Editing Lakeville, Massachusetts (section)

=== 18th century to present ===
The first recorded non-native settlement of Lakeville was in 1705 by a man named Peirce, "whose descendants are very numerous." Lakeville was settled on a larger scale in 1717 as a western parish of [[Middleborough, Massachusetts|Middleborough]]. It was incorporated as a separate town in 1853. One notable resident from Lakeville who fought in the [[American Revolution]] was a [[Wampanoag]] man named Benjamin Simonds, who was an [[aide-de-camp]] to [[George Washington]] at [[Valley Forge]], who died in either 1831 or 1836. He was likely a part of one of the two militias from Lakeville, the Pond Militia Company or the Beech Woods Company of Minutemen. They were combined into Middleborough's Fourth Company of Foot, in which he served. He ended up becoming a local celebrity, both because of his service and because he was the last fully Wampanoag person to live on [[Assawompset Pond]].<ref name="Ben Simonds, Revolutionary War hero: With George Washington at Valley Forge">{{Cite web| url=https://www.southcoasttoday.com/special/20190726/ben-simonds-revolutionary-war-hero-with-george-washington-at-valley-forge| title=Ben Simonds, Revolutionary War hero: With George Washington at Valley Forge| publisher=South Coast Today| access-date=March 17, 2021| archive-date=April 11, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411185933/https://www.southcoasttoday.com/special/20190726/ben-simonds-revolutionary-war-hero-with-george-washington-at-valley-forge| url-status=dead}}</ref>

Ninety-one men from Lakeville served in the [[American Civil War]], eighty-five in the army and six in the navy. Three churches have been built in the town, the first in 1725, the second in 1751 and the third one in 1835.<ref name="History of Lakeville Massachusetts">{{Cite web| url=https://accessgenealogy.com/massachusetts/history-of-lakeville-massachusetts.htm| title=History of Lakeville Massachusetts| date=January 13, 2013| publisher=[[Access Genealogy]]| access-date=March 17, 2021}}</ref>  [[Ocean Spray (cooperative)|Ocean Spray]] is headquartered in Lakeville.