The following is a list of genealogy resources. Listed first are the resources provided by the Chelmsford Public Library for its patrons, and at the bottom of the page are additional suggested resources that are freely-available on the internet.
Resources Available from the CPL
America's Obituaries & Death Notices
Ancestry Library
Access: [In Library]
Contains the U.S. Census Collection; U.K. and Ireland Collection; Birth, Marriage, and Death Records; Immigration Collection; Military Collection; Court, Land, and Probate Records; and more.
Heritage Quest
New England Ancestry
Access: [In Library]
The database of the oldest genealogical society in the country, helping researchers for over 150 years. Their databases contain a wide assortment of genealogical information.
Special Collections Directory (Manuscripts and Archives of Massachusetts)
ProQuest (Massachusetts Newspapers)
Access: [In Library & At Home]
Full-text access the Boston Globe (1980-current), Boston Herald (1991-current), Lowell Sun (2004-current), Worcester Telegram & Gazette (1989-current), and more MA newspapers.
Main Library, Lower Level
The Local History Room holds a valuable collection of books and other documents about the history of the Chelmsford area and people. A shelf listing of these materials is available through our catalog. These materials do not circulate, but are open for any library visitor to use. A few examples are:
Towns: Books of Towns - Birth, Marriage, Death up to 1849 for many MA towns; History of various towns in MA
General Information: How to start your genealogy; Research by country (Irish, French etc.)
Families: Genealogy of various families (i.e. Richardson, Foote, Spalding)
Early Ancestry: Examples include: Genealogy of New England Families; Genealogy of CT families; Mayflower Families
Colonial Life: Mill life in Lowell
Military: MASS Army and Navy - 1861-65 (2 vol.); MASS Soldiers and Sailors & Marines in Civil War (8 vol.); Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolution War (17 vol.); various military books by towns, regiments, and time-frames
Chelmsford Genealogies & Cemeteries: Located in white notebooks; Jane Drury and the Chelmsford Historical Society have been working on documenting all headstones in Chelmsford Cemeteries
Chelmsford High School Yearbooks: For the years 1944-1951, 1961, 1975, 1982, 1988-1992, 1996, 2004-2008 (donations for missing years are accepted)
Magazine Subscriptions: Everton's Genealogy Helper (not available to check out)
Shelved just outside the Local History Room
Local information that does not fit in the Local History Room. Most of this information is less historical in nature, and is more focused on the operations of the Town of Chelmsford, but nonetheless may be of interest to researchers. A few examples are:
Chelmsford Annual Reports: 1878-current
Chelmsford Garden Club Archives: 1923-current
Chelmsford Organizations: sporatic years only; this publication was replaced by our website listing of Community Organizations
Chelmsford School Reports: mid- to late-1800s
Chelmsford Water District Commissioner's Report: 1921-current
Finance Committee Reports: 1937-current
List of Residents: 1975-current (the most current edition is held at the Reference Desk)
Microfilm Periodicals
Main Library, Lower Level
For those periodicals not held in print or available electronically under NewsBank Newspapers above, the CPL has some microfilm and a microfilm reader/printer located near the Local History Room. Our current holdings are:
Chelmsford Newsweekly: 1940-1993
Chelmsford Independent: 1986-2005
Boston Globe: 1985-2004
Additional Print Resources
Main Library, Lower Level
These books are not located in the Local History Room, but are available elsewhere on the lower level of the library. A few examples are:
Other Suggested Resources (many of these sources were identified through http://www.lauraprescott.com) Local Resources & OrganizationsMassachusetts Resources & OrganizationsRecords, Newspapers, & Archives SearchesGuides and General Resources
