Online Massachusetts Death Records & Indexes

A Genealogy Guide for Finding Death Records, Obituaries & Cemetery Burials

Online Massachusetts Death Records Indexes

Death Indexes and Vital Records Indexes at Ancestry (these require payment)...
- Massachusetts Death Records Index, 1970-2003
- Massachusetts Death Records Index, 1901-1980 gives year of death, but not the date
- Massachusetts Town Vital Records Collections, 1620-1988 includes various town birth, marriage, and death records; coverage varies by town
- Massachusetts Death Records, 1841-1915 includes digitized images of the death records

Massachusetts Death Records and Vital Records at FamilySearch (free with registration) includes...
- Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915, 1921-1924 includes scanned images of the death registers and certificates
- Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920 (includes births, marriages and deaths, 1916-1920, and state amendments to vital records, 1841-1920; not yet complete)
- Massachusetts Town Deaths Index, ca. 1640-1961; for 11 counties; coverage varies
- Massachusetts Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001; coverage varies by town; indexing is not yet complete
- Massachusetts Delayed and Corrected Vital Records, 1753-1900

Massachusetts Death Certificates, 1916 and 1917 from the Massachusetts Archives Digital Repository's Registers of Vital Records Series (currently available for the year 1916 and 1917; ongoing project)
Massachusetts Death Index, 1841-1910 from the Massachusetts Archives; gives year of death only (plus volume and page number); copies of death records may be ordered by mail for a fee; also indexes marriages and births

Massachusetts Historic Probate Records Online

Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts - Jewish Burials Search has over 50,000 entries

