West Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Genealogy

Guide to West Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts ancestry, genealogy and family history, town histories, vital records, city directories, cemetery records and cemeteries, churches, town records, newspapers, maps, and libraries.

Description

 * West Bridgewater, Massachusetts at Wikipedia

The area was first settled in 1651 and organized at the West or First Parish of Bridgewater in 1664. The area was in Plymouth Colony. The area was placed in Plymouth County when counties were formed in 1685. For a brief time, the town was part of the Dominion of New England from 1686 to 1689. The town 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 parish became its own town in 1822.

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

Adjacent Towns
Plymouth Co.: Bridgewater | Brockton | East Bridgewater | Bristol Co.: Easton | Raynham

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

West Bridgewater Town Clerk
65 North Main St West Bridgewater, MA 02379 Phone: 508-894-1200 Fax: 508-894-1210 Email: [mailto:aiannitelli@wbridgewater.com aiannitelli@wbridgewater.com] Website

Vital Records

 * Vital Records of West Bridgewater, Massachusetts to the year 1850. 1911. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society at the Charge of The Eddy Town-Record Fund. Online at: Internet Archive.
 * Microfilm of the originals created by the FamilySearch Library, 1774-1905,.
 * Microfiche of the originals created by Archive Publishing covering town records that included vital records and a few other town records, 1762-1908, on 56 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.
 * Vital Records of West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, 1911) This volume was microfilmed by the FamilySearch Library . Online at Internet Archive. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * This includes, in part, church records from the First Church in Bridgewater (now in West Bridgewater) (C.R.1) and the Baptist Church. Deaths are included from Old Grave Yard (G.R.1), Powder House Cem. (G.R.2), Jerusalem Cem. (G.R.3), Alger Cem. (G.R.4), Ames Family Burying Ground (G.R.5), Pine Hill Cem. (G.R.6), Old Cem. near Methodist Church, Cochesett (G.R.7), and Pleasant Hill Cem., Cochesett (G.R.8).

Births

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

Town Reports
he town of West Bridgewater kept annual town reports. These reports often contained birth, marriage, and death information. For this particular town, West Bridgewater recorded many vital statistics in their town reports. This means that although your ancestor may have been born in a certain year, that event may not have been recorded until several years later. The table below lists the available years with statistic info along with all the reports that record that year.

Resources
For more County and State resources see:

Cemeteries

 * West Bridgewater Cemeteries List at FindAGrave
 * at FamilySearch Catalog
 * at FamilySearch Catalog
 * Plymouth County Cemeteries at FamilySearch Places

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


 * Map and locations of cemeteries, with links to other information, including some transcriptions - at MAGenWeb.


 * Alger Cemetery and tomb, 1801. (A, D). Note: Most graves were re-interred at Pine Hill Cem.
 * Ames Family Burying Ground, n.d. (A)
 * Dunbar Family or Walnut Street Cemetery, 1749.
 * Jerusalem Graveyard, 1749). (A, D)
 * Methodist Church or Cochesett Cemetery, n.d. (A, C)
 * Old Graveyard, 1683. (A, B, D)
 * Pine Hill Cemetery, 1870. (A, C)
 * Pleasant Hill Cemetery, n.d. (A, C)
 * Powder House Cemetery, 1747. (A, D)
 * Thayer-Fish Family Cemetery, 1818. (A, B, D)

Abstracts of the cemeteries above are marked and keyed to: (A). Vital Records of West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, 1911). [See links above for various versions of this source.] (B). Charles M. Thatcher, Old Cemeteries of Southeastern Massachusetts (Middleborough, Mass., 1995). WorldCat (Other Libraries);. (C). American Ancestors by NEHGS ($) in various manuscripts or searchable databases. (D). William Latham, Epitaphs in Old Bridgewater, Massachusetts (Bridgewater, Mass., 1882) -- a digital version at Google Books.

Church Records
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 (Unitarian) (now The First Church), 1651, records good for 1721-1808, 1836-present.
 * First Baptist Church, 1785-1833, records good. [This church was dissolved and some of its members were founders of a new Baptist Society in the same year. The records are with this new church.]
 * Baptist Church (now West Bridgewater Baptist Church), 1833, records good.
 * Methodist Episcopal Church (now St. Paul's Episcopal Church), Cochesett, 1841, no condition given.
 * The Church of Saint Ann, 1927.
 * New England Baptist Church, 1973.
 * The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, n.d.
 * Gift of New Life Ministries, n.d.
 * Joy of Pentecost, n.d.
 * Temple Baptist Church, n.d.

City Directories
West Bridgewater was published in 1869/70, 1872/3, 1874/5-1880, 1882, 1884-1887/8, 1889-1890, 1892, 1894/5, 1896/7-1919, 1921, 1924/5, 1931 (often with Brockton).


 * 1878-1931 Massachusetts, U.S., City Directories, West Bridgewater at Ancestry - index and images ($), some years may be missing
 * Various Dates U.S. City Directories, 1860-1960 at MyHeritage - index and images ($) some towns and years may be missing

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:
 * Ancestry ($) has none.
 * Boston Public Library has 1878/9, 1882, 1884, 1887/8, 1890, 1892, 1894/5, 1896, 1898-1903, 1905-1910, 1913-1919, 1921, 1924/5, 1931.
 * FamilySearch Library (Salt Lake City) has 1874-1880, 1882, 1884-1885, 1887, 1889-1890, 1892, 1894, 1896, 1898-1919, 1921-1922, 1924-1927, 1929-1933, 1935 on.
 * fold3 ($) has none.
 * Massachusetts State Library has 1869/70, 1872/3, 1874/5-1880, 1882, 1884-1887, 1889-1890, 1892, 1894/5, 1896/7-1919, 1921, 1924/5, 1931.
 * New England Historic Genealogical Society (Boston) ($) has 1878/9, 1882, 1884, 1887/8, 1890, 1892, 1894/5, 1896, 1898-1903, 1905-1910, 1913-1919, 1921, 1924/5, 1931.

Local Histories
The basic data is from the "Historical Data" publication series with additions from various sources. Associated names Village or section names include Cochesett, Eastondale, Elmville, Jerusalem, Matfield, Richard's Corner, and Westdale. Border changes Go to Archive.org to find published materials for this town.

Works written on the town include:
 * History of West Bridgewater. 1884. By D. Hamilton Hurd, ed. Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Co. Online at: Internet Archive
 * West Bridgewater Wikipedia page.

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

Military
Some 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 ($)

Probate Records

 * 1686-1881 Plymouth County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1686-1881 at American Ancestors — index & images ($)

Libraries

 * West Bridgewater Public Library 80 Howard Street West Bridgewater MA 02379 Phone 508-894-1255

FamilySearch Centers & Affiliate Libraries

 * David Allen Lambert Library - an affiliate library

Societies

 * Old Bridgewater Historical Society 162 Howard Street PO Box 17 West Bridgewater MA 02379 Phone 508-559-1510