Massachusetts County Resources
From Ancestry.com Wiki
This entry was originally written by Alice Eichholz, Ph.D., CG, for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
The following is a guide to beginning dates and locations of Massachusetts deeds, probates, and court records. Inquiries for land records should be addressed “Registry of Deeds” at the county (or district) seat. In some counties, division of the Registry of Deeds became necessary to make the location closer to the land involved in the transaction. Some registeries have websites. Make sure the deed information sought falls in the appropriate district for the time period and geography involved.
The “Probate Court Clerk” at the county seat should be addressed for probate records; and “Clerk of Courts” for civil court records. As with other New England states, the New England Genealogic Historical Society has an extensive microfilm collection of county resources for Massachusetts.
| Map | County | County Address | Date Formed | Parent County(ies) | Land | Probate | Court | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J6 | Barnstable | Main Street, Barnstable 02630 | 1685 as Barnstable | County of Plymouth Colony | 1827* | 1686 | 1686 | |||
| *Fire destroyed nearly all early deed books and probate files, but probate books survived. Although the official deed books only begin in 1827, many deeds were re-recorded back to about 1783, though these are far from complete. | ||||||||||
| J6 | Barnstable | Main Street, Barnstable 02630 | 1685 as Barnstable | County of Plymouth Colony | 1827* | 1686 | 1686 | |||
| *Fire destroyed nearly all early deed books and probate files, but probate books survived. Although the official deed books only begin in 1827, many deeds were re-recorded back to about 1783, though these are far from complete. | ||||||||||
