The area now known as Duxbury, Massachusetts was inhabited by people as early as 12,000 to 9,000 B.C. By the time European settlers arrived here, the region was inhabited by the Wampanoags, who called this place Mattakeesett, meaning "place of many fish."
In 1620, the English settlers known as the Pilgrims established their colony in Plymouth. Per the terms of their contract with financial backers in London, they were required to live together in a tight community for seven years. At the end of that term in 1627, land along the coast was alloted to settlers for farming. Thus, the coastline from Plymouth to Marshfield was parceled out, and many settlers began moving away from Plymouth.
At first, those who settled in Duxbury came to work their new farms just in the warmer months and returned to Plymouth during the winter. It was not long, however, before they began to build homes on their land, and soon requested permission from the colony to be set off as a separate community with their own church. Duxbury was incorporated in 1637.
Some of the most influential men in the colony received grants in Duxbury and became its first leaders. Captain Myles Standish, the military leader of the colony, lived in the Nook. Elder William Brewster was, for many years, the religious leader of the colony. John Alden was another important settler. His house, now a museum on Alden Street, was the site of many important meetings of the colony's leaders. The graves of some of Duxbury's first settlers can be found in the Old Burying Ground on Chestnut Street, next to the site of the original meetinghouse. (John Alden was my tenth great grandfather).
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