Mendon, Worcester County, Massachusetts Genealogy

Description

 * Mendon, Massachusetts at Wikipedia

In the mid 1600's a group of inhabitants from Braintree and Weymouth petitioned the General Court (Massachusetts' legislative body) for permission to settle a new town. On May 28, 1659 the General Court granted the petitioners permission to seek out a place and present their desires to the General Court along with the names of those who were to do the work. In 1660, the group was granted a plantation of 8 miles square to begin their society. (see more of the article at Town Hall's site) Mendon is historically a rural, agrarian community located in the Blackstone Valley. Mendon is the second oldest town in Worcester County, and the community has one of the best-preserved Federal/Greek Revival hilltop village centers in the state, adjacent to large tracts of open space. Much of the remaining town is undeveloped land, and there is also a large lake of over 90 acres. Most of the town's streams and rivers are part of the Blackstone River's drainage basin. At a community level, the above atmosphere acts as a backdrop for large, regional activities like the annual Country Fair which brought 14,000 visitors, the Strawberry Festival which drew 4,000 participants and the 325th Anniversary Celebration in 1992 which involved the whole town. (Town of Mendon)
 * Go to Archive.org to find published materials for this town

Populated Places
Includes Neighborhoods, Villages, Unincorporated Communities, Districts, and Census-Designated Places:

Adjacent Towns
Worcester Co.:  Blackstone | Hopedale | Millville | Northbridge | Upton | Uxbridge | Norfolk Co.:  Bellingham

Town Records
In New England most original vital records of birth, marriage, and death can be found at the town clerk's office

Mendon Town Clerk
The town clerk is responsible for these records, and so most originals can be found at the town clerk's office Town Hall 20 Main Street Mendon, MA Town Hall Town Clerk 20 Main St, PO Box 54 Mendon, MA 01756 Phone: 508-473-1085 Fax: 508-478-8241 Email: [mailto:townclerk@mendonma.gov townclerk@mendonma.gov] Website

Vital Records

 * Vital Records of Mendon, Massachusetts to the end of the Year 1850. 1920. By, Thomas W Baldwin, A.B., Member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Boston, Mass.: Wright & Potter Printing Company. Online at: Internet Archives

Births

 * 1636-1924 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index

Town Reports
The town of Mendon kept annual town reports. These reports often contained birth, marriage, and death information. Below is a list of years when Mendon kept town reports. (NOTE: Occasionally, these town reports missed vital statistic information from the end of the year. If you don't find your ancestor's vital information, check the following year's town report to see if your ancestor's information was recorded later.)

Resources
For more County and State resources see:

Biographies

 * of the ministers of the First Church, Mendon, Massachusetts, up to 1897 George Faber Clark, microreproduction of manuscript

Cemeteries

 * Mendon Cemeteries List at FindAGrave
 * at FamilySearch Catalog
 * Worcester County Cemeteries at FamilySearch Places
 * Friends Cemetery
 * USGS GNIS
 * Hometown Locator
 * Google map
 * George Cemetery
 * Old Cemetery

Church Records

 * of North Mendon, 1828-1859
 * in Mendon, 1785-1866
 * , Monthly meeting records, 1783-1898, covers Mendon and surrounding towns and villages

City Directories

 * 1890,1891 Massachusetts, U.S., City Directories, Mendon at Ancestry - index & images ($), some years may be missing
 * Various Dates U.S. City Directories, 1860-1960 at MyHeritage - index & images ($) some towns and years may be missing

Compiled Genealogies

 * , not published, manuscript on microfilm
 * , pub. 2004
 *  : newsletter of the Taft Family Association
 * National Aldrich Association holds its annual reunion in or very near Mendon. The descendants of George Aldrich, one of the earliest settlers meets on 3rd Saturday of July. Once in a while the reunion will be out of state (occurred only twice in more than 35 years of the association.) Notable descendants include William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States, Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, 41st Vice President of the United States, Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich, the U.S. Senator from Rhode Island (1881-1911), Robert Alphonso Taft, U.S. Senator from Ohio, Chester Hardy Aldrich, 19th Governor of Nebraska, plus a host of state and national politicans.

Local Histories

 * in commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of Mendon, Massachusetts. Printed by C. Hamilton, Palladium Office, 1868, Worcester, Massachusetts 
 * , from 1659 to 1800, compiled by John G. Metcalf, M.D

Maps
This selection incudes town, county, state, and historical maps
 * Boundary Map of Mendon at HomeTownLocator
 * Massachusetts County Map at Mass.gov
 * McConnell's Historical Maps of the United States at Library of Congress
 * Mendon at FamilySearch Places
 * Mendon at Google Maps
 * Mendon at Mapcarta
 * Old Maps of Massachusetts at Old-Maps.com
 * Massachusetts Maps State Page


 * USGS GNIS map for Mendon

Military
Searchable by TownSome Records are Searchable by Town

Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
For more Revolutionary War Military Records see:
 * Massachusetts Military Records - Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
 * United States Military Records - Revolutionary War, 1775-1783

Civil War, 1861-1865
For more Civil War Military Records see:
 * Massachusetts Military Records - Civil War, 1861-1865
 * United States Military Records - Civil War, 1861-1865

World War I, 1917-1918
For more World War I Military Records see:
 * Massachusetts Military Records - World War I, 1917-1918
 * United States Military Records - World War I, 1917-1918

World War II, 1941-1945
For more World War II Military Records see:
 * Massachusetts Military Records - World War II, 1941-1945
 * United States Military Records - World War II, 1941-1945

Newspapers

 * 1800-Current Massachusetts, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's Current at Ancestry — index & images ($)