Welcome to the library's resource guide on Eastham History & Genealogy!
This guide has links to digital archives on the Town of Eastham, genealogy databases, and additional research tools.
Please note that not all of these digital collections are housed physically in the Eastham Public Library. Many records are maintained by the Eastham Town Clerk's Office, the Eastham Historical Society, the Orleans Federated Church, and the Nauset High School.
Click here to search the CLAMS Library Catalog for physical materials on Eastham history.
For more information on our digital and physical historical collections, please contact Melanie McKenzie, Access & Technology Services Librarian at mmckenzie@clamsnet.org.
Eastham Historical Commission Property Surveys
Eastham Guidebooks
Visitors guide book for the Town of Eastham, 1958-2010, published by the Eastham Chamber of Commerce. These guides include photographs, business listings, and community information. They have also been called the "Eastham Vacationist's Handbook." Visit the Internet Archive to view the digitized guidebooks.
INDEXES:
RECORD BOOKS CONTAINING BIRTH RECORDS:
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RECORD BOOKS CONTAINING MARRIAGE RECORDS:
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RECORD BOOKS CONTAINING DEATH RECORDS:
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RECORD BOOKS CONTAINING LAND RECORDS:
LAND RECORD STUDIES:
RECORD BOOKS CONTAINING MEETING RECORDS:
RECORD BOOKS CONTAINING CIVIL WAR RECORDS:
Browse Eastham Annual Town Reports by Year
Digital Books on Eastham History:
Most of these files are hosted by the Internet Archive, a global internet library with backup files in locations around the world dedicated to offering permanent electronic access to historical collections as a means of cultural preservation.
A Comprehensive History, ecclesiastical and civil of Eastham, Wellfleet and Orleans: County of Barnstable, Mass., from 1644 to 1844 by Rev. Enoch Pratt of Brewster.
Early Settlers of Eastham: containing sketches of all early settlers of Eastham, Volume 1 (Library of Cape Cod History & Genealogy, No. 32), by Josiah Paine, 1916.
Early Settlers of Eastham: containing sketches of all early settlers of Eastham, Volume 2 (Library of Cape Cod History & Genealogy, No. 33), by Josiah Paine, 1916.
Ancient Eastham, Massachusetts, two lists of those proprietors there in seventeen hundred and fifteen, by Edward Leodore Smith, 1913.
The history of Cape Cod: the annals of Barnstable County, including the district of Mashie, in two volumes, by Frederick Freeman, 1858.
The history of Barnstable County, 1620-1890, edited by Simeon L. Deyo, 1890.
Mourt's Relation or journal of the plantation at Plymouth, by William Bradford, Edmond Winslow. The Henry Martin Dexter edition, JK Wiggin, 1865.
Of Plimoth Plantation, by William Bradford, Wright & Potter, 1899.
Sparrow Family Genealogy by Sarah Sparrow, 1888.
The Story of the 'First Encounter' at Nauset by Ian Saxine, 2019. View the video of Dr. Saxine's October 2019 presentation at Salt Pond Visitors Center.
The Walter E Babbit papers 1678-1895. Correspondence, church pew and real estate deeds, indentures, wills and escape papers, maritime records, petitions, town warrants, church and school records, transcripts of records (1790-1791, 1911) of Brewster Congregational Church, genealogical data, and other materials, chiefly relating to Cape Cod history, people, organizations, businesses and events. Includes information pertaining to towns of Brewster, Chatham, Dennis, and Eastham.
Atlas of the boundaries of the towns of Barnstable, Brewster, Chatham, Dennis, Eastham... by the Board of Harbor Land Commissioners, Massachusetts, 1907.
The Federated Church of Orleans can trace its history back to 1646. In that year, seven households from Plymouth Colony formed a Congregational Society and built their first meetinghouse-fort in what was then known as Nauset, now called Eastham. In 1718, the town and Congregational Society built a new meetinghouse structure on the present-day site of the Federated Church of Orleans. This structure remained until 1829, when it was replaced with the present-day building.
