Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Genealogy

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Town Clerk[edit | edit source]

210 Central Street
Hingham, MA 02043
Phone: 781-741-1410
Fax: 781-740-0239
Email: townclerk@hingham-ma.com
Website

Brief History[edit | edit source]

Hingham was a settlement in Massachusetts Bay Colony. The town was placed in Suffolk County when counties were formed in 1643. For a brief time, the town was part of the Dominion of New England from 1686 to 1689. When the new Norfolk County was formed in 1793, Hingham and Hull were cherry-picked to stay in Suffolk County while Norfolk County bordered it on the west and east. Hingham was annexed to Plymouth County on 18 June 1803, still leaving its west and east borders with Norfolk County. Hingham remains in Plymouth County.

Historical Data[edit | edit source]

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

Associated names

Hingham was once called Barecove.

Village or section names include Broad Cove, Conihassett, Crow Point, East Hingham, Fort Hill, Hingham Center, Liberty Plain, Lower Plain, Mount Blue, Nantasket Junction, Naval Magazine, Old Colony Hill, Power Station, Prospect Hill, Queen Anne's Corner, Rocky Nook, South Hingham, U.S. Naval Air Station, Upper Plains, Weir River, West Hingham, and World's End.

Border changes
Dates Events
25 Sept. 1634 Barecove mentioned in the tax act. [Mass. Bay Rec., 1: 129]
8 July 1635 Border between Barecove and Wessaguscus [now Weymouth] to be set out.
2 Sept. 1635 The name Barecove changed to Hingham. [Mass. Bay Rec., 1: 156]
3 Sept. 1635 Border between Hingham and Weymouth established.
13 May 1640 Land at "Conihasset" [i.e. later Cohasset] granted to Hingham.
26 Apr. 1770 East or Second Parish set off as the district of Cohasset. [Note: Districts became towns on 23 Aug. 1775]
21 Mar. 1861 Border between Hingham and Abington established.
30 Apr. 1897 Border between Hingham and Cohasset, Norwell, and Scituate established.
23 Mar. 1928 Border between Hingham and Cohasset re-established.

Town Histories[edit | edit source]

