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      Massachusetts Birth Certificates, Death Records, Marriage Licenses and more

    • Massachusetts Vital Records Office
    • County & Town Vital Records Offices
    • Find vital records online
    • Search the birth, marriage and death records
    • Search the Social Security Death Index
    • Massachusetts Genealogy Links
    • International Vital Records

    • How to obtain copies of Massachusetts vital records, such as Massachusetts birth certificates, Massachusetts death records, Massachusetts marriage licenses & Massachusetts divorce decrees. See the guidelines for general information on how to order vital records. Check the related links for additional vital records and genealogical information on Massachusetts.

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      Please Note: The information contained on these pages is not guaranteed, as addresses and prices change frequently. It is recommended that you confirm the price and address by calling the vital records office before you place your order. This web site is not associated with any government office.



      Massachusetts State Vital Records Office Information

        Registry of Vital Records and Statistics
        150 Mount Vernon Street, 1st floor
        Dorchester, MA 02125-3105
        (617) 740-2600
        Fax: (617) 825-7755

        Make check or money order payable to Commonwealth of Massachusetts. For credit card orders of vital records, call 617/740-2606.

        You may request overnight delivery for an additional fee of $37.00.

        Regardless of how you request copies, you should be prepared to provide the name of the subject(s) of the record, the date of the event and, if known, the city or town where the event occurred.

        Massachusetts Vital Records - This page explains how to locate, research and order a Massachusetts vital record, include birth, death and marriage certificates.


        The Massachusetts Archives at Columbia Point
        220 Morrissey Boulevard
        Boston, MA 02125
        (617) 727-2816
        FAX: (617) 288-8429

      • Massachusetts Genealogy and Family History Resources
        search record collections, history and genealogy resources for Massachusetts
      • Search the Social Security Death Index
      • Search for Massachusetts birth, death and marriage records online

        Record Cost Dates Ordering
        Birth$32.00 (by mail)
        $20 (in person)
        Order OnlineMail Order
        from the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics

        Death$32.00 (by mail)
        $20 (in person)
        Order OnlineMail Order
        from the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics
      • Click here to search the Social Security Death Index

      • Marriage$32.00 (by mail)
        $20 (in person)
        Order OnlineMail Order
        from the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics

        Birth, Death & Marriage$3.00 Certified
        Microfilm prints are $0.50 each.
        1841 to 1910 Order Online
        from the Massachusetts Archives (see info above)
      • Click here to search the Social Security Death Index

      • Birth, Death & MarriageBefore 1841 Order Online
        Contact the Town Clerk in town or city where event occurred. Printed Vital Records Prior to 1850, organized by town, are available in many research libraries, including the Massachusetts State Library.
      • Click here to search the Social Security Death Index

      • Divorce$10.00since 1952
        The State office has a divorce index only since 1952, however, it is not complete. For a certified copy contact the Registrar of Probate Court in the county where the couple last lived as husband and wife.

        Genealogical ReserachClick here for information

        Amendments & CorrectionsClick here for information

        Census1790 through 1940Search U.S. Federal Census Records Online

        *** The mail order form can be downloaded and viewed by using Adobe Acrobat Software


      Index to Massachusetts County & Town Vital Records Offices

        Divorce records are available from the Registrar of Probate Court in the county where the the couple last lived as husband and wife. Countywide divorce indexes exist at each county probate court from 1922 to the present.

        Birth Certificates are on file in the town you were born in, and the town your parents were living in at your birth. Marriage Certificates are on file in the town where you filed your intentions, not the town where you were married. Death Certificates are on file in the town the person was living in at the time of death, and also the town of death, if different.

        Unless the records were destroyed, they date back to the incorporation date of the town. Vital Records for many towns published in a series of books available in very many town libraries, at Mass Archives, and at NEHGS.

        Follow this link to determine what county a city or town is in.

