USGenWeb Genealogical Site for the Town of
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Easton Massachusetts Bristol County |
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Including the Villages of Algers Corner, Daley Corner, Easton Center, Easton Green,
Easton Station, Eastondale, Five Corners, Furnace Village, Gowards Corner,
Morris Corner, Morse Corner, North Easton, Pratts Corner and South Easton
Old Colony Railroad Depot, North Easton, 1881,
Home of the Easton Historical Society
March 11, 2008 — We have a new address! Many USGenWeb sites have relocated, and we have, too. Please bookmark our new address.
April 9, 2007 — Thomas Keegan's newest transcriptions of Easton cemeteries are of the Old Burying Ground and the Oliver Howard Cemetery.
March 10, 2007 — Thomas Keegan has continued his transcriptions of Easton cemeteries, adding the stones in the Apollos Clark Cemetery and the Silas Phillips Cemetery, and revising one transcription in the Asa Newcomb Cemetery.
February 25, 2007 — Thomas Keegan has added transcriptions of the stones in the Almshouse Cemetery and the Asa Newcomb Cemetery.
February 19, 2007 — Thomas Keegan has provided transcriptions of the stones in the George Fergusson Burying Ground and the Thomas Manley Cemetery.
February 12, 2007 — Thomas Keegan has provided additional information about some of the smaller Cemeteries, as well as transcriptions of the stones in the Elijah Copeland Graveyard and the Old Bay Road Cemetery.
January 28, 2007 — Thomas Keegan of Easton has graciously provided some new information for the Cemeteries Page, some new photographs, and transcriptions of the three stones in the George Wilbur Cemetery.
August 19, 2006 — I have added a listing of Easton Newspapers held on microfilm by the Boston Public Library.
November 29, 2004 — The Cemeteries page has been revised to include photographs of the cemeteries and to update some information about them.
April 6, 2004 — I've added links to historic photographs in the Library of Congress.
March 26, 2004 — Special thanks to Barbara Tourtillott for providing links to her Easton Web Site and the many original records that she has transcribed and posted there. They include census returns for some years, as well as some useful portions of the Easton Town Records.
March 24, 2004 — I've added maps of the Taunton North Purchase, of Easton ca. 1750, and of North Easton in 1886. I've also added the 1868 deed of sale for the North Purchase which names the original proprietors, from William L. Chaffin, History of the Town of Easton, Massachusetts (Cambridge, MA: John Wilson & Son, 1886), pp. 20-21.
March 23, 2004 — Welcome to the brand new Easton USGenWeb page. I'll be posting notices here as new resources are added to the site.
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Lookups and Resources
Easton Vital Records 1697-1900 — Barbara Tourtillott.
William L. Chaffin, History of the Town of Easton, Massachusetts (Cambridge, MA: John Wilson & Son, 1886) — Barbara Tourtillott.
1668 Deed of Sale for the Taunton North Purchase which names the original proprietors, from William L. Chaffin, History of the Town of Easton, Massachusetts (Cambridge, MA: John Wilson & Son, 1886), pp. 20-21.
Easton Vital Records, 1697-1847, from John A. Maltby's web site as preserved by the Wayback Machine.
1790 Federal Census Transcriptions from Barbara Tourtillott's Easton Web Site.
1800 Federal Census Transcriptions from Barbara Tourtillott's Easton Web Site.
1810 Federal Census Transcriptions from Barbara Tourtillott's Easton Web Site.
1850 Federal Census Transcriptions from Barbara Tourtillott's Easton Web Site.
1855 State Census Transcriptions (now complete) from Barbara Tourtillott's Easton Web Site.
Enrollment of Male Citizens 18 to 45 in 1862 from Barbara Tourtillott's Easton Web Site.
1880 Census Transcriptions for the Easton Almshouse from Barbara Tourtillott's Easton Web Site.
There are two extremely valuable online sources for transcriptions of original Easton records. One is John A. Maltby's transcription of the Easton Vital Records as preserved by the Wayback Machine. The other is Barbara Tourtillott's Easton Web Site, including the families index to the town's vital records, 1697-1847, and transcribed pages from town records of warnings out. Barbara's site also includes census transcriptions and indices and other Easton records.
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Books, Newspapers and Records
You can find copies of books for sale by using the search engine at Bookfinder.com.
