Ellen Stine Miller

Hingham, an historic town on the South Shore, has a rich and well-documented history and a wealth of 17th and 18th century homes, including that of Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, of Revolutionary War fame. In The History of Hingham, Massachusetts (1893), historian Walter Bouvé estimated that Hingham supplied an astonishing 600 to 750 soldiers to the war effort. Amateur researchers Ellen Miller and Susan Wetzel undertook the challenge of identifying those individuals, culminating in a book including over 850 names and sketches, illustrated with photos of homes, gravesites, and portraits. This session will start by recapping their journey with its challenges, changing objectives, sources, efforts at inclusion, and analysis of the data. It will continue with an update with new records and research that expanded our list significantly and challenged assumptions about town Loyalists. Learn how the historical society is leveraging this work and that of other researchers as part of Rev250, and learn some tips for how participants might launch their own projects.