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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.
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