Researching People

Family History: The Amesbury Historical Society (AHS) encourages the use of WikiTree to document Amesbury and Salisbury families.

WikiTree is a free website where family historians and advanced genealogists collaborate on one global family tree for everyone to enjoy. Recognizing the need for accurate information, WikiTree requires users to cite sources for the information added to the Tree. Family historians providing information for recent ancestors can cite personal knowledge and family sources for information. More distant ancestors, which are shared by other collaborators, require increasingly more stringent source requirements. Click on the link to WikiTree provided and view the short video “What is WikiTree?” if you are not already familiar with the site.

WikiTree has partnered with American Ancestors to create accurate and detailed Great Migration Project biographies that include nearly all the first settlers of Amesbury and Salisbury. Documentation of subsequent generations of these first settlers varies depending on how much collaborative work has been done by their descendants. It is the objective of AHS to document all descendants born prior to 1700, as these require a higher degree of training and certification on WikiTree to ensure accuracy and appropriateness of sources. It is also the objective of AHS volunteers to add and improve existing biographies for Amesbury and Salisbury ancestors by adding information such as occupation, church affiliation, military service and location of residence (when known).

There have been many waves of migration to Amesbury throughout its long history. The increase of shipbuilding in the 17th and 18th centuries, and industrial activity in the 19th and 20th centuries (textiles, carriage and autobody manufacturing, as well as other industries) attracted new settlers of many nationalities to Amesbury. All of these families have a place in Amesbury’s history and are encouraged to be documented in WikiTree as thoroughly as possible.

Please contact us if you have questions about sharing your Amesbury family history on WikiTree, and our volunteers will assist you as much as possible.

Link to WikiTree: https://www.wikitree.com

Other online resources:

• Link to Vital Records of Amesbury Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849: https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofam00ames

• Link to Vital Records of Salisbury Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849: https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofsa00salisb

• Link to Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Hoyt, Vol. 1: https://archive.org/details/oldfamiliesofsal01hoyt

• Link to Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Hoyt, Vol. 2: https://archive.org/details/oldfamiliesofsal02hoyt

• Link to Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Hoyt, Vol. 3: https://archive.org/details/oldfamiliesofsal03hoyt

• Link to Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Hoyt, Supplement: https://archive.org/details/additionscorrect00hoyt

Note: when researching Family History, it is important to understand the complex history of boundary changes affecting Amesbury over time.

Following is a summary of how present-day Amesbury has evolved:

• 1638 – the original town of Salisbury is established by Massachusetts Bay Colony, reaching about ten miles west from the Atlantic Ocean and five miles north from the Merrimack River.

• 1643 – Salisbury becomes part of Norfolk County, Massachusetts.

• 1654 – The land in Salisbury located west of the Powow River is set off as Salisbury New Town.

• 1668 – Salisbury New Town becomes the town of Amesbury.

• 1679 – Old Norfolk County is dissolved, Amesbury and Salisbury are added to Essex County, Massachusetts.

• 1741 – The boundary between Massachusetts and New Hampshire is relocated to three miles north of the Merrimack River. The northern two miles of Salisbury and Amesbury become Seabrook, South Hampton and parts of Newton, Kingston and Hampstead, New Hampshire.

• 1876 – The West Parish of Amesbury is incorporated as the town of Merrimac, Massachusetts.

• 1886 - The West Parish of Salisbury is annexed to Amesbury.

Families could change their residency of Town, County and State over time without ever moving. It is important to understand these changes to research the appropriate jurisdiction records for the time period involved.