Books that are no longer in copyright can often be found online at Internet Archive Text Archive, Family History Books or Google Books. Additional books are available through two sites that many libraries offer access to - Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest Online.
William L. Chaffin, History of the Town of Easton, Massachusetts (Cambridge, MA: John Wilson & Son, 1886).
Exercises Held at the Dedication of the Soldiers' Monument, Memorial Day, 1882, Easton, Mass. (Easton, MA: Printed at the Office of the Easton Journal, 1882).
Edmund C. Hands, Easton's Neighborhoods (Easton, MA: Easton Historical Society, 1995). Describes each of the town's villages, with its history and significance. Includes old photographs, and maps showing the homesteads of early settlers.
A newspaper often had a succession of titles on its masthead during the course of its publication. Some libraries list newspapers by the last title used, followed by previous titles. Other libraries list all holdings under the most common, most familiar or most recent title. For each title the library's holdings are given.
Boston Public Library - Historical Massachusetts Newspapers - Microfilm
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Published Vital Records 1725 to about 1800:
James W. Lucas and David Allen Lambert, "Easton, Massachusetts, Vital Records," published in Mayflower Descendant from Vol 44 [1994] to date. This series, which is still in progress, currently includes events from 1699 to as late as 1799. — Email Dale H. Cook for lookups.
Vital Records 1725 to present:
Town Clerk
Easton Town Hall
136 Elm St.
North Easton, MA 02356
508-230-0530
Fax: 508-230-0539
Hours: Mon. 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Tues. and Thurs. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Fri. 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Vital Records 1841-1920:
Massachusetts Archives
220 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125
617-727-2816
Fax: 617-288-8429
Hours: Mon. - Fri. 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Sat. 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Vital Records 1921 to present:
Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records
150 Mount Vernon St., 1st Floor
Dorchester, MA 02125-3105
617-740-2600
Or order online:
Births
Marriages
Divorces
Deaths
Massachusetts Vital Records Information from Ancestry.com
Deeds and Probate
Bristol County Registry of Deeds - Northern District
11 Court St.
Taunton, MA 02780
508-822-0502
Fax: 508-880-4975
Hours: Mon. - Fri. 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Bristol County deed images are online at FamilySearch.org Note: Looking for deeds in this collection can be confusing as this collection contains deed images from the Taunton, New Bedford, and Fall River courthouses. I have prepared A Brief Guide to the Bristol County Deeds (1686-1900+) to help you to find the deed images that you need.
SPECIAL NOTE: You need a free login to to view the images at FamilySearch.
Bristol Probate and Family Court
40 Broadway St., Suite 240
Taunton, MA 02780
508-977-6040
Hours: Mon. - Fri. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Images of the Bristol County probate case files are online at FamilySearch.org. They are alphabetized by name. Images of the Bristol County probate record books are online at FamilySearch.org. Finding aids include indexes and docket books.
SPECIAL NOTE: You need a free login to to view the images at FamilySearch.
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Ames Free Library
53 Main St.
Easton, MA 02357
508-238-2000
Hours: Mon. and Thurs. 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Tues. and Weds. 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Fri. and Sat. 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Closed Saturdays in July and August)
Easton Historical Society
Corner of Mechanic St. and Oliver St.
P.O. Box 3
North Easton, MA 02356
508-238-7774
Old Colony History Museum
66 Church Green
Taunton, MA 02780
508-822-1622
Hours: Tues. - Sat. 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Closed on holidays and on Saturdays preceding Monday holidays
Museum Admission: Adults - $4.00, Children 12-18 and Seniors - $2.00
Genealogical Research: $7.00 per day
Massachusetts Historical Society
1154 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02215-3695
617-536-1608
Hours: Mon. - Weds. 9:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.; Thurs. 9:00 a.m. to 7:45 p.m.; Fri. 9:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.; Sat. 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Closed Sunday.
New England Historic Genealogical Society
101 Newbury St.
Boston, MA 02116-3007
617-536-5740
Fax: 617-536-7307
Library Hours: Tues. 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Weds. 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.; Thurs. - Sat. 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Closed Sun. and Mon.
The library is closed for some holidays - call or see the website for details.
For non-members there is a daily admisssion fee for the research library.
