Abstract The Dorchester Antiquarian and Historical Society was instituted on 27 January 1843 for the “collection and preservation of books, pamphlets, manuscripts and curiosities, bearing on the biography and history of men and things in the United States, from the earliest period”. In 1907, all records and activity of the Dorchester Antiquarian and Historical Society ceased.Account books, broadsides, correspondence, deeds, diaries, estate inventories, marriage intentions, meeting...