Bristol was originally considered part of Plymouth Colony, then Massachusetts, and, finally in 1746/1747, Rhode Island. The town was a major boat-building center and "became one of the most important ports in New England." "Many of these early Bristol settlers were the sons of original immigrants to Plymouth Colony in the Cape Cod area, or of] Lynn, Ipswich, and Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Some of these families stayed in Bristol for one or more generations before their children or grandchildren moved on to Connecticut and New York State." Settlement in the mid-western states...