NEHGS is nation's oldest genealogical society, founded in 1845. It offers unsurpassed resources for New England research including the Boston research library of over 200,000 volumes. Members not in the Boston area appreciate their extensive online resources including all issues of The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, the nation's oldest genealogical journal, published quarterly since 1847. Online resources also include member access to vital records through 1915, an ever-growing collection of online books, and databases derived from some of the Society's immense manuscript holdings.
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Easton began as part of the land purchased by fifty-three proprietors of Taunton in 1668 [William Ladd Chaffin, History of the Town of Easton, Massachusetts (Cambridge, MA: John Wilson & Son, 1886), pp. 19-21]. In 1694 Clement Briggs became the first settler in what is now Easton, establishing his home near the current Green. The North Purchase became the town of Norton ("North Town") in 1711, and in 1713 a congregation was gathered in the eastern part of Norton. That area was incorporated as a precinct in 1722, and in 1725 became the town of Easton ("East Town").
The most notable early industry was the Ames Shovel Company which attained national prominence. The Ames family donated many landmark buildings to the town, and the estate of one family member was eventually sold to the Roman Catholic Church, becoming the nucleus of Stonehill College.
Among the many remarkable features of present-day Easton are a high percentage of land devoted to conservation and a great number of historical districts and locations.
| 1765 | (Prov.) | 837 | 1790 | (U.S.) | 1,466 | 1800 | (U.S.) | 1,550 | 1810 | (U.S.) | 1,557 | |||
| 1820 | (U.S.) | 1,803 | 1830 | (U.S.) | 1,756 | 1840 | (U.S.) | 2,074 | 1855 | (State) | 2,748 | |||
| 1860 | (U.S.) | 3,067 | 1865 | (State) | 3,076 | 1870 | (U.S.) | 3,668 | 1875 | (State) | 3,898 | |||
| 1880 | (U.S.) | 3,902 | 1885 | (State) | 3,945 | 1890 | (U.S.) | 4,493 | 1895 | (State) | 4,452 | |||
| 1900 | (U.S.) | 4,837 | 1905 | (State) | 4,909 | 1910 | (U.S.) | 5,139 | 1915 | (State) | 5,064 | |||
| 1920 | (U.S.) | 5,041 | 1925 | (State) | 5,333 | 1930 | (U.S.) | 5,298 | 1935 | (State) | 5,294 | |||
| 1940 | (U.S.) | 5,135 | 1945 | (State) | 5,723 | 1950 | (U.S.) | 6,244 | 1955 | (State) | 7,324 | |||
| 1960 | (U.S.) | 9,078 | 1965 | (State) | 10,130 | 1970 | (U.S.) | 12,157 | 1975 | (State) | 13,183 | |||
| 1980 | (U.S.) | 16,623 | 1990 | (U.S.) | 19,807 | 2000 | (U.S.) | 22,299 |
Barbara Tourtillott's Easton Web Site includes transcriptions of the Easton federal census returns for 1790, 1800, 1810 and 1850, and (still in progress) about half of the 1855 state census.
Map of Taunton North Purchase from William L. Chaffin, History of the Town of Easton, Massachusetts (Cambridge, MA: John Wilson & Son, 1886) [93.9 k].
Map of Easton ca. 1750, from William L. Chaffin, History of the Town of Easton, Massachusetts (Cambridge, MA: John Wilson & Son, 1886) showing roads and locations of houses. Warning - this is a large image [739 k].
Map of North Easton from William L. Chaffin, History of the Town of Easton, Massachusetts (Cambridge, MA: John Wilson & Son, 1886) showing individual houses and buildings in the village in 1886. Warning - this is a large image [954 k].
Old Colony Railroad Station Photographs in the Library of Congress.
Old Milestones - Photographs in the Library of Congress.
Oliver Ames Free Library Photographs in the Library of Congress.
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Commonwealth Communities page for Easton
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Massachusetts Genealogy - USGenWeb
The USGenWeb Project - Home Page
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Please note that although I was born and raised about 5 miles from Easton
I now live hundreds of miles away and do not have easy access to the town.
Email comments to Dale H. Cook.
Please visit the Plymouth Colony Pages
USGenWeb Easton, MA, commenced 23-Mar-2004.
Created and maintained by Dale H. Cook.
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Copyright © 2004-2021 by Dale H. Cook. All rights reserved.
