Plympton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Genealogy

United States Massachusetts  Plymouth  Plympton

This is a historical and genealogical guide to the town of Plymouth. You will find help with town histories, vital records, city directories, cemetery records and cemeteries, churches, town records, newspapers, maps, and libraries. There is a detailed guide for the town set off from Plympton: Carver.

Brief History
The first land grant in this area, then in Plymouth Colony, was to John Jenny in 1638. This westernmost was part of Plymouth was made a precinct in 1695 for the convenience of the forty-five families living there. The precinct 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 precinct was 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 precinct became a town in 1707 as part of Plymouth County. Sizable portions were removed for the creation of Kingston and Halifax. Another major change occurred when the larger southern portion was set off at the town of Carver in 1790. The remaining part is the most sparsely populated area in the county.

Historical Data
The basic data is from the "Historical Data" publication series with additions from various sources. Associated names Plympton at one time was called Wenatukset and Western Precinct.

Village or section names include The Neck, North Plympton, Prospect Hill, Silver Lake, and Winnetuxet. Border changes Top of Page

Town Histories
Works written on the town include:

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 * William T. Davis, "History of Plympton" in D. Hamilton Hurd, ed., History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts ... (Philadelphia, 1884). Digital version at Internet Archive.
 * John G. Lorimer, History of Plympton, County of Plymouth, State of Massachusetts, A concise and Authentic Narrative from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time (Boston, 1896), 55 pp. No digital version. Found at NEHGS Library.
 * Eugene A. Wright, History of Plympton, Massachusetts (Plympton, Mass., 1973), 137 leaves. No digital version. WorldCat (Other Libraries); Earlier manuscript version,.
 * Charles H. Bricknell, Parish and Town Records [Plympton, Mass.], 12v. [v. 1 in 5 pts., v. 2 in 4 pts.] (Plympton, Mass., typ., 1971-1974). WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * "Historical Maps of Plympton" online at Plympton Historical Commission.
 * Plympton Wikipedia page.

Vital Records
Lewis Bradford was town clerk and parish clerk from 1812 until his death in 1851. During that time, he heavily annotated the older records of the town with research on the families he had found. These annotations are found in the original records of the town, the Archive Publishing fiche, and the published vital records all mentioned below. The town's vital records are available in many locations: Original records Published records
 * Plympton Town Clerk's Office 5 Palmer Road Plympton MA 02367 Phone 781-585-3220 Email [mailto:town_clerk@town.plympton.ma.us town_clerk@town.plympton.ma.us]
 * Microfilm of the originals created by the Family History Library, Plymouth town and vital records, 1695-1924, ; Lewis Bradford Papers (town clerk - includes vital records), 1812-1846,, likely 1840 manuscript copy, ; Valuation and tax records, 1783-1831, ; Town financial records, 1796-1872, ; Voter lists, 1812-1853, . Some of these records to 1901 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, 11649-1900, on 104 fiche. Part of Massachusetts, Town Vital Collections, 1620–1988 at Ancestry ($); Index.
 * Official state copy of vital records starting in 1841: Massachusetts Archives 220 Morrissey Blvd. Boston MA 02125 Phone 617-727-2816 Email [mailto:archives@sec.state.ma.us archives@sec.state.ma.us] Hours and Directions See the online guide for more information.
 * Vital Records of Plympton, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, 1923). This volume was microfilmed by the Family History Library . Digital versions at Internet Archive, Ancestry ($), and in a database at American Ancestors ($). WorldCat (Other Libraries);.


 * This includes, in part, church records from the Congregational Church (C.R.) and deaths are included from the Old Cem., Plympton Centre (G.R.1), small cem. on Kingston line (G.R.2), Smallpox Cem., Plympton Centre (G.R.3), and the cem. behind the church, Plympton Centre (G.R.4).

Online records Top of Page
 * Susan Augusta Smith, "Early Records of Plympton, Mass." in the Mayflower Descendant, 1 [1899]: 174-178, 245-248; 2 [1900]: 50-53, 121, 138-141, 234-237; 3 [1901]: 91-94, 163-166; 5 [1903]: 180-184, 206-210.
 * Plymouth vital records, 1713-1901 (transcription started by town clerk in 1840), are browsable (i.e. not indexed as of Nov. 2012) on FamilySearch.

City Directories
Plympton was published in 1906, 1910, 1914.

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 ($) has none.
 * Boston Public Library has 1906, 1910, 1914 (under Carver).
 * Family History Library (Salt Lake City) has 1906, 1910, 1914 on.
 * fold3 ($) has none.
 * Massachusetts State Library has 1906, 1910, 1914.
 * New England Historic Genealogical Society (Boston) ($) has 1906, 1914.

Cemeteries
The following is a list of cemeteries in present-day Plympton. Those in Carver were once part of this town, and parts of Halifax and Kingston. For locations of the cemeteries, see PlymouthColony. For more details regarding these cemeteries, see the state guide under cemeteries for books on the subject.


 * Hillcrest Cemetery, 1711. (A, B) Charles H. Bricknell, et al, Plympton's Old 'Burying Place' from 1706 or Earlier," (S.l., typ., 1982?). Digital version at Plympton Historical Commission. WorldCat (Other Libraries);.
 * Isaac Loring Gravesite, 1778.
 * North Plympton Cemetery (on Kingston line), 1767-1874. (A, B) Stanley W. Smith, "Gravestone Records in a Small Cemetery in the North Village of Plympton, Mass." in the Mayflower Descendant, 11 [1909]: 176-177.
 * Plympton Congregational Church Cemetery, 1834-1868. (B) Stanley W. Smith, Edward H. Whorf, John Wl. Willard, and William J. Ham, "Cemetery Back of Congregational Church, Plymouth Centre, Mass." in the Mayflower Descendant, 11 [1909]: 127-128.
 * Plympton Green Cemetery, 1732. (A)
 * Ripley Smallpox Cemetery, 1776-1779.
 * Smallpox / Cushman Cemetery, 1777-1779. (A) Stanley W. Smith, Edward H. Whorf, John W. Willard, and William J. Ham, "Small Pox Cemetery, Plympton Centre, Mass." in the Mayflower Descendant, 11 [1909]: 64.

Abstracts of the cemeteries above are marked and keyed to: (A). Vital Records of Plympton, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, 1923). [See links above for various versions of this source.] (B). Charles M. Thatcher, Old Cemeteries of Southeastern Massachusetts (Middleborough, Mass., 1995). WorldCat (Other Libraries);. 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.


 * Congregational Church, 1698, records good. Records on microfilm as First Congregational Parish, 1780-1858,.

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Newspapers
No newspapers were ever published in Plympton. Top of Page

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

Plympton Public Library 248 Main Street Plympton MA 02367 Phone 781-585-4551

Plympton Historical Society 189 Main Street PO Box 21 Plympton MA 02367 Phone 781-585-9648 Email [mailto:info@plymptonhistoricalsociety.com info@plymptonhistoricalsociety.com]