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Franklin County History and Information

Franklin County was created on 24 June 1811 (Chapter 61, Acts of 1811) and was formed from Hampshire County. The County was named for Benjamin Franklin who was born and raised in Massachusetts.. The County Seat is Greenfield . The County Government was abolished on July 1, 1997

Though Franklin County still remains, the county governmenthas been "abolished", their offices being put under the direction of certain state offices. Example: the Registry of Deeds offices in abolished counties are now under the direction of the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Office; Sheriffs and jails are under the Secretary of Public Safety. See also County History for more historical details.

Counties adjacent to Franklin County are Windham County, Vermont (north), Cheshire County, New Hampshire (northeast), Worcester County (east), Hampshire County (south), Berkshire County (west).

Cities, Towns & Communities include: Ashfield, Bernardston, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Deerfield, Erving, Gill, Greenfield, Hawley, Heath, Leverett, Leyden, Millers Falls, Monroe, Montague, New Salem, Northfield, Orange, Rowe, Shelburne Falls, Shutesbury, South Deerfield, Sunderland, Turners Falls, Warwick, Wendell and Whately.

The Franklin County Official Government Website
Village, Section or Neighborhood Names of Massachusetts Communities
Franklin County, Massachusetts History Books at Amazon.com
Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.
Search Historical Newspapers from Massachusetts (1690 - 1992) - Quickly find names and keywords in over 125 million articles, obituaries, marriage notices, birth announcements and other items published in more than 500,000 issues of over 2,500 historical U.S. newspapers. New content added monthly!
Stories, Memories & Histories - Stories and histories compiled by others researching a person or area can be an amazing source of information about your ancestors. Not only do they generally contain dates and places of vital events like birth, marriage, and death, but they often relate stories and memories that help you really get to know the character of your ancestors.

Court Records

County Vital Records

County Census Records

County Maps & Atlases

County Military Records

County Tax Records

County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Massachusetts Genealogical Addresses

The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.

