and Voting Lists
 Directories are similar to today's telephone books and can be very valuable to the genealogical researcher. Most of ours are enumerated on a browsing list at the web site under <Special Collections>. For some of the towns, we have voting lists, arranged by address, some with a name index in the back of the volume. The directories are in Special Collections (Room 55).


Tax Valuations
 This material can help identify residents and land owners in the early years of the Commonwealth. They are in microform in Special Collections (Room 55).

Biographical Resources:

Our collection has many histories of the Commonwealth, including regimental histories, Official Reports by the Adjutant General of Military Personnel in the American Revolution and inthe American Civil War, and many other series.
Titles are listed in the online public catalog (1975 to date) and in the card catalog (pre-1975).


Legislative Biography Catalog
For many years the staff has maintained an index card file for legislators, mostly of the General Court but also representing Massachusetts in Washington, D.C. The file cards list basic information about each legislator, including some citations to known published sources. An entry may provide clues for additional research about an ancestor who served in the Massachusetts legislature.



Zimmer Index
 This is a subject index to Boston-area newspaper articles ca. 1878-1937. It was produced by staff librarians during that era and covers articles from the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Evening Transcript, Springfield Republican, Worcester Telegram, New York Times, New York Post, and a few others. We have most of the newspapers that contain these articles.


Published Family Histories
Titles are listed in the online public catalog (1975 to date) and in the card catalog (pre-1975). Suggested searches would be by subject ("smith family") in both catalogs or by keyword ("smith and family") in the online public catalog (1975 to date).

Resources from Institutions and Historical Societies:

Some histories of academic institutions (Harvard College and University, Boston University, etc.)
Titles are listed in the online public catalog (1975 to date) and in the card catalog (pre-1975).


Publications of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Bostonian Society, and some of the local historical societies
Titles are listed in the online public catalog (1975 to date) and in the card catalog (pre-1975).


New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS)
The NEHGS Register, the quarterly journal of the Society (1847-date), and New England Ancestors, the Society's magazine, are in our collection.

Other Boston-Area Resources:

  • Massachusetts Archives
    220 Morrissey Boulevard
    Boston, MA 02125
    Tel.: 617-727-2816

    The Massachusetts Archives is the repository for Massachusetts vital records (births, marriages and deaths) for the period between 1841 and 1915. In addition, the Archives has federal and state census records for Massachusetts, some probate records, and more. They have posted a comprehensive guide to their genealogical resources on their web site.

  • Boston Public Library
    700 Boylston Street
    Boston, MA 02116
    Tel.: 617-536-5400

    A comprehensive collection of governmental records, city and town directories, New England newspapers, family and town histories, and more. They have posted a guide to their resources on their web site.

This information is provided by The State Library of Massachusetts.