Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Genealogy

United States

Massachusetts

Plymouth County

Plymouth

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 are detailed guides for the towns set off from Plymouth: Kingston, Plympton, and Wareham.

Town Clerk

11 Lincoln St
Plymouth, MA 02360
Phone: 508-747-1620 x 189
Fax: 508-830-4053
Email: lpizer@townhall.plymouth.ma.us
Website

Plymouth Massachusetts Brief History

This area was a Wampanoag settlement called Patuxet left vacant due to a recent outbreak of a European borne disease likely contracted from contact with European fishermen a few years earlier for which they had no immunity. The "Pilgrims" anchored in the harbor on 17 December 1620 in search of a place to build shelter for the winter. They started moving on shore four days later. This established Plymouth as the oldest, permanent English settlement in North America. It was the seat of government for Plymouth Colony Genealogy, and later Plymouth County when counties were formed in 1685. For a brief time, the town was part of the Dominion of New England Genealogy from 1686 to 1689. The town is still in Plymouth County, though was in limbo, until the "Colony" was merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony Genealogy in 1691 that became the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Plymouth is steeped in history and lore. The town cemented its reputation as America's "hometown" in the mid-19th century when much was written about the early town history and intertwining it with the glory of a young nation -- much to the consternation of the older Jamestown in Virginia.

Plymouth Massachusetts Historical Data

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

Associated names

Plymouth, or parts of it, have been called at one time Accomack, Agawam Plantation, Apaum, Kamesit, Kitaumet, New Plymouth, Patuxet, Plimouth, Sauquish, Tionet, and Umpame.

Village or section names include Barkers, Billington Sea, Cedarville, Chiltonville, Clark's Island, Collingwood, Cordage (formerly Seaside), Darby, Eagle Hill, Ellis Four Corners, Ellisville, Four Corners, Gurnet, Hobs Hole, Holmes Dam, Jabez Corner, Jackson's Brook, Little Long Pond, Long Pond, Manomet, Morton Park, Manter's Point, North Plymouth, Oak Ridge, Plymouth Woods, Poverty Point, Priscilla Beach, Pumping Station, Raymond Red Brook, Rocky Hill, Saquish, South Plymouth, South Pond Village, Stoney Beach, Vallerville, Wares, Wellingsley, West Plymouth, and White Horse Beach.

Border changes

Dates	Events
21 Dec. 1620	Pilgrims move on shore to establish the settlement of Plimoth.
19 Jan. 1663	Border between Plymouth and Scituate established.
4 June 1707	The West Parish set off as the new town of Plympton.
16 June 1726	The "North Precinct" that also included parts from Duxbury, Pembroke, and Plympton or Jones River Parish set off as the new town of Kingston.
10 July 1739	Part of town called the plantation of Agawam included in the new town of Wareham.
20 Jan. 1827	Part annexed to Wareham.

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Plymouth Massachusetts Town Histories

Works written on the town include:

City and Town of Plymouth in Plymouth County, Massachusetts.

• James Thacher, History of the Town of Plymouth, from its first settlement in 1620, to the present time (Boston, 1832; Boston, 2nd ed., 1835), iv, 401 pp.
  Digital version of the second edition at Internet Archive, Google Books, and on Ancestry ($).
  WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL fiche 6104126.

• William T. Davis, Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth: Pt. I. Historical Sketch and Titles of Estates. Pt. II. Genealogical Register of Plymouth Families (Boston, 1883; Boston, 2nd ed., 1899), vii, 350, 312 pp.
  WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.48/P3 H2dwt or film 928223 Item 1 with digital link.
  Jayne Pratt Lovelace, A Cross-Index to William T. Davis' Genealogical Register of Plymouth Families (Higganum, Conn., 1989), 226 pp.
  WorldCat (Other Libraries).
  Master Index of Persons in Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth Parts I & II (Pittsfield, Mass., 2006), 142 leaves.
  FHL book 974.482/P3 H2dwt index.
  Part Two reprinted separately as Genealogical Register of Plymouth Families (Baltimore, Md., 1975), 363 pp.
  Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.482/P3 D23d or film 1036794 Item 1.
  Digital version of the second edition at Internet Archive and Google Books (pt. 1 only).

