Wareham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Genealogy
This is a historical and genealogical guide to the town of Wareham. You will find help with town histories, vital records, city directories, cemetery records and cemeteries, churches, town records, newspapers, maps, and libraries.
Town Clerk[edit | edit source]
54 Marion Road
Wareham, MA 02571
Phone: 508-291-3140
Fax: 508-291-6511
Email: masilva@wareham.ma.us
Website
Town Information[edit | edit source]
Description[edit | edit source]
- Wareham, Massachusetts at Wikipedia
The section called Agawam was purchased from the Native owners in 1665. This area was leased for terms of seven years starting in 1678 bringing settlement to the region in this area of Plymouth Colony Genealogy. That area was joined with the east side of Rochester to form the town of Wareham which placed in Plymouth County. For a brief time, the area 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.
Historical Data[edit | edit source]
The basic data is from the "Historical Data" publication series[1] with additions from various sources.
Wareham at one time was called Agawam Plantation, Cowesit, and Quansit.
Village or section names include Agawam, Center Village, Barney's Point, Cohasset Narrows, East Wareham, Fearing's Hill, Great Neck, Hamilton Beach, Indian Neck, Kenney Mills, Locke Bog, Long Neck, Narrow's Village, Oakdale, Onset, Onset Bay, Onset Junction, Parker Mills, Parkwood Beach, Parlowtown, Pinehurst Beach, Point Independence, South Wareham, Swift's Beach, Tempest Knob Station, Tihonet, Tremont, Wareham Center, Waters Bog, West End, West Wareham, and Yellow Town.
| Dates | Events |
|---|---|
| 10 July 1739 | Established from part of Plymouth called Agawam Plantation and part of Rochester. [Prov. Laws, 2: 992] |
| 20 Jan. 1827 | Parts of Carver and Plymouth known as Tihonet annexed. |
| 18 Feb. 1859 | Border between Wareham and Marion established. |
| 20 Apr. 1864 | Border between Wareham and Rochester established. |
| 13 Feb. 1866 | Border between Wareham and Marion established. |
| 15 Feb. 1866 3 June 1887 |
Border between Wareham and Rochester established. |
| 14 Apr. 1897 | Border between Wareham and Bourne established. |
| 23 Apr. 1897 | Border between Wareham and Marion established. |
| 16 May 1901 | Border between Wareham and Carver established. |
| 1 Mar. 1909 | Border between Wareham and Marion established. |
| 12 June 1939 | Border between Wareham and Rochester established. Border between Wareham and Marion established. |
Town Histories[edit | edit source]
Works written on the town include:
- N. W. Everett, "History of Wareham" in D. Hamilton Hurd, ed., History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts ... (Philadelphia, 1884).
Digital version at Internet Archive. - William Root Bliss, "The Agawame Plantation", in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 41 [1887]: 194-201.
- M. H. Leonard, "Old Rochester and Her Daughter Towns" in New England Magazine, New Ser., 20 [1899]: 612-635.
- Charles L. Bates, A Brief History of the Town of Wareham (Wareham, Mass., 1939), 36 pp.
- Mattapoisett and Old Rochester, Massachusetts: being a History of these Towns and also in part of Marion and a portion of Wareham ([Mattapoisett, Mass.], 3rd ed., 1950), 426 pp.
Digital versions of the 1907 edition at Internet Archive and Google Books
WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.482 H2m (1907 ed. only); FHL fiche 6081392 (1907 ed. only). - Daisy Washburn Lovell, Glimpses of Early Wareham (Wareham, Mass., 1970), 139 pp.
WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.482/W1 H2L. - Wareham Wikipedia page.
Vital Records[edit | edit source]
The town's vital records are available in many locations:
- Wareham Town Clerk's Office
54 Marion Road
Wareham MA 02571
Phone 508-291-3140 - Microfilm of the originals created by the Family History Library, Wareham town and vital records, 1739-1876, FHL films 482240–482241, vital records, 1738-1893, FHL film 482235.
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, 1719-1892, on 41 fiche. Soon to be part of Massachusetts, Town Vital Collections, 1620–1988 at Ancestry ($); Index
- Official state copy of vital records starting in 1841:
Massachusetts Archives
220 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston MA 02125
Phone 617-727-2816
Email archives@sec.state.ma.us
Hours and Directions
See the online guide for more information.
- Richard W. Griffith,Abstracts of Vital Records of the Town of Wareham, Massachusetts from Town Books 1 and 2 (Wareham, Mass., 1996), 165 leaves
These volumes were microfiched by the Family History Library (FHL fiche 6008368).
WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.482/W1 V28g. - Leonard H. Smith, Vital records, Sandwich, Mass. and Wareham, Mass. index an index to the vital records of Sandwich, Mass. to approximately 1775 and Wareham, Mass. to approximately 1814, as published 1899-1934 in the Mayflower Descendant (Clearwater, Fla., 1975), [6], 34, 27 pp.
WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.4 V2s. - Town of Wareham, Massachusetts Index of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, 1859-1900 (East Bridgewater, Mass., 1988)., 1 vol.
- Wareham town and vital records, 1739-1876, vital records, 1738-1893, are browsable (i.e. not indexed as of Nov. 2012) on FamilySearch.
City Directories[edit | edit source]
Wareham was published in 1903/4, 1907, 1910/1, 1916, 1919, 1924/5, 1926, 1928/9, 1935.
The Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.) has one of the largest collections of city directories in the country. They are likely to own most of the years listed above. Their collection is in microfiche, microfilm, and books, but there is no online inventory of their holdings except for microfilm. See their guide online.
Other holdings:
- Ancestry ($) has 1907, 1910/1, 1916, 1919, 1924/5, 1928/9.
- Boston Public Library has 1903-1929, 1935.
- Family History Library (Salt Lake City) has 1903/4, 1907, 1910/1, 1916, 1919, 1924/5, 1928/9 on FHL various film records.
- fold3 ($) has none.
- Massachusetts State Library has 1903/4, 1907, 1910/1, 1916, 1919, 1924/5.
- New England Historic Genealogical Society (Boston) ($) has 1907, 1910/1, 1916, 1919, 1928/9.
Cemeteries[edit | edit source]
The following is a list of cemeteries in present-day Wareham. For more details regarding these cemeteries, see the state guide under cemeteries for books on the subject. There is a manuscript in town listing all gravestones by James M. Lincoln, "All Inscriptions in Wareham Cemeteries to 1904," ms., 1904.
- Agawam Neck Cemetery, 1685. (A, B, C)
Transcription of gravestones online. - Briggs Lane or Pierce Mill Cemetery, n.d. (C)
- Centre or Parker Mills Cemetery, 1810. (A, B, C)
Transcription of gravestones online. - Long Neck Cemetery, 1823. (A, B, C)
Transcription of gravestones online. - Nickerson Family Cemetery, 1835. (C)
- Packard Family Cemetery, 1852. (C)
- St. Patrick's Cemetery, n.d. (A, C)
- Tobey-Fearing-Bliss Burial Ground, 1819. (B)
- Agawam Neck Cemetery, 1685. (A, B, C)
Abstracts of the cemeteries above are marked and keyed to:
(A). Richard W. Griffith, Cemetery Gravestone Inscriptions, Wareham, Massachusetts (West Wareham, Mass., 2003), 1 vol.
WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.482/W1 V39g or film 1391969 Item 1.
(B). Charles M. Thatcher, Old Cemeteries of Southeastern Massachusetts (Middleborough, Mass., 1995). WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.4 V3.
(C). New England Historic Genealogical Society, Manuscripts Dept.
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.
- Congregational Church (now First Congregational Church of Wareham), 1739, records good.
Records of the First Congregational Church in Wareham, 1739-1850, FHL film 482239 Item 3.
Leonard H. Smith Jr., Records of the First Church of Wareham, Mass., 1739-1891 (Clearwater, Fla., [1974]), 150 leaves [reprint with index], FHL book 974.482/W1 K2s. - First Christian Church, 1831-1848. [Also called The Baptist Society, their first and only minister left for Rhode Island in 1837 and they have never had another settled minister.]
Records of the First Christian Church in Wareham, 1831-1848, photocopy of originals, FHL Q book 974.482/W1 K2f or film 1598371 Item 17. - Methodist Episcopal Church, 1843, records good.
- St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, 1865, no condition given.
- Good Shepherd Protestant Episcopal Church (now Church of the Good Shepherd), 1883, no condition given.
Church of the Good Shepherd Church records, 1882-1924 (Episcopal), FHL film 1290180 Items 5-6. - Community of Christ, n.d.
- Emmaunuel A Church of the Nazarene, n.d.
- Evangelical Zion Church, n.d.
- Onset Foursquare Church, n.d.
- Tabernacle of Praise, n.d.
- Vineyard Crossroads, A Community Church, n.d.
- Congregational Church (now First Congregational Church of Wareham), 1739, records good.
Newspapers[edit | edit source]
- Wareham Courier, 1905-1918, 1931-2006.
Libraries and Historical Societies[edit | edit source]
The following is a list of research facilities in town:
Wareham Free Library
59 Marion Road
Wareham MA 02571
Phone 508-295-2343
Wareham Historical Society
495 Main Street
PO Box 211
Wareham MA 02558
Phone 508-295-6839
Email info@dyerlibrary.org
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ William Francis Galvin, Historical Data Relating to Counties, Cities and Towns in Massachusetts (Boston, new ed., 1997), 120. WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.4 H2h 1997
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