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


There are sketches on Hobart, Lincoln, and Wilder families.
This work includes families from the east or second precinct until 1770 when it became the separate town of Cohasset. Sketches include: Abbott, Adamas, Adderton, Adriaenssens, Allen, Anderson, Andrew(s), Bacon, Bailey, Baker, Baldwin, Ballard, Balston, Bampton, Bangs, Banister, Bantlett / Bentlett / Bentley, Barber, Barker, Barnard, Barnes, Barrell, Barrett, Barry, Barstow, Bartlett, Barton, Barton, Bass, Bassett, Batchelder, Bates, Battles, Baylies, Beal(e), Bearse, Belcher, Bennett, Benson, Berry, Betscome, Bibby, Bicknell, Bills, Binney, Bisbee, Black, Blair, Blake, Blany, Bloodworth, Blossom, Boardman, Bogle, Bond, Benny, Bosworth, Botting, Bourne, Bouve, Bowers, Bowser, Boynton, Bradford, Bramhall / Brimhall, Brassel, Breams, Breed, Breen, Brett, Brewer, Briggs / Bridges, Bronsdon, Brooks, Brossard, Broughton, Brown, Bruce, Bryant, Buck, Buckland, Buckley, Buerly, Buker, Bull, Bullen, Burbank, Burdett / Burditt, Burns, Burr, Burrell, Burtenshaw, Burton, Butler, Buttimer, Cain, Caldwell, Campbell, Canterbury, Carnes, Carr, Carter, Carver, Caryl / Carrel, Casey, Cazneau, Chaffee, Chamberlain, Chapman, Chessman, Childs, Chittenden, Chubbuck, Church, Churchill, Clapp, Clark, Cleverly, Cobb, Cockeril, Cockram, Coffey, Coit, Colbath, Colby, Cole, Collamore, Collier, Colman, Colson, Condon, Connally, Cook, Combes, Corbett, Cooper, Corcoran, Corthell, Coughlan, Cowell, Cowing, Cox, Craig, Crehan, Creswell, Croade, Crocker, Crosby, Cross, Crowe, Crowell, Cudworth, Cunde, Curtis, Cushing, Cutler, Dacey, Daggett, Daley, Damon, Daniels, Davis, Dawes, Dawson / Dorson, Day, Dayton, Dean, Delargy, Dill, Dixon, Doane, Dolan, Donovan, Dorby, Dorr, Doughty, Douglass, Dower, Druce, Dukes, Dunbar, Dunham, Dunkin / Duncan, Dunn, Dunning, Dwelley, Dyer, Eames, Easterbrook, Eaton, Edes, Eells, Egre, Eldredge, English, Enos, Ensign, Everett, Ewell, Ewer, Fair, Fanning, Farmer, Farnsworth, Farrow / Farrer, Fearing / Ferin, Fee, Field, Finney, Fisher, Fiske, Fletcher, Flint, Foley, Folsom, Ford, Foster, Fotler, Fowle, Franklin, Freeman, French, Frost, Fuller, Gammons, Fannett, Gardner / Garnet, Gates, Gay, Gibbons, Gibbs, Gilbert / Gilbard, Gilford, Gilkey, Gill, Gilman, Gold, Good, Goodwin, Goold / Gould, Gordon, Gorman, Grafton, Grant, Graves, Gray, Greeley, Green, Greenleaf, Groce / Gross, Grover, Gunn, Hall, Halley / Holly, Hamlin, Hammond, Hann, Harden / Harding, Hardy, Harlow, Harris, Hart, Harvey, Haskell, Hassell / Harshall, Hatch, Havey, Hawes, Hawke, Hayes, Hayward / Howard, Henderson, Hennessy, Hersey, Hichborn, Hickey, Higgins, Hill, Hilliard, Hillman, Hinckley, Hines, Hobart / Hubbard, Hodsden, Holbrook, Holden, Hollis, Holmes, Hooper, Hopkins, Horswell, Horton, Hough, Howard / Hayward, Howe(s), Hudson, Huet / Hewitt, Hughs, Hull, Humphrey, Hunt, Hussey, Hutchings, Ibrook, Ings, Jacob, James, Jenkins, Jennings, Jepson / Gipson, Jernegan, Jewell, Jewett, Johns, Johnson, Jones, Jordan / Jourdaine, Josselyn / Joslin / Jocelyn, Joy, Joyce, Judkins, Keating, Keen, Keeshan, Kehoe, Keliher, Kelsey, Kenerson, Kent, Kilborn / Kilburn, Kilby, Kimball, King, Kingman, Kittredge, Lahee, Lambert, Landers, Lane, Lang, Langer, Langley, Lapham, Lasell / Lazell, Lawrence, Lawson, Leary, Leavitt, LeBaron, Legary / Legere, Leigh, Lemner, Lemon, Leonard, Lewis, Lincoln, Linscot, Lisle, Litchfield, Little, Lobdell / Lobden, Long, Lord, Lorden, Loring / Lorraine, Lothrop, Loud, Lovell, Lovett, Lovis, Low(e), Ludkin, Lyford, Macvarlo / Mackfarlin, Magnor, Magoon / McGoun, Maguire / McGuire, Mahoney, Malbon, Mann, Manning / Munning, Mansfield, Manuel, Marble / Marvel, Margetts, Marsh, Marshall, Martin, Mason, May / Mayes, Mayhew / Mayo, McCarty, McDermott, McDonough, McHolin, McKee, McKenna, McLeod, McNeil, Mead, Means, Mears, Melcher, Merrick, Merritt, Meservey, Miller, Minard / Minor, Mitchell, Moore, Moorfield, More, Morey, Morrissey, Morse, Morton, Mott, Mulford, Murphy, Murray, Muzzey, Nash, Neal, Nelson, Newcomb, Newhall, Nichols, Nickerson / Nicholson, Noel, Noonan, Norris, North, Norton, Noyes, Nudd, Nye / Ney, Oakes, O'Brien, O'Connell, O'Keefe, Orcutt, Orton, Osborn, Otis / Oates, Our Ourish, Overton, Packard / Parker, Page, Palmer, Papley, Parker, Patterson, Payson, Peakes, Peare, Peck, Peirce / Pearce / Perse, Penfold, Penny, Perkins, Perry, Pettingill, Phillips, Phinney, Phippen(y), Picanco, Pierce, Pike, Pitcher, Pittee, Pitts, Podyer / Podyeard, Pool(e), Poor / Pore, Porter, Powers, Pratt, Price, Prichart / Pritchard, Prince, Prouty, Puffer, Pugsley, Pullen, Pyne, Quincy, Quinn, Rafferty, Randall, Ranger, Ray, Record, Reed, Reedman, Remington, Ricard, Rice, Rich, Richards, Richardson, Ricket, Riddle, Riley, Ripley, Robbins, Roberts, Robinson, Rockett, Rogers, Rowe, Rowland, Russell, Rust, Ryan, Sanborn, Sargent, Savell, Sayer / Sawyer, Scully, Searle, Sears, Seymour, Sheffell, Sherman, Sherrow / Sharrow, Shumway, Shute, Sides, Simmons / Symonson, Sivret, Slack, Slader, Smith, Sneath, Snell, Soule, Souther, Southworth, Spalding, Spear, Spooner, Sprague, Spring, Stanton, Stearns, Steel, Stephenson, Stetson / Stutson, Stevens, Stevernson, Stewart, Stock, Stockbridge, Stockwell, Stodder / Stoddard, Stone, Stowell / Stoel, Stowers, Strange, Stratton, Strauss, Strong, Studley, Sturtevant, Sutton, Swift, Sylvester, Taylor, Teague / Tegge, Tewells / Tuels, Thaxter, Thayer, Thomas, Thompson, Thorn(e), Throop, Tidmarsh, Tilden, Tinsley, Tirrell, Todd, Torrey, Totman, Tower, Townsend, Trask, Trowbridge, Tucker, Turner, Tuttle / Tuthill, Underwood, Vickery, Vinal, Vining, Vinton, Vogle, Vose, Wade, Wakefield, Wakely, Wall, Wallace, Walton, Ward, Ware, Warren, Waterman, Waters, Watson, Webb, Welch, West, Wheaton, Wheelwright, Whitcomb, White, Whiting, Whitman, Whitmarsh, Whitney, Whiton / Witon / Whiting, Wilcutt, Wilde, Wilder, Wildes, Wilks, Willard, Williams, Wilson, Winchester, Wing, Winslow, Winter, Wolfe, Woodcock, Woods, Woodward, Worrick / Warwick, Worth, Wright, Wyborn, Wyer, Young.
  • John J. Waters, "Hingham, Massachusetts, 1631-1661: an East Anglian Oligarchy in the New World" in the Journal of Social History, 1 [1967-1968]: 351-370.
    Digital version at Jstor ($ - free through public library).
  • Hingham Historical Society's digital book links.
  • Hingham Wikipedia page.
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Vital Records[edit | edit source]

