Plymouth County, Massachusetts genealogy

United States Massachusetts  Plymouth County

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

Brief History
Plymouth County was one of the three original counties when Plymouth Colony made such subdivisions in 1685. It then included the towns of Bridgewater, Duxbury, Marshfield, Middleborough, Plymouth, and Scituate. For a brief time, the county was part of the Dominion of New England from 1686 to 1689, then in limbo until the "Colony" was merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691 to form the Royal colony of Massachusetts Bay.

Historical Data
The basic data are from the historical county boundary series with additions from various sources.

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Towns and Cities
The following list of present-day Plymouth County towns and cities links them to their individual pages. There you will find a list of other names used for the town or city and of villages and sections of the town or city. A master list of these names will be included in the Massachusetts state page. Abington (1712) - Bridgewater (1656) - Brockton (1821) - Carver (1790) Duxbury (1637) - East Bridgewater (1823) - Halifax (1734) - Hanover (1727) Hanson (1820) - Hingham (1635) - Hull (1644) - Kingston (1726) Lakeville (1853) - Marion (1852) - Marshfield (1640) - Mattapoisett (1857) Middleborough (1669) - Norwell (1849) - Pembroke (1712) - Plymouth (1620) Plympton (1707) - Rochester (1686) - Rockland (1874) - Scituate (1633) Wareham (1739) - West Bridgewater (1822) - Whitman (1875)   Top of Page

County Histories
Works written on the county include:


 * Thomas Noyes, "Complete List of the Congregational Ministers, in the County of Plymouth, Mass. from the Settlement of the Country to the Present Time" in American Quarterly Register, 8 [1835-1836]: 144-159. Digital versions at Internet Archive and Google Books


 * The Plymouth County Directory, and Historical Register of the Old Colony, Containing Historical Sketch of the County, and of each Town in the County; a Roll of Honor, with the Names of all Soldiers of the Army and Navy, from this County, who lost their lives in service; an alphabetical list of voters; a complete index to the mercantile, manufacturing, and professional interests of the county (Middleboro, Mass., 1867), v.p. [ca. 450 pp.] Digital versions at Internet Archive and General Files. WorldCat (Other Libraries); ;.


 * D. Hamilton Hurd, ed., History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men (Philadelphia, 1884), viii, 1199 pp. Digital versions at Internet Archive, Google Books (pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3), and on Ancestry ($). WorldCat (Other Libraries); (with digital link).


 * William Root Bliss, Colonial Times on Buzzard's Bay (Boston, 1888). 238 pp. Digital versions at Internet Archive, Google Books, and on Ancestry ($). WorldCat (Other Libraries);.


 * Lloyd Vernon Briggs, History of Shipbuilding on North River, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, with Genealogies of the Shipbuilders, and Accounts of the Industries upon its Tributaries 1640 to 1872 (Boston, 1889), xv, 420 pp. Digital versions at Internet Archive and Google Books. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.


 * Biographical Review ... containing Life Sketches of Leading Citizens of Plymouth County, Massachusetts ... (Boston, 1897), 638 pp. Digital versions at Internet Archive and on Ancestry ($). WorldCat (Other Libraries);.


 * Lucy Hall Greenlaw, ed., The Genealogical Advertiser: A Quarterly Magazine of Family History, v. 1-4 [1898-1901]. This journal included many Plymouth County record abstracts. Digital versions at: v. 1, v. 2, v. 3, v. 4. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.


 * Lincoln Newton Kinnicutt, Indian Names of Places in Plymouth, Middleborough, Lakeville and Carver, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, with Interpretations of Some of Them (Worcester, Mass., 1909), 64 pp. Digital versions at Internet Archive and Google Books. WorldCat (Other Libraries); Not at FHL.


 * Representative Men and Old Families of Southeastern Massachusetts, Containing Historical sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families ... (Chicago, 1912), 3 v. Digital versions at Internet Archive (v. 1, v. 2, v. 3), Google Books(v. 1 and v. 3 only), and on Ancestry ($). WorldCat (Other Libraries);.


 * Elroy Sherman Thompson, History of Plymouth, Norfolk and Barnstable Counties, Massachusetts (New York, 1928), 3 v. No digital version available . WorldCat (Other Libraries);.


