The area of the Thomas-Webster Estate is where Marshfield first began. In 1640 William Thomas was granted two square miles of land where he built a house and established a farm. His land abutted the FIRST meetinghouse, erected in 1641, where the FIRST Town Meeting has held in 1643, (considered to be one of the FIRST in America), and where the FIRST school was established in 1645, (also one of the FIRST in the country). This site is known to you as Winslow Cemetery and was the FIRST seat of Marshfield’s governmental and educational system.

The Thomas Family lived on and farmed this land for 192 years and became one of the outstanding families in Plymouth Colony and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. They served as judges, magistrates and representatives to the Great and General Court of Massachusetts.

Members of the Thomas Family also served in almost every position of town government and their names appear in nearly every town record for over 150 years.