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Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Genealogy

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This is a historical and genealogical guide to the town of Abington. You will find help with town histories, vital records, city directories, cemetery records and cemeteries, churches, town records, newspapers, maps, and libraries. There are detailed guides for the towns set off from Abington: Hanover, Rockland, and South Abington (now Whitman).

Town Clerk[edit | edit source]

500 Gliniewicz Way
Abington, MA 02351
Phone: 781-982-2112
Fax: 781-982-2138
Email: lmadams@abingtonma.gov
Website

Brief History[edit | edit source]

The first land grant in this area was to Nathaniel Souther, Secretary of the Plymouth Colony, in 1654. The first settler was Andrew Ford in 1668. This area was part of Bridgewater at that time and set off as its own town in 1712. 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 was in limbo until the "Colony" was merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691 that became the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Historical Data[edit | edit source]

The basic data is from the "Historical Data" publication series[1] with additions from various sources.

Associated names

Abington at one time was called Manamooskeagin.

Village or section names include Center Abington, Musterfield, North Abington, Thicket, and West Abington.

Border changes
Dates Events
10 June 1712 Abington established from part of Bridgewater and adjoining land [Acts and Resolves - Mass. Bay, 21: 605].
14 June 1727 Part included in the new town of Hanover.
31 Mar. 1847 Border between Abington and Weymouth established.
21 Mar. 1861 Border between Abington and Randolph established.
Border between Abington and Hingham established.
9 Mar. 1874 Third or East Parish set off as new town of Rockland.
4 Mar. 1875 Second or South Parish set off with part of East Bridgewater as new town of South Abington [now Whitman].
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Town Histories[edit | edit source]

Works written on the town include:
Barnstable CountyBristol CountyPlymouth CountyNorfolk CountySuffolk CountyFalmouthMashpeeSandwichBourneFairhavenAchushnetNew BedfordDartmouthWestportFall RiverFreetownBerkleyTauntonRaynhamEastonStoughtonAvonHolbrookCantonRandolphWeymouthCohassetBraintreeQuincyMiltonBostonHullHinghamScituateNorwellRocklandAbingtonBrocktonWest BridgewaterWhitmanHanoverMarshfieldDuxburyPembrokeHansonEast BridgewaterBridgewaterHalifaxPlymptonKingstonPlymouthCarverMiddleboroughLakevilleRochesterWarehamMarionMattapoisett
Town of Abington in Plymouth County, Massachusetts.


The appendix of this book covers over hundred pages devoted to the genealogy of town families.. It includes the families: Beal, Blake, Blanchard, Brown, Cobb, Cooke, Corthell, Dunbar, Dunham, Dyer, Ford, Gurney, Hobart, Howe, Howland, Hunt, Jacobs, Jenkins, King, Lane, Nash, Noyes, Payn (i.e. Paine), Pool, Pratt, Reed, Stetson, Studley, Thaxter, Torrey, Walker, Wheeler, and Whitman.
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Vital Records[edit | edit source]

The town's vital records are available in many locations:

Original records
Published records
This includes, in part, church records from the First Church (C.R.1), Second Church of Christ (C.R.2), Third Church of Christ (C.R.3), Fourth Congregational Church (C.R.4), and First Baptist Church of Christ (C.R.5). Deaths are included from Mt. Vernon Cem. (G.R.1), Maplewood Cem. (G.R.2), Abiah Reed Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R.3), Samuel Reed Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R.4), Old Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R.5), Lane Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R.6), Wilkes Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R.7), Beal Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R.8), Mount Pleasant Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R.9), High Street Cem. [now in Whitman] (G.R.10), Small Pox Cem. [now in Whitman] (G.R.11), Mount Zion Cem. [now in Whitman] (G.R.12), Colebrook Cem. [now in Whitman] (G.R. 13), Old Cem. [on Washington St.] (G.R. 14), Beech Hill Cem. [now in Rockland] (G.R. 15), Old Cem. [between Abington and North Abington] (G.R. 16), West Abington Cem. (G.R. 17), Cobb Family Burying Ground [West Abington] (G.R. 18), and The Plain Cem. [West Abington] (G.R. 19).
Online records

Abington vital records, 1712-1860 and 1850-1905 are browsable (i.e. not indexed as of Nov. 2012) on FamilySearch.

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City Directories[edit | edit source]

Abington was published in 1869-1870, 1872-1874/5, 1884-1885, 1889, 1892, 1895, 1900, 1902, 1904-1905, 1907, 1909, 1911/2, 1916, 1922-1923, 1926/7, 1927/8, 1930/1.

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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Cemeteries[edit | edit source]

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

  1. Adams Street Burying Ground [called Old Cem. in VRs], n.d. (A)
  2. Bicknell Family Tomb, n.d.
  3. Cobb Family Burying Ground. (A)
  4. Cushing Family Tomb.
  5. Gould Family Burial Ground or Indian Cemetery, 1798.
  6. Hillside Cemetery, 18th Century.
  7. Hunt Family Tomb, n.d.
  8. Island Grove Cemetery or Centre Cemetery or French's Burying Ground, n.d.
  9. Mount Vernon Cemetery, 1732. (A)
  10. Old Church Burying Ground. (A)
  11. Plain Cemetery, n.d. (A)
  12. Richards Family Burial Ground.
  13. Torrey Family Burying Ground.
  14. West Abington Cemetery, n.d. (A)

Abstracts of the cemeteries above are marked and keyed to:
(A) Vital Records of Abington, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, 1912). [See links above for various versions of this source.]

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Churches[edit | edit source]

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.

  1. First Congregational Church, 1712, records good.
  2. New Jerusalem Society, 1835, records good.
  3. Fourth Congregational Church, North Abington, 1839, records good.
  4. First Universal Church, 1863, records good.
  5. St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church, 1864, older records to 1900/1920 at Archdiocese of Boston Archives.
  6. Second Advent Church, n.d., church extinct by 1889, record location unknown.
  7. First Baptist Church of Abington, 1886.
  8. Assembly of God Brazilian Church, n.d.
  9. Flame of the Covenant, n.d.
  10. Joy in Life Lutheran Church, n.d.
  11. Life Giving Church, n.d.
  12. South Shore Community Church, n.d.
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Newspapers[edit | edit source]

  1. Weekly News, 1878-1879.
  2. Abington Advertiser, 1962-1965, 1993-present.
  3. Abington Mariner, 1990-present.
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Libraries and Historical Societies[edit | edit source]

The following is a list of research facilities in town:

Abington Historical Commission
500 Gliniewicz Way
Abington MA 02351
Phone 781-982-0059

Abington Public Library
600 Gliniewicz Way
Abington MA 02351
Phone 781-982-2139

Dyer Memorial Library
28 Centre Ave.
PO Box 2245
Abington MA 02351
Phone 781-878-8480
Email info@dyerlibrary.org

Thanks to the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants for their contributions to this page

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ William Francis Galvin, Historical Data Relating to Counties, Cities and Towns in Massachusetts (Boston, new ed., 1997), 11. WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.4 H2h 1997
Adjacent towns: Plymouth Co: Brockton | Rockland | Whitman | Norfolk Co: Holbrook | Weymouth

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Towns in Plymouth County in Massachusetts articles
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