WHITMAN

town (township), Plymouth county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S., just east of Brockton. The site was settled about 1670, and the town of South Abington (or Little Comfort) was formed and incorporated in 1875 from parts of Abington and East Bridgewater. The name was changed in 1886 to honour Augustus Whitman, a prominent citizen. Local mills squared white oak timbers from nearby forests for use in constructing the U.S. frigate Constitution, familiarly known as Old Ironsides and launched in 1797. Town resident Colonel Aaron Hobart (who apprenticed Paul Revere) was one of the first Americans to cast cannon and church bells. Whitman is largely a residential community with a mixed economy. Area 7 square miles (18 square km). Pop. (1990) 13,240; (1996 est.) 13,743.