1855 & 1865 Massachusetts State Censuses are online!

[merski]

Great news!  The city of Worcester's data for the 1855 and 1865 censuses is available through familysearch.  I stumbled onto it by googling 1855 mass. state census.  I actually don't know how to search just those two databases right on the site as it's gotten pretty sophisticated.  For the longest time Worcester was not transcribed because it was such a daunting challenge.  So now we worcester irish researchers can use 5 censuses to look in worcester between 1850 and 1870, that gives us an even better chance to find an ancestor!

[EPB2020]

This has been there awhile but, at one point, you could only search Boston. Now it is fully searchable.  Also, they have all kinds of Massachusetts records - try the Browse by location feature to see what's available. This is below the regular search to the left of the gray map on the bottom of the first page.  https://www.familysearch.org/s/collection/list#page=1&region=NORTH_AMERICA Then pick - USA etc - Scroll down to Massachusetts -  look for the Census in the list. Pick the Census you want.   I am finding that you get better results if you search just one database at a time sometimes.  The Massachusetts vital records come two ways - check out both as they are not always the same.

Also there is a way to search some of the databases by parents so you can often find siblings (especially sisters or maybe even brothers if the last name is really a common one) that you did not know anything about.   I have been very lucky using that feature.  I am trying to add a screenshot of where you are able to get it but not sure how this works on this site.  I see add image but I may be missing something.  .  If the picture does not get in,  begin your search, pick advanced search.  Once you get to the results page for your search, there will be a column to the left with blanks.  To search by parents, look to the bottom of that, find relationships.  Open the drop down menu and select parents.  Now you can search for people within that database with the parents' names.  If you are looking for a married woman, don't put anything in the last name box at the top.  You may have to fool around with this some but it is very helpful.

This is fun.

[EPB2020]

Also noticed that archive.org keeps adding texts online that have genealogical information.  For example, the indexes to the Probate records for Worcester County by George Harlow are available there.  You can read online or download.  http://www.archive.org/    Ancestry only has the index to 1881.  Funny and interesting videos that are now in the public domain on this site too.  For example, a 1951 video for elementary students about what to do in an atomic bomb attack. http://www.archive.org/details/AtomicAl1951

[sulser]

These are great resources. Quick question, does Worcester County still have many of these records on file (say from around 1900)? If so, do you need to go to the courthouse in person to obtain copies?

[merski]

What are you looking for?  That would be the best place to start.

[EPB2020]

Long ago, it was possible to just walk into a courthouse and have them pull a file and you could look at it no questions asked - no papework to fill out to look.  I obtained access to a probate file from 1885 when I was in Cambridge back in the 1970's that way.  Not too long ago, I was able to email someone over at the Worcester County Probate Court and asked about an 1868 probate file that I had the file number from from ancestry.com.  I did get a reply that indicated that that file was not available at the main office but that I could request it and it would take some days for them to retrieve it.  Then they would let me know how many pages there were and since I was out of town, they were willing to copy the file and then mail it to me for a fee.  It sounded as though, at that time, Worcester County had a records center somewhere out in Leicester or that vicinity that held their older records.  I can't remember the exact details but I did get copies of everything I wanted from that one email and once I mailed the check for the copying fee.

Looking on their site now, there is no email listed at all.  http://www.mass.gov/courts/courtsandjudges/courts/worcesterprobmain.html  You could call but make sure you are talking to someone who is knowledgeable.

It appears from the Mass Archives site that the earlier Worcester Probate records may well be at the Mass Archives in Boston.  This link has the exact address to write to: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arccol/colidx.htm#court 

The key to getting any of these is the Probate or other court file number. 

Finally,  since I am no longer in Massachusetts, I have asked the generous people from RAOGK as well as this board to assist and have been helped many many times.  This is the link for Worcester County help:  http://www.raogk.org/massachu2.htm

The Mormons have put some of the Probate records for Vermont online so you can see the whole file.  I am hopeful that maybe they will tackle Massachusetts at some time. 

[sulser]

Sorry I should have been more clear. I meant probate records. Namely a few wills, guardianships, and administrative records that I found in the index on archives.org. They are Worcester Co, and date from about 1890 to 1920. I am in Boston, so not too far from Worcester, but I may try the e-mail idea to see if I can do something similar to what EPB did.