Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Genealogy

This is a historical and genealogical guide to the town of Abington. You will find help with town histories, vital records, city directories, cemetery records and cemeteries, churches, town records, newspapers, maps, and libraries. There are detailed guides for the towns set off from Abington: Hanover, Rockland, and South Abington (now Whitman).

Brief History

 * Abington, Massachusetts at Wikipedia

The first land grant in this area was to Nathaniel Souther, Secretary of the Plymouth Colony, in 1654. The first settler was Andrew Ford in 1668. This area was part of Bridgewater at that time and set off as its own town in 1712. 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 was in limbo until the "Colony" was merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691 that became the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Town Clerk
The town clerk is responsible for these records, and so most originals can be found at the town clerk's office

500 Gliniewicz Way Abington, MA 02351 Phone: 781-982-2112 Fax: 781-982-2138 Email: [mailto:lmadams@abingtonma.gov lmadams@abingtonma.gov] Website

Historical Data

The basic data is from the "Historical Data" publication series with additions from various sources. Associated names Abington at one time was called Manamooskeagin.

Village or section names include Center Abington, Musterfield, North Abington, Thicket, and West Abington. Border changes Top of Page

Local Histories
Works written on the town include:


 * Benjamin Hobart, History of the Town of Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement (Boston, 1866), 453 pp. Digital version at Internet Archive, Google Books, and on Ancestry ($). WorldCat (Other Libraries);.


 * The appendix of this book covers over hundred pages devoted to the genealogy of town families.. It includes the families: Beal, Blake, Blanchard, Brown, Cobb, Cooke, Corthell, Dunbar, Dunham, Dyer, Ford, Gurney, Hobart, Howe, Howland, Hunt, Jacobs, Jenkins, King, Lane, Nash, Noyes, Payn (i.e. Paine), Pool, Pratt, Reed, Stetson, Studley, Thaxter, Torrey, Walker, Wheeler, and Whitman.

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 * "History and Description of Abington, Mass., Aug. 1816" in Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 2nd Series, 7 [1818]: 114-124. Digital version at Google books. WorldCat (Other Libraries).
 * Aaron Hobart, An Historical Sketch of Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts (Boston, 1839), 176 pp. Digital versions at Internet Archive and Google Books. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * Charles A. Snow, A Historical Discourse given on the 50th Anniversary of the Baptist Church, South Abington, Mass., November 6, 1872 (South Abington, Mass., 1873), 32 pp. A digital versions at Internet Archive and Google Books.
 * William Lincoln Palmer, "Diary of Sergeant John Burrell, 1759-1760" in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 59 [1905]: 352-354.
 * Abington Wikipedia page.

Vital Records
The town's vital records are available in many locations: Original records Published records
 * Abington Town Clerk's Office 500 Gliniewicz Way Abington MA 02351 Phone 781-982-2112
 * Microfilm of the originals created by the Family History Library, Abington vital records, 1712-1860, ; 1850-1905, . These records are browsable (i.e. not indexed as of Nov. 2012) on FamilySearch.
 * Microfiche of the originals created by Archive Publishing covering town records that included vital records and a few other town records, 1712-1892, on 79 fiche. Soon to be part of Massachusetts, Town Vital Collections, 1620–1988 at Ancestry ($); Index
 * Official state copy of vital records starting in 1841: Massachusetts Archives 220 Morrissey Blvd. Boston MA 02125 Phone 617-727-2816 Email [mailto:archives@sec.state.ma.us archives@sec.state.ma.us] Hours and Directions See the online guide for more information.
 * Vital Records of Abington, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, 1912), 2 v. These volumes were microfilmed by the Family History Library . Digital versions at Internet Archive, Google Books (vol. 1 and vol. 2), and Ancestry ($). Database version at American Ancestors ($) WorldCat (Other Libraries);.


