Listed record inventories
Selected holdings and indexes for Franklin County, checked against the repository descriptions linked below. Date spans may contain gaps; an index is not a complete set of original records.
Newspapers
- Daily Greenfield Siftings (Greenfield, Mass.)1882-1882
- Deerfield Valley Sun (Shelburne Falls, Mass.)1886-1???
- Enterprise and Journal (Orange, Mass.)1899-19??
- Farmer's Register (Conway, Mass.)1798-1799
- Franklin County Times (Greenfield, Mass.)1872-1878
- Franklin Federalist, and Religious, Scientific, and Literary Repository (Greenfield, Mass.)1817-1817
- Franklin Freeman (Deerfield, Mass.)1831-1834
- Franklin Herald (Greenfield, Mass.)1812-1822
- Franklin Herald and Public Advertiser (Greenfield, Mass.)1822-1827
- Franklin Mercury (Greenfield [Mass.])1833-183?
- Franklin Post & Christian Freeman (Greenfield, Mass.)1825-1827
- Freedom's Sentinel (Greenfield [Mass.])1830-1830
- Gazette and Courier (Greenfield, Mass.)1841-1932
- Gazette and Mercury (Greenfield, Mass.)1837-1841
- Greenfield Courier (Greenfield, Mass.)1839-1841
- Greenfield Democrat (Greenfield, Mass.)1860-1862
- Greenfield Gazette (Greenfield, Mass.)1792-1795
- Greenfield Gazette (Greenfield, Mass.)1798-1811
- Greenfield Gazette (Greenfield, Mass.)1823-1826
- Greenfield Gazette and Franklin County Advertiser (Greenfield, Mass.)1826-1827
- Greenfield Gazette and Franklin Herald (Greenfield, Mass.)1827-1837
- Greenfield Gazette, Or, Massachusetts and Vermont Telegraphe (Greenfield, Mass.)1795-1797
- Greenfield Journal (Greenfield, Mass.)1879-1???
- Greenfield Recorder-Gazette (Greenfield, Mass.)1936-1966
- Journal of Industry (Orange, Mass.)1871-1883
- Shelburne Falls Gazette (Shelburne Falls, Mass.)1886-1???
- Shelburne Falls Messenger (Shelburne Falls, Mass.)1907-1918
- Shelburne Falls Standard (Shelburne Falls, Mass.)1877-18??
- South Deerfield News (South Deerfield [Deerfield] Mass.)1894-1???
- The American Republic (Greenfield, Mass.)1848-185?
- The Charlemont Townsman (Charlemont, Mass.)1912-19??
- The Constitution and the Old Flag (Greenfield, Mass.)1862-1???
- The Courier (Greenfield, Mass.)1838-1839
- The Daily Gazette & Courier (Greenfield, Mass.)1898-1898
- The Daily Recorder-Gazette (Greenfield, Mass.)1932-1936
- The Deerfield Valley Echo (Shelburne Falls, Mass.)1892-1907
- The Democrat (Greenfield, Mass.)1840-1842
- The Franklin Democrat (Greenfield, Mass.)1842-1860
- The Franklin Intelligencer (Greenfield, Mass.)1818-1818
- The Free Soil (Greenfield, Mass.)1848-1848
- The Greenfield Recorder (Greenfield, Mass.)1900-1919
- The Impartial Intelligencer (Greenfield, Mass.)1792-1792
- The North-Western Mass. Gazette (Shelburne Falls, Mass.)1886-1886
- The Northfield Herald (Northfield, Mass.)1931-19??
- The Northfield Press (Northfield, Mass.)1909-192?
- The Northfield Press (Northfield, Mass.)1930-1949
- The Orange Journal (Orange, Mass.)1883-1???
- The Point (Northfield, Mass.)1883-1???
- The Postscript and Round Table (Northfield, Mass.)1884-1???
- The Shelburne Falls World (Shelburne Falls [Shelburne] Mass.)1889-1???
- The Traveller (Greenfield, Mass.)1811-1811
- The Village Post (Gill, Ms. [i.e. Massachusetts])1831-1834
- The Weekly Visitor (Shelburne Falls, Mass.)1887-1888
- The Workingman's Advocate and Democratic Journal (Greenfield, Mass.)1836-1836
- Turners Falls Herald (Turners Falls, Mass.)1940-1942
- Turners Falls Reporter (Turners Falls, Mass.)1872-1922
- Western Massachusetts Commercial News (Springfield, Mass.)1949-19??
See the repository's descriptions and search options
Repository access note: Selected newspaper titles cataloged by the Library of Congress with explicit county geography. Priority is given to titles beginning by 1950; up to five later titles are included where no earlier dated title is listed for that county. Dates describe publication history, not the issues available at a library. Multiple format records with the same title, place and dates are grouped. The catalog may describe paper, microfilm or online resources. Open ends and the word Current reflect the catalog description; confirm present availability and exact holdings with the libraries listed on the linked record.
Sources: the catalogs and repository descriptions linked on the entries above. Selected inventories do not establish complete coverage of every record type or online access to original documents. Read the repository access note for source dates and limitations.
Where to find the records
- Find Franklin County's official website
We haven't checked this county's website yet, so this opens a web search. Look for an address ending in .gov, then find the town or city clerk, the registry of deeds and the probate court.
- The town or city clerk
Births, marriages and deaths, kept by each town since colonial times.
- The registry of deeds
Deeds and other land records, by county (some counties have more than one registry district).
- The probate court
Wills, estates and guardianships, one court in each county.
- The Massachusetts Archives
In Boston: state vital records from 1841, court records and colonial records.
- Massachusetts Archivesfree
The state archives in Boston, with state vital records, court and colonial records, and passenger lists for the port of Boston.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Massachusetts, Franklin" to find filmed and digitized records, many viewable free online with a FamilySearch account.
Offices change their hours and access rules; call before you visit.
Boundaries and parent counties
Formed from: Hampshire County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Hampshire County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1811, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Massachusetts began statewide registration in 1841, but its towns have kept births, marriages and deaths since the 1600s. Many town records to 1850 are published as the "Vital Records of [Town]" series.