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

Original records
Published records

There are no published vital records for Hingham, but thought to be mostly included in the 1893 history in volumes 2 and 3.

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City Directories[edit | edit source]

Hingham was published in 1894, 1902/3, 1905/6, 1908/9, 1912/3, 1915, 1920, 1925-1930.

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 Hingham. Remember that the "old" town included present-day Cohasset. For more details regarding these cemeteries, see the state guide under cemeteries for books on the subject. For location of cemeteries, see PlymouthColony website. The Holbrook Research Institute (now Archive Publishing - at the bottom of the page) made 43 fiche that cover plans and indexes for several of these cemeteries.

  1. Barnes and Stoddard Cemetery, 1820. (A)
  2. Fort Hill Street Cemetery, 1751. (A)
  3. High Street Cemetery, 1688. (A)
  4. Hingham Center Cemetery, 1684. (A)
  5. Liberty Plain Cemetery, 1739. (A)
  6. Old Ship or Hingham Cemetery, 1657. (online site and alphabetized transcription)

St. Paul's Cemetery, 1859.

Abstracts of the cemeteries above are marked and keyed to:
(A). New England Historic Genealogical Society, in various manuscripts.

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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 Parish Unitarian Church (now Old Ship Church, First Parish in Hingham, Unitarian Universalist Church), 1635, records good (no records before 1718, but Rev. Peter Hobart's records, 1635-1745, survive).
  2. Second Parish Unitarian Church (now Second parish Unitarian Universalist Church), South Hingham, 1745, records good.
  3. Third Congregational Society (now New North Church), 1807, records good.
  4. Methodist Episcopal Church, 1818, records good.
  5. Universalist Church, 1823, no condition given, records started in 1861.
  6. First Baptist Church, 1828, records good.
  7. Evangelical Congregational Church, 1847, records fair.
  8. St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church, 1872, records good.
  9. St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church (now Episcopal Parish of St. John the Evangelist), n.d., no records found in 1889.
  10. Hingham Reformed Church, 1890.
  11. Hingham Congregational United Church of Christ, n.d.
  12. Church of the Resurrection Roman Catholic Church, n.d.
  13. South Shore Baptist Church, 1947.
  14. North Street Community Chapel, n.d.
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Newspapers[edit | edit source]

  1. Hingham Gazette, 1833-1837.
  2. Hingham Journal (sometimes and South Shore Advertiser or and Mariner), 1871-present.
  3. Hingham Mariner, 1984-1993.
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Libraries and Historical Societies[edit | edit source]

The following is a list of research facilities in town:

Hingham Public Library
66 Leavitt Street
Hingham MA 02043
Phone 781-741-1405

Hingham Historical Society
34 Main Street
PO Box 434
Hingham MA 02043
Phone 781-749-7721
Email info@hinghamhistorical.org

Hingham Family History Center
379 Gardner Street
Hingham MA 02043
Phone 781-749-4815


References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ William Francis Galvin, Historical Data Relating to Counties, Cities and Towns in Massachusetts (Boston, new ed., 1997), 59. WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.4 H2h 1997
Adjacent towns: Plymouth Co: Hull | Norwell | Rockland | Scituate Norfolk Co.: Cohasset | Quincy | Weymouth

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Towns in Plymouth County in Massachusetts articles
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