This is a collection of free vital records books, otherwise known as “Tan Books” for Massachusetts towns. Generally, these records go up to 1849/1850 at which, the genealogist can use the census records to assist in identifying the family connections further. Included with this article is an account of why and how these manuscripts were published along with links to all 198 books which can be freely read or downloaded.
The earliest record of a Toby or Tobey in our American annals is that of one Francis of Boston, who was in court on July 7, 1635.
The first known and credited ancestor of this family was Thomas Tobey, of Scituate, Mass. He removed to Sandwich, Mass., and was a member of church there in 1694. He married at Sandwich Nov. 18, 1650, Martha Knott, daughter of George Knott, deceased
WRIGHT. The family of this name is an early Boston family, which through marriage is allied with some of the historic families of New England, among them those of Adams, Winslow and Wentworth. We give herewith an outline of the earlier generations, beginning with the first ancestor in this country. (I) Richard Wright, born about 1607, died in Plymouth, Mass., June 9, 1691. In 1644 he married Hester Cook, and they had children: Adam, Esther and Mary. (II) Adam Wright, born about 1644, died Sept. 20, 1724. He was twice married, having by his first wife, Sarah (Soule), two children, … Read more
The Tripp family first at Portsmouth, R. I., among the earliest inhabitants there, soon spread into the adjoining territory both in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and in the march of civilization advanced with it until they became one of the numerous and substantial families of our country. Hon. John Tripp, the first American ancestor of the family in question, was one of the founders and proprietors of Portsmouth, R. I., 23d of 6th month, 1638. In the following is briefly considered a line of Tripps which descended through the settler’s son who located in Dartmouth, Mass., later generations settling in Westport, and a still later generation in Freetown and Fall River. It is with the special Westport-Freetown-Fall River family, the heads of which were Philip J. and Azariah S. Tripp, this article is to deal. These gentlemen were long substantial men and citizens of their respective communities, the former being a resident of Freetown, State senator and much respected citizen, and the latter especially prominent and useful, for years the cashier of the Metacomet National Bank from its inception, in 1853, for seventeen years a member of the school committee of Fall River, prominently identified with many of the manufacturing enterprises and at the time of his death president of the Fall River Savings Bank.
(I) William Davis, immigrant ancestor, lived in Freetown, Massachusetts, where he was grand juryman in 1697. He married, March 1, 1686, Mary, daughter of William and Ann (Johnson) Makepeace, of Freetown, and granddaughter of Thomas Makepeace, of Boston, and wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Mellows. Children: William, born June II, 1688; Thomas, mentioned elsewhere; John; Jonathan, married, December 24, 1730, Sarah Terry, of Freetown; Remembrance, married (first) Sarah Soul, of Tiverton, (second) Sarah Fox, of Freetown; Joseph; Rebecca, married, October 31, 1705, John Paine, of Freetown; Elizabeth, married William Cole; Abigail, married, January 29, 1723, Ephraim Hathaway; Hannah, married William Gage, of … Read more
SHOVE. Rev. George Shove, gentleman, son of Margery, who was admitted to the church at Boston as a widow in 1638, and who subsequently was of Rowley and a proprietor and still later of Roxbury, where she married in 1654 Richard Peacock, became the third minister of Taunton, ordained Nov. 17, 1665. Of his ministerial life little is known except that be “preached acceptably,” and taught the Taunton school; and it is said that “no rumor of strife or discord in connection with him comes down to us.” His fame, however, as a land bolder and dealer in real estate … Read more
The Middleboro family bearing this name is a branch of the Bridgewater family and it of the earlier Weymouth Kingman family, the American ancestor of which is credited with coming from Wales. This article pertains to some of the descendants of the late Maj. Bela Kingman, whose father, Abner Kingman, and family came from Bridgewater to Middleboro during the closing years of the Revolution, and here for generations the family has played well its part in the affairs of Middleboro, notably the Major’s son, Calvin D. Kingman, Esq., and the latter’s sons, Charles W. and Philip E. Kingman, who for years together and in turn developed and carried on a large shoe industry, giving employment to hundreds of hands.
The Rounsville or Rounseville family of ancient Freetown is believed to be of French origin, and a family tradition has it that they left France on account of religious persecution. It is the purpose here to refer to a branch of the Freetown Rounseville family which in time found its way into the busy manufacturing center of southeastern Massachusetts – Fall River – and soon became a part of the great activity there. Reference is made to the family of the late Capt. Cyrus Cole Rounseville, a master mariner of Freetown, who sailed from New Bedford in the whaling service, whose son and namesake Cyrus Cole Rounseville has long been one of the leading manufacturers of Fall River as treasurer of the Shove Mills, prominent in public life and identified with the banking interests of the city.
