Hi Kathy, The building in Cambridge near "Lechmere Square" (trolley station) holds both "Family & Probate Court" and the "Registry of Deeds" for southern Middlesex County. (The northern area Registry is in Lowell.) For "Probate" I'm told I "might" be able to call and get a "Docket Number" in regards to "wills," etc. But, in order to look at a will, etc., we need to go to the courthouse in person. I walked across the hall and visited the Registry of Deeds a couple years ago and was able to find out they have what you could call "Index books" - where you either need the name of the Seller or the Buyer. And I was able to find a deed from the 1930's without too much trouble. But, when I stopped by in the spring they had changed the system. I was on a "parking meter" so I didn't have time to find out what the new system was. Now, Billerica would be covered by the Registry of Deeds in Lowell. I've never had a need to visit that building. I would think it is set up the same way as the building in Cambridge. So, if I was to visit the Registry in Lowell, I would need the name of the Seller or Buyer. Also, would your family have been on a 1920 or 1930 census for Billerica? Or, was that a "vacation home" always? Some census records for MA after 1900 list the names of the streets. Betty (near Lowell, MA) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kathy Montgomery" <kathym@uvic.ca> To: <mamiddle@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2009 10:51 PM Subject: [MAMiddle] great grand parents with higher lifestyle than money > I realize I have strayed off topic again, but I do have genealogy > questions: > > 1) how would I find out about probate in 1959 for a Cambridge resident? > is > that still the court over by Lechmere? any idea how expensive it could > be? > any online source? I am in western Canada, no trip on the horizon. > > 2) I have seen the online property thing on the Cambridge city website. > No > help, as they didn't own land in Cambridge. does anyone know how I could > research land records for Billerica, circa the 1920s to the 1940s? I have > not done any land record work in my previous genealogy "diggings," so I am > quite a newby in that regard.