Kingston, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Genealogy

This is a historical and genealogical guide to the town of Kingston. You will find help with town histories, vital records, city directories, cemetery records and cemeteries, churches, town records, newspapers, maps, and libraries.

Town Clerk
26 Evergreen Street Kingston, MA 02364 Phone: 781-585-0502 Fax: 781-585-0542 Email: [mailto:pgallagher@kingstonmass.org pgallagher@kingstonmass.org] Website

Brief History
There was an attempted settlement at Jones River in 1620 and again in 1635. Governor Bradford had his residence at Stony Brook in Plymouth Colony. The "North End" of Plymouth was set off as a precinct in 1717 and a town in 1726. The area was placed in Plymouth County when counties were formed in 1685. For a brief time, the area was part of the Dominion of New England from 1686 to 1689. The area is still in Plymouth County, though was in limbo, until the "Colony" was merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691 that became the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. When incorporated, the town was part of Plymouth County where it remains.

Historical Data
The basic data is from the "Historical Data" publication series with additions from various sources. Associated names Hanson once was called Jones River Parish and Plymouth North Precinct.

Village or section names include Blackwater, Crossman Pond, Holmes Mill Pond, Indian Pond Village, Kingston Centre, Plympton Depot, Reed's Pond, Rocky Nook, Seaside, Silver Lake, Smith's Lane, Stony Brook, The Hill, and Wapping. Border changes Top of Page

Town Histories
Works written on the town include:


 * Sarah Y. Bailey, The Story of Jones River in Pilgrim Plymouth 1620-1726 which in the latter year became Kingston, Massachusetts (Kingston, Mass., 1920). WorldCat (Other Libraries).
 * Doris Johnson Melville, Major Bradford's Town: a History of Kingston, 1726-1976 ([Kingston, Mass.], 1976), xiv, 432 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.


 * There is a section called "Cast of Characters" that have a few sentences about the earliest settlers which include: Armstrong, Barnes, Billington, Bradford, Brewster, Briggs, Brown, Bryant, Chauncy, Chipman, Clarke, Cobb, Combe, Cooke), Cotton, Croade) Curtis, Cushman, Doane, Drew, Dunham, Eaton, Everson, Faunce, Fish, Foster, Fuller, Gray, Hall, Holmes, Hopkins, Howland, Lee, Little, Loring, Mitchell, Moore/More, Nelson, Paddy, Peirce/Pierce/Pearcse/Pearce, Phinney, Pratt, Prence/Prince, Raynor, Ring, Rogers, Samson, Souther, Stetson, Sturtevant, Washburn, West, Willet, Winslow, Winter, and Wright.

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 * Kingston Wikipedia page.

Vital Records
The town's vital records are available in many locations: Original records Published records
 * Kingston Town Clerk's Office 26 Evergreen Street Kingston MA 02364 Phone 781-585-0502
 * Microfilm of the originals created by the Family History Library, Kingston town and vital records, ca. 1695-1885, ; 1843-1905, ; some early intentions, v. 1, . These records are browsable (i.e. not indexed as of Nov. 2012) on FamilySearch.
 * Microfiche of the originals created by Archive Publishing covering vital records, 1683-1911, on 89 fiche. Part of Massachusetts, Town Vital Collections, 1620–1988 at Ancestry ($); Index
 * Official state copy of vital records starting in 1841: Massachusetts Archives 220 Morrissey Blvd. Boston MA 02125 Phone 617-727-2816 Email [mailto:archives@sec.state.ma.us archives@sec.state.ma.us] Hours and Directions See the online guide for more information.
 * Vital Records of Kingston, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, 1911). This volume was microfilmed by the Family History Library, and in digital versions at Internet Archive, Google Books, Ancestry ($), and GooBooGeni. In a database online at American Ancestors ($). WorldCat (Other Libraries);.


 * This includes, in part, church records from the First Church of Kingston [Unitarian] (C.R.1) and the Second Congregational Church (C.R.2). Deaths are included from the Old Burying Ground (G.R.1) and Evergreen Cem. (G.R.2).

