Greater Lowell Genealogy Club
Serving Lowell, Massachusetts and surrounding towns
Happenings
Local...
Chelmsford Genealogy Club Meetings, first Tuesday of the month, Chelmsford, MAMSOG Merrimack Valley Chapter Meetings
Regional...
New England Regional Genealogical Consortium 2015, April 15 - 19 , 2015, Providence, RINational...
City of Lowell, Massachusetts - Overseers of the Poor Collection
Section 1. Every city and town shall relieve and support all poor and indigent persons lawfully settled therein, whenever they stand in need thereof.
Sect. 2. The overseers of the poor shall have the care and over sight of all such poor and indigent persons so long as they remain at the charge of their respective cities or towns, and shall see that they are suitably relieved, supported, and employed, either in the workhouse or almshouse, or in such other manner as the city or town directs, or otherwise at the discretion of said overseers...
Excerpt from the Manual for the Use of the Overseers of the Poor of Massachusetts Prepared under the direction of the State Board of Lunacy and Charity, October, 1889; p.11. ISBN:1150009926
Last year several volunteers from the Greater Lowell Genealogy Club indexed the Overseers of the Poor Collection for the Lowell Historic Board. This collection contains over 6,000 files and was a huge project for us, but well worth all of our effort. The sample scans below have been scaled down to fit our website so they may appear a bit blurry. However, if you click on an image the original scan will open in a new window.
As you can see, the history included within this one file is quite extensive, it even includes a tax record.
Please see the list in the column on the right for the indices. Should you want to view an original record, please contact the Lowell Historic Board, 375 Merrimack Street, 2nd Floor, Room 55, Lowell, MA 01852, 978-674-4144 (P)
Research
Resources and indices available on our website.