Part II is devoted to the genealogy of town families. It includes the families: Abbott, Adams, Albertson, Alden, Alexander, Allen / Allyn, Allerton, Ames, Anderson, Andrews / Andros, Angel, Annable, Apling, Armitage, Armor, Armstrong, Arnold, Ashley, Atkins, Atkinson, Attequin, Atwood, Austin, Avery, Babb, Bacon, Badger, Bagnall, Bailey, Baker, Ballard, Banden, Bangs, Banks, Barker, Barnbay, Barnes, Barney, Barrett, Barrows, Barstow, Bartlett, Barton, Bassett, Bates, Battles, Baxter, Beale, Bearse, Beck, Belcher, Bell, Bemis, Benias, Benson, Bent, Berry, Besse, Best, Bicknell, Billington, Bisbee, Bishop, Black, Blackmer, Blanch, Blish, Bliss, Blossom, Boardman, Bonham, Bonney, Bosworth, Boult, Boutelle, Bourne, Bowdoin, Bowen, Bowers, Bowland, Boylston, Brace, Bradford, Bramhall, Branch, Breck, Brett, Brewer, Brewster, Briggs, Brigham, Brimmer, Britteridge, Brooks, Brown, Bryant, Buckley, Budge, Bugbee, Bumpus, Bumpo, Bundy, Bunker, Burbank, Burchard, Burgess, Burke, Burn, Burt, Butterworth, Caesar, Cahoon, Calderwood, Calley, Calwell, Campbell, Cannon, Capen, Capet, Carter, Carver, Case, Cassidy, Caswell, Cato, Chalker, Chambers, Chandler, Chapman, Chase, Chauncy, Childs, Chilton, Chipman, Chubbuck, Chummuck, Church, Churchill, Claghorn, Clark, Clough, Coade, Cobb, Coding, Coffin, Colburn, Cole, Coleway, Collier, Collingwood, Collins, Comstock, Conant, Congdon, Conlkin, Connell, Conner, Connett, Cook, Coombs, Coomer, Cooper, Corbin, Cornish, Corpse, Cotton, Covell, Covington, Cowen, Cox, Coye, Crackstone, Crandon, Crapo, Croade, Crombie, Crosby, Crossman, Croswell, Crow, Crowley, Crymble, Cuff, Cuffee, Cunningham, Curtis, Cushing, Cushman, Cuthbertson, Cutler, Cuttnett, Damon, Danforth, Daniel, Darling, Davie, Davis, Deacon, Dean, Deburroughs, Decosta, Decro, Deerskins, Delano, Dennis, Derby, Dexter, Dewet, Dickson, Dike, Dillard, Dillington, Diman, Dix, Doeane, Doggett, Dolphin, Donnley, Doty / Doten, Douglass, Dow, Drake, Drew, Ducy, Dugle, Dunbar, Dunham, Duparr, Durfey, Durkin, Dutch, Dyer, Eames, Eastland, Eaton, Ebed, Eddy, Edes, Edwards, Eldridge, Ellenwood, Elliott, Ellis, Ellison, Ely, Emerson, English, Ephraims, Ereck, Erland, Evans, Everson, Ewer, Fales, Fallowell, Farmer, Farnam, Farris, Faunce, Fearing, Fessenden, Field, Finn, Finney, Fish, Fisher, Fitts, Fitzgerald, Flanders, Flavell, Flemmons, Fletch, Flood, Fogg, Ford, Foster, Fottears, Fountain, Fowler, Freeman, French, Frink, Fulgham, Fuller, Gale, Gamble, Gammon, Gardine, Gardner, Garlic, German, Gibbs, Gifford, Gilbert, Filman, Gilmore, Ginney, Glasse, Gleason, Glover, Goddard, Gooding, Goodman, Goodwin, Gordon, Gorham, Gould, Gray, Grayton, Green, Greenleaf, Griffin, Grimes, Gunderson, Gurnet, Hacket, Hackman, Hadaway, Hall, Hallet, Hambleton, Hamblin, Hamilton, Hammatt, Hammond, Hanbury, Hanckford, Hanks, Harding, Harlow, Harmon, Harrington, Harris, Hart, Harvey, Haskell, Haskins, Hatch, Hathaway, Hatherly, Hayes, Haynes, Hayward, Heard, Hedge, Hely, Hersey, Heward, Hewes, Hicks, Higgins, Highton, Hill, Hilton, Hinckley, Hines, Hix, Hobart, Hodge, Hodgkins, Hoge, Holbeck, Holbrook, Holland, Hollis, Holman, Holmes, Holt, Hook, Hooker, Hopkins, Horton, Hosea, Hosmer, Hovey, Howard, Howe(s), Howland, Hoxie, Hoye, Hoyt, Hubbard, Humphreys, Hunt, Hurst, Huston, Hutchinson, Irish, Ivey, Jack, Jackson, James, Jarvis, Jeffrey, Jenney, Jennings, Jenkins, Jerman, Job, Johnson, Hones, Joslin, Jordaine, Judson, Keen, Keith, Kempton, Kendall, Kendrick, Kennedy, Kent, Keyes, Kimball, King, Knapp, Kneeland, Knowles, Lahorne, Lakey, Lane, Langmore, Langford, Lanman, Langnell, Lapham, Latham, Lawrence, Lazell, Leach, LeBaron, Lee, Leister, Lemote, Leonard, Lester, Lettice, Lewin, Lewis, Liberty, Lincoln, Ling, Liscom, Litchfield, Little, Littlejohn, Lobdell, Locke, Lombart, Long, Loring, Lothrop, Loud, Louden, Lovell, Lucas, Luce, Lunenburg, Lunt, Lyford, Mackeel, Mackie, Macomber, Maglathlin, Magoon, Mahommen, Mallise, Manchester, Mange, Mann, Manter, Marcy, Margeson, Marrence, Marsh, Marshall, Marston, Martin, Mason, Masteron, Matthews, May, Mayfield, Mayhew, Maynard, Mayo, Maxim, McCarter, McFerson, McMahon, Mehurin, Melick, Melvin, Mednall, Mendlove, Mercer, Merrifield, Merry, Mevis, Miller, Milligen, Mintz, Mitchell, Moore, Morey, Morang, Morope, Morrell, Morris, Morse, Morton, Moses, Mullins, Mundo, Murdock, Murphy, Nash, Ned, Nelson, Newberry, Newcomb, Newman, Nickerson, Nicholas, Nichols, Nightingale, Norcut, Norman, Norris, Nott, Nummuck, Nute, Nutting, Nye, O'Brien, Oldham, Oliver, Olney, Osborne, Otis, Ozment, Packard, Packer, Paddock, Paddy, Paine, Palmer, Pappoon, Parker, Pattison, Paty, Paulding, Peach, Peak, Pearson, Peckham, Pelham, Penniman, Peniss, Perias, Perkins, Pero, Perrigo, Perry, Peters, Peterson, Phillips, Pierce, Pitman, Pitt, Plasket, Pocknot, Pollard, Pompey, Pomroy, Pontus, Pool, Pope, Porter, Pouldard, Pratt, Prence, Price, Priest, Prince, Proctor, Prower, Pulsifer, Purdy, Quackom, Quamony, Quash, Quoy, Rafe, Ramsden, Rand, Randall, Ransom, Rattliffe, Raymond, Read, Reding, Renells, Renoff, Revis, Reyner, Rice, Rich, Richards, Richmond, Rickard, Rider, Ridgebi, Rigdale, Ring, Ripley, Robbins, Roberts, Robertson, Robin, Robinson, Rodgers, Rogers, Rolfe, Rowley, Ruggles, Russell, Sachems, Saffin, Sampson, Sangarele, Sanger, Sargent, Saunders, Savery, Savil, Sawyer, Scarret, Scott, Scudder, Sears, Sekins, Seller, Sepitt, Sever, Seymour, Shattuck, Shaw, Shepard, Shrieve, Sherman, Shumway, Shurtleff, Silas, Silvera, Skiff, Simes, Simmons, Slocum, Small, Smalley, Smith, Snow, Soule, Souther, Southwick, Southworth, Sparhawk, Sparrow, Spear, Spinks, Spooner, Sprague, Squib, Stacey, Stackpole, Staff, Standish, Steele, Steenbeck, Stephens, Stephenson, Stetson, Stewart, Stoddard, Stoops, Story, Straffin, Streeter, Studley, Sturgis, Sturney, Sturtevant, Sutton, Swift, Swinburn, Swinerton, Sylvester, Symmes, Taber, Talbot, Taylor, Tench, Tessier, Thatcher, Thayer, Thomas, Thompson, Thrasher, Throop, Thurber, Thurston, Tilden, Tilley, Tillson, Timberlake, Tinkham, Tinker, Tisdale, Tobey, Torrance, Torrey, Totman, Toto, Towns, Townsend, Toxe, Tracy, Trask, Trent, Tribble, Truant, Tucker, Tufts, Tupper, Turner, Twiney, Unquit, Vail, Valentine, Valler, Vaughn, Vay, Veazie, Vermayes, Vincent, Virgin, Vose, Wade, Wadsworth, Wait, Walker, Wall, Wallen, Wallins, Wallis, Wampum, Ward, Warren, Washburn, Waterman, Watkins, Watson, Webb, Webber, Webster, Weed, Weeks, Wellington, Wells, West, Westgate, Weston, Wethered, Wharton, Whitbeck, White, Whitehouse, Whiting / Whitten, Whitman, Whitmarsh, Whittemore, Whitworth, Whood, Wicket, Wilcockes, Wilder, Wilkins, Willard, Willet, Williams, Willis, Wilson, Wing, Winslow, Winsor, Winter, Wiswall, Witherell, Wood, Woodward, Wooten, Wright, and Young.

