An historical sketch about Kingston, Plymouth County, Massachusetts as abstracted from the Plymouth County Directory and Historical Register of 1867. Includes a list of the men from Kingston who gave their life during the Revolutionary War.
For the ancestry of Charles Keith, please see Descendants of Rev. James Keith of Bridgewater, Massachusetts (VI) Charles Keith, son of Benjamin, was born Aug. 8, 1794, and married Dec. 8, 1817, Mehitable Perkins, born March 23, 1795, daughter of Josiah and Anna (Reynolds) Perkins, of North Bridgewater, both of whom were descendants of historic old New England families. To this union were born children as follows: Damaris Williams Keith, born Oct. 8, 1818, married Vinal Lyon, of North Bridgewater, where she died Charles Perkins Keith, born June 20, 1820, is mentioned below Anna Reynolds Keith, born Nov. 11, 1822, … Read more
Benjamin S. Atwood, the well-known box manufacturer of Whitman, Mass., was one of the best known men in Plymouth county, and as a business man and as a soldier stood high in the estimation of all who know him. He was born in the town of Carver, Plymouth county, June 25, 1840. The Atwood family of which Benjamin S. Atwood is a descendant is an old and prominent family of Plymouth Colony. The founder was John Wood, who came to Plymouth in 1643, and was later known as John Atwood – a spelling of the name that has been retained to the present time.
Adams Charles, farmer Adams Frederic C. butcher Adams George, butcher Adams George T. butcher Adams Henry L. sea captain Adams William S. sea captain Amos Bern. F. clerk Andrews Samuel M. overseer in Co. Mill Bagwell Frederic, farmer Bagnell John C. shoemaker Baker L. C. pattern maker Baker Levi, sea captain Baker Otis jr., sea captain Bailey Caleb E. blacksmith Bailey Justus A. seaman Bailey Nahum, organ manuf. Bailey Nahum jr., variety store Bailey Thomas, organ maker Bailey W. B. seaman Bartlett C. A. ship joiner Bartlett Lysander, ship carpenter Bartlett Uriah, farmer Bartlett Walter S. house carpenter Bates Caleb, … Read more
The head of the Fairhaven family, the late Capt. Alexander Winsor, a master mariner long in the merchant service, sprang from a seafaring father, and as well reared, a son who most worthily bore the family name and sustained its reputation. Reference is made to the late Capt. Alexander Winsor, Jr., who won distinction on the seas in the service of the Chinese government during the country’s war with Japan. And another son of the older Capt. Alexander Winsor was the late Walter P. Winsor, of Fairhaven, for years president of the First National Bank of New Bedford, one of the leading citizens of this section of the State.Here follow in chronological order from the earliest definitely known American ancestor of the family the genealogy and history of the Duxbury-Fairhaven Winsor family here briefly considered.
EMBERT HOWARD, long one of the most successful business men of Brockton, of which city he is also one of the foremost citizens, is a worthy representative of a family which has historic identity with the earliest settling of New England. For two hundred and sixty and more years the family bearing this name has dwelt in the Bridgewaters and in the region of country thereabouts, the posterity of John Haward, who was one of the early settlers of Duxbury, Mass. The genealogy following traces the line in chronological order from this immigrant ancestor.
The Hooper family, to which belonged the late George Mitchell Hooper, one of Bridgewater’s well-known citizens, is an old and distinguished one in New England. George Mitchell Hooper, son of Mitchell, was born in the town of Bridgewater Sept. 1, 1838. He received his education in the public schools and Bridgewater Academy, later attending Peirce Academy and the State normal school at Bridgewater, graduating from the latter institution in 1857. After leaving school he engaged in teaching, a profession he followed for one year and then began the manufacture of brick with his father, a business in which he engaged for half a century. He was also a surveyor. He was identified with the banking interests of Bridgewater, having been one of the trustees of the Bridgewater Savings Bank, also filling the office of clerk. He was clerk and treasurer of the Bridgewater Cemetery Association; a member of the Plymouth County Agricultural Association, of which for years he was treasurer, and was secretary; and trustee of the Memorial Public Library. He died July 2, 1909, in his seventy-first year. On Oct. 16, 1861, Mr. Hooper was married to Mary E. Josselyn, who was born at Hanson, Mass., daughter of Hervey and Elizabeth (Howland) Josselyn. She died Jan. 30, 1884, and was buried in Mount Prospect cemetery. Eight children were born of this marriage.
Captain Lovewell’s War was fought between 1722 and 1725 against several tribes of eastern Indians. The principal campaigns took place in the Ossipee region and led to the eventual withdrawal of the Indians to the north.
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
The Stetson family of Bridgewater is one of the oldest and most prominent in that section of the State, and it has for upward of two centuries been identified with the manufacturing interests of the town, its representatives being the founders of the iron industry of Bridgewater. Especial reference is made to Capt. Abisha Stetson, who was one of the first to engage in the iron business; his son, Nahum Stetson, whose name was a household word in his native town, and who by his great foresight, enterprise and progressive ideas built up the great Bridgewater Iron Works; and the latter’s sons and grandsons, all men of substance and good citizenship.
The Harris family here briefly considered — that of some of the descendants of the late Deacon and Hon. William Harris, of East Bridgewater, who for a quarter of a century was town clerk, for several years town treasurer, and a representative in the Massachusetts General Court — is one of the ancient and honorable families of the Bridgewaters. Deacon Harris’s son, the late Hon. Benjamin Winslow Harris, lawyer, statesman and judge through nearly sixty years, had a long, useful and honored public career; and his son, Hon. Robert Orr Harris, has for thirty years held a high place at … Read more
The family of Alexander Holmes of Kingston, MA is one of long and honorable standing in New England, and there the branch is represented by the family of the late Alexander Holmes, who for years was president of the Old Colony and Fall River Railroad. Across the water in old England the Holmes family history reaches back to the year 1066, when one John Holmes, the founder of the Holmes family, is credited with being a volunteer in the army of William, Duke of Normandy.
Moses Adams Packard, of Brockton, where he has been so long and so successfully engaged in the manufacture of shoes, is as well one of that city’s highly honored and respected citizens. Mr. Packard began life with little capital save boundless energy and a resolute purpose, and has pushed his way upward against almost every kind of obstacle until he now holds a foremost position among the leading manufacturers in this Commonwealth, vindicating the old saying, “Labor is king.” He was born Feb. 28, 1843, in New London, N. H., which was the home of his mother, while his father was a native of North Bridgewater, and a descendant of one of the old and historical families of Massachusetts.
Since its coming to this Bridgewater settlement, which was the first interior settlement of the Old Colony, as early as 1664, to the present time, for nearly two hundred and fifty years, the Packard family has been one prominent and influential in this community, and has become a most numerous family, many, too, of its members both at home and abroad having given a good account of themselves.
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.