Below is a list of online resources for Franklin County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Franklin County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Ashfield Historical Society, Main Street, Ashfield, MA 01330; 413-628-4541
Ten rooms of Ashfield memorabilia. The main exhibition hall is a re-creation of a general store, circa 1850. Exhibits include more than 23,000 glass plate negatives taken between 1882 and 1907 by the well-known Howes brothers of Ashfield. There are also exhibits of early Ashfield industries, 19th century period rooms, children's room, military display and memorabilia of famous Ashfield residents. A barn houses many relics of early rural life. Open June through August, Saturday and Sunday afternoons, Columbus Day weekend, during special events and by appointment.
Bernardston Historical Society, Powers Institute, Church Street, Bernardston, MA 01337; 413-648-9600; The building once housed Powers Institute, which was founded in 1857 and includes memorabilia from the school. The collection also includes farm and household tools, textiles and a Lumen Nelson collection of small animals and birds. Open during summer months, Sundays, 2:30-4:30 p.m., or by appointment.
Buckland Historical Society, Upper Street, Buckland, MA 01338; 413-625-6619, 413-625-9763
Displays include early kitchen furniture, tools and photographs of local school groups. Open first and third Sundays of July and August, first Sunday in September 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Also open by appointment.
Charlemont Historical Society, Town Hall, second floor, Main Street, Charlemont, MA 01339; 413-339-4947
Collection includes early household items, schoolbooks, desks, horse treadmill, microfilm of David Malcolm's publications "Hilltown Neighbors," country store articles, records of the town, its churches and Deerfield Valley Agricultural Society. Open Saturdays July & August, or by appointment.
Colrain Historical Society, Main Street, Colrain, MA 01340; 413-624-3710
Collection illustrates a variety of life-styles from the many villages making up the town of Colrain. Also featured are books and papers on Colrain history. Open by appointment and during the Coleraine Village Fair (October).
Conway Historical Society, Main Street, Conway, MA 01341
Features a notable collection of items from Conway's cutlery and tool factories, woolen mills and shoe factories. Open July through Labor Day weekend on Sundays from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. or by appointment.
Erving House Museum, located in the old fire station, Route 2, Erving, MA 01344; 978-544-6339 or 978-544-3705
The exhibits reflect the development of Erving as a major industrial town, large collection of photographs and scrapbooks in four rooms. There is an 1890-1900 kitchen, living room and parlor that reflects the life-style of the period. Open in July and August, one day a weeks, from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Gill Historical Society, located in the former Riverside School, Route 2, Gill, MA 01376; 413-863-2505
Consisting of two rooms, it features many reminders of the town's history, including photographs, ice cutting implements, farm implements, and old newspapers. Among the photographs is the famous shoot of the science building burning at Mount Hermon School while a football game is being played. Open by appointment.
Historical Society of Greenfield, Corner of Church and Union Streets, PO Box 415, Greenfield, MA 01302; 413-774-3663
Lectures every third Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m.; free and open to the public.
Heath Historical Society, Heath, MA 01346; 413-337-4980
Located in two buildings in the center of town: the old townhouse and the old schoolhouse. The exhibits represent a broad range of Heath's past. Open by appointment.
Leverett Historical Society, Moore's Corner Schoolhouse, North Leverett Rd., Leverett, MA 01054; 413-367-2800, 413-548-9082
Open during summer months or by appointment. The first floor features a schoolhouse exhibit. There are also artifacts from the former mills and shops, and scrapbooks and photos from the childhood days of newspaper columnist Ruby Hemenway.
Montague Historical Society,
July's exhibit will feature Montague schools.... and that means the five villages - Turners Falls, Millers Falls, Montague City, Montague Center and Lake Pleasant. August will feature photos and slides of old homes.
Swift River Valley Historical Society, 40 Elm Street, New Salem, MA 01355; 978-544-6882
Photographs and memorabilia offer a look at the history of the four towns that were flooded to create the Quabbin Reservoir, as well as portions of New Salem that were lost. Displays include a fire truck, circa 1920, from the town of Dana and the New Salem guide post from the 1850s. The buildings housing the exhibits are historical structures. Open July and August, Wednesday and Sunday 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.; September to mid-October, Sunday, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Northfield Historical Society, 13 Pine Street, PO Box 131, Northfield, MA 01360; 413-498-4338
