Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation.

 Billy “Gunner” McGunnigle, who is best known for his role in the development of the catcher’s mitt, was also the only professional league manager who led his team to back-to-back league championships in two different leagues.

Michael “King” Kelley, who lived for a time in Hingham, played for many different professional teams, including the Boston Beaneaters.  King Kelley was later inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Ted Williams, one of the greatest hitters of all time, was a part-owner of a baseball camp in Lakeville. Williams, another member of baseball’s Hall of Fame, spent many summers at various locations in Lakeville.  The former camp is now owned by the Town of Lakeville. 

To read more details about the connections these three famous atheletes have to Plymouth County, and many other notable people and places found in Plymouth County land records, click onto the Plymouth County Notable Land Records section of this website.

The meeting was an opportunity to preview or new operating system and ask general questions about the Homestead Act and other issues of mutual concern.

After the Registry of Deeds’ portion of the program, the group then had a tour of the Registry of Probate’s facilities next door by Register of Probate Robert McCarthy.

This meeting, hosted by the Registry on an annual basis, provides for a strong working relationaship between our employees and the employees of the assessors’ offices throughout Plymouth County.  In addition to the Continuing Education Credits (CEU) the assessors’ offices receive, this meeting provides for face to face interaction between our respective staffs.  Next year’s program is already in the planning stages.

This project, to be overseen by the Colonial Governor, eliminated the requirement to pass through the open water route around Gurnet Point.  Click on the Notable Records Collection listed on the bottom right corner of our website to see a more complete description and a copy of the decision.

Attorney John McCluskey, a Brockton attorney and Duxbury Harbor oyster farmer, contributed to this notable record. John and his son, Patrick, are part of the Island Creek Oysters collarborative, one of Plymouth County’s finest products.

The intended results – less paper into the mainstream trash dumpsters and a lesser environmental footprint have been achieved.  We estimate that the amount of trash going to the landfill has been reduced by two-thirds. The vendor who provides the bins also provides us with a monthly scorecard that tracks tons of paper recycled, cubic yards of landfill saved, and kilowatt hours saved, that would otherwise have been used in paper manufacturing.

Through the August report, Plymouth County has recycled 14.23 tons of paper, reduced 42.69 cubic yards of waste from landfills,  and saved 58,381 kilowatt hours of electricity that would have been used in the production of paper from trees.

The staff at all three offices deserve to be congratulated for their conscious efforts to put paper into the recycling bins as compared to trash buckets.

The Plymouth County Registry of Deeds Green Building Committee, chaired by John Zigouras, Director of Operations, continues to meet regularly to generate new green initiatives and cost saving programs.  This Friday, September 25, 2009, if you visit one of our three offices, you will see employees celebrating their most recent achievement–the adoption of an internal energy reduction program.

The potential addition of a solar field behind our Plymouth facility is currently out to bid. Responses to the Request For Qualifications (RFQ) for this and other county initiatives are due on October 28, 2009.

We also use these visits as an opportunity to speak directly with the city or town’s Assessors Office staff to make sure they are getting the information from our office in a timely manner and in the format they need to do their job.  After the Marion meeting,  Homestead Act brochures were delivered and discussions with Assessor’s staff took place at Mattapoisett Town Hall and Rochester Town Hall. These three beautiful communities, located in the southwestern corner of Plymouth County, are often overlooked as members of Plymouth County due to their many ties and proximity to New Bedford, part of Bristol County.

All three of these Plymouth County communities also have notable people and places reflected in our vast collection of land records. In fact, the newest addition to our Plymouth County Notable Land Records Collection is from the Town of Mattapoisett. Brought forward by Title Examiner, Tim McCaul, the deed to the summer home of United States Supreme Court Chief Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.,  is another important example of the history in our land records. To see Chief Justice Holmes connection to Mattapoisett and Plymouth County go to the Notable Land Records Collection on this website.

I want to thank our internal “Green Building Committee” for their work on this timely and important area.  The Committee, chaired by John Zigouras, Director of Operations; Cynthia Sykes, Department Head/Information Systems; Chris Grasso, Assistant Department Head/Recording; Sue Wood, Assistant Department Head Index/Comparing; Jim Tobin, Department Head/Customer Service and Robin McGonagle, Assistant Department Head/Land Court,  meets on a monthly basis to bring ideas forward that will improve the Registry’s environmental footprint and ultimately save the County money.

From simple things–like eliminating Styrofoam cups, reducing electrical bills by shutting off lights and computers each night, to installing a solar field behind the Plymouth Registry building, the committee brings their collective ideas forward.  We have had the strong support of the County Maintenance Department, in particular, Department Head Kevin Pooler, and Maintenance Supervisor, Jim O’Meara.  If you click on the Photo Gallery section of this website, you can see John Zigouras, Jim O’Meara and me tossing the ceremonial first bags of shredded paper into the new recycling container.  We’ll keep you posted on further progress.

In 1824, Bourne Spooner founded The Cordage Company with a charter for producing cordage, mainly ropes and cords used for rigging on ships. By 1924, The Cordage Company employed 1,779 employees including many European immigrants. The company was recognized in World War II for excellence in marine production.

The site, now called The Seaport at Cordage Park, was designated by Governor Patrick as a special growth district in 2008. For a further description of the significant impact the Plymouth Cordage Company has had on Plymouth County, please click on the Notable Records link on the home page of our website.

The property was placed on the National Registry of Historic Landmarks in 2006 as part of Pembroke’s 300th Anniversary.  For a further description and a copy of the deed, please click on the Notable Land Records Collection of this website and scroll down to Number 31.  It can also be viewed in the revolving notable land records display in the entrance corridor of our Plymouth office.

This notable land record and related information was brought forward to our volunteer Display Committee by Elizabeth (Libby) Bates, Chairman of the Friends Meetinghouse Board of Trustees,  Assessor/Appraiser for the Town of Marshfield and past President of the Plymouth County Assessors Association. Thank you Libby.