 * Ebenezer W. Peirce, Peirce's colonial lists. Civil, military and professional lists of Plymouth and Rhode Island colonies, comprising colonial, county and town officers, clergymen, physicians and lawyers. With extracts from colonial laws defining their duties, 1621-1700 (Boston, 1881; rep. Baltimore, 1968). Digital version at Google Books. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.


 * James Baker, A Guide to Historic Plymouth (Charleston, S.C., 2008), 142 pp. WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL does not have this item.

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 * Plymouth County Wikipedia page.

Vital Records
In Massachusetts, the original vital records (of births, marriages, and deaths) have been created and maintained by the town or city in which the event occurred. In very early colonial times, copies of these records were submitted to the county, but that practice died out long before 1700. There were marriage intentions commonly recorded in the bride's home town and additional recordings maybe found in the groom's home town and their current residence.

Massachusetts was the first state to bring a unified state-level recording of these events (but not marriage intentions) in 1841 (Boston excluded until 1850). The associated records of divorce and adoption are handled by the courts. The state has maintained a state-wide index to divorces since 1952, but adoption records will require more researching to discover.

It is easiest to start with the state vital records for events since 1841, though realize the original record is with the town or city. More details can be found on the Massachusetts Vital Records page. Top of Page

Land Records
Land transfers, commonly called deeds, are recorded on the county level in Massachusetts. Not all deeds were recorded as is common practice today. The earliest transactions were charters or grants from the English Crown. Once local government was established, the colony would grant land to settlers directly or to towns to dole out. Some towns first start out as proprietorship and records were recorded there. Once towns were established, deeds were recorded on the county level. For Plymouth County, they start in 1685.

The Plymouth County Registry of Deeds has a main office at Plymouth and two satellite offices: Plymouth County Registry of Deeds 50 Obery Street Plymouth MA 02360 508-830-9200 Email [mailto:admin@plymouthdeeds.org admin@plymouthdeeds.org]  Brockton Satellite Office 155 West Elm Street Brockton MA 02301 508-586-6998  Rockland Satellite Office 920 Hingham Street Rockland MA 02370 781-792-2800 Original records in Plymouth All online records can be viewed from their Search Page.

Published records There is no book that transcribes, abstracts, or indexes the Plymouth County land records. Abstracts were created by George Ernest Bowman. He published them in first in Pilgrim Notes and Queries from 1916 to 1917 and continued in The Mayflower Descendant from 1933 to 1937. He completed the first 117 pages from volume 1. Ann Smith Lainhart continued the abstracts in the latter journal from 1985 to 1998 and completed up to volume 2, page 41. That work is available online by article and issue at the Mass. Society of Mayflower Descendants website for those years of the Mayflower Descendant. Ms. Lainhart's work from 2000 to 2005 in the same journal is not available online where she ended her work at volume 3, page 13. For a current full citation to "Plymouth County, Mass., Records of Deeds" series, see Dale H. Cook's Consolidated Contents for the journal. Top of Page
 * Land Record books, 1685 to present. [all online]
 * Grantor/Grantee Index, 1685 to present. [online from 1955]
 * Plan books and index, 1899 to present. [online index from 1975]
 * Highway, county taking, and other road related. [no index online]
 * Land Court records, 1899 to present. [all online]
 * Land Court registered land. [online index from 1926]
 * Microfilm of the originals created by the Family History Library, 1664-1900 (indexes to 1914), v. 1-792,.

Probate Records
Probate and Family Court is organized on a county level in Massachusetts since the creation of the counties. The main records genealogists seek are testate (wills), intestate (administrations), guardianships, and divorces (since 1922), though there are many more that are valuable to any researcher, too. See a further discussion of the topic in general on the Massachusetts page.

Plymouth County Probate and Family Court 52 Obery Street Plymouth MA 02360 Phone 508-747-6204 Email [mailto:plymouthprobate@dacbase.com plymouthprobate@dacbase.com]

Brockton Satellite Office 215 Maine Street, Suite 220 Brockton MA 02301 Phone 508-897-5400 Original records Microfilm records The Family History Library (Note: The New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston has the probate records only, not docket books) has the following microfilms of the originals:
 * First series, 1685-1881: Record books: Supreme Judicial Court Archives has in off-site storage (microfilm available). (and at the New England Historic Genealogical Society). File papers: [Note: Missing case numbers 1-1881 and 13134-13176] Supreme Judicial Court Archives has these files.
 * Second series, 1882-1935: Record books: Plymouth County Probate and Family Court has all the record books. File papers: Supreme Judicial Court Archives has in the archives to 1915 and the files from 1916-1935 is in off-site storage.
 * All records, 1936-present: Plymouth County Probate and Family Court has all these records except for domestic abuse and paternity records that are stored at the Brockton Satellite Office.

