| A TIME LINE OF EVENTS FROM
1602-1910
|
| 1602 |
Bartholomew
Gosnold explores and names Cape Cod (for the type of fish that swarmed in it). |
| 1620 |
The Pilgrims set sail for North
America and establish a colony at Plymouth, Massachusetts. |
| 1628 |
A shipload of
emigrants known as Puritans leave England and establish a colony at Salem, Massachusetts. |
| 1629 |
A royal charter is granted to the
Massachusetts Bay Colony. |
| 1640 |
Population of
Massachusetts Bay Colony is approximately 16,000. |
| 1643 |
Suffolk County is created. |
| 1643 |
Middlesex County is
created. |
| 1643 |
Essex County is created. |
| 1643 |
The start of keeping
military records Massachusetts men involved in various colonial wars (1643-1774). |
| 1662 |
Hampshire County is formed from
Middlesex County. |
| 1683 |
Dukes County is
created. |
| 1685 |
Barnstable County is formed from
New Plymouth Colony. |
| 1685 |
Bristol County is
formed from New Plymouth Colony. |
| 1685 |
Plymouth County is formed from
New Plymouth Colony. |
| 1691 |
Massachusetts becomes
a Royal Province with a governor appointed by the English monarch. |
| 1695 |
Nantucket County is created. |
| 1731 |
Worcestor County is
formed from Suffolk and Middlesex Counties. |
| 1761 |
Berkshire County is formed from
Hampshire County. |
| 1764-1765 |
The Sugar Act (1764)
and Stamp Act (1765) serve to heighten tensions between England and its North American
colonies. |
| 1770 |
British troops in Boston fire on
a crowd of citizens which had been taunting them, killing five. This event becomes known
as "The Boston Massacre." |
| 1773 |
The Tea Act is opposed
by Bostonians led by Samuel Adams. Members of this group disguised as American Indians
dump the cargoes of three East India Company ships into Boston Harbor. |
| 1775 |
The American Revolution begins.
It ends with a treaty in 1783. The first shots of the war were fired on April 19th at
Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. |
| 1786-1787 |
Records of
participants in Shays’ Rebellion. |
| 1790 |
The first Federal Census is
taken. Only heads of household are listed by name. |
| 1793 |
Norfolk County is
formed from Suffolk County. |
| 1811 |
Franklin County is formed from
Hampshire County. |
| 1812 |
Hampden County is
formed from Hampshire County. |
| 1812 |
The War of 1812 begins. It ends
with a treaty in 1815. A British blockade nearly halts foreign trade and leads many in
Massachusetts to oppose the war, which is called "Mr. Madison’s War."
Records of Massachusetts men called for anticipated militia duty for an expected British
attack on Boston in 1814 are held in the Massachusetts Archives. |
| 1841 |
Many cities and town
create registration books for births, marriages, and deaths or the period 1841-1910. |
| 1848 |
Massachusetts started recording
the names of immigrants arriving at its ports and continued the practice until 1891, when
federal record-keeping superseded that of the state. The Massachusetts Archives has copies
of these records for the port of Boston only (arrangement is chronological by ship arrival
date). |
| 1850 |
The Federal Census
taken is the first to list all members of a household by name. |
| 1855 |
Massachusetts takes a State
Census. |
| 1861 |
The American Civil War
begins. Massachusetts furnishes numerous regiments to the Union cause, among them the
famed 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. The Massachusetts Archives holds various
muster lists, clothing and descriptive rolls, recruiter correspondence, and materials
documenting pro- curement of substitutes for many Massachusetts Civil War soldiers. |
| 1865 |
Massachusetts takes a State
Census. |
| 1890 |
A Special Federal
Census of Massachusetts Union veterans and their widows is undertaken. |
| 1910 |
Vital records for 1910-present
are kept by the various municipal clerks and by the Department of Public Health in
Dorchester, Massachusetts. |