• William T. Davis, ed., Records of the Town of Plymouth (Plymouth, Mass., 1889-1903), 1636 to 1783 in 3v.
  Digital versions at Internet Archive (vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 3), Google Books (vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 3), and Ancestry ($).
  WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.482/P3 N2r, film 417211, or fiche 6014049 with digital link.
• Plymouth Wikipedia page.

Go to Archive.org to find published materials for this town.

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Plymouth Massachusetts Genealogy Resources

Vital Records

The town of Plymouth kept annual town reports. These reports often contained birth, marriage, and death information. Below is a list of years when Plymouth 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.)

1866 1867 1868 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891a 1891b 1892 1893 1894 1895a 1895b 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910a 1910b 1911 1912 1913 1914

1915 1916 1917 1918a 1918b 1918c 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964

1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008] 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Online records

• Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection — index and images
• Vital records index, 1855-1910, FHL film 836364 — browsable (i.e. not indexed as of Jul 2020) at FamilySearch
• Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 at Ancestry ($) — index and images

The town of Plymouth kept annual town reports. These reports often contained birth, marriage, and death information. Digitized images of some town reports exist. Below is a list of the years with vital records in Plymouth town records. (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.)

Original records

• Plymouth Town Clerk's Office
  11 Lincoln Street
  Plymouth MA 02360
  Phone 508-747-1620 x169
  Email administrator@townhall.plymouth.ma.us
• Official state copy of vital records starting in 1841:
  Massachusetts Archives
  220 Morrissey Blvd.
  Boston MA 02125
  Phone 617-727-2816
  Email archives@sec.state.ma.us
  Hours and Directions
  See the online guide for more information.

Published records

• Lee D. van Antwerp, comp., and Ruth Wilder Sherman, ed., Vital Records of Plymouth, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Camden, Me., 1993), x, 774 pp., indexed
  This volume is a verbatim transcript of the records from the town books that begun in 1686. The last section of the book is the vital records that were entered on the Colony records from 1633 to 1686 that pertain to Plymouth. These were previously published by Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, but these are known to have transcription errors, so the corrections that appeared in the Mayflower Descendant were used for this book. There may be duplication of what appeared in the town book, but this list is the complete record from the Colony.
  The only digital version is at American Ancestors ($).
  WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL 974.482/P3 V2.
• Leonard H. Smith Jr., Vital records of the town of Plymouth: an authorized facsimile reproduction of records published serially 1901- 1935 in the Mayflower Descendant With added index of persons (Baltimore, Md., 1989), 327 pp.
  Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.482/P3 V2b.
• "Marriage and Baptisms of Rev. Ivory Hovey, 1775-1803" online at American Ancestors ($).
• "Marriages Entered on the Court Records of Plymouth County, Mass." in Pilgrim Notes and Queries, 3 [1915]: 120-122, Plymouth at 121 covering 1693 and 1694.

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City Directories

Plymouth was published in 1846, 1860, 1864, 1873, 1880, 1887/8, 1890/1, 1893, 1896, 1898/9, 1901, 1903, 1905, 1907, 1909, 1911, 1913, 1915, 1917, 1919, 1921, 1924/5, 1932, 1936.

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 ($) has 1873, 1880, 1887/8, 1890/1, 1893, 1898/9, 1901, 1903, 1905, 1907, 1909, 1911, 1913, 1915, 1917, 1919, 1921, 1924/5, 1932, 1936.
• Boston Public Library has 1846, 1860, 1903-1932.
• Family History Library (Salt Lake City) has 1846, 1860, 1887/8, 1890, 1896, 1898/9, 1901, 1903, 1905, 1907, 1909, 1911, 1913, 1915, 1917, 1919, 1921, 1924, 1932 on FHL various film records.
• fold3 ($) has none.
• Massachusetts State Library has 1887/8, 1890, 1893, 1896, 1898/9, 1901, 1903, 1905, 1907, 1909, 1911, 1913, 1915, 1917, 1919, 1921, 1924, 1932.
• New England Historic Genealogical Society (Boston) ($) has 1864, 1887/8, 1890, 1893, 1898/9, 1905, 1911, 1915, 1917, 1919, 1921, 1924, 1932.

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Cemeteries

The following is a list of cemeteries in present-day Plymouth. Use the map on PlymouthColony.net to locate the cemeteries. For more details regarding these cemeteries, see the state guide under cemeteries for books on the subject.