Massachusetts Death Records Indexes, Obituaries and Cemeteries by County

Barnstable County...
- Barnstable County: Gravestone Records from the 15 Towns of Cape Cod, 1683-1860 (ongoing project)
- Barnstable County: Barnstable Patriot and Register Digital Newspaper Archive covering Cape Cod and the Islands; from the Sturgis Library
- Barnstable County: Falmouth Genealogical Society: Falmouth Enterprise Obituaries Index, 1960-2021 also has a cemetery transcription project
- Barnstable County: Burials in Cataumet and Pocasset Cemeteries (Bourne, Massachusetts)
- Barnstable County: List of Headstones in Old Town Burying Grounds (Sandwich, Massachusetts)
- Barnstable County: Cedarville Cemetery - List of Markers
Berkshire County Probate Records Index, 1761-1900
Berkshire County: Assorted Vital Records (most are pre-1850)
Boston: see the Suffolk County section below
Bristol County...
- Bristol County: Walter-Blake Graveyard Burials in Taunton, Massachusetts
- Bristol County: Fall River Herald News Obituary Indexes, 1928-2012 PDFs
- Bristol County: Swansea Cemeteries
Dukes County...
- Dukes County History and Genealogy for the Town of Tisbury and the Island of Martha's Vineyard includes some cemetery burials, marriage indexes and death indexes
- Dukes County: Oak Grove Cemetery Burials Database in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts; also see:
  - Dukes County: Oak Grove Cemetery Burials PDF
Essex County...
- Essex, Massachusetts Probate Records Index, 1638-1840 (at Ancestry/requires payment)
- The Catholic Cemetery Association of the Archdiocese of Boston Burial Search has Catholic Cemeteries in Essex and Middlesex Counties
- Essex County: City of Amesbury Cemeteries includes a database for burials at Union Cemetery and Mt. Prospect Cemetery
- Essex County: Spring Grove Cemetery Burials (Andover, MA)
- Essex County: City of Gloucester Vital Records Indexes (death index covers 1838-1883)
- Essex County: Hamilton Cemetery Burial Records Search
- Essex County: Old Burial Hill Gravestone Index in Marblehead, Massachusetts
- Essex County: Town of North Andover Old Burial Ground Database
Franklin County News Archive 1870-Sept 1875 includes some obituaries
Franklin County Probate Records Index, 1812-1925
Hampden County: Springfield Vital Records, 1638-1887 from FamilySearch
Hampden County: Longmeadow Cemetery Records
Hampshire County: Burials in North and West Cemeteries in Amherst, Massachusetts
Middlesex County...
- The Catholic Cemetery Association of the Archdiocese of Boston Burial Search has Catholic Cemeteries in Middlesex and Essex Counties
- Middlesex County: Billerica Cemeteries some with online transcriptions
- Middlesex County: Mount Auburn Cemetery Burials Search (Cambridge, MA)
- Middlesex County: Chelmsford Newspapers Obituary Search and Cemetery Archive The Cemetery Archive is for Fairview, Forefathers, Heart Pond, Pine Ridge, and Riverside Cemeteries.
- Middlesex County: Gravemarker Data from the South (Main Street) Burying Ground and the Old Hill Burying Ground, Concord, Mass
- Middlesex County: Lincoln Public Library Obituary Database
- Middlesex County: Cemeteries of Littleton, Massachusetts
- Lowell...
  - Middlesex County: Lowell Vital Records Indexes (Birth, Marriage, Death) from Local Newspapers
  - Lowell Cemetery: Veterans Burial List (Lowell, Massachusetts) PDF
  - Middlesex County: Burials of St. Peter's Cemetery, 1900-1913 (Lowell) also has Civil War Veterans Buried in Lowell Cemetery, and other items
- Middlesex County: Vital Records for the Town of Natick, 1874-1913
- Middlesex County: City of Newton Genealogy Indexes includes Death Indexes, 1635-1925; PDF files
- Middlesex County: Newton Cemetery Burial Search (Newton Centre, Massachusetts)
- Middlesex County: Wakefield Death Record Search, 1850-2016 from the Lucius Beebe Memorial Library (also has a link for pre-1850 deaths)
- Waltham...
  - Middlesex County: Deaths in Waltham from City Directories, 1912-1960
  - Vital Statistics Index from the Waltham News Tribune, 1995-2016
  - Middlesex County: City of Waltham Cemetery Records Search for Mount Feake and Grove Hill Cemeteries
- Middlesex County: Mount Auburn Catholic Cemetery (Sand Banks Cemetery) Burials and Veterans Graves Watertown, Massachusetts; Excel files; also has Arlington Street Burying Ground Burials (in the genealogy section)
- Middlesex County: Arlington Cemetery Burials (Watertown)
- Middlesex County Cemetery Projects
Nantucket County...
- Nantucket County: Nantucket Cemeteries Project from the Nantucket Historical Association
- Nantucket County: Lewis Funeral Home Records PDF scans from the Nantucket Historical Association
- Nantucket County: Prospect Hill Cemetery Interment Index, Nantucket, Massachusetts
Norfolk County...
- Norfolk County: Knollwood Memorial Park Burial Search (Canton, Massachusetts)
- Norfolk County: Village Cemetery and Brookdale Cemetery Burials in Dedham, Massachusetts
- Norfolk County: Pondville Cemetery Burials in Norfolk, Massachusetts
- Norfolk County: Sharon Memorial Park Burial Search Jewish Cemetery in Sharon, Massachusetts
- Norfolk County: Weymouth Town Vital Records to the Year 1850 includes births, marriages and deaths
Plymouth County...
- Plymouth County: Town of Middleborough Vital Records Index 1649-1945 (downloadable PDF files) also has a Middleborough Gazette newspaper index
- Plymouth County: Plymouth Colony Archive Project includes wills and probate inventories, 1600s
- Plymouth County: Cemetery Records from the Town of Carver
- Plymouth County: Town of Plymouth Cemetery Burial Record Search
Suffolk County and Boston...
- Boston Public Library Obituary Database indexes obituaries in the Boston Evening Transcript, Boston Globe, and the Boston Herald/Herald American from 1932-1941 and 1953-2010.
- Boston Catholic Cemeteries
  - Boston Catholic Cemetery Association's Online Burial Search for Mt. Calvary, New Calvary, Mt. Benedict, and St. Mary's Cemeteries
  - The Catholic Cemetery Association of the Archdiocese of Boston Burial Search includes St. Francis deSales Cemetery in Charlestown/Boston (also has Catholic Cemeteries in Essex and Middlesex Counties)
- Boston Jewish Advocate Obituary Database, 1905-2007 from JewishGen/Ancestry; requires free registration
- St. Michael Cemetery Burials (Boston)
- City of Boston Historic Burying Grounds Initiative includes transcriptions of historic gravestones, 1630-1841
- Suffolk County: Holyhood Cemetery Association Burial Search for Holyhood Cemetery in Chestnut Hill and St. Joseph Cemetery in West Roxbury
Worcester County...
- Worcester City Death Certificates Search, 1976-present copies of the death certificates can be ordered for a fee; also has indexes for birth and marriage records
- Worcester County: Worcester Evening Post, Deaths Index, 1897-1898 includes some from 1899
- Worcester County: Town of Charlton Cemeteries
- Worcester County: Inscriptions from the West Street Cemetery in Fitchburg, Massachusetts (1798-1879) PDF
- Worcester County: Evergreen Cemetery Burials (Leominster, Massachusetts) Excel file
- Worcester County Memorial Park Cemetery Burials (Paxton, MA)
- Worcester County: Southborough Rural Cemetery Burials, and Southborough Vital Records, 1727-1849

Also Helpful...

Finding Boston Passenger Lists and Records, 1820-1943
Massachusetts Genealogy Records at Ancestry (requires payment)
Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters Mortuary Records Index Irish fraternal life insurance society; FamilySearch has digitized copies of the records online at: Massachusetts, Forester Mortuary Records, 1880-1935
Early Massachusetts Vital Records Prior to 1850 at Google Books

Ordering Massachusetts Vital Records

Where to Write for Vital Records - Massachusetts (fees and restrictions may apply)

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