Online Massachusetts Death Indexes, Records & Obituaries

Online Massachusetts Death Indexes, Cemeteries and Obituaries

Massachusetts Death Records Index 1970-2003 (at Ancestry/requires payment)
Massachusetts Town Vital Records Collections 1620-1988 (at Ancestry/requires payment) includes various town birth, marriage, and death records; coverage varies by town

Massachusetts Death Records 1841-1915 from FamilySearch (free; includes scanned images of the death registers and certificates)
Massachusetts Death Index 1841-1910 from the Massachusetts Archives; gives year of death only; (copies of death records may be ordered by mail for a fee; also indexes marriages and births)

Massachusetts Obituaries Archive - Recent (you can obtain copies of individual obituaries online for a fee) includes...
- Boston Herald (1997-Current)
- Brockton Enterprise (10/9/2008-Current)
- Cambridge Chronicle (1/19/2006-Current)
- Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, MA) (12/8/1998-Current)
- Fall River Herald News (10/2/2009-Current)
- Lowell Sun (9/14/2001-Current)
- Lynn Daily Item (9/23/2005-Current)
- Quincy Patriot Ledger (1/7/2008-Current)
- Springfield Republican (6/16/1988-Current)
- Worcester Telegram & Gazette (1/16/1989-Current)
- And more Massachusetts newspapers

Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts - Jewish Burials Search has 55,000 entries

Barnstable County...
- Barnstable County: Gravestone Records from the 15 Towns of Cape Cod 1683-1860 (ongoing project)
- Barnstable County: Barnstable Patriot Newspaper Archive 1830-1930 covering Cape Cod and the Islands
- Barnstable County: Falmouth Genealogical Society Obituaries Index (1990-2009) and Cemetery Transcription Project
Berkshire County Probate Guide and Index 1761-1900
Berkshire County: Assorted Vital Records (most are pre-1850)
Boston: see the Suffolk County section below
Bristol County: Walter-Blake Graveyard Burials in Taunton, Massachusetts
Bristol County: Fall River Herald News Obituary Index 1951-2010 some years missing; Excel files
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
Essex County...
- Essex County: Spring Grove Cemetery Burials (Andover, MA)
- Essex County: City of Peabody Archives - Birth, Marriage and Death Records 1855-1880 (death records go to 1879)
- Essex County: City of Gloucester Vital Records Indexes (death index covers 1838-1883)
Franklin County News Archive 1870-Sept 1875 includes some obituaries
Franklin Coounty Probate Guide and Index 1812-1925
Hampshire County: Burials in North and West Cemeteries in Amherst, Massachusetts
Middlesex County...
- Middlesex County: Lowell Vital Records Indexes (Birth, Marriage, Death) from Local Newspapers
- Middlesex County: Vital Records for the Town of Natick 1874-1913
- Middlesex County: City of Newton Genealogy Indexes includes Death Indexes 1635-1899; PDF files
- Middlesex County: Wakefield Death Record Search 1873-1875 and 1913-2009 from the Lucius Beebe Memorial Library
- Middlesex County: Deaths in Waltham from City Directories 1912-1960
- Middlesex County: Billerica Cemeteries some with online transcriptions
- Middlesex County: Gravemarker Data from the South (Main Street) Burying Ground and the Old Hill Burying Ground, Concord, Mass
- Middlesex County: Cemeteries of Littleton, Massachusetts
- Middlesex County Cemetery Projects
  - St. Patrick Cemetery Burials (Lowell, Massachusetts)
  - Lowell Cemetery Burials (Lowell, Massachusetts) (recent burials and veterans)
  - St. Mary Cemetery Burials (Tewskbury, Massachusetts)
Nantucket County: Nantucket Grave Markers Database Search "not comprehensive"
Plymouth County: Town of Middleborough Vital Records Index 1649-1945 (downloadable PDF files) also has cemetery listings and other records
Plymouth County: Plymouth Colony Archive Project includes wills and probate inventories, 1600s
Suffolk County & Boston...
- Boston Herald Obituaries Archive Search 1997-present (you can obtain copies of the obituaries online for a fee)
- Boston Globe Birth & Marriage Announcements and Death Notices 1872-1922 at Ancestry.com (requires payment)
- Boston Globe and Herald Obituary Database 1953-2010 indexes full length obituaries only, no death notices; from the Boston Public Library
- Boston Jewish Advocate Obituary Database 1905-2007 (from JewishGen/Ancestry; requires free registration)
- City of Boston Historic Burying Grounds Initiative includes transcriptions of historic gravestones 1630-1841
- Suffolk County: Boston Vital Records 1630-1699 at Ancestry.com (requires payment)
- Zimmer Newspaper Index Digitization Project 1878-1937 An index to late 19th/early 20th Century Massachusetts newspaper articles: "The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Journal, and Boston Transcript were the papers which were indexed most consistently." Includes some obituaries.
Worcester County...
- Worcester County: Worcester Evening Post, Deaths Index 1897-1898 ongoing project; includes some from 1899
- Worcester County: Town of Rutland Death Records to the end of the year 1849 also includes birth and marriage records
- Worcester County: Southborough Rural Cemetery Burials, and Southborough Vital Records 1727-1849
- Worcester County: Evergreen Cemetery Burials (Leominster, Massachusetts) (Excel file)

Also Helpful...

Finding Boston Passenger Lists and Records 1820-1943
Massachusetts Vital Records 1600-1849 Online (ongoing volunteer transcription project - has some records for Berkshire, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk and Worcester Counties)
Early Massachusetts Vital Records Prior to 1850 at Google Books
Massachusetts Genealogy Databases at Ancestry (requires payment)

Ordering Massachusetts Vital Records

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

Online Massachusetts Death Records & Indexes

A Genealogy Records Guide