Dedham, Massachusetts in the American Revolution
The town of Dedham, Massachusetts, participated in the American Revolutionary War and the protests and actions that led up to it in a number of ways.
Townsmen joined in the boycott of British goods following the Townshend Acts, and they supported the Boston Tea Party.
[1] He began stirring up his fellow townsmen, and Town Meeting appointed a committee to draft a set of instructions to Samuel Dexter, their representative in the Great and General Court.
[3] Some of those celebrating included the Sons of Liberty, whose Dedham Chapter included Nathaniel Ames, Ebenezer Battelle, Abijah Draper, and Dr. John Sprague, as well as the Free Brothers, a similar group which included Ames, Battelle, Sam West, Manasseh Cutler, Nat Fisher, and Joseph Ellis Jr.[3] On July 22, 1766, Nathaniel Ames and the Sons of Liberty erected the Pillar of Liberty on the church green at the Corner of High and Court streets.
[4] Pitt was credited, according to the inscription on the base, of having "saved America from impending slavery, and confirmed our most loyal affection to King George III by procuring a repeal of the Stamp Act.
[Praise to God, the King, and the exceptional work of Pitt, the great- est benefactor, who plucked the republic from the jaws of Hell.
[6] After Parliament adopted the Townshend Acts, Town Meeting voted on November 16, 1767, to join in the boycott of imported goods:[7][8] ...that as this Town will in all prudent methods encourage the use of such articles as may be produced in the British American Colonies, particularly in this Province, and discourage the use of superfluities, imported from abroad, and will not purchase any article of foreign produce or manufacture of said Colonies.
[7] On March 5, 1770, the same day Parliament voted to repeal the act, Town Meeting that "we will not directly or indirectly have any commerce or dealing with those few traders... who have had so little regard to the good of their country" as to oppose the boycott.
"[9] Eleven days after the Sons of Liberty dumped tea into Boston Harbor, Town Meeting gathered to "highly approve" the actions taken by the mob and to create a Committee of Correspondence to keep in touch with other communities.
[10] They also voted that ...as so many political evils have been brought about by an unreasonable liking to the use of tea, and as we are convinced that it us baneful to the human constitution, we will do all in our power to prevent the use of it in time to come; and if any shall refuse to comply...we shall consider them as unfriendly to the liberties of the people, as well as giving flagrant proof of their own stupidity under a most grievous oppression.
[10] Parliament responded by passing the Intolerable Acts which, among other things, banned town meetings unless they were approved in advance by the governor.
[13] A general convention of delegates from every town in Suffolk County was called for August 16, 1774, at Doty's Tavern in Stoughton (today Canton).
[14] The Woodward Tavern at the corner of Ames and High Streets, where the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds sits today.
[16] In May 1774, Eliphalet Pond signed a letter with several other addressed to Governor Thomas Hutchinson that was, in the opinion of many in Dedham, too effusive in praise given the actions the British crown had recently taken on the colonies.
[20] Captain Joseph Guild's company began leaving in small groups, as soon as enough men to form a platoon had assembled.
[20] When "a croaker" claimed that it was a false alarm, Guild had him gagged and left under guard so that he could not dissuade any faint hearted men from heading off to the battle.
[22] Aaron Guild, a captain in the British Army during the French and Indian War, was plowing his fields in South Dedham (today Norwood) when he heard of the battle.
[24] He immediately "left plough in furrow [and] oxen standing" to set forth for the conflict, arriving in time to fire upon the retreating British.
As these bouts grew worse, and as her husband Jedediah, who was in Boston, did not feel he could leave his men, he and his mother brought Huntington to stay with friends in Dedham, where he could visit her frequently.
[31] Following the outbreak of hostilities, military traffic from throughout southern and western New England was "marching thick" through Dedham on their way to Boston.
[20] During the Revolution, the corner of modern-day Washington and Worthington Streets was the site of an encampment for French troops under the command of Count Rochambeau.
[36] He found their notions of liberty to be more akin to licentiousness, and asked to be transferred to congregations in Georgetown, Maine or Annapolis, Nova Scotia, but was refused by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.
[37] As his territory stretched into Stoughton, he attempted to move there but the Dedham Selectmen declared him to be a non-resident and cut off his salary from the taxes his parishioners paid.
[39] By March 1777, Clark announced that he would cease preaching; such an action was easier to swallow than eliminating prayers for the king.
"[38] The mob was upset that he had provided a letter of recommendation to a loyalist whom they had previously run out of town after stealing his farming utensils and other property.
[43][46] In May 1776, Town Meeting voted that "if the Honourable Congress should, for the safety of the Colonies, declare their independence of the Kingdom of Great Britain, they, the said Inhabitants, will solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support them in the measure.
"[47] Following the evacuation of Boston General George Washington spent the night of April 4, 1776, at Samuel Dexter's home on his way to New York.
