IN OUR OWN WORDS

In Our Own Words: The Path to Independence 1760 – 1790

 

A project to transcribe Revolutionary War-era town records, co-sponsored by the Westport Historical Society and the Dartmouth Historical and Arts Society

 

The late 1700s was an era of revolution for the American colonies. It was also a time of formation for Westport and other neighboring towns. In the decade following the Revolution, Westport separated from Dartmouth and, in 1787, was incorporated as a town, forging its own unique identity. In order to gain a deeper understanding of this region before, during, and after the Revolutionary War, we undertook a project to transcribe town meeting records of Old Dartmouth from 1760 – 1790. During this time, Old Dartmouth encompassed Westport, Dartmouth, New Bedford, Fairhaven, and Acushnet.

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Our team of volunteer transcribers journeyed through the 1760s – 1780s! They used the website FromThePage, a crowdsourcing platform for archives where they transcribed historic documents.

​We kicked off this project in December 2025 with a roundtable discussion bringing together local historians from Old Dartmouth communities to provide context and diverse perspectives. In 1776, the town meeting was called in the name of “his majesty King George III.” By 1779 the warrant came in the name of “the Government and people of the state of Massachusetts.”

 

There were many issues to explore:

 

• How did this region respond to the momentous events of the Revolutionary War?

 

• What challenges did the townspeople of the late 18th century face?

 

• How did the local Quaker community respond to the call to arms?

 

• What led to the break-up of Old Dartmouth and the move to form independent towns?

 

FAQ

 

How many pages needed to be transcribed?

About 200 pages

 

Was the handwriting difficult to read?

The documents were easy to read because the records were transcribed by hand in the early 20th century. Here is a sample:​​​