1. Bassett Cemeter, 1835.
   Online transcription on U.S. GenWeb.
2. Bates Burial Ground, 1867.
3. Beth Jacob Cemetery, n.d.
4. Blackmar Hill Burial Ground, 1830.
5. Brailey Burial Ground, 1854.
   Online transcription on U.S. GenWeb.
6. Burial Hill Cemetery, 1622. (A)
   Bradford Kingman, Epitaphs from Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts, from 1657 to 1892, with biographical and historical notes (Brookline, Mass., 1892), xv, 330 pp.
   Digital versions at Internet Archive, Google Books, and Ancestry ($).
   WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.482/P3 V3k or film 1035737 Item 8.
   Benjamin Drew, Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts: Its Monuments and Gravestones Numbered and Briefly Described (Plymouth, Mass., [1894]), viii, 177 pp.
   Digital version at Internet Archive.
   WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.482/P3 V3d with digital link.
   Frank H. Perkins, Handbook of Old Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts: Its History, Its Famous Dead, and Its Quaint Epitaphs (Plymouth, Mass., 1896; rep. 1902), 49 pp. [not a complete listing].
   Digital versions at Internet Archive (http://archive.org/details/handbookofoldbur00perk (1896) or (1902)) and Google Books (1896).
   WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL digital link only.
   Barbara J. Bradford, Burial Hill in the 1990s, Massachuesetts [sic] (Plymouth, Mass., 2000), xxxix, 650, 6 pp.
   WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.482/P3 V3r.
7. Cedarville Cemetery, 1821. (B)
   Online transcription on U.S. GenWeb.
8. Chiltonville Cemetery, 1729.
   Online transcription on U.S. GenWeb.
9. Christ Episcopal Church Columbarium, n.d.
10. Coles Hill Burial Ground, 1620.
11. Douglas Burying Ground, 1828. (B)
12. Faunce Memorial Burial Park, 1886.
    Online transcription on U.S. GenWeb.
13. Fawn Pond Cemetery, n.d.
14. Harlow-Savery Cemetery, 1806.
    Online transcription on U.S. GenWeb.
15. Herring Pond Wampanoag Indian / Bournedale Cemetery, 1849.
    Online transcription on U.S. GenWeb.
16. Indian Cemetery, 1818.
17. King Cemetery, 1838. (B)
    Online transcription on U.S. GenWeb.
18. Lakewood / Hirsch Indian Cemetery, 1831. (A)
    Online transcription on U.S. GenWeb.
19. Lower Herring Pond Cemetery, 1825.
20. Lucas Cemetery, 1818.
    Online transcription on U.S. GenWeb.
21. Lucas-Thrasher Cemetery, 1800.
22. Manomet Cemetery, 1806. (B)
23. Nickerson Burial Ground, 1800.
24. Nighingale Cemetery, 1874. (B)
25. Oak Grove Cemetery, 1803. (B)
    Online transcription for Oak Grove and Vill Hill Cemeteries together on U.S. GenWeb Tombstones in 18 parts: Pt. 1 | Pt. 2 | Pt. 3 | Pt. 4 | Pt. 5 | Pt. 6 | Pt. 7 | Pt. 8 | Pt. 9 | Pt. 10 | Pt. 11 | Pt. 12 | Pt. 13 | Pt. 14 | Pt. 15 | Pt. 16 | Pt. 17 | Pt. 18 |
26. Parting Ways Cemetery, 18th century.
27. Plymouth County Memorial Cemetery, 1970.
28. Plymouth Town Cemeteries - Maps, Burials, some PDF files
29. Raymond-Newcomb Cemetery, 1800.
30. Redding / Bloody Pond Cemetery, 1851.
31. Russell Mill Cemetery, 1833. (B)
    Online transcription on U.S. GenWeb.
32. St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Cemetery, 1863.
33. Shurtleff Burial Ground, 1776.
34. South Pond Cemetery, 1793.
    Online transcription on U.S. GenWeb.
35. Valler Cemetery, 1845.
36. Vine Hill Cemetery, 1800. [see Oak Grove Cem. above as they are side-by-side]
37. Watson Cemetery, 1853.
38. Whitehorse Cemetery, 1717-1943. (A)
    Online transcription on U.S. GenWeb.

Abstracts of the cemeteries above are marked and keyed to:
(A). New England Historic Genealogical Society, Manuscripts Dept.
(B). Charles M. Thatcher, Old Cemeteries of Southeastern Massachusetts (Middleborough, Mass., 1995). WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.4 V3.

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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. More recent churches are not listed here.

