History of Bristol County, Massachusetts

It has been their honest endeavor to trace the history of the development of this section from that period when it was in the undisputed possession of the red man to the present, and to place before the reader an authentic narrative of its rise and progress to the prominent position it now occupies among the counties of New England. That such an undertaking is attended with no little difficulty and vexation none will deny. The aged pioneer relates events of the early settlements, while his neighbor sketches the same events with totally different outlines. Man's memory is ever at fault, while time paints a different picture upon every mind. With these the historian has to contend, and while it has been our aim to compile an accurate history, were it devoid of all inaccuracies, that perfection would have been attained which the writer had not the faintest conception of, and which Lord Macaulay once said never could be reached.

From colonial and other documents in the State archives, from county, town, and village records, family manuscripts, printed publications, and innumerable private sources of information, we have endeavored to produce a history which should prove accurate, instructive, and in every respect worthy of the county represented. How well we have succeeded in our task, a generous public — jealous of its reputation and honor, of its traditions and memories, of its defeats and triumphs — must now be the judge.

 

Table of Contents:

CHAPTER I.
Geographical and Descriptive 1

CHAPTER II.
Indian History 2

CHAPTER III.
Bench and Bar 8

CHAPTER IV.
Medical History 35

CHAPTER V.
Military History 39

CHAPTER VI.
New Bedford 48

CHAPTER VII.
New Bedford. — (Continued.) 52

CHAPTER VIII.
New Bedford. — (Continued.) 55

CHAPTER IX.
New Bedford. — (Continued.) 66

CHAPTER X.
New Bedford. — (Continued.) 78

CHAPTER XI.
New Bedford.— (Continued.) 94

CHAPTER XII.
New Bedford. — (Continued.) 114

CHAPTER XIII.
Acushnet 161

CHAPTER XIV.
Berkley 174

CHAPTER XV.
Dartmouth 191

CHAPTER XVI.
Dartmouth. — (Continued.) 197

CHAPTER XVII.
Dartmouth. — (Continued.) 200

CHAPTER XVIII.
Dartmouth. — (Continued.) 203

CHAPTER XIX.
Dighton 214

CHAPTER XX.
Dighton. — ( Continued.) 256

CHAPTER XXI.
Fairhaven 267

CHAPTER XXII.
Freetown 283

CHAPTER XXIII.
Fall River 308

CHAPTER XXIV.
Fall River. — (Continued.) 311

CHAPTER XXV.
Fall River. — (Continued.) 314

CHAPTER XXVI.
Fall River.— (Continued.) 328

CHAPTER XXVII.
Fall River. — (Continued.) 332

CHAPTER XXVIII.
Fall River. — (Continued.) 347

CHAPTER XXIX.
Fall River. — (Continued.) 362

CHAPTER XXX.
Easton 416

CHAPTER XXXI.
Easton. — (Continued.) 422

CHAPTER XXXII.
Mansfield 435

CHAPTER XXXIII.
Rehoboth 463

CHAPTER XXXIV.
Rehoboth. — (Continued.) 468

CHAPTER XXXV.
Rehoboth. — (Continued.) 474

CHAPTER XXXVI.
Rehoboth. — (Continued.) 477

CHAPTER XXXVII.
Seekonk 494

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Seekonk. — (Continued.) 407

CHAPTER XXXIX.
Attleborough 506

CHAPTER XL.
Attleborough. — (Continued.) 514

CHAPTER XLI.
Attleborough. — (Continued.) 524

CHAPTER XLII.
Attleborough. — (Continued.) 527

CHAPTER XLIII.
Attleborough. — (Continued.) 537

CHAPTER XLIV.
Attleborough. — (Continued.) 543

CHAPTER XLV.
Attleborough. — (Continued.) 556

CHAPTER XLVI.
Norton. 599

CHAPTER XLVII.
Norton. — (Continued.) 605

CHAPTER XLVIII.
Norton. - (Continued.) 610

CHAPTER XLIX.
Norton. — (Continued.) 618

CHAPTER L.
Norton. — (Continued.) 620

CHAPTER LI.
Norton. — (Continued.) 624

CHAPTER LII.
Somerset

CHAPTER LIII.
Swansea 652

CHAPTER LIV.
Swansea. — (Continued.) 657

CHAPTER LV.
Swansea. - (Continued.) 664

CHAPTER LVI.
Westport 678

CHAPTER LVII.
Raynham 707

CHAPTER LVIII.
Taunton 728

CHAPTER LIX.
Taunton. — (Continued.) 729

CHAPTER LX.
Taunton. — (Continued.) 736

CHAPTER LXI.
Taunton. — (Continued.) 749

CHAPTER LXII.
Taunton. — (Continued.) 770

CHAPTER LXII.
Taunton. — (Continued.) 781

CHAPTER LXIV.
Taunton. — (Continued.) 786

CHAPTER LXV.
Taunton. — (Continued.) 799

CHAPTER LXVI.
Taunton. — (Continued.) 817

CHAPTER LXVII.
Taunton. — (Continued.) 822

CHAPTER LXVIII.
Taunton.— (Continued.) 840

CHAPTER LXIX.
Taunton. — (Continued.) 844

CHAPTER LXX.
A Sketch of the Courts and Bar of Bristol County 887

CHAPTER LXXI.
Homoeopathy in Bristol County and its Practitioners 893

CHAPTER LXXII.
Miscellaneous 887

Errata 922

 

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Bristol County is situated in the southern section of Massachusetts, its centre thirty-five miles from Boston, and two hundred miles from New York. It is bounded on the north by Norfolk, and east by Plymouth Counties, on the south by Rhode Island and the Atlantic Ocean, and on the west by Rhode Island. Its area is about six hundred square miles. It was incorporated in June, 1685, bearing the name of its shire-town until 1746, when Bristol, Barrington, Little Compton, and Warren were set off to Rhode Island by a new division line drawn between the two States. In 1675 the county included but eleven towns, viz.: Attleborough. Berkley, Easton, Dighton, Dartmouth, Freetown, Raynham, Norton, Rehoboth, Swansea, and Taunton, aggregating a population of twenty-two thousand five hundred and seventy-one. Fall River, New Bedford, Acushnet, Fairhaven, Mansfield, Somerset, Seekonk, and Westport had not been incorporated.