 * This includes, in part, church records from the First Church (C.R.1), Second Church of Christ (C.R.2), Third Church of Christ (C.R.3), Fourth Congregational Church (C.R.4), and First Baptist Church of Christ (C.R.5). Deaths are included from Mt. Vernon Cem. (G.R.1), Maplewood Cem. (G.R.2), Abiah Reed Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R.3), Samuel Reed Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R.4), Old Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R.5), Lane Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R.6), Wilkes Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R.7), Beal Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R.8), Mount Pleasant Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R.9), High Street Cem. [now in Whitman] (G.R.10), Small Pox Cem. [now in Whitman] (G.R.11), Mount Zion Cem. [now in Whitman] (G.R.12), Colebrook Cem. [now in Whitman] (G.R. 13), Old Cem. [on Washington St.] (G.R. 14), Beech Hill Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R. 15), Old Cem. [between Abington and North Abington] (G.R. 16), West Abington Cem. (G.R. 17), Cobb Family Burying Ground [West Abington] (G.R. 18), and The Plain Cem. [West Abington] (G.R. 19).

Online records Abington vital records, 1712-1860 and 1850-1905 are browsable (i.e. not indexed as of Nov. 2012) on FamilySearch. Top of Page

City Directories
Abington was published in 1869-1870, 1872-1874/5, 1884-1885, 1889, 1892, 1895, 1900, 1902, 1904-1905, 1907, 1909, 1911/2, 1916, 1922-1923, 1926/7, 1927/8, 1930/1.

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 ($) has 1884, 1889, 1892.
 * Boston Public Library has none.
 * Family History Library (Salt Lake City) has 1900, 1902, 1904, 1907, 1909, 1911/2, 1916, 1919, 1922, 1927/8, 1930/1 (with Rockland) on.
 * fold3 ($) has 1904.
 * Massachusetts State Library has 1869, 1870, 1872-1874/5, 1885, 1889, 1892, 1895, 1900, 1905, 1909, 1916, 1922/3, 1926/7, 1930/1.
 * New England Historic Genealogical Society (Boston) ($) has 1884, 1889, 1892, 1900, 1904, 1909, 1916, 1922, 1927/8, 1930/1.

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


 * Adams Street Burying Ground [called Old Cem. in VRs], n.d. (A)
 * Bicknell Family Tomb, n.d.
 * Cobb Family Burying Ground. (A)
 * Cushing Family Tomb.
 * Gould Family Burial Ground or Indian Cemetery, 1798.
 * Hillside Cemetery, 18th Century.
 * Hunt Family Tomb, n.d.
 * Island Grove Cemetery or Centre Cemetery or French's Burying Ground, n.d.
 * Mount Vernon Cemetery, 1732. (A)
 * Old Church Burying Ground. (A)
 * Plain Cemetery, n.d. (A)
 * Richards Family Burial Ground.
 * Torrey Family Burying Ground.
 * West Abington Cemetery, n.d. (A)

Abstracts of the cemeteries above are marked and keyed to: (A) Vital Records of Abington, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, 1912). [See links above for various versions of this source.] 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 Church, 1712, records good.
 * New Jerusalem Society, 1835, records good.
 * Fourth Congregational Church, North Abington, 1839, records good.
 * First Universal Church, 1863, records good.
 * St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church, 1864, older records to 1900/1920 at Archdiocese of Boston Archives.
 * Second Advent Church, n.d., church extinct by 1889, record location unknown.
 * First Baptist Church of Abington, 1886.
 * Assembly of God Brazilian Church, n.d.
 * Flame of the Covenant, n.d.
 * Joy in Life Lutheran Church, n.d.
 * Life Giving Church, n.d.
 * South Shore Community Church, n.d.

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Newspapers

 * Weekly News, 1878-1879.
 * Abington Advertiser, 1962-1965, 1993-present.
 * Abington Mariner, 1990-present.

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Research Facilities
Thanks to the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants for their contributions to this page The following is a list of research facilities in town:

Libraries
Abington Public Library 600 Gliniewicz Way Abington MA 02351 Phone 781-982-2139

Dyer Memorial Library 28 Centre Ave. PO Box 2245 Abington MA 02351 Phone 781-878-8480 Email [mailto:info@dyerlibrary.org info@dyerlibrary.org]

Societies
Abington Historical Commission 500 Gliniewicz Way Abington MA 02351 Phone 781-982-0059