Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Genealogy

United States

New England

Massachusetts

Plymouth County

Hingham

Guide to Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts ancestry, genealogy and family history, town histories, vital records, city directories, cemetery records and cemeteries, churches, town records, newspapers, maps, and libraries.

Town Information

Description

Hingham, Massachusetts at Wikipedia

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.

Populated Places

Includes Neighborhoods, Villages, Unincorporated Communities,
Districts, and Census-Designated Places:

Adjacent Towns

Plymouth Co: Hull | Norwell | Rockland | Scituate Norfolk Co.: Cohasset | Quincy | Weymouth

Town Records

In New England most original vital records of birth, marriage, and death can be found at the town clerk's office

Hingham Town Clerk

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

Vital Records

• Microfilm of the originals created by the FamilySearch Library, 1635-1880, FS Library films 423520-423521; 1877-1899, FS Library film 423522; Index, 1635-1899, FS Library film 423518; 1900-1905, FS Library film 2031517.
• Microfiche of the originals created by Archive Publishing covering vital records, 1635-1900, on 238 fiche. Part of Massachusetts, Town Vital Collections, 1620–1988 at Ancestry ($); Index
• Reuben Hersey, "Hingham Vital Records", searchable database online at American Ancestors by NEHGS ($).
• 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

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

Births

• 1636-1924 Massachusetts, Births, 1636-1924 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
• 1637-1845 Hingham, MA: Vital Records, 1637-1845 at American Ancestors — index & images ($)

Marriages

• 1637-1845 Hingham, MA: Vital Records, 1637-1845 at American Ancestors — index & images ($)

Deaths

• 1637-1845 Hingham, MA: Vital Records, 1637-1845 at American Ancestors — index & images ($)
• 1916-1919 Massachusetts Deaths, 1916-1919 at MyHeritage — index & images ($)

Town Reports

No Town Report Journals with statistics are listed for Hingham town.

Resources

For more County and State resources see:

Cemeteries

• Hingham Cemeteries List at Find a Grave
• Plymouth County Cemeteries at FamilySearch Catalog
• Plymouth County Cemeteries at FamilySearch Places

City Directories

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

• 1984-1925 U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, Hingham at Ancestry - index & images ($), some years may be missing
• 1984-1929 Massachusetts, U.S., City Directories, Hingham at Ancestry - index & images ($), some years may be missing
• Various Dates U.S. City Directories, 1860-1960 at MyHeritage - index & images ($) some towns and years may be missing

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 ($) has 1894, 1908, 1912, 1915, 1920, 1925, 1928.
• Boston Public Library has 1925-1927.
• FamilySearch Library (Salt Lake City) has 1902/3, 1905/6, 1908/9, 1912/3, 1915, 1920, 1925-1927 on FS Library various film records.
• fold3 ($) has none.
• Massachusetts State Library has 1894, 1902/3, 1905/6, 1908/9, 1912/3, 1915, 1920, 1925-1930.
• New England Historic Genealogical Society (Boston) ($) has 1894, 1902/3, 1905/6, 1908/9, 1912/3, 1915, 1920, 1925-1930.

Local Histories

The basic data is from the "Historical Data" publication series 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

Works written on the town include:

• Solomon Lincoln, History of the Town of Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts (Hingham, Mass., 1827), iv, 183 pp.
  Digital versions at Internet Archive, Google Books, Ancestry ($), and on GooBooGeni.
  WorldCat (Other Libraries); FS Catalog book 974.482/H1 M2b or FS Library fiche 6081502.
  

There are sketches on Hobart, Lincoln, and Wilder families.

• Fearing Burr and George Lincoln, The Town of Hingham in the late Civil War, with sketches of its Soldiers and Sailors, also the address and other exercises at the dedication of the soldiers' and sailors' monument (Boston, 1876), 455 pp..
  Digital versions at Internet Archive, Google Books, and on Ancestry ($).
  WorldCat (Other Libraries); FS Catalog book 974.482/H1 M2b or FS Library fiche 6083021.

• History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts (Hingham, Mass., 1893), 3v. in 4 [Note: The Genealogies being v. 2-3 were reprinted in 1v. (Somersworth, N.H., 1982), 486, 429 pp.
  Online at: Vol. 1 - Internet Archive; Vols. 2 & 3 - Internet Archive; WorldCat (Other Libraries); FS Catalog book 974.482/H1 H2h v. # or films 962282-962283.
  

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, Massachusetts at Wikipedia

Maps

This selection incudes town, county, state, and historical maps

• Boundary Map of Hingham at HomeTownLocator
• Hingham at FamilySearch Places
• Hingham at Google Maps
• Hingham at Mapcarta
• Massachusetts County Map at Mass.gov
• McConnell's Historical Maps of the United States at Library of Congress
• Old Maps of Massachusetts at Old-Maps.com
• Massachusetts Maps State Page
  
  

Migration

Military

Some Records are Searchable by Town

Revolutionary War, 1775-1783

For more Revolutionary War Military Records see:

• Massachusetts Military Records - Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
• United States Military Records - Revolutionary War, 1775-1783

Civil War, 1861-1865

For more Civil War Military Records see:

• Massachusetts Military Records - Civil War, 1861-1865
• United States Military Records - Civil War, 1861-1865

World War I, 1917-1918

For more World War I Military Records see:

• Massachusetts Military Records - World War I, 1917-1918
• United States Military Records - World War I, 1917-1918

World War II, 1941-1945

For more World War II Military Records see:

• Massachusetts Military Records - World War II, 1941-1945
• United States Military Records - World War II, 1941-1945

Newspapers

• 1800-Current Massachusetts, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's Current at Ancestry — index & images ($)

1. Hingham Gazette, 1833-1837.
2. Hingham Journal (sometimes and South Shore Advertiser or and Mariner), 1871-present.
3. Hingham Mariner, 1984-1993.

Obituaries

Other Town Records

Probate Records

• 1686-1881 Plymouth County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1686-1881 at American Ancestors — index & images ($)

School Records

Tax Records

Websites

Research Facilities

Archives

Libraries

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

Museums

FamilySearch Centers & Affiliate Libraries

FamilySearch Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local FamilySearch Centers or Affiliate Libraries

• FamilySearch Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
• FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a FamilySearch center.
  

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

• Hingham Massachusetts FamilySearch Center
• Lynnfield Massachusetts FamilySearch Center
• Mount Hope Massachusetts FamilySearch Center
• David Allen Lambert Library - an affiliate library
• General Society of Mayflower Descendants - an affiliate library
• Middleborough Public Library - an affiliate library
• Thayer Public Library - an affiliate library
• Thomas Crane Public Library - an affiliate library

379 Gardner Street
Hingham MA 02043
Phone 781-749-4815

Societies

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

References

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