The Dedham Covenant was a covenant that governed the early settlement of Dedham, Massachusetts. It mandated that only those with similar, Puritan, community values could live in the town and set about a method for mediating disputes. It also required each resident to pay their fair share of taxes for the common good. Eventually 125 men would sign the covenant.

Background

In 1635 there were rumors in the Massachusetts Bay Colony that a war with the local Indians was impending and a fear arose that the few, small, coastal communities that existed were in danger of attack.[1] This, in addition to the belief that the few towns that did exist were too close together, prompted the Massachusetts General Court to establish two new inland communities, Dedham and Concord.[1][2][3]

As Puritans, the first settlers came to Massachusetts in order to live and worship as they pleased.[4] While they were subject to the General Court, they had wide latitude to establish a local government as they saw fit.[2] The first public meeting of the plantation was held on August 18, 1636.[5][a] A total of 18 men were present, and the town covenant was signed.[6] The covenant outlined both the social ideal they hoped to achieve and the policies and procedures they would use to reach it.[7] Eventually, 125 men would ascribe their names to the document.[8] In 1636, there were 30 signers. In 1637, there were 46. By 1656, 79 men put their names on the document.[9]

The Covenant was intended to extend beyond the lifetimes of those who wrote it and to be binding upon all residents in perpetuity.[10] The Covenant was no longer enforced nor served as the guide for every decision by the time the town reached its 50th anniversary.[11] It lasted well into the second generation which was, according to one commentator, "longer than anyone had a right to expect".[12]

Commitment to shared ideals

The covenant stipulated that only those "may be probably of one heart with us," in essence those who held the same Puritan Christian beliefs, could be admitted to the community.[13] 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."[8] While it was drafted by the first settlers of the town, new members would be admitted on an equal footing if they held the same community values.[14]

None who were not committed to this ideal,[15] nor those considered morally unfit,[16] were to be admitted as townsmen. If the need arose, they were to be expelled.[15] 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."[1]

The requirement to only allow those who were of a similar mind made it easier to lived a shared ideal.[17][14] The goal was to create a godly community, thus ensuring that God's favor would be upon them.[17] It was not to be a theocracy, however, as colonial law prohibited clergy from serving as civil officers.[18] The church and the civil society were largely separate institutions.[18]

Mediation

The Covenant mandated mediation when disputes arose between residents.[19] While great effort was taken to ensure disagreements were resolved before they grew into disputes,[20] the covenant also stipulated that differences would be submitted to between one and four other members of the town for resolution.[8][21] They "eschew[ed] all appeals to law and submit[ted] all disputes between them to arbitration."[22][14] This arbitration system was so successful there was no need for courts.[23] The same system was used to resolve disputes with other towns.[20]

As a result, residents were sometimes expected to endure unpleasant situations for the greater good in a self-sacