Hanover, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Genealogy

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

Town Clerk
550 Hanover Street Hanover, MA 02339 Phone: 781-826-5000 x 1079 Fax: 781-826-5239 Email: [mailto:catherine.harderbernier@hanover-ma.gov catherine.harderbernier@hanover-ma.gov] Website

Brief History

 * Hanover, Massachusetts at Wikipedia

The area of Hanover was first settled in 1649 when it was part of Scituate in Plymouth Colony. 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. The area was set off from Scituate and some parts from Abington in 1727.

Historical Data
The basic data is from the "Historical Data" publication series with additions from various sources. Associated names Village or section names include Assinippi, Curtis Crossing, Drinkwater, Hanover Center, Hanover Four Corners, Mann's Corner, North Hanover, South Hanover, West Hanover, and Winslow's Crossing. Border changes Top of Page

Town Histories
Works written on the town include:


 * John Stetson Barry, A Historical Sketch of the Town of Hanover, Mass., with Family Genealogies (Boston, 1853), v, 448.


 * Digital versions at Internet Archive, Google Books, and on Ancestry ($). WorldCat (Other Libraries);.


 * The family sketches include the families: Bailey, Baldwin, Barrell, Barry, Barstow, Bates, Beal, Benner, Binney, Blanchard, Bonney, Bowker, Briggs, Brook, Burgess, Cary, Chaddock, Chamberlain, Chandler, Chapman, Church, Clark, Corthell, Crooker, Curtis, Cushing, Cutler, Damon, Darling, Davis, Dawes, Delano, Dill, Doten, Donnell, Dunbar, Duncan, Dwelley, Dyer, Eells, Ellis, Estes, Farnham/Farnum, Foster, Gardner, Garrett, Goodrich, Groce/Gross, Gurney, Hall, Hammond, Harding, Henderson, Hersey, Hollis, Holmes, House, Howland, Jacobs, Josselyn/Joslin, Killam, Lindsey, Litchfield, Little, Magoun, Mann, McLauthlin, Morse, Munroe, Nash, Percival, Perkins, Perry, Peterson, Phillips, Pocorny, Pool, Pratt, Prouty, Puffer, Ramsdell, Randall, Reed, Rice, Richards, Ripley, Robbins, Rogers, Rose, Russell, Salmond, Sampson/Samson, Simmons, Slason, Smith, Soper, Soule, sprague, Stetson, Stockbridge, Stoddard, Studley, Sturtevant, Sylvester, Taylor, Thayer, Thomas, Thompson, Torrey, Tower, Tubbs, Turner, Vinal, Vining, Wade, Wardrobe, White, Whitwell, Whiton/Whiting, Wilder, Winslow, Wolcott, Wood, Woodman, and Wright.


 * Jedediah Dwelley and John F. Simmons, History of the Town of Hanover, Massachusetts, with Family Genealogies ([Hanover, Mass.], 1910, 291, 474 pp.


 * Digital version at Internet Archive. WorldCat (Other Libraries); (with digital link).


 * The family sketches found in the second half of the book include the families: Adams, Ahearn, Alger, Allen, Anderson, Andrews, Appleford, Arnold, Bacon, Bagan, Bailey, Baker, Baldwin, Balleaster, Banister, Banks, Barker, Barrell, Barry, Barstow, Bass, Bates, Beal, Benner, Binney, Bisbee, Bishop, Blanchard, Bonney, Bourne, Bowers, Bowker, Bray, Breck, Brewster, Briggs, Brooks, Brooks, Brouthers, Brown, Bruce, Bryant, Buffum, Burbank, Burgess, Burpee, Burrell, Butler, Callaghan, Campbell, Carey, Cashman, Chaddock, Chamberlain, Chapman, Cheney, Christie, Chubbuck, Church, Churchill, Clapp, Clark, Cobbett, Cole, Collingwood, Condon, Cook, Cooley, Cooper, Corbin, Corlew, Corthell, Crane, Crocker, Crook, Crosby, Cross, Cudworth, Cummings, Curtis, Cushing, Cushman, Cutler, Dagan, Dame, Damon, Darling, Davenport, Davis, Dawes, Day, Deane, Delay, Dillingham, Disbrow, Donnell, Donnelly, Donovan, Dowden, Downes, Downing, Drew, dunbar, Duncan, Dwelley, Dyer, Ednie, Eells, Elliot, Ellis, Ernest, Estes, Everett, Everson, Farnham/Farnum, Farrar, Farrell, Finney, Fish, Fisher, Fitzgerald, Flavell, Flynn, Ford, Forsythe, Foster, Freeman, French, Fuller, Gallagher, Gannett, Gardner, Gates, Gay, Gerrish, Gibson, Gilman, Gleason, Gooch, Goodrich, Gray, Green, Griffin, Grose, Gurney, Guth, Hackett, Hall, Hamilton, Hammond, Handy, Haney, Hansen/Hanson, Hardy, Harlow, Harnden, Harraden, Harris, Harvey, Hatch, Havens, Hayes, Hawward, Head, Henderson, Henry, Hersey, Hicks, Hill, Hinckley, Hines, Hoban, Hobill, Holbrook, Hollis, Holmes, House, Howard, Howes, Howland, Hunt, Hurley, Hussey, Inglis, Iris, Jacobs, Jewett, Johnson, Jones, Josselyn, Joyce, Kane, Keene, Keith, Kenney, Kiley, Killam, Kingman, Kirby, Knight, Lafountain, Lambert, Langdon, Lantz, Lapham, Larkum, Leavitt, Leggett, Leonard, Letourneaux, Levings, Lindsey/Lindsay, Litchfield, Little, Lovice, Lowell, Lucas, Luther, MacDonald, MacMillan, Maglathlin, Magoun, Mann, Marsh, Massey, McClary, McCloskey, McDonough, McDougal, McEnroe, McLauthlin, McLean, McNayr, Merrill, Millet, Morehardt, Morel, Morse, Mullin, Munroe, Murphy, Nash, Nelson, Nichols, Nielson, Niles, Oakman, O'Connell, Oldham, Olson, Orcutt, Overton, Packard, Paine, Plamer, Pardy, Parkinson, Paulding, Paxton, Peaslee, Percival, Perkins, Perry, Peterson, Phillips, Phinney, Pinson, Pocorny, Poole, Pope, Power, Pratt, Prentice, Priest, Prince, Prouty, Puffer, Purchase, Putnam, Ramsdell/Ramsden, Randall, Reed, Richardson, Richmond, Ridgeway, Ripley, Robbins, Robinson, Rogers, Rome, Rose, Rothmund, Russell, Ryder, Salmond, Sampson/Samson, Schofield, Scholz, Scott, Shean, Shepherd, Sherman, Sides, Simmons, Slade, Slatcher, Smith, Snell, Soper, Soule, Spaulding, Spear, Spiller, Sprague, Sproul, Standish, Stearns, Stetson, Stockbridge, Stoddard, Stone, Struthers, Studley, Sturtevant, Sutherland, Sweeney, Sylvester, Taylor, Thayer, Thomas, Thompson, Tilden, Tindale, Tobey, Todd, Tolman, Torrey, Totman, Tower, Tribble, Tribou, Tripp, Tubbs, Tuck, Tucker, Turner, Vail, Ventres, Vinal, Vining, Wade, Walker, Wardrobe, Warner, Waterman, White, Whiting, Whitman, Whitmarsh, Whittaker, Whyman, Wild, Wilder, Williams, Willis, Wing, Winslow, Winsor, Witt, Wolcott, Wood, Woodman, Wright, and Young.

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 * Hanover Wikipedia page.

Vital Records
The town's vital records are available in many locations: Original records Published records Online records Top of Page
 * Hanover Town Clerk's Office 550 Hanover Street Hanover MA 02339 Phone 781-826-2691
 * Microfilm of the originals created by the Family History Library, Hanover town and vital records, 1712-1779, . 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, 1712-1895, on 47 fiche. Part of Massachusetts, Town Vital Collections, 1620–1988 at Ancestry ($); Index
 * Official state copy of vital records starting in 1841: Massachusetts Archives 220 Morrissey Blvd. Boston MA 02125 Phone 617-727-2816 Email [mailto:archives@sec.state.ma.us archives@sec.state.ma.us] Hours and Directions See the online guide for more information.
 * A Copy of the Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths and of Intentions of Marriage of the Town of Hanover, Mass., 1727-1857, as recorded by the several town clerks for the said town of Hanover ... (Rockland, Mass., 1898). This volume was microfilmed by the Family History Library, . Digital versions at Internet Archive, Google Books, and Ancestry ($). In a database at American Ancestors ($). WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * Hanover town and vital records, 1712-1779, are browsable (i.e. not indexed as of Nov. 2012) on FamilySearch.

City Directories
Hanover was published in 1892, 1898, 1902, 1904, 1911/2, 1919 (usually under Rockland).

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 ($) has none.
 * Boston Public Library has 1902-1916, 1919-1931 (under Rockland).
 * Family History Library (Salt Lake City) has 1892, 1898, 1902, 1904, 1911/2, 1919 (under Rockland) on.
 * fold3 ($) has 1892, 1898, 1904.
 * Massachusetts State Library has 1892, 1898, 1902, 1911/2, 1919 (under Rockland).
 * New England Historic Genealogical Society (Boston) ($) has 1892, 1898, 1902, 1911/2, 1919 (under Rockland).

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


 * Assinippi Cemetery, 1789. (A)
 * Darling Cemetery, 1829.
 * Hanover Center Cemetery, 1727. (A, B)
 * Hatch Family Cemetery, 18th Century. [Note: Plowed up in the 19th century.]
 * Hobart Cemetery, 1793. (A)
 * Union Cemetery, 1794.

Abstracts of the cemeteries above are marked and keyed to: (A). Charles M. Thatcher, Old Cemeteries of Southeastern Massachusetts (Middleborough, Mass., 1995). WorldCat (Other Libraries);. (B). L. Vernon Briggs, ed.,History and Records of the First Congregational Church, Hanover, Mass., 1727-1865, and Inscriptions from the Headstones and Tombs in the Cemetery at Centre Hanover, Mass., 1727-1894, being volume I of the Church and Cemetery Records of Hanover, Mass. (Boston, 1895), vi, 316 pp. Internet Archive and Google Books. 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 of Hanover [United Church of Christ], 1728, records good. L. Vernon Briggs, ed.,History and Records of the First Congregational Church, Hanover, Mass., 1727-1865, and Inscriptions from the Headstones and Tombs in the Cemetery at Centre Hanover, Mass., 1727-1894, being volume I of the Church and Cemetery Records of Hanover, Mass. (Boston, 1895), vi, 316 pp. Digital versions at Internet Archive and Google Books. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal Church (now called St. Andrew's Episcopal Church), 1780, no condition given. [Note: Church in Scituate from 1731 to 1811.] L. Vernon Briggs, ed., History and Records of St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal Church, of Scituate, Mass., 1725-181, of Hanover, Mass., 1811-1903, and other items of historical interest, being Volume II of the church and cemetery records of Hanover, Mass. ([Boston], 1904), ix, 188 pp. Digital version at Google Books. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * Baptist Church, 1806, records good.
 * Methodist Episcopal Church, 1850, no condition given.
 * Second Congregational Church, Four Corners, 1854, records good.
 * Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church (now called St. Mary of the Sacred Heart Church), n.d., no condition given.
 * Lutheran Church of the Cross, 1961.
 * Fellowship Baptist Church, 1984.
 * Coastal Church, n.d.
 * Living Hope Foursquare Church, n.d.

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Newspapers

 * Hanover Branch and Norwell News, 1964-1965-present.
 * Hanover Mariner, 1983-present.

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

John Curtis Free Library 534 Hanover Street Hanover MA 02339 Phone 781-826-2972

Hanover Historical Society Box 156 Hanover MA 02339