In 1838, a group of members left to form the Universalist Society. Over 100 years later, in 1939, the Universalist and Congregational Societies united to form the Federated Church of Orleans. The united Church continued to use the 1829 building, which had been expanded and renovated in 1889. In 1968, the Federated Church of Orleans saw its final renovation, with the addition of classrooms, offices, and meeting rooms.
The Federated Church of Orleans is a distinct point of pride, both for the congregation and for the towns that once created Nauset/Eastham. The Federated Church is now an Open and Affirming Congregation affiliated with the United Church of Christ (UCC) and the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). The Church celebrated its 350th anniversary in 1996, and in 2018 celebrated the 300th anniversary of moving to the current building site.
Digitized Records:
Margaret Bready was born Margaret Ethel Pearl on February 17, 1908 at home at Spring Street, Brockton, Massachusetts. Not much is known of her childhood or young adulthood. On July 14, 1939 she was married in Taneytown, located in Caroll County, Maryland by the Rev. Guy Bready, a relative of the groom, to Richard Hugh Bready, becoming his second wife. Richard Bready was the son of Rev. Russell Herbert and Mary Elizabeth (Richards) Bready.
Margaret and Richard had no children together. They moved in 1986 to Eastham, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. Margaret was 78 at the time. She spent the better part of the rest of her life compiling copious notes on genealogies of families associated with Eastham. Her accomplishment included family names of almost every letter of the alphabet, all handwritten by her personally. She died in Eastham on June 11, 1995 at the age of 87.
The Margaret Bready Collection is maintained by the Eastham Historical Society. This prolific "detective" of genealogy is the Historical Society's main source for helping those who visit searching out their family ancestry. To contact the Historical Society directly, please email them at easthamarchives@gmail.com.
Collection Contents:
Volume 1 - Abbey, Abbot, Adams, Adcock, Alden, Algore, Allen, Allyn, Andrews, Anniball, Arnold, Ashby, Ashley, Atkins, Attwood, Austin, Avery, Averill, Averell;
Volume 2 - Bailey, Baker, Baker House Wellfleet, Baldwin, Ballard, Balsh, Bang, Bardwell, Barker, Barlow, Barnard, Bartlett, Basset, Batchelder, Bachellor, Balch'lor, Bachiler, Bateman, Bates, Bayford, Bell, Benjamin, Bennett, Berry, Betts, Bisbee, Bishop, Bills, Blackmer, Blackmore, Blake, Blossom, Boreman, Barman, Bordman, Boardman, Bosworth, Bourne, Bower, Brace, Dickinson family, Bradford, Bradley, Picture of Agawam, Ipswich Memorial, Bradstreet (Insert), Bready, Bragden (Insert) Brawn;
Volume 3 - Breed, Bresip, Brewer, Brewster(Insert), Bridge, Bridges, Briggs, Brightman, Brock, Brooks, Brown(e), Bryant, Bunker, Burbeen, Burgess(insert), Burrell, Burrows, Burt(Insert), Brisby, Buswell, Bylam;
Volume 4 - Canfield, Carpenter, Carter, Cary (Carry), Cathart, Chamberlain, Chandler, Charles, Chase, Cheney, Cheseborough, Chick, Child, Chillingworth, Chipman, Chittenden, Church, Clark, Clement, Cleveland, Cobb, Codman, Coffin, Coit (Coyte), Coles, Colby, Small, Cole, Coleman, Collier, Collins, Connors, Cooke, Cooper, Cotton, Crisp, Covel (Covell), Cowles, Crocker, Crosby (Insert Crosby Mansion, 19th Century), Crossman,Crow Crowell, Culver, Currier, Curtis, Cushing, Cushman;
Volume 5 - Dane, Darling, Davies, Davis, Dawson, Deacon, Dean(e), Dearborn, Deering, Delanoye, Delano, Deming, Denison, Dennet (Dennett), Dewey, Dexter, Diamond, Dibble, Dickinson, Dillingham, Dimmick (Dymoke, Dimmock), Dingley, Divoll, Doane, Dogget, Doty, Douglas, Shepherd, Dow, Downam (Downham, Dunham), Dowman, Downes, Dowus (Downes) Downs, Dreper (Dreeper), Dudley, Dutcher, Dyer (Dyre), Eaton, Eddy, Elmer, Eldred (Eldridge, Eldritch, Aldredge),Ellis, Elmer (Elmore), Emerson, Emery, Enos, Evans, Everett, Everts;
Volume 6 - Freeman, Edmund and Samuel;
Volume 7 - Fairbanks, Farwell, Faireweather, Fall, Fearing, Fernald, Finch, Fish, Fiske, Fitch, Floyd, Folger, Fonda, Foote, Ford, Foster, Franklin, French, Frink, Frost, Fuller, Gage, Gallup, Gardner, Garland, Gawkroger, Greer, Gibbons, Gilbert, Gibbs, Gifford, Gilbert(s), Gibbs, Gifford, Gill, Gilman, Godfrey, Goodrich, Gorham, Gould, Goold, Grant, Graves, Gray, Greensleaf, Greensleets, Greenslee, Greenleaf, Guild, Gullefer, Guptill;
Volume 8 - Hall, Hale, Hamblen, Hamlin, Hallenbeeck, Hallenbeck, Hallett, Hamlen, Hamblen, Hammond, Hamonde, Hanchett, Hancock, Harding, Harlow, Harmon, Harriman, Harris, Harrison, Hart, Haskell, Hastings, Hatch, Hawks, Haydeninsert, Hayden Memorial Stone, Hayward, Hazeltine, Heard, Heath, Hedge, Henley, Henley, Henney, Henry, Herrick, Hewet, Hewett, Hewitt, Hicks, Higgins, Hinckley, Hobbs, Hodges, Hodgkin, Hogeboon, Holbrook, Holmes, Holt, Holton, Holyoke, Hooke, Hooker, Hopkins, Hopkinson, Hopson, Horton, Houghton, Hoskins, Houghton, Howes, Howlands, Huckins, Hucking, Hunt, Huntress, Hurd, Hurlburt, Hussey, Hutchinson, Hoxie;
Volume 9 - Ingalls, Ingersoll, Jacobs, Jaques, Jaquish, Jenckes, Jencks, Jenks, Jenkins, Jewett, Johnson, Jones, Judson, Kellogg, Kenny, Kezer, Kezar, Kesar, Keyser, Keaser, Killam, Kimball, Kirby, Knickerbocker, Knight; Knowles, Knowlton, Nock, Nocke, Nox, Noax, Knox, Lamberton, Lane, Langdon, Langston, Lawrence, Leighton, Lear, Lewis, Libby, Lincoln, Linnell, Linal, Linel, Littlefield, Livingston, Lombard, Lumbert, Lockermans, Loomis, Lord, Loring, Lothrop, Lovejoy, Lowe, Lumpkin, Lymans, Macy, Marche, Marsh, Martin, Martyn, Mason, Maverick, May, Mayhew, Mayo, Mead, Meyrick, Merrick, Merril, Miller, Minkler, Miner, Molyneax, Morey, Morrill, Morse, Morton, Mourt, Moses, Moulthrop(e), Moulton, Mousall, Moyce, Muller, Mulder;
Volume 10 -- Knowles Family;
Volume 11- Newcomb, Newell, Newton, Nickerson, Nims, Northam, Northerd, Nye, Ogden, Old, Osgood, Otis;
Volume 12--Pabodie, Pabody, Peobody, Pebody Packer, Paddock, Page, Paine, Painter, Palmer, Paigrave, Park, Parke, Parkhurst, Partridge, Pearson, Peasley, Peck, Pengilly, Perham, Perkins, Perry, Peterson, Phitbrick, Phillips, Phinney, Pierce, Pitcher, Pitkin, Plumb, Plummer, Plumer, Poole, Poor, Porter, Potter, Pray, Prence, Prescott, Prichard, Puddington, Pudinton, Purrington, Putinton, Purifoy; letter to Mrs. Bready, 3 letters mostly dealing with the Prays;
Volume 13 - Randall, Randolph, Ranney, Redington, Reeve, Remick, Remmick, Rhodes, Rich, Richardson, Ricker, Ring, Roberts, Robinson, Rogers, Roosevelt, Rose, Ross, Roos, Rowell, Rowley, Rugg, Russell, Rust; back cover info on Rose, Newhall;
Volume 14- Safford, Samson family (Sampson), Sargent, Savage, Sawar, Thomas, Sawyer, Skott, Scott, Scotto, Scotbury, Seabtny, Searle, Searl, Sayer, Sares, Sears, Shakespeare, Shatswell, Shaw, Shawe, Sheldon, Shepley, Sherburne, Shorey, Simmons, Singletary, Skiff, Skiffe, Smalley, Small, Smead, Smith, Smyth, Snow, Soule, Southworth;
Volume 15-- Sparrow, Richard; Spelinan, Richard; Spofford, John; Spooner, William; Sprague, John; Standish, Lawrence; Stanley, Timothy; Starbuck, Edward; Stetson, Robert; Stevens, Henry; Stevens, Richard; Stevens, William; Stickney, William; Stinson, James; Stockton, Thomas; Stone; Storrs, William; Stoughton, Thomas; Strain, Samuel; Stratton, Samuel; Strong, George; Strum Christopher; Sweet, John; Suydam, Eurciam; Swift;
Volume 16--Tisdale, John; Taber, Philip; Tainter, Tayntor, Taintor; Tarbell, Thomas; Taylor, John; Thayer. John; Thomas, David; Thompson, Miles; Thorne, Thomas; Tibbetts, Tebbetts; Tidy, Robert; Tilden, Richard; Tinkham; Tisdale, John; Tobey, Thomas; Tomson, John; Torrey, William; Tousley, Towsley; Tracey, Tracy; Treat, Robert; Tripe, Sylvanus; Trowbridge, Thomas; Trumbull, John; Tuck; Tucker, Morris; Tully; Tupper, Richard; Turner, Humphrey; Twinning, Williams; Twisden, Thomas; Twombley, Ralph; Tyler, Job; Utley, Sameul; Valler, Vallier; Van Alen; Van Deusen; Vickery, George; Vincent, John;
Volume 17--Wadsworth, Christopher; Waite, John; Walker, William; Wall, David Sr; Warburton;Wardell, William; Warner, Andrew; Warren, Nathaniel; Washington; Waterman, Thomas; Webber; Webster, John; Weeks; Wells, Thomas; Wentworth, William; West, Francis; West, Nicholas; Weston, Edmund; Whatlock; Wheeler, Dominick; Wheldon, Gabriel; Whitcomb, John; White, Alexander; White, Robert; White, Nicholas; White, Thomas; White, William; Whitmore, Francis; Whitney, John; Whitney, Thomas; Whittemore, Thomas; Whittier, Richard;
Volume 18 - Miscellaneous Information: Where to Write for records; Abbreviations and Definitions; Bibliography; Cemeteries; Census; Genealogy; History, etc; Libraries; Miscellaneous Information;
Coming Soon: Volume 19 - - Tully, Gordon; O'Donnel, William; The Original Proprietors (Booklet); Paine, Thomas; Coats of Arms; Bready, Margaret Pearl; Ellis Family; Bonnell, Phillip; Sandwich Early Settlers; Swift, Samuel; Bartlett, Robert; Jones; Jenn and Rose Genealogy; Julian and Gregory Calendar; Hollanders who helped to build America; Planter of the Mass Bay Colony; Vital records of Orleans MA; Kendrick Genealogy; Miscellaneous Genealogies: Allen, Bartlett, Batten, Bunker, Coffin, Daniel, Ellis, Folger, Gardner, Godfrey, Granger, Greenway, Macy, Millett, Pierce, Starbuck, Swaine, Tobey, Wales;
Volume 20 - -Miscellaneous Genealogies—Allen, Bartlett, Batten, Bunker, Coffin, Daniel. Ellis, Folger, Gardner, Godfrey, Granger, Greenway, Macy, Millett, Pierce, Starbuck, Swaine, Tobey, Wales