Image of Justin Winsor at age 19 as a freshman at Harvard. Around the same time, Winsor also published his first book, A History of the Town of Duxbury (1849). This book is still often used by researchers of Duxbury’s history.

Winsor never completed his education at Harvard, leaving his senior year to study abroad. In 1855, married Caroline Tufts Barker (1830-1911). He would go on to lead the Boston Public Library, and help found the American Library Association. He is widely accepted as one of the fathers of modern library science. He served as Harvard’s librarian for twenty years between 1877-1897.

Justin Winsor was the son of Nathaniel Winsor III and Ann Thomas Howland Winsor, and grandson of Nathaniel Winsor Jr. Nathaniel Winsor, Jr.’s home is today the headquarters of the Duxbury Rural & Historical Society (479 Washington Street).