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While the State Library is a government research library, established to serve the information needs of state officials, it does hold some materials useful to genealogical researchers. A listing of other, more extensive Boston area resources and genealogical web sites is included at the end of this document.
We regret that, due to staffing limitations, we are unable to answer detailed genealogical questions.
The items described below can be found in one of three (3) areas of the library:
(1) Main Reading Room (Room 341): Where the card catalog is located and where items stored in the closed stacks may be requested.
(2) Periodicals area (Room 442): Contains current newspapers and some newspapers on microfilm.
(3) Special Collections (Room 55): Many of our more historic materials are located here. It is open only from 9AM to 5PM Monday through Friday. |
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| Resources Arranged Geographically |
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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.
Location: closed stacks.
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).
Location: closed stacks.
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).
Location: closed stacks.
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).
Location: closed stacks.
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. Rarer holdings are kept in the original form in Special Collections.
Each title is listed in the online public catalog (1975 to date) and in a browsing list on the web site.
Locations: Special Collections and the periodicals area.
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.
List of City Directories
List of City Directories With
House Guides
Location: Special Collections.
Some Tax and Valuation Lists
This material can help identify residents and land owners in the early years of the Commonwealth. They are in microform.
Location: Special Collections.
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| Biographical Resources |
Published materials about Massachusetts colonists and Revolutionary & Civil War soldiers, regimental histories, etc.
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 the Civil War, and many other series.
Titles are listed in the online public catalog (1975 to date) and in the card catalog (pre-1975).
Location: closed stacks.
Legislative biography files
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.
Locations: main reading room and Special Collections (both files should be consulted).
New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) Register
This is the quarterly journal of the Society; it began publishing in 1847.
Location: both the Register and its index are in the closed stacks.
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.
Location: periodicals area, microform copy in Special Collections
Some 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).
Location: closed stacks. |
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| Organization Resources |
Some histories of academic institutions (Harvard, Boston University, etc.)
Titles are listed in the online public catalog (1975 to date) and in the card catalog (pre-1975).
Location: closed stacks.
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).
Location: closed stacks.
State government reports
Titles are listed in the online public catalog (1975 to date) and in the card catalog (pre-1975).
Location: closed stacks. |
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| Other Boston Area Resources |
Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics
150 Mt. Vernon St., 1st Floor
Dorchester, MA 02125-3105
Tel.: 617-740-2600
Repository for all Massachusetts birth, marriage and death records from 1911 to the present.
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 1910. 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.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Northeast Region (Boston)
Frederick C. Murphy Federal Center
380 Trapelo Road
Waltham, Massachusetts 02452-6399
Tel.: 866-406-2379
Repository of federal records, including population censuses for all states, passenger arrival records for Boston and other New England ports, New England naturalization records, and more.
Boston Public Library
700 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116
Tel.: 617-536-5400
Has 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.
New England Historic Genealogical Society
101 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116
Tel.: 617-536-5740
The Society operates an extensive genealogical library. Free to members; daily fee for non-members. |
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| National and Internet Resources |
National Genealogical Society
4527 17th Street North
Arlington, VA 22207-2399
The society offers research guides, services, publications and conferences for all levels of ability and interest in genealogy.
Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet
This is probably one of the best-known genealogical websites. Users can find their way to Massachusetts-specific sites and sites of many other orientations.
Boston Family History
Provides online genealogical research assistance for Americans whose ancestors either immigrated through Boston or settled here. There are ten local ethnicities represented now and more planned. The web site was developed by the Boston History Collaborative, genealogy.com, and several other companies.
Genealogy Forum.com
The Massachusetts portion of this web site provides links to Massachusetts genealogical resources on many other web sites. |
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