Online records Top of Page
 * Probate records, 1686-1903, with index (1685-1881, 1881-1939) and docket (1881-1967), 1685-1967.
 * [sic, incorrectly labelled], Docket Index, 1685-1881, and Docket books, v. 1 (1881) - 76 (1967); and File Papers, Ebenezer BENSON to Martin PRATT (case nos. 1881-16163) [Note: missing first 1880 cases that were never filmed and 16163-23593 (but those are below)]; Docket books, 1 (1686) - 212 (1902) [some earlier volumes go to 1938]; Plymouth Colony, Wills, v. 1-4 (1633-1686) [Note: missing volumes 5-6]. [Records as of 14 Nov. 2012]
 * , file papers, 1686-1881, Timothy HEALY to Zeruiah YOUNG (case nos. 9877-23593), second series, 1892-1915, case nos. 9775-17313 (1898-1908) [Records as of 10 Nov. 2012].

Other Court Records
The court system can appear to be complex. The system was reorganized in 1686/1692, 1859, and 1978. Described below are the most commonly used records for history and genealogy, but realize that this list is incomplete. For more detailed information regarding court structure, see Understanding the Massachusetts Court System.

Quarterly Court of General Sessions of the Peace
This court was active from 1692 to 1827. The court heard criminal cases and had authority over county affairs that included levying taxes, reviewing town bylaws, highways, licensed liquor, regulated jails, supervised the administration of the poor laws, and appointed some county officials. A county copy of marriages were recorded here from 1726 to 1737.

The record books of this court have been published:

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 * David Thomas Konig, ed., Plymouth Court Records 1686-1859 [General Sessions of the Peace, 1686-1827, and Court of Common Pleas, 1686-1859] (Wilmington, Del., 1978-1981), in 16v. This is available on a searchable CD from the New England Historic Genealogical Society and on their website ($). WorldCat (Other Libraries); (with digital link). v. 1 - General Sessions of the Peace, 1686-1721 and Court of Common Pleas, 1686-1702. v. 2 - General Sessions of the Peace, 1719-1749 (includes marriages, 1726-1737). v. 3 - General Sessions of the Peace, 1748-1781. v. 4 - General Sessions of the Peace, 1782-1827.
 * Court records, 1686-1817,.

Inferior Court of Common Pleas
This court was active from 1692 to 1859. The court heard all civil cases over 40s unless a case involved freehold or was appealed from a justice of the peace. A county copy of births, marriages, and deaths were recorded here from 1724 to 1788 for the towns of Abington, Bridgewater, Duxbury, Halifax, Hanson, Kingston, Marshfield, Middleborough, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rochester, Scituate, and Wareham. Note: Volume 19 of original records contains marriages from 1771 to 1795.

The record books of this court have been published:

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 * David Thomas Konig, ed., Plymouth Court Records 1686-1859 [General Sessions of the Peace, 1686-1827, and Court of Common Pleas, 1686-1859] (Wilmington, Del., 1978-1981), in 16v. This is available on a searchable CD from the New England Historic Genealogical Society and on their website ($). WorldCat (Other Libraries); (with digital link). v. 1 - General Sessions of the Peace, 1686-1721 and Court of Common Pleas, 1686-1702. v. 5 - Court of Common Pleas, 1702-1736. v. 6 - Court of Common Pleas, 1736-1744. v. 7 - Court of Common Pleas, 1744-1760. v. 8 - Court of Common Pleas, 1760-1772. v. 9 - Court of Common Pleas, 1773-1785. v. 10 - Court of Common Pleas, 1785-1796. v. 11 - Court of Common Pleas, 1796-1807. v. 12 - Court of Common Pleas, 1807-1815. v. 13 - Court of Common Pleas, 1816-1825. v. 14 - Court of Common Pleas, 1825-1834. v. 15 - Court of Common Pleas, 1835-1845. v. 16 - Court of Common Pleas, 1846-1859.
 * Court records, 1702-1859,.

Superior Court
This court was created in 1859 and combines the authority of the two courts listed above. Though one court, the civil and criminal matters are handled separately and today that is achieved through two physical courts: Plymouth (civil) and Brockton (criminal).

