Lakeville, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Genealogy

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

Town Clerk
Town Office Building 346 Bedford St Lakeville, MA 02347 Phone: 508-946-8814 Fax: 508-946-3970 Email: [mailto:town.clerk@lakevillema.org town.clerk@lakevillema.org] Website

Brief History
Lakeville was the west parish of Middleborough and thus the area was in Plymouth Colony in the beginning. 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 Assawampsit.

Village or section names include Beechwoods, Howlands, Lakeside, North Lakeville, Precinct, Turnpike, and Upper Four Corners. Border changes Top of Page

Town Histories
Works written on the town include:

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 * Gladys de Maranville Vigers, History of the Town of Lakeville, Massachusetts, 1852-1952 (Lakeville, Mass., 1952), 247 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries).
 * Phyllis Elliott Draghetti and D. Evelyn Sylvia Norris, History of the Town of Lakeville: The Next Twenty-five Years, 1953-1978 (S.l., 1978), 78 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries).
 * Kenneth C. Leonard, The Beechwoods Confederacy 1709-1809: The Colonial History of Beechwoods: Middleboro-Taunton Precinct Massachusetts (Bowie, Md., 2003), xvii, 228 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * Lakeville Wikipedia page.

Vital Records
The town's vital records are available in many locations: Original records Published records There are no published vital records for Lakeville. Online records Top of Page
 * Lakeville Town Clerk's Office 346 Bedford Street Lakeville MA 02347 Phone 508-946-8800
 * Microfilm of the originals created by the Family History Library, Lakeville vital records, 1853-1905, . These records are browsable (i.e. not indexed as of Nov. 2012) on.
 * Microfiche of the originals created by Archive Publishing covering vital records, 1853-1902, on 7 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.
 * Lakeville vital records, 1853-1905, are browsable (i.e. not indexed as of Nov. 2012) on.

City Directories
Lakeville was published in 1895, 1899, 1904/5, 1909, 1911/2, 1914, 1917, 1920, 1922/3, 1924/5, 1927/8, 1929/30, 1931/2.

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 ($) has 1904/5, 1911/2, 1914, 1917, 1920, 1922/3, 1924/5, 1927/8, 1929/30, 1931/2.
 * Boston Public Library has 1911-1932.
 * Family History Library (Salt Lake City) has 1911-1912, 1914, 1917, 1920, 1922-1925, 1927-1932 on.
 * fold3 ($) has none.
 * Massachusetts State Library has 1895, 1899, 1904/5, 1909, 1911/2, 1914, 1917, 1922/3, 1924/5, 1927/8, 1929/30, 1931/2.
 * New England Historic Genealogical Society (Boston) ($) has 1895, 1899, 1904/5, 1909, 1914, 1917, 1924/5, 1927/8, 1929/30.

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


 * Bedford Street Indian Gravesites, n.d. (A)
 * Booth Cemetery off from Hafford Cemetery, 1784. (A, B)
 * Booth Cemetery east of 174 County St., 1784. (A)
 * Canedy Corner Cemetery, 1836. (A, B)
 * Clark Cemetery, 1820. (A)
 * Elisha Cudworth's House Cemetery, n.d. (A, B)
 * Douglass Yard Cemetery, 1793. (A)
 * Hafford Cemetery, 1799. (A, B)
 * Haskell Cemetery, 1785. (A)
 * Haskins-Reed Cemetery, 1819. (A, B)
 * Horr Cemetery, 1858. (A)
 * Howland Cemetery, 1797. (A)
 * Indian Shore Cemetery, 1872. (A)
 * Keith Cemetery, 1847. (A)
 * Lang Cemetery, 1774. (A)
 * Ichabod Leonard Gravesite, 1842. (A, B)
 * Malbone Cemetery, 1785. (A)
 * Massey Gravesite, 1828. (A)
 * McCulley Cemetery, 1787. (A, B)
 * Mullein Hill Cemetery, 1843. (A, B)
 * New Bedford Road Cemetery, 1820. (B)
 * Pickens Cemetery, north of Virginia Drive, 1830. (A, B)
 * Pickens Cemetery, opposite Hill Street, 1840. (A, B)
 * Pierce Cemetery, 1755. (A, B)
 * Pond / Old Nelson Cemetery, 1724. (A, B)
 * Precinct Cemetery, 1951. (A)
 * Race Course Cemetery, 1778. (A)
 * Reynolds Cemetery, n.d. (A)
 * Rhode Island Road Indian Gravesites, n.d. (A)
 * Richmond Cemetery, 1821. (A)
 * Robbins Cemetery, 1848. (A, B)
 * Royal Wampanoag Cemetery, 1794. (A, B)
 * Sampson Cemetery, 1845. (A)
 * Smallpox / Enoch Davis Cemetery, 1840. (A)
 * Staples Cemetery Site (no stones), n.d. (A, B)
 * Strobridge Cemetery, 1833. (A)
 * Thompson Hill Cemetery, 1711. (A, B, C)
 * Ward Cemetery, 1790. (A)

Abstracts of the cemeteries above are marked and keyed to: (A). Jean A. Douillette, Lakeville, Massachusetts Gravestone Inscriptions, 1711-2003: A Complete Compilation of Epitaphs from the Thirty-one Known Cemeteries in the Town of Lakeville (Boston, 1911). WorldCat (Other Libraries);. (B). Charles M. Thatcher, Old Cemeteries of Southeastern Massachusetts (Middleborough, Mass., 1995). WorldCat (Other Libraries);. (C). New England Historic Genealogical Society, Manuscript Dept.

Note: Lakeville, Massachusetts Card File Cemetery Index, 1678-1890s, 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.


 * Lakeville Congregational Church, 1725, records good.
 * Baptist churches, n.d. (several known to exist, but no records survive).
 * Union Grove Church, 1877, records good.
 * Church of the Nazarene, n.d.
 * His Land Bethany House, 1992.
 * The Lakeville Family Worship Center, n.d.
 * Lakeville United Church, n.d.
 * Mullein Hill Baptist Church, n.d.
 * Saints Martha and Mary Parish, n.d.

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Newspapers
No newspapers have been published in Lakeville. Top of Page

Migration
Migration routes for early European settlers to and from included:

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 * Bay Road from Boston, Massachusetts to New Bedford, Massachusetts about 1652

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

Lakeville Public Library 4 Precinct Street Lakeville MA 02347 Phone 508-947-9028

Lakeville Historical Society 3 Precinct Street Lakeville MA 02347