        Dukes . Middlesex . Barnstable . Berkshire . Bristol . Essex . Franklin . Hampden . Hampshire . Nantucket . Norfolk . Plymouth . Suffolk . Worcester . Abington . Acton . Acushnet . Adams . Agawam . Alford . Amesbury . Amherst . Andover . Arlington . Ashburnham . Ashby . Ashfield . Ashland . Athol . Attleborough . Auburn . Avon . Ayer . Barnstable . Barre . Becket . Bedford . Belchertown . Bellingham . Belmont . Berkley . Berlin . Bernardston . Beverly . Billerica . Blackstone . Blandford . Bolton . Boston . Bourne . Boxborough . Boxford . Boylston . Braintree . Brewster . Bridgewater . Brighton . Brimfield . Brockton . Brookfield . Brookline . Buckland . Burlington . Cambridge . Canton . Carlisle . Carver . Charlemont . Charlestown . Charlton . Chatham . Chelmsford . Chelsea . Cheshire . Chester . Chesterfield . Chicopee . Chilmark . Clarksburg . Clinton . Cohasset . Colrain . Concord . Conway . Cummington . Dalton . Danvers . Dartmouth . Dedham . Deerfield . Dennis . Dighton . Dorchester . Douglas . Dover . Dracut . Dudley . Dunstable . Duxbury . East Bridgewater . East Brookfield . East Longmeadow . Eastham . Easthampton . Easton . Edgartown . Egremont . Enfield . Erving . Essex . Everett . Fairhaven . Fall River . Falmouth . Fitchburg . Florida . Foxboro . Framingham . Franklin . Freetown . Gardner . Gay Head . Georgetown . Gill . Gloucester . Goshen . Gosnold . Grafton . Granby . Granville . Great Barrington . Greenfield . Groton . Groveland . Hadley . Halifax . Hamilton . Hampden . Hancock . Hanover . Hanson . Hardwick . Harvard . Harwich . Hatfield . Haverhill . Hawley . Heath . Hingham . Hinsdale . Holbrook . Holden . Holland . Holliston . Holyoke . Hopedale . Hopkinton . Hubbardston . Hudson . Hull . Huntington . Hyde Park . Ipswich . Kingston . Lakeville . Lancaster . Lanesborough . Lawrence . Lee . Leicester . Lenox . Leominster . Leverett . Lexington . Leyden . Lincoln . Littleton . Longmeadow . Lowell . Ludlow . Lunenburg . Lynn . Lynnfield . Malden . Manchester . Mansfield . Marblehead . Marion . Marlborough . Marshfield . Mashpee . Mattapoisett . Maynard . Medfield . Medford . Medway . Melrose . Mendon . Merrimac . Methuen . Middleborough . Middlefield . Middleton . Milford . Millbury . Millis . Millville . Milton . Monroe . Monson . Montague . Monterey . Montgomery . Mount Washington . Nahant . Nantucket . Natick . Needham . New Ashford . New Bedford . New Braintree . New Marlborough . New Salem . Newbury . Newburyport . Newton . Norfolk . North Adams . North Andover . North Attleborough . North Brookfield . North Reading . Northampton . Northborough . Northbridge . Northfield . Norton . Norwell . Norwood . Oak Bluffs . Oakham . Orange . Orleans . Otis . Oxford . Palmer . Paxton . Peabody . Pelham . Pembroke . Pepperell . Peru . Petersham . Phillipston . Pittsfield . Plainfield . Plainville . Plymouth . Plympton . Princeton . Provincetown . Quincy . Randolph . Raynham . Reading . Rehoboth . Revere . Richmond . Rochester . Rockland . Rockport . Rowe . Rowley . Royalston . Russell . Rutland . Salem . Salisbury . Sandisfield . Sandwich . Saugus . Savoy . Scituate . Seekonk . Sharon . Sheffield . Shelburne . Sherborn . Shirley . Shrewsbury . Shutesbury . Somerset . Somerville . South Deerfield . South Hadley . Southampton . Southborough . Southbridge . Southwick . Spencer . Springfield . Stockbridge . Stoneham . Stoughton . Stow . Sturbridge . Sudbury . Sunderland . Sutton . Swampscott . Swansea . Taunton . Templeton . Tewksbury . Tisbury . Tolland . Topsfield . Townsend . Truro . Turners Falls . Tyngsborough . Tyringham . Upton . Uxbridge . Wakefield . Wales . Walpole . Waltham . Ware . Wareham . Warren . Warwick . Washington . Watertown . Wayland . Webster . Wellesley . Wellfleet . Wendell . Wenham . West Boylston . West Bridgewater . West Brookfield . West Newbury . West Springfield . West Stockbridge . West Tisbury . Westborough . Westfield . Westford . Westhampton . Westminster . Weston . Westport . Westwood . Whately . Whitinsville . Whitman . Wilbraham . Williamsburg . Williamstown . Wilmington . Winchendon . Winchester . Windsor . Winthrop . Woburn . Worcester . Worthington . Wrentham . Yarmouth .