Displays three centuries of toys, art, textiles and other items owned by Northfield families. Special programs offered. Hours varied. Call for appointment.
Orange Historical Society, 41 North Main Street, Orange, MA 01364; 978-544-6286
Housed in a Victorian home and is furnished in that period. Included are a special children's room, military room and alumni room. Barn exhibits include a fire pumper, steam automobile (circa 1904) made in Orange by the Grout brothers and other industrial items. Open Sunday and Wednesday, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Kemp-McCarthy Memorial Museum of the Rowe Historical Society, Zoar Road, Rowe, MA 01367; 413-339-4700, 413-625-6807
There eight rooms of artifacts and memorabilia of Rowe from over 300 friends of the town. The collection includes Rowe's last horse-drawn hearse. Open Sundays, first Sunday of July through third Sunday of October from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Open by appointment at other times, contact Alan Bjork 413-339-4700. Special tours for groups of 10 or more can be arranged.
Shelburne Historical Society, Arms Academy building, corner Maple & Church Streets, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370; 413-625-2026
Collection dates from 1700's to present. There is also a library with a number of New England Genealogical volumes. Open second Sunday in July, August, September and October from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Warwick Historical Society, Athol Road, Warwick, MA 01378; 978-544-3461, 978-544-3628
Collection includes picture albums, furniture, relics from local industries such as glass and boot factories, a "scythe tree" with a fascinating story, the diary or a Warwick minister from the 1700s and a pump log used in the early 1880s. Open July and August, Sundays from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m., or by appointment.
Whately Historical Society, located in former Center School, Chestnut Plain Road, Whately, MA 01093
The exhibits include memorabilia and crockery made by Whately residents in the 1800's. Open Sundays from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
National Archives - Northeast Region, Boston, Frederick C. Murphy Federal Center, 380 Trapelo Road, Waltham, Massachusetts, 02452-6399; Phone: (781) 663-0130, Fax: (781) 663-0154, E-mail: waltham.archives@nara.gov (Serves Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.)
Commonwealth Museum and State Archives Building, 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125; (617) 727-2816, fax 288-8429. As the Massachusetts State Archives, the repository holds all state copies of vital records (1841-95); passenger lists for the Port of Boston (1848-91); federal census records (state copies, 1850-70, with 1880 on microfilm) with all supplemental federal schedules and state censuses for 1855 and 1865; legislative records from the General Court with land grants, petitions, tax records (1643-1787); Eastern land records for the settlement of Maine; human service institution records,; all military records for the state through the Revolution; records of human services institutions; and Judicial Archives beginning with colony era courts to mid-nineteenth century courts.
Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215; Main number: (617) 536-1608. Although not a genealogical library, the collection includes rare books, personal papers, manuscripts, particularly the Thwing Collection of Early Bostonians, and rare books focusing particularly on Boston, Massachusetts and New England.
State Library of Massachusetts, 341 State House, Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02133; Ph: 617.727.2590. Its genealogical collection includes extensive newspaper collections and indexes; town and county histories; town and county maps and atlases; and city directories back to 1787.
Newspapers & Periodicals - The Newspapers & Periodicals Collection lets you discover a wealth of information about your ancestors from many historical newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals. These types of sources can often supplement public records and provide information that is not recorded anywhere else. Here, you can learn more about your ancestor's possible daily activities by placing them in the context of their time.
Directories & Member Lists - Directories and member lists are typically compilations of information about people who belonged to various associations and groups or lived within city boundaries. They can be thought of as the predecessors to the modern-day phone book and usually list names, addresses, and sometimes the occupations of your ancestors.
Massachusetts Library Directory
Massachusetts Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

