Carver, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Genealogy

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

Town Clerk
108 Main St Carver, MA 02330 Phone: 508-866-3403 Fax: 508-866-3408 Email: [mailto:lynn.doyle@carverma.org lynn.doyle@carverma.org] Website

Brief History
The first settlers arrived in this area in 1637 when it was still part of Plymouth in Plymouth Colony and laid in Plymouth County when counties were formed in 1685. For a brief time, that town was part of the Dominion of New England from 1686 to 1689. This town 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. This region was split off in 1707 and called Plympton. Carver was created as a separate town in 1790 and remained in Plymouth County.

Historical Data
The basic data is from the "Historical Data" publication series with additions from various sources. Associated names Carver was once called Mohootset.

Village or section names include Annasnappet, Bate's Pond, East Carver, Ellis Furnace, John's Pond, North Carver, Popes Point, Quitticus, Shoestring District, South Carver, and Wenham. Border changes Top of Page

Town Histories
Go to Archive.org to find published materials for this town. Works written on the town include:


 * Henry S. Griffith, History of the town of Carver, Massachusetts: Historical Review, 1637-1910 (New Bedford, Mass., 1913). Digital versions at Internet Archive, Google Books, and on Ancestry ($). WorldCat (Other Libraries); (with digital link).


 * The biographical sketches include the families [not in alphabetical order and there can be several sketches of one surname]: Barrows, Bowers, Cobb, Cole, Cornish, Ellis, Griffith, Maxim, McFarlin, Murdock, Pratt, Savery, Shaw, and Shurtleff.

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 * Carver Wikipedia page.

Vital Records
The town of Carver kept annual town reports. These reports often contained birth, marriage, and death information. Below is a list of years when Carver kept town reports. (NOTE: Occasionally, these town reports missed vital statistic information from the end of the year. If you don't find your ancestor's vital information, check the following year's town report to see if your ancestor's information was recorded later.)

The town's vital records are available in many locations: Original records Published records
 * Carver Town Clerk's Office 108 Main Street Carver MA 02330 Phone 508-866-3400
 * Microfilm of the originals created by the Family History Library, Carver vital records, 1748-1903, . These records 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, 1733-1905, on 47 fiche. Part of Massachusetts, Town Vital Collections, 1620–1988 at Ancestry ($); Index
 * Official state copy of vital records starting in 1841: Massachusetts Archives 220 Morrissey Blvd. Boston MA 02125 Phone 617-727-2816 Email [mailto:archives@sec.state.ma.us archives@sec.state.ma.us] Hours and Directions See the online guide for more information.
 * Vital Records of Carver, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, 1911). This volume was microfilmed by the Family History Library, and in digital versions at Internet Archive, Google Books, and Ancestry ($). WorldCat (Other Libraries);.


 * This includes, in part, church records from the Congregational Church (C.R.1) and Baptist Church (C.R.2). Deaths are included from Lakenham Cem. in North Carver (G.R.1), Center Cem. (G.R.2), Wenham Cem. in East Carver (G.R.3), and Union Cem. in South Carver (G.R.4).

Online records Top of Page
 * Carver vital records, 1748-1903, are browsable (i.e. not indexed as of Nov. 2012) on FamilySearch.

City Directories
Carver was published in 1902/3, 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 ($) has 1902/3, 1906, 1910, 1914.
 * Boston Public Library has 1914.
 * Family History Library (Salt Lake City) has 1906, 1910, 1914 on.
 * fold3 ($) has none.
 * Massachusetts State Library has 1902/3, 1906, 1910, 1914.
 * New England Historic Genealogical Society (Boston) ($) has 1902/3, 1906, 1910, 1914.

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


 * Center Cemetery, 1811. (A, C)
 * Central Cemetery, n.d.
 * Lakenham Cemetery, 1718, (A, C)
 * Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, 1920.
 * Union Cemetery, 1777. (A, B, C)
 * Wenham / East Carver Cemetery, 1770. (A, C)

Abstracts of the cemeteries above are marked and keyed to: (A). Vital Records of Carver, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, 1911) [see links above under Vital Records]. (B). New England Historic Genealogical Society, Manuscripts Dept., Boston, Mass. (C). Charles M. Thatcher, Old Cemeteries of Southeastern Massachusetts (Middleborough, Mass., 1995). WorldCat (Other Libraries);.

Note: John A. Shaw, "Cemeteries in the town of Carver, Plymouth County, MA" (Carver, Mass., 1998) is in an alphabetical version online. 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, North Carver, 1733, records good.
 * Baptist Church, 1791, records good.
 * Advent Christian Church, 1820, records good.
 * Reformed Methodist Church, South Carver, 1831-1867, records good [in private hands in 1889].
 * Methodist Episcopal Church, South Carver, 1867, records good.
 * Our Lady of Lourdes, 1920?
 * Abundant Life Community Church, n.d.
 * Church of the Vine, South Carver, n.d.
 * Cranberry Chapel Assembly of God, n.d.
 * Emmaus Bible Church, South Carver, n.d.
 * Faith Baptist Church, n.d.
 * Living Word Church of Hope, n.d.
 * United Parish of Carver [Baptist], n.d.

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Newspapers

 * Carver Reporter, 1988-present.

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

Carver Public Library 2 Meadowbrook Way Carver MA 02330 Phone 508-866-3415