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This is a historical and genealogical guide to the town of South Abington now Whitman. You will find help with town histories, vital records, city directories, cemetery records and cemeteries, churches, town records, newspapers, maps, and libraries.

Contents

Brief History

This area was first called "Little Comfort" as a section of Bridgewater until is was set off as the town of Abington in 1712. The area was set off as the Second or South Parish of Abington in 1808. It is a Plymouth County town, and where it remains today.

Historical Data

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

Associated names

Abington at one time was called Little Comfort and South Abington.

Village or section names include Auburnville, East Whitman, Northville, South Abington, West Crook, and Whitman Line Park.

Border changes
Dates Events
4 Mar. 1875 The Second or South Parish of Abington and part of East Bridgewater set off to form the new town of South Abington.
24 Apr. 1875 Parts of South Abington and Brockton annexed to each other.
3 May 1886 Name changed to Whitman.
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Town Histories

Works written on the town include:

  • Charles F. Meserve, "History of South Abington" in D. Hamilton Hurd, ed., History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts ... (Philadelphia, 1884), p. 503-522.
    Digital version at Internet Archive.
  • Abington and the Revolution and earlier wars : the story of old Abington, Massachusetts (now Abington, Rockland, and two-thirds of Whitman) and the part the town played in securing American freedom in the 17th and 18th centuries ([Abington, Mass.?], 1975), xi, 123 pp.
    WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.482 H2a.
  • Whitman Wikipedia page.
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Vital Records

Barnstable CountyBristol CountyPlymouth CountyNorfolk CountySuffolk CountyFalmouthMashpeeSandwichBourneFairhavenAchushnetNew BedfordDartmouthWestportFall RiverFreetownBerkleyTauntonRaynhamEastonStoughtonAvonHolbrookCantonRandolphWeymouthCohassetBraintreeQuincyMiltonBostonHullHinghamScituateNorwellRocklandAbingtonBrocktonWest BridgewaterWhitmanHanoverMarshfieldDuxburyPembrokeHansonEast BridgewaterBridgewaterHalifaxPlymptonKingstonPlymouthCarverMiddleboroughLakevilleRochesterWarehamMarionMattapoisett
Town of Whitman in Plymouth County, Massachusetts.

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

Original records
Published records

There are no published vital records for this town.

Online records
  • Whitman vital records, 1875-1905, are browsable (i.e. not indexed as of Nov. 2012) on FamilySearch.




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City Directories

Whitman was published in 1889, 1892, 1894, 1895, 1898, 1900, 1904/5, 1906/7, 1909/10, 1912/3, 1915, 1917, 1920, 1922, 1926, 1932, 1937.

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

The following is a list of cemeteries in present-day Whitman. For locations of cemeteries, see PlymouthColony. For more details regarding these cemeteries, see the state guide under cemeteries for books on the subject.

  1. Colebrook Cemetery, 1828. (A, B)
  2. Hersey Children's Burying Ground, n.d.
  3. High Street or Noyes Family Burying Ground, 1805. (A, B)
  4. Jenkins Family Burying Ground, n.d.
  5. Mount Zion or Old Cemetery, 1740. (A, B)
  6. St. James Cemetery, n.d.
  7. Smallpox House Cemetery site, 1778. (A, B)
  8. Amos Whitmarsh Cemetery, n.d. (B)

Abstracts of the cemeteries above are marked and keyed to:
(A). Vital Records of Abington, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, 1912). [See links on Abington for various versions of this source.]
(B). New England Historic Genealogical Society, Manuscripts Dept., Boston, Mass.

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Churches

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. Congregational Church (now First Congregational Church of Whitman - United Church of Christ), 1807, records good.
  2. Baptist Church (later First Baptist Church of Whitman), 1822, records good, closed 2009.
  3. South Abington Methodist Episcopal Church, 1874, records good. [perhaps continued as the United Methodist Church below]
  4. Church of the Holy Ghost (Roman Catholic), 1887.
    Baptismal records held at the Archdiocese of Boston Archives.
  5. All Saints Parish (Episcopal), 1897.
  6. South Shore Pentecostal Church, n.d.
  7. Whitman United Methodist Church, n.d.
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Newspapers

  1. Whitman / Hanson Mariner, 1990-1992.
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Libraries and Historical Societies

The following is a list of research facilities in town:

Whitman Public Library
100 Webster Street
Whitman MA 02382
Phone 781-447-7613
Email info@whitmanpubliclibrary.org

Dyer Memorial Library
28 Centre Ave.
PO Box 2245
Abington MA 02351
Phone 781-878-8480
Email info@dyerlibrary.org
Serving the towns of Abington, Rockland, and Whitman

References

  1. ↑ William Francis Galvin, Historical Data Relating to Counties, Cities and Towns in Massachusetts (Boston, new ed., 1997), 128. WorldCat (Other Libraries); FHL book 974.4 H2h 1997
Adjacent towns: Plymouth Co.: Abington | Brockton | East Bridgewater | Hanson | Rockland

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Towns in Plymouth County in Massachusetts articles
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  • This page was last modified on 19 November 2012, at 20:43.
  • This page has been accessed 611 times.