        Helpful Tips for Utilizing Massachusetts Vital Records

          The populous state of Massachusetts has an intimidating aura if you are thinking of investigating crucial information about your relatives. Are birthdates and dates of death available to you? Where can I start looking for this information? How much do I need to know about my relatives before I begin this inquiry? If you know how to correctly prepare yourself before exploring the Massachusetts vital records, you will be more comfortable when it comes to conducting the search.

          You truly must scrutinize the data that you already have. Make sure you have the correct full name and any other significant details about your subject before doing further research. A maiden name and place of residence can help you identify this relative in the expansive Massachusetts vital records. Once you have all the available information about a relative or ancestor, you can find the person’s date of birth and/or death more easily.

          It is significant to inform you of the sometimes confusing information you can encounter in your advanced research. Remember: there can be many public records about one person. When you peruse the Massachusetts vital records, be aware that some information you discover can pertain to relatives of your subject. An entry in the Massachusetts vital records can most definitely have secondary information to the evidence you need. A positive point to this eventuality is that you may be able to use the newly found data for your family tree or research project.

          Having so much information in front of you can be overwhelming. It is critical that you know what you’re looking for before you seek the Massachusetts vital records. Another valuable tip is this: don’t forget to write down everything. Someone who is involved in such a big project, like studying family lineage, can get sidetracked with supplementary material. Record what you need to record, and move on from the data that is not necessary to the work at hand. Concise research will lead to a better end project.

          Navigating through the Massachusetts vital records does not need to be a daunting endeavor. When researching, it is important to be patient. You will have a lot of facts and figures at your disposal, so your focus is important in a research project. There are others who can help you on your research project, too. If you are doing a genealogy assignment, you can ask questions on web sites or forums devoted to the subject. If you are trying to find the significance of historical figures in your community, you can interview historians who are knowledgeable about the area.

          Many people want to know more about where they came from. Tracking down relatives from the past is a good way to discover more about your family. The wealth of data available to you should not be intimidating. The publicly obtainable evidence on the citizens of this state should help you with whatever research project you are doing. Have fun, and happy relative hunting!


        Searchable Databases and other Helpful Links

        • Massachusetts USGenWeb Project
          genealogical gateway to the state and counties
        • Search Massachusetts Databases Online
          Search for birth, marriage, census, death, immigration, naturalization, military records and more at Ancestry
        • Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet - Massachusetts
          your genealogy starting point online
        • Massachusetts Town Birth, Death & Marriage Records
          search Massachusetts vital records
        • Massachusetts Vital Records
          explains how to locate, research and order Massachusetts vital records, including birth, marriage and death certificates
        • Researching your Family's History at the Massachusetts Archives
        • Berkshire Family History Association
          they promote family history research by collecting, preserving, and publishing genealogical and historical records of Massachusetts and its neighboring states of New York, Vermont, and Connecticut
        • New England Early Genealogy Connections
          search this New England data base for genealogy in the 1600+/- to 1700+/- time period
        • State of Massachusetts
        • Archives.com - Search Massachusetts Death Records
        • Archives.com - Search Massachusetts Birth Records
        • USGenWeb - Massachusetts Marriage Project
          Marriage Applications and other Marriage Records
        • Massachusetts Genealogy and Family History Resources
          search record collections, history and genealogy resources for Massachusetts
        • Search the Social Security Death Index
        • Search for Massachusetts birth, death and marriage records online

        Order Birth, Death or Marriage Records Online!

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