History of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1635–1699
In 1635 there were rumors in the Massachusetts Bay Colony that a war with the local native people was impending and a fear arose that the few, small, coastal communities that existed were in danger of attack.
[1][3] Together, Dedham and Concord they helped relieve the growing population pressure and placed communities between the larger, more established coastal towns and the Indians further west.
[5] The original grant was for about 3.5 square miles (9.1 km2) on the northeast side of the Charles River, including what is today Newton and land on the other shore the makes up roughly half of present-day Dedham, Needham, Westwood, and Dover.
[10] Instead, the colony gave them over "two hundred square miles of virgin wilderness, complete with lakes, hills, forests, meadows, Indians, and a seemingly endless supply of rocks and wolves.
[25] Dedham was settled in the summer of 1636 by "about thirty families excised from the broad ranks of the English middle classes," largely from Yorkshire and East Anglia.
West, east, and north we turned on that same meadow and progressed none, so that I, rising in the boat, saw the river flowing just across a bit of grass, in a place where I knew we had passed through nigh an hour before.
[39] The commitment in the Covenant to allow only like-minded individuals to live within the town explains why "church records show no instances of dissension, Quaker or Baptist expulsions, or witchcraft persecutions.
[62] When a committee dispatched to evaluate land granted in return for 2,000 acres given to the "praying Indians" of Natick submitted a bill for their expenses in 1663, it was a sign that the days of performing community service without expectation of financial reward were over.
[70] A few young men without families set off to spend the winter there, including Nicholas Phillips, Ezekiel Holliman, and likely Ralph Shepard, John Rogers, Lambert Genere, Joseph Shaw, and the Morses.
[37] They swore they would "in the fear and reverence of our Almighty God, mutually and severally promise amongst ourselves and each to profess and practice one truth according to that most perfect rule, the foundation whereof is ever lasting love.
[93] The whole town would gather regularly to conduct public affairs, but it was "found by long experience that the general meeting of so many men ... has wasted much time to no small damage and business is thereby nothing furthered.
[18][138][139][140] A "tender" search for a minister took an additional several months, and finally John Allin, who was the leader of the small group of church members, was ordained as pastor.
[149] As a result, though a large number of preachers came on a guest basis, and even though several young men were offered the pulpit, the church could not find a minister to settle with them permanently.
[21] The early residents of Dedham were so committed to education that they donated £4.6.6 to Harvard College during its first eight years of existence, a sum greater than many other towns, including Cambridge itself.
[174] There were fewer deaths as well, partially due to Dedham being spared disease, famine, and extreme climate events that ravaged parts of Europe during this time.
[195] The practice was intended to both keep up the family labor system that underpinned the local economy, and was to prevent the "sin and iniquity ... [that] are the companions and consequences of a solitary life.
[199] New settlements, which grew into separately incorporated towns, were established for several reasons, including to serve as a buffer between the native peoples and the village of Dedham.
[207] Zachariah Smith was passing through Dedham on April 12, 1671, when he stopped at the home of Caleb Church in the "sawmill settlement" on the banks of the Neponset River.
[211] Plymouth Colony governor Josiah Winslow and Captain Benjamin Church rode from Boston to Dedham to take charge of the 465 infantrymen and 275 cavalry assembling there and together departed on December 8, 1675, for the Great Swamp Fight.
[207] In the middle of the 17th century the Reverend John Eliot converted many of the native people in the area to Christianity and taught them how to live a stable, agrarian life.
[218] John Allin assisted Elliot in his work, and it is probably through his influence that Dedham agreed to give up 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of what is today Natick to the "praying Indians in 1650.
[219] The natives, who did not hold the same notions of private property as the colonists, settled on the south side of the river and set traps within the bounds of Dedham.
[220][219] The town's actions in the case were characterized by "deceptions, retaliations, and lasting bitterness," and they harassed their native neighbors with petty accusations event after the matter was settled.
[223] The majority of present-day Medfield had been granted to Dedham in 1636, but the lands on the western bank of the Charles River had been meted out by the General Court to individuals.
[236] There is no record of Phillip's response to that entreaty but, in August 1669,[r] the Town Fathers received an odd letter from him offering to negotiate for more land if they would quickly send him a "holland shirt.
[249] The Avery Oak, which was over 16' in circumference, survived the New England Hurricane of 1938 to be toppled by a violent thunderstorm in 1973; the Town Meeting Moderator's gavel was carved out of it.
[251] Meadowland was in high demand to raise cattle, and the rich meadows along the Charles River were a major factor in choosing the location to settle in the first place.
[234][v] In 1637 Jonathan Fairbanks signed the town Covenant and was allotted 12 acres (49,000 m2) of land to build his home, which today is the oldest house in North America.
[208] During the 1689 Boston revolt, Fisher grabbed Governor Edmund Andros by the collar and placed him under arrest, both to protect him from a mob and to ensure that he stood trial.
[262] A group of notable clergy from around the colony, including Dedham's John Allin, wrote a petition to the General Court in 1671 complaining that the lawmakers were contributing to anti-clerical sentiment.