HOWLAND. Arthur and Henry Howland are believed to have come to America together and probably before 1625; they appeared in Plymouth Colony in the early days of its settlement. They were members of the Society of Friends and most of their descendants for many generations were, and many at the present time are, Friends. Arthur lived for a few years in Plymouth, then became a landholder and resident of Marshfield; while Henry, the progenitor of the Ancient Dartmouth Howland family, the branch here specially considered, lived at Duxbury. The first mention of him in New England is that made in … Read more
ROUNSEVILLE (Fall River family). The Rounsville or Rounseville family of ancient Freetown is believed to be of French origin, and a family tradition has it that they left France on account of religious persecution. It is the purpose here to refer to a branch of the Freetown Rounseville family which in time found its way into the busy manufacturing center of southeastern Massachusetts – Fall River – and soon became a part of the great activity there. Reference is made to the family of the late Capt. Cyrus Cole Rounseville, a master mariner of Freetown, who sailed from New Bedford in the whaling service, whose son and namesake Cyrus Cole Rounseville has long been one of the leading manufacturers of Fall River as treasurer of the Shove Mills, prominent in public life and identified with the banking interests of the city, etc.
The Perkins family is one of long and honorable standing in America, being one of the oldest in New England, where it is first found of record in Hampton – then in Massachusetts, now in New Hampshire. This family has numbered among its members men who have been prominent in the learned professions as well as in the business and financial circles of this country. This article is to particularly treat of that branch of the family through which descended the late John Perkins, of Bridgewater, of which town his ancestors were early settlers, and where he was actively identified with the iron manufacturing industry for a number of years. The ancestral line of this branch of the family is here given in chronological order from the first American settler, Abraham Perkins. Through his grandmother, Huldah Ames Hayward, who became the wife of Asa Perkins, Mr. Perkins is also descended from another of the oldest and best known families of Massachusetts. The progenitor of this family, Thomas Hayward, came from England to New England, becoming one of the early settlers of Duxbury before 1638. In the early part of the eighteenth century many of the Haywards changed their name to Howard, the two names in all probability having been the same originally, as both have the same Norse origin. Among the distinguished descendants of this Hayward or Howard family may be mentioned William Howard Taft, president of the United States. The branch of the family through which Mr. Perkins descends is herewith given, in chronological order.
Alger, William Rounseville, son of Nahum and Catherine Sampson (Rounseville) Alger, was born in Freetown, Bristol County, December 28, 1822. He attended the common schools from the age of four to ten, then began to work for a livelihood; he worked five years in a cotton mill at Hookset, N. H., studied attentively in all available house, educating himself in the various branches of an academic course. He attended an academy in Pembroke, N. H., two years, and one year at Lebanon, N. H. He entered the divinity school of Harvard University in 1844, and was graduated in the class … Read more
CHACE (Fall River family). In and about Fall River for generations the Chace (earlier generations using the orthography Chase) family has been conspicuous in the affairs of that section and especially for a century past in its industrial life. In the particular line of Joseph Chase, who settled in Swansea, the family becoming a Swansea-Somerset one, such names as Oliver, Harvey, James H., Hon. Jonathan and George Albert Chace – the latter of whom planned and built a number of the large cotton mills of Fall River, was long treasurer and manager of the Bourne Mill, in Tiverton, R. I., and as well was a most active and useful citizen of Fall River – will long endure in the annals of this great industrial section. There follows from the first American ancestor of the Chaces named to the present in chronological order the genealogy and family history of the children of the late George Albert Chace of Fall River.
The Mortons of East Freetown, Bristol Co., Mass., formerly quite numerous in that vicinity, but not now represented by many of the name, are the posterity of Maj. Nathaniel Morton and descendants of the eminent George Morton.
George Morton, born about 1585, at Austerfield, Yorkshire, England, came to New England in the ship “Ann” in 1623. He had married in Leyden, in 1612, Juliana Carpenter, daughter of Alexander Carpenter, of Wrentham, England. He is said to have served the Pilgrims in important relations before coming to this country, and published in England in 1621 the first history of the Colony, which was entitled “A Relation or Journal of the Beginning and Proceedings of the English Plantation settled at Plymouth in New England.” It is commonly known as “Mourt’s Relation.” He died in 1624.
BORDEN (Fall River family – line of Joseph, fourth generation). The Borden family is an ancient one both here in New England and over the water in old England, as well as one of historic interest and distinction. The New England branch has directly or indirectly traced the lineage of the American ancestor, Richard Borden, many generations back in English history. His first English forbear went over to England from Bourdonnay, Normandy, as a soldier under William the Conquerer, and after the battle of Hastings – in A. D. 1066 – was assigned lands in the County of Kent, where … Read more
The Read family of which the late Paddock Richmond Read was a descendant, is one of the oldest and best known families of this section of New England. The first of the name in New England wasJohn Reade, a cordwainer by trade, according to tradition, as is his coming from Plymouth, England. He came to this country and was an inhabitant of Newport, R. I.
The Massachusetts Tax Valuation List of 1771 contains the names and descriptions of taxable property of nearly 38,000 individuals who resided in 152 Massachusetts towns in 1771