1. First Parish Church (Unitarian), 1606/1620, records incomplete.
   This church split during the Great Awakening and the Third Parish Church was established in 1744. That church was abandoned by 1787 and a few years later, merged back with the First Parish. The church was split again in 1801 and the Third Church of Christ was established in 1802 (and now called the Church of the Pilgrimage).
   Plymouth Church Records, 1620-1859 (Boston, 1920-1923; rep. Baltimore, 1975), volumes 22 and 23 of the Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Collections.
   Digital versions at Internet Archive (v. 1 and v. 2), Google Books (v. 1 only), Ancestry ($, indexed but not initially browsable), and in a database at American Ancestors ($).
   WorldCat (Other Libraries) - 1975 rep.; FHL books 974.4 B4cs v. 22-23 or films 844528 Item 2 and 844529 Item 1 (1920-1923) or FHL books 974.482/P3 K2p 1975 v. 1-2 or fiche 6048992-6048993.
2. Second Congregational Church (now Second Church of Plymouth), South Plymouth (Manomet), 1738, records good after 1746.
3. Third Parish Church, 1744, merged back with First Parish Church shortly after 1787. [see First Parish history above]
4. Third Church of Christ (now Church of the Pilgrimage (Congregational)), 1802. [see First Parish history above]
   Records on microfilm as Church records, 1749-1824, FHL film 912071 [Seemingly records from "both" Third churches].
5. First Baptist Church, 1808, records good.
6. Eel River Church, later the Fourth Congregational Church, and now Chiltonville Congregational Church, Chiltonville, 1814, records good.
7. Universalist Church, 1822, records fair. [This church burned in 1938, was dormant, then merged with First Parish in 1960s]
8. "Christian Society," 1825. [Second Advent Society organized in 1843 and merged here. Referred in Davis' history, 1: 105-106]
9. Robinson Church, 1830. [referred in Davis' history, 1: 103]
10. Methodist Episcopal Church (now Plymouth United Methodist Church), 1843, condition not given.
11. Christ Church Parish, Protestant Episcopal, later Episcopal, 1844, records good.
12. Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Russell's Mills, 1857-1865, merger wtih Methodist Episcopal Church (above).
13. Fifth Congregational Church, Chiltonville, 1862, records good.
14. Wellingsley Union Chapel, Jabez Corner, 1868-early 20th century. [Not in 1889 survey, though records in private hands in 2012]
15. African Methodist Episcopal Church, now called the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Sever St., 1871, records fair.
16. St. Peter's Catholic Church, 1876, condition not given.
17. Jesus Christ, Church of Latter Day Saints, North Plymouth, 1882, records good.
18. Faunce Church, by 1887 [Not in 1889 survey, but referred by Davis' history, 1: 106].

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Newspapers

1. Plymouth Journal, 1785-1786.
2. Old Colony Memorial (title varies), 1822-1861, 1864-1868, 1872-1916, 1989-2006.
3. Old Colony Sentinel, 1867-1868.
4. Plymouth Rock Free Press, 1872.
5. Plymouth Observer, 1905.
6. South of Boston, 1991-2004.

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Plymouth Massachusetts Genealogy Libraries and Historical Societies

The following is a list of research facilities in town:

Plymouth Public Library
132 South Street
Plymouth MA 02360
Phone 508-830-4250
See their Genealogy Collection

General Society of Mayflower Descendants
Research Library
PO Box 3297
4 Winslow Street [behind historic house]
Plymouth MA 02361
508-746-3188
Email gsmd.hist@verizon.net

Pilgrim Hall Museum
75 Court Street
Plymouth MA 02360
Phone 508-746-1620
Email director@pilgrimhall.org
[This is a historical facility, not genealogical]

Plimoth Plantation [museum]
PO Box 1620
137 Warren Avenue
Plymouth MA 02360
508-746-1622

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:
Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Estate Files - FamilySearch Historical Records

Plymouth Massachusetts Genealogy References

Adjacent towns: Plymouth Co.: Carver | Duxbury | Kingston | Wareham | Barnstable Co.: Bourne

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