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The Local History Room holds a valuable collection of books and other documents about the history of the Chelmsford area and people. These materials do not circulate, but library visitors may access the Local History collection by appointment during our open hours. To book a research session in the Local History room please visit our Meeting Rooms reservation page.

Some of the Local History materials include:

  • 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 – limited availability in print (donations accepted); complete set available online.
  • Magazine Subscriptions: Everton’s Genealogy Helper (not available to check out)
  • Chelmsford Annual Reports: 1878-current
  • Chelmsford Garden Club Archives: 1923-current
  • Chelmsford Organizations: sporadic 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)

These books are located on the Genealogy Subject Table outside the Local History Room. They include genealogy how-to guides, some research material, and circulating duplicate copies of items in the Local History Room.

For those local periodicals not held in print or available electronically, the Library has microfilm and a microfilm reader/printer located near the Local History Room. Our current holdings are:

  • Boston Globe: 1985-2004
  • Chelmsford Newsweekly: 1940-1993
  • Chelmsford Independent: 1986-present

Other Microfilm Records:

  • Chelmsford Church Records 1741-1842 – baptisms, marriages, deaths
  • Chelmsford Town and Vital Records – Taxes, Proprietor Records, etc.
  • City Directories 1882-1959 (some exclusions)
  • Early MA Records of Middlesex County
  • NE Church Records 1558-1765

Global Archives and General Information:

  • British National Archives – Includes guides to genealogical record types.
  • Cyndi’s List – A categorized index to genealogy sites online. More than 300,000 sites in over 200 categories!
  • Danish Demographic Database – Danish Nationla Archives include census data starting in 1787 and a probate index for several counties.
  • Digitalarkivet – National Archives of Norway include many searchable parish records, census data, land and probate papers, and emigration records.
  • Library and Archives Canada – Among other data, the archive includes census data, vital records, military records, immigration lists, and land records.
  • National Archives & Records Administration – Allows you to order veteran’s records and research German and Russian passenger lists and WWII enlistment records.
  • National Archives of Ireland – Among other data, includes census data, will collections, marriage records, tithe applotments, and pensioner records.
  • Wie Was Wie – Of particular interest for those with Dutch ancestry. Over 200 million records and 80 million historical documents.

American History:

  • Access Genealogy – Includes Native American resources, yearbooks, land management tracts, and family and local histories.
  • Civil War Soldiers & Sailors Database – Essential resource for researching both Union and Confederate ancestors. Over 6 million servicemen from both sides.
  • Daughters of the American Revolution – Includes a Genealogical Research System for Revolutionary War patriots and their families.
  • eHistory – Global in scope, but of particular interest for the US history offerings, including a searchable version of the 128 volume set Official Records of the Civil War.
  • Reclaim the Records – Nonprofit public-records advocacy group. They use open data requests and freedom of information laws to unlock records that states have locked.
  • US Gen Web – A volunteer run site that includes state and county pages along with many other records.

DNA & Genetics Genealogy:


 

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