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State Courthouse Records
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Massachusetts Government records cover a broad range of genealogy subject areas that can help you as part of your research, such as land ownership, courts, taxes, and naturalization’s. Given that Massachusetts court records cover such a wide selection of topics, they could aid you in many different ways. As an example, they could aid you in finding ancestors’ residences, identify occupations, locate financial information, determine citizenship status, or shed light on relationships between individuals. The whole thing relies upon on the type of court records that the ancestors” names show up in. For Definitions of all court terms see the Genealogy Encyclopedia.

Massachusetts Courthouse records change extensively from county to county in both level of quality and volume. You will find different kinds of court records that are most likely to possess information related for your genealogical research below.

State Court Records
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Massachusetts Court Records

Records For Plymouth Colony: Plymouth Colony, which is also called Old Colony, was its own unique area for a large portion of the seventeenth century. In 1692 it was merged with the Massachusetts Bay Province. Towns that are currently part of the counties of Bristol, Barnstable and Plymouth were originally part of Plymouth Colony. The Plymouth County Commissioner’s Office, which is located in Plymouth, maintains the wills, deeds and other original Plymouth Colony records. Manuscript transcriptions of those records can also be found at the Massachusetts Archives. The records for the Commissioners of the United Colonies and some of the Plymouth Colony records have been published in a collection called Records of Plymouth Colony (Boston: 1855-1861). It can be found at both the State Library and the Archives.

Some earlier court records for the state have been printed. Others are available in other ways. In 1629, the General Court was established. It met once per quarter and established peaceful, religious government. The General Court was established with a deputy, a governor and several assistants, who were deemed the Court of Assistants. All members were selected from the colony’s freemen. The Court of Assistants met on a regular basis to hear jury cases and conduct business for the General Court. Some of the individual members acted as justices of the peace to hear civil cases. Later, as the town’s population increased, the General Court began to elect representatives as well.

About a decade after that point, each county acquired inferior quarter courts of first instance. These were run by magistrates who overheard common please, civil actions and criminal cases in general sessions courts. This crated a system with three levels, beginning with individual magistrates and then county courts and then the top tier, which was the Court of Assistants. When reorganization occurred, in 1692, the system was changed again and courts of general sessions and common pleas in every county. A superior court of judicature was also established and over saw the entire colony’s judicial systems from 1692 until 1780. After 1780, the Supreme Judicial Court replaced it. It handled all appeals sent up by the lower courts of the area. The common please and county sessions were later turned into county superior courts. That occurred in 1859.

Both the Massachusetts Bay records for 1628 to 1686 and the Plymouth Colony records for 1633 to 1691 have had their county court records published. The records for Hampshire County for 1639 to 1702, Suffolk County for 1671 to 1680 and Essex county for 1636 to 1683 have also been published. So have the Plymouth Country records for 1686 to 1859, but they have not been indexed. The record books at the Pilgrim Society supply the court records for Plymouth County. They are being indexed currently.

Many towns issued “warnings out” to the poor because they didn’t want to take responsibility for those people. However, even though towns issued those warnings, the county seat recorded the records of them. Worcester County “warning out” records are published and easily accessible.

The Court of Assistance issued divorces up until the Governor and Council took over that responsibility, in 1692. In 1785, the Supreme Judicial Court took over issuing divorces. In 1887, the responsibility was given to the county superior courts and then probate courts shared some of that responsibility beginning much later, in 1922.

At the time of the Great Migration, probate proceedings became common for anyone who had any personal property located in England. Some Puritans followed suit, but it wasn’t a universal occurrence. Complete probate proceedings didn’t automatically take place, whether the person had a will or not.

Currently divorce and many other issues are handled by the Probate and Family Court. Some of those issues include: Parental Rights Termination, Custody, Child Support, Paternity, Adoption, Visitation, Abuse Prevention, General Equity, Name Changes, Conservatorships, Guardianships, Wills and Administrations

Any civil actions totally $25,000 or more are overseen by the Superior Court. That same court also oversees matters of equitable relief and injunctive relief suits that involve labor disputes. In addition to that, it can convene medical malpractice tribunals, as needed.

All first degree murder cases and other crimes are overseen by the Court. It presides over all felony cases. However, the Trial Court Departments assist in presiding over some crime cases. Not only that, but the Superior Court handles some administrative proceedings and has appellate jurisdiction.

There are many different types of cases heard by the District Court. Those include:Juvenile Cases, Mental Heath Cases, Criminal Cases, Civil Cases

Any felony that is punishable by up to five years in jail is handled by the District Court. Some other cases with bigger penalties are also handled, along with misdemeanors and any crimes or infractions that violate the by-laws or ordinances of a town. The District Court can also instigate probable cause hearings in cases that aren’t within its jurisdiction. Those hearings will determine whether not a case should proceed to the Superior Court. Criminal complaints, arrest warrants and probably cause hearings to determine if someone can be arrested without a warrant are all handled by District Court magistrates. Administrative and criminal search warrants can be issued by magistrates or judges.

In any cases where the recovery is not likely to be more than $25,000, District Court judges preside. Those cases may or may not include a jury. Initially, any small claims for $2,000 or less were handled by a magistrate, but they are now handled by the District Court. The Appellate Division consists of 15 judges and they sit on three judgment panels when they need to review civil cases. Those panels are arranged according to districts.

Evictions, inquests and special proceedings are also handled by the civil jurisdiction of the District Court. Among the many issues that the District Court manages are medication orders, supervision of criminal defendants that are deemed to be mentally incompetent and restraining orders. Motor vehicle infractions are typically handled by a magistrate, but can be sent to a judge for an appeal. The District Court’s civil jurisdiction can also handle unemployment compensation cases and firearms license infractions. Many other miscellaneous civil matters are handled by the District Court’s civil jurisdiction as well, including small claims general equity jurisdiction and civil money damage actions.

Massachusetts has some excellent records, but there can still be some missing records, gaps and problems with record research. There are too record groups to be concerned with. Some were recorded in probate books for each county and some are original records, such as wills, affidavits and receipts. Although a lot of people died without putting their estates through the probate process, there are many of those sorts of records for the state of Massachusetts. See Also Research In Court Records.

State Land Records