County Church & Cemeteries

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Franklin County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Franklin County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Sites on USGenweb: [ Franklin County ] [ Massachusetts ] [ Main Page ]
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The Massachusetts Family Group Sheet Project
Family Trees - Ancestry has thousands of family trees shared by other members. They can help you identify how ancestors are related and give you clues about birth, marriage, and death information. Family trees are an excellent resource for filling in gaps in your research or even to simply know where to begin.
Pictures - One of the more exciting discoveries in doing family history research is finding a photograph of your ancestors or their residence. Finding historic postcard photos and drawings of towns and important events throughout history can also give you a visual look into your ancestors lives.
Reference Materials & Finding Aids - Reference materials, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other how-to books, can be tremendously helpful in finding and interpreting historical documents. Many of these books can help you learn where to look for more information and how to use what you've already found to uncover more clues.
Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
Franklin County, Massachusetts Family Books at Amazon.com

Extended History

The act erecting the county of Franklin was approved June 24, 1811, and took effect from and after Dec. 2, 1811. The petitioners for the new county were Joshua Green, Roger Leavitt, William Taylor, Jonathan McGee, Robert L. McClellen, William Bull, Hezekiah Newcomb, Stephen Webster, Gilbert Stacey, Solomon Smead, Elijah Alvord (2d), Epaphras Hoyt, Medad Alexander, Justus Russell, Joseph Metcalf, Clark Stone, Asaph White, Somes Root, Samuel Bardwell, Samuel Rice, Varney Pearce, and Isaac Taylor, who, according to the statement set forth in the petition, were inhabitants of Buckland, Charlemont, Heath, Rowe, Coleraine, Shelburne, Leyden, Bernardston, Gill, Greenfield, Deerfield, Northfield, Warwick, Orange, Wendell, Montague, New Salem, and the plantation of Erving's Grant.
The reasons set forth for the division of Hampshire County were its great size, the distances from the extremes of the old county to the county-seat, and the consequent expense; the multiplicity of actions and delays of trials. The petition was presented to the General Court on the 28th day of January, 1811.
Remonstrances, adopted in town-meetings, against the division of Hampshire and the organization of Franklin Counties, were-sent in by the towns of Northampton, Conway, Hawley, Whately, Leverett, Easthampton, Worthington, Chester, Southampton, Westhampton, Goshen, Williamsburg, Plainfield, Cummington, and Norwich.
A communication from Westfield, favoring the division of Hampshire into three counties, was also sent to the Legislature.
The report of the legislative committee in favor of the division was made on the 18th of June, 1811, and on the 19th the Senate and House concurred.
The act establishing the county made Greenfield the county-seat, but it was not allowed to carry off the honor without a long and bitter controversy. The most prominent contestants were the towns of Greenfield and Deerfield. The principal movers in the contest were Richard E. Newcomb, Elijah Alvord, and George Grinnell on the part of Greenfield, and Epaphras Hoyt, Rufus Saxton, and Pliny Arms on behalf of Deerfield; but the entire county was stirred up, and took an active part in the various movements for one or the other of the principal towns.
In November, 1811, a mass convention was held in Greenfield for the purpose of taking action to procure a change in the organic act and have the county-seat removed to Cheapside (Deerfield) before any public buildings were erected at Greenfield. With the exception of two, every town in the county was represented in that convention, and there was a great amount of excitement.
The first movement was to draw up and procure signatures to a petition for the annexation of the northern tier of towns in Hampshire County to Franklin County, but while the instrument was lying on the table awaiting the signatures of delegates—a very few having signed it—it suddenly and mysteriously disappeared, and was never afterward seen or heard of. But the record of this alleged fraudulent abstraction, together with all other reasons urged for removal to Cheapside, were presented to the Legislature.
A summary of the claims of the rival towns is here presented: For Cheapside, it was claimed that it was the geographical and traveling centre of the county; that the towns east of the Connecticut and south of the Deerfield Rivers could save toll by leaving their horses and carriages at the bridges and paying toll only as foot-passengers; that the water at Cheapside was excellent, while that at Greenfield was unfit to use; that its proximity to the villages of Deerfield and Greenfield would always prevent exorbitant demands by landlords and boarding-houses; that all kinds of common labor and material were much cheaper; that it was in the midst of excellent pasturage-lands, surrounded by abundant forests for fuel, and contiguous to the best hayfields in the county, from which Greenfield received its principal supply; that it was the head of boat-navigation for this part of the country, and portions of Vermont; that it was growing in commercial importance, and was the great outlet for the produce of the farmer, and the place of deposit from which the greater part of the importations of the country were received; that it was pleasantly situated on the margin of the Deerfield River, overlooking the adjoining meadows; that the people of the south and east portions of the county would be obliged to pass through it to get to Greenfield; that two responsible gentlemen stood ready to build two taverns the following season, and that every desirable accommodation for courts would soon be furnished, and at a much cheaper rate than in Greenfield, the price of land being as only one to ten; that Cheapside subscriptions in cash, land, and materials exceed those of Greenfield; that a large majority of the towns, the people, and the valuation of the county favored the change; that it was in the vicinity of a quarry of excellent stone for building purposes, a running brook, and excellent materials for the manufacture of brick; that it was nearer Erving's Gore,2 from which most of the necessary lumber must cme for the new buildings; that wood was sixty-seven cents per cord and team-work twenty-five per cent. cheaper than at Greenfield, and board for laborers fifty cents per week cheaper; and, finally, that a gentleman of undoubted responsibility had offered, in writing, for nineteen hundred dollars of the Cheapside subscription, to build a court-house as large as the one at Northampton, and a fire-proof clerk's office, and turn over the remainder of the subscription to help build the jail.

Individual Town Histories: Ashfield, Bernardston, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Deerfield, Erving, Gill Greenfield, Hawley, Heath, Leverett, Leyden, Monroe, Montague, New Salem, Northfield Orange, Rowe, Shelburne, Shutesbury, Sunderland, Warwick, Wendell, Whately

Franklin County History and Information

Court Records

See Also Massachusetts Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

County Vital Records

See Also Vital Records in Massachusetts

County Census Records

See Also Research In Census Records & Statewide Records that exist for Massachusetts

County Maps & Atlases

See Also Research In State Map Collections