Online records Top of Page
 * Thomas Bradford Drew, "Kingston, Mass., Records. Copied from the first volume of births, marriages and deaths ..." in The Genealogical Advertiser, 2 [1899]: 1-9, 39-44, 119-126; 3 [1900]: 22-26, 77-80; 4 [1901]: 14-18, 68-73.
 * Kingston town and vital records, ca. 1695-1885, 1843-1905, some early intentions, v. 1, are browsable (i.e. not indexed as of Nov. 2012) on FamilySearch.

City Directories
Kingston was published in 1890, 1898-1899, 1903, 1907, 1911, 1915, 1924, 1932.

The Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.) has one of the largest collections of city directories in the country. They are likely to own most of the years listed above. Their collection is in microfiche, microfilm, and books, but there is no online inventory of their holdings except for microfilm. See their guide online.

Other holdings:

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 * Ancestry ($) has none.
 * Boston Public Library has 1903, 1907, 1911, 1915, 1924, 1932 (with Plymouth).
 * Family History Library (Salt Lake City) has 1899, 1903, 1907, 1911, 1924, 1932 (with Plymouth) on.
 * fold3 ($) has none.
 * Massachusetts State Library has 1890, 1898-1899, 1903, 1907, 1911, 1924, 1932.
 * New England Historic Genealogical Society (Boston) ($) has 1890, 1898-1899, 1911, 1915, 1924, 1932 (mostly with Plymouth).

Cemeteries
The following is a list of cemeteries in present-day Kingston. For location of cemeteries, see PlymouthColony website. For more details regarding these cemeteries, see the state guide under cemeteries for books on the subject.


 * Evergreen Cemetery, 1854. (A, C)
 * Old Burying Ground, 1717. (A, B, C, D)
 * Our Lady of Divine Providence Cemetery, 1962.
 * St. Joseph's Cemetery, n.d.

Abstracts of the cemeteries above are marked and keyed to: (A). Vital Records of Kingston, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, 1911) [see links above under Vital Records]. (B). Charles M. Thatcher, Old Cemeteries of Southeastern Massachusetts (Middleborough, Mass., 1995). WorldCat (Other Libraries);. (C). New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Mass., Manuscripts Dept. (D). Theodore S. Lazell, "Death Records from the Ancient Burial Ground at Kingston, Mass., from a manuscript copy made in 1859 by the late Dr. Thomas Bradford Drew in the Mayflower Descendant, 7 [1905]: 20-28, 82-90, 167-172, 221-225 [Alphabetical list]. Digital versions of reprint at Internet Archive and Ancestry ($). ; ; . Unfinished verbatim transcription in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 10 [1856]: 55-56. Digital version at PlymouthColony.net Top of Page

Churches
The following is a list of churches established in town in order of organization date (if known) and condition of records in the 1889 survey if listed.


 * First Congregational Parish (Unitarian, now First Parish Church), 1717, records prior to 1784 are imperfect. Transcript of original records, v. 1-2, 1720, ca. 1880,
 * Baptist Church, 1805, records good.
 * Mayflower Congregational Church, 1828, records good.
 * St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, Mission of Plymouth, 1873, Parish, 1908.
 * Church of Christ, n.d.
 * St. Mark's Orthodox Church, n.d.
 * The Vineyard, A Community Church, 1985.

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Newspapers

 * Kingston News, 1912.
 * Kingston Sun, 1927-1930.
 * Kingston Voice (title varied), 1976-1981.
 * Kingston Reporter, 1984-present.
 * Kingston Observer, 1987-1991.
 * Kingston Independent Voice (title varied), 1978-present.
 * Kingston Mariner, 1996-present.

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Libraries and Historical Societies
The following is a list of research facilities in town:

Kingston Public Library 6 Green Street Kingston MA 02364 Phone 781-585-0517 Email [mailto:kilib@kingstonpubliclibrary.org kilib@kingstonpubliclibrary.org]

The Jones River Village Historical Society PO Box 22 Kingston MA 02364 Phone 781-585-6300