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Plymouth Books Online
This page is still under construction - many other books are listed on the Lookups page.
These listings are for books that are in the public domain, and of which page images or transcrptions are available at one or more sites. Following each listing you will find links to the locations where each book may be found. All of the sites listed are free of charge, but copies may also be found at subscription sites such as Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest Online (Note that access to subscription sites may be freely available at your local library).
More recent books which are not in the public domain, as well as some books in the public domain which are not yet available online, are listed on the Books page.
Within each category the books are listed in order by the year in which they were written or first published.
This is far from an exhausive list, but it includes the major reference works in each category as well as some less known works with which the webmaster is familiar. I have tried to include complete publishing information, but information for editions which I have not seen may not be definitive.
Categories of Books Online:
Histories
Genealogies
Records
Churches
Mayflower
Native American
Histories
William Bradford,
Of Plymouth Plantation. This is the definitive account of the early years of Plymouth, written by a man who lived there in those years and who was a major figure of the town and a major factor in its early development. Many editions of Governor Bradford's history of Plymouth Plantation have been published since the manuscript was rediscovered in 1855. Some editions retain the original spelling and orthography, while others have been modernized. The most scholarly is the 1912 Ford edition, although the 1856 edition is remarkably reliable considering its early date of publication. Those two, plus the widely used 1898 edition, are listed below. Some later editions not in the public domain are listed on the
Books page.
William Bradford, Edited by Charles Deane,
History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1856). This was the first complete publication of this work, as noted above.
Available at
Internet Archive Text Archive and
Google Books.
William Bradford, Edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford,
History of Plymouth Plantation 1620-1647, 2 Volumes (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1912). This is the edition generally preferred by scholars.
Available at
Internet Archive Text Archive.
G. Mourt (William Bradford and Edward Winslow), Edited by Henry Martyn Dexter,
Mourt's Relation or Journal of the Plantation at Plymouth (Boston: John Kimball Wiggin, 1865). Library of New-England History, No. I, First published London: 1622.
Available at
Internet Archive Text Archive and
Google Books.
William Bradford; Edited by Charles Deane,
A Dialogue or Third Conference Between Some Young Men Born In New England, and Some Ancient Men Which Came Out of Holland and Old England, Concerning the Church and the Government Thereof (Boston: John Wilson and Son, 1870). Reprinted from
Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Available at
Internet Archive Text Archive and
Google Books.
Nathaniel Morton,
The New-England's Memorial: Or, A Brief Relation of the Most Memorable and Remarkable Passages of the Providence of God (Cambridge, MA: John Usher, 1669; Reprinted Boston: John Allen, 1721; Newport, RI: S. Southwick, 1772; Plymouth, MA: A. Danforth, 1826; Boston: Congregational Board of Publication, 1855; Boston: The Club of Odd Volumes, 1903).
Available at Internet Archive Text Archive
1826 1855 and Google Books
1855 1903.
James Thacher,
History of the Town of Plymouth, From Its First Settlement In 1620 (Boston: Marsh, Capen & Lyon, First Edition 1832; Second Edition 1835).
Available at Internet Archive Text Archive
1832 1835 and Google Books
1832 1835.
William Brigham,
The Compact with the Charter and Laws of the Colony of New Plymouth with the Charter of the Council at Plymouth and an Appendix containing the Articles of Confederation of the United Colonies of New England, and Other Valuable Documents (Boston: Dutton & Wentworth, 1836).
Available at
Internet Archive Text Archive and
Google Books.
William Shaw Russell,
Pilgrim Memorials and Guide to Plymouth (First Edition Boston: Crosby, Nichols and Company, 1855; Second Edition Boston: Crosby, Nichols, Lee, and Company, 1860; Third Edition Boston: Crosby and Nichols, 1864; Fourth Edition Boston, Crosby and Ainsworth; New York: Oliver S. Felt, 1866; Fifth Edition Boston: Crosby & Damrell, 1870; Sixth Edition Boston: Rand, Avery & Frye, 1886).
Available at Internet Archive Text Archive
1855 1866 and Google Books
1855 1870.
William T. Hollis,
Old Plymouth: A Guide to Its Localities and Objects of Interest (Plymouth, MA: Avery & Doten, First Edition 1878; Second Edition 1881; Third Edition 1884; Fourth Edition 1886?; Fifth Edition 1888; Sixth Edition 1892; Seventh Edition 1894; Eighth Edition 1895).
Available at
Internet Archive Text Archive (multiple editions) and
Google Books (multiple editions).
Duane Hamilton Hurd,
History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men (Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Co., 1884).
Available at
Internet Archive Text Archive.
William Thomas Davis,
History of the Town of Plymouth, with a Sketch of the Origin and Growth of Separatism (Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Co., 1885).
Available at
Internet Archive Text Archive and
Google Books.
Lloyd Vernon Briggs,
History of Shipbuilding on the North River, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, with Genealogies of the Shipbuilders, and Accounts of the Industries Upon its Tributaries, 1640 to 1872 (Boston: Coburn Brothers, 1889).
Available at
Internet Archive Text Archive and
Google Books.
Alfred Stevens Burbank,
Guide to Historic Plymouth: Localities and Objects of Interest (Plymouth, MA: The Author, 1896; 1900; 1910; 1917; 1916; 1921).
Available at
Internet Archive Text Archive (multiple editions) and
Google Books (multiple editions).
Catalogue of the Historical Collection and Pictures in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth (Plymouth, MA: The Pilgrim Society, 1898, 1903, 1906, 1913).
Available at Internet Archive Text Archive
1903 1913 and Google Books
1898 1906.
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Genealogies
It is not possible to list here all of the public domain genealogies for all of the families that have lived in the town of Plymouth in the course of nearly four centuries. What are listed are major works concerning some of the oldest and most significant families in the town's history.
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Records
Nathaniel B. Shurtleff (Volumes 1-8) and David Pulsifer (Volumes 9-12), Editors, Records of the Colony of New Plymouth In New England, 12 Volumes, issued bound as 9 or 10 (Boston: The Press of William White, Printer to the Commonwealth, 1855-1861; Reprinted in 6 Volumes New York: AMS Press, 1968).
William Thomas Davis, Editor, Records of the Town of Plymouth, Published by Order of the Town, 3 Volumes (Plymouth, MA: Avery & Doten, 1889-1903; Reprinted Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1989). Volume 1, 1636-1705 (1889), Volume 2, 1705-1743 (1892), Volume 3, 1743-1783 (1903).
Bradford Kingman, Epitaphs From Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts, from 1657 to 1892, With Biographical and Historical Notes (Brookline, MA: New England Illustrated Historical Publishing Co., 1892; Reprinted Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977; Baltimore: Clearfield Co., 1994).
Benjamin Drew, Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts, Its Monuments and Gravestones Numbered and Briefly Described, and the Inscriptions and Epitaphs Thereon Carefully Copied (Plymouth, MA: The Author, 1894, 1897; Reprinted Baltimore: Clearfield Co., 1994).
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Churches
H. W. Coffin, Historical Sketch of the First Baptist Church of Christ, In Plymouth, Mass. (Plymouth, MA: Avery & Doten, 1885).
John Cuckson, A Brief History of the First Church In Plymouth, from 1606 to 1901 (Boston: George H. Ellis Co., 1902).
William Thomas Davis, Editor, Plymouth Church Records, 1620-1859, 2 Volumes (Boston: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts; Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Volumes XXII and XXIII: Collections; and New York: New England Society In The City of New York; Volume 1, 1920, Volume 2, 1923; Reprinted Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1975; CD-ROM published Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society and The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 2003).
Frank Herman Perkins, Handbook of Old Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts (Plymouth, MA: A. S. Burbank, 1896).
Joseph S. Clark, A Historical Sketch of the Congregational Churches In Massachusetts From 1620 to 1858, With an Appendix (Boston: Congregational Board of Publication, 1858).
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Mayflower
These are works dealing with Mayflower, the ship, and her 1620 voyage. Broader histories of New Plymouth Colony will be found under Histories, and works about passengers and their families under Genealogies.
James Rendel Harris,
The Finding of the "Mayflower" (Manchester, Eng: Longmans, Green & Company, 1920).
Available at
Internet Archive Text Archive.
James Rendel Harris,
The Last of the "Mayflower" (Manchester, England: Longman's, Green & Company, 1920).
Available at
Internet Archive Text Archive.
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Native American
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Please visit the Plymouth Colony Pages
USGenWeb Plymouth, MA, commenced 01-Nov-1998.
Original site created by and maintained until 2010 by Susan G. Taylor.
Current site created by and maintained since 13-Nov-2012 by Dale H. Cook.
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Copyright © 2011-2012 by Dale H. Cook. All rights reserved.