Plymouth County Superior Court 52 Obery Street - Suite 2041 Plymouth MA 02360 Phone 508-747-8565

Plymouth County Superior Court (criminal sessions) 72 Belmont Street Brockton MA 02301 Phone 508-583-8250

Older records are held by: Supreme Judicial Court Archives (administration - records stored in several off-site facilities and the Mass. Archives) 16th Floor, Highrise Court House 3 Pemberton Square Boston MA 02109 Phone 617-557-1082 Top of Page

Divorce Records
Jurisdiction over divorce matters changes over time. The Governor and Council heard cases before 1785, then it was the Supreme Judicial Court until 1887, followed by the Superior Court until 1922, and presently this is a matter for the Probate and Family Court (with minor exceptions in all periods).


 * Plymouth County divorce records, 1798-1812,.
 * Plymouth County record books (inc. divorces), 1813-1950 and divorce index, 1918-1930,.
 * Plymouth County divorce records index, 1888-1973,.

Naturalization Records
Naturalization records were created on a variety of governmental levels from the Federal down to the city at the same time. The county records are outlines below.

Indexes


 * Mass. 3rd District Court, Naturalization index cards, 1885-1906,.
 * Plymouth Co. Superior Court, declarations of intention index, 1906-1984 (Plymouth court),.
 * Plymouth Co. Superior Court, petition and records index, 1906-1984 (Plymouth court),.
 * Plymouth Co. Superior Court, certificates stub index, 1907-1990 (Brockton court),.
 * Plymouth Co. Superior Court, petition and declaration index, 1906-1984 (Brockton court),.

Records


 * Mass. 3rd District Court, Docket books, 1885-1898, papers, no. 1-722, 1885-1906,.
 * Mass. 4th District Court, applications for naturalization, 1885-1906,.
 * Plymouth Co. Superior Court declarations records, 1906-1945 (Plymouth court, v. 1-8, no. 1-2753),.
 * Plymouth Co. Superior Court declarations records, 1909-1945 (Brockton court, v. 1-27, no. 1-9279),.
 * Plymouth Co. Superior Court naturalization declarations and petitions, 1907-1945 (Plymouth court, v. 1-26, no. 1-1834),.
 * Plymouth Co. Superior Court naturalization declarations and petitions, 1910-1945 (Brockton court, v. 2-62, no. 251-1834 [Note: v. 1, 1907-1910 missing]),.

Taxation Records
The county had the power to tax its citizens through action of the Quarterly Court of General Sessions (listed above). Most taxes after this time are levied by the state or town.

Warnings Out
Warning Out was the court’s action under the poor laws of the colony and commonwealth to create a legal public notice that a town was not responsible for the welfare of a new person or family settling there. That responsibility remained with the town from which they had come. People were not forced out of the new town, but could not expect to be supported if they were unable to sustain themselves. Warnings Out were issued by the Inferior Court of Common Pleas to the Selectmen of the town for notification of persons named in them.

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 * Ruth Wilder Sherman, Robert M. Sherman, and Robert S. Wakefield, An Index to Plymouth County, Massachusetts Warnings Out from The Plymouth Court Records 1686-1859 (Plymouth, Mass., 2003). WorldCat (Other Libraries);.

Maps
This list includes maps of particular interest to genealogists, and is not an effort to trace the vast cartographic history of the county in full.

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 * Henry F. Walling, Map of the County of Plymouth, Massachusetts (Boston, 1857). WorldCat (Other Libraries); . Digital version at Harvard University.
 * Atlas of Plymouth County, Massachusetts (Boston, 1879). WorldCat (Other Libraries); (in high density). There are several sites that sell reproductions of the individual maps of this atlas. Search the web for this atlas and you will find several sites that will provide the image online. We cannot endorse any one site here.
 * John H. Long, ed., Atlas of Historical County Boundaries: Connecticut-Maine-Massachusetts-Rhode Island (New York, 1994). WorldCat (Other Libraries); . Digital version online from the Newberry Library (Chicago) for download or viewing online.

Societies
Plymouth County Genealogists PO Box 167 East Bridgewater MA 02333 Email [mailto:plymcountygen@gmail.com plymcountygen@gmail.com] The group meets on the first Saturday each month except July and August

South Shore Genealogical Society PO Box 396 Norwell MA 02061 Email [mailto:uechika@msn.com uechika@msn.com] The group meets on the second Saturday each month except July and August