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Watson Museum and Research Library
85 Quincy Avenue, Braintree, MA 02184
781-843-1518
Email:
JFahey@BraintreeHistorical.org
10:00 A.M.- 4:00 P.M. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and
Saturday
For library and research inquiries, please call for appointment.
50 seat
Function /Meeting Room with kitchenette available. For reservations
call or Email.
This
facility once a branch of the
Thayer
Public Library was transferred to the Braintree Historical Society in 2004. The
building was constructed in 1968 on the former site of the
Fore River Engine and Ship Building
Company(1883-1900) that was founded by
Thomas A. Watson, co-inventor
of the telephone with Alexander Graham Bell. Mr. Watson constructed various
sailing vessels and two US destroyers, including the Diamond Shoals Light Ship.
At this point orders for other ships were starting to back up and exceeded the
capacity of the small yard and river location. The company moved to nearby
Quincy, the present day site of the Quincy Ship Yard. Mr. Watson continued as
the principal owner until 1904 when the expanded company was taken over by other
interest with greater financial means.
The
mission of the Watson Museum is to collect, preserve and provide access to
original documents, manuscripts, records, books, files and artwork for
residents of Braintree, as well as students and scholars, and those with an
interest in local, state, U.S., and foreign history. The following listings are
divided into three sections Braintree Records, Military Holdings, and Displays:
Braintree Records and Files
Braintree Town Records from 1640 to present day; listing of residents; school
records and year books, marriage, birth, death, and church records; estates;
town histories; business and industry; prominent citizens; organizations;
monuments and memorials; libraries; individuals; disasters; memorial events;
ship building; railways; commissions; assessors records; ice cutting; waterways,
ponds, lakes, rivers, and dams; historic sites; biographies; and genealogy.
Photographs, past and present: military; patriotic; organizations; clubs;
business and industries; political figures; individuals and families; all town
departments; cemeteries and gravestones; monuments ands memorials; waterways,
ponds, lakes, rivers, and dams; historic sites; farms; ice cutting; ship yards;
events; streets, roads, avenues, and squares; homes, an estates; and parades.
Maps,
Plans, and Prints, past and present: military; posters; presidential documents;
communities; real estate; civilian and military figures; artwork, and
fortifications.
Newspapers, past and present: a large collection of Braintree newspapers from
the early 1800’s , and other towns, states, and countries, which includes
military publications.
Books: A
large collection of genealogy and immigration records covering the U.S. and
foreign countries of the early periods of immigration; Records of the Governor
and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England from 1628 to 1686; Letters
and Delegates to Congress, 1775-1798; Memorial Histories of Boston, 1630-1680;
biographies; historical organizations; business and industries; churches;
schools; homes; antiques; trades; bibles; diaries; post cards; journals; and
magazines.
Military Holdings
Naval Documents, American Revolution, 1774-1776, 9 volumes.
Naval Documents, Quasi-War Operations, 1797-1801, 7 volumes.
Naval Documents, Barbary War Operations, 1785-1807, 6 volumes.
War of the Rebellion, Official Records of the Union & Confederate Armies, Civil
War, 160 volumes, including 31 volumes of the Union and Confederate Navies.
Military Registers:
Soldiers in King Philips War, 1620-1677, Massachusetts, Plymouth, and
Connecticut.
Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the
Rebellion, 1775-1783.
Massachusetts Officers in the French and Indian Wars, 1748-1763.
List of Officers of the U.S. Army, 1776-1900.
Official Army List of the Western States, 1862, Ill, Ind, Wis, Min, Mich, Iowa,
Missouri, Kan, Neb, and Colorado.
Historical Register and Dictionary of the U.S. Army, 1798-1903, 2 Volumes.
Records of the Massachusetts Militia in the War of 1812-14.
Massachusetts in the Army and the Navy, 1861-1865, 2 volumes.
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company and Record.
Military Academy West Point Graduation Classes, registers of students.
Who’s Who in the Military.
Customs, and Traditions in the Military
Grand Army of the Republic Reports of Encampments.
Woman’s Relief Corps, Annual Reports.
American Legion Reports.
Dictionary of American Fighting Ships and Submarines; U-Boat related subject as
to losses, action reports, operations off U.S. Coast, biographies of U-Boat
captains, log books, captures, surrenders, and interrogations.
U.S. Coast Guard books, files, photographs, and reports of operations in peace
and war.
U.S. Air Force/USAAC histories; lineages; losses; action reports; nose art and
plane nick names.
U.S. Army histories; lineages; order of battle, action reports; harbor defenses
and fortifications; books, files; journals; division and regimental histories
covering all periods of war and conflict.
U.S. Marine Corps: histories; lineages; order of battle; action reports;
division and regimental histories covering all periods of war and conflict.
U.S. Merchant Marines: Cargoes; losses; casualties; positions of sinking;
rosters; history of the U.S. Armed Guard serving with the US Merchant Marines.
Books, manuals, journals, files on all Armed Forces of the U.S. in peace and
war.
Identification of ordnance and edged weapons; mines, torpedoes; uniforms;
medals; awards and decorations; statistics, foreign military equipment;
espionage; missile sites; black history all periods; animals in war, and their
use.
National Guard publications, files, bases; operations, in peace and war.
Medical and surgical information.
A large collection of photographs covering U.S. and foreign troops from the U.S.
Civil War to Vietnam.
Displays:
A display of military artifacts of various periods of war, and includes
artifacts, documents, manuscripts, and artwork from the estate of
Thomas A. Watson.
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