Hampshire Abstracts

Prior to 1787 Franklin County was part of Hampshire County. Records for property located in Franklin County prior to 1787 can be found in the Hampshire Abstracts, which contain a summary of the original document. The record books that contain the full version of the documents can be found in Hampden County.

To search the Hampshire Abstracts:

Go to www.masslandrecords.com and choose Franklin County. Under "Search Criteria" select either 1663-1974 Grantor (Seller) or 1663-1974 Grantee (Buyer) index. The Hampshire Abstracts are searchable using the earliest (1663-1786) indexes. Enter the first letter of the last name you are searching and click search. The names that are listed are the names that appear at the top of each page of the index books. The designation "CONT" after the name indicates that the same last name is being continued from the previous page. For example, if you are searching the last name Smith, there is an entry for SMITH CONT, so you would click the page before to see the first entries for Smith. To view the index page, click on the entry and on the right hand side of the screen select the tab for "View image."

Each entry indicates a book and page reference for one of the four Abstract books. Once you find the book and page reference, go to Search Criteria and select Unindexed Property Search. To enter the book number use the designation ABS and the number of the book. For example a search for Book 4 would be entered as ABS4 and the page number. To view the document, click on the entry and on the right hand side of the screen select the tab for "View image."

Execution Books

In the Grantor and Grantee indexes there are sometimes book references of "Exec," which indicates that the document is in the Execution Books, a series of nine books from 1787-1879. When searching the Execution books, go to Search Criteria and select Unindexed Property Search. To enter the book number use the designation EXE and the number of the book. For example a search for Book 2 would be entered as EXE2 and the page number. To view the document, click on the entry and on the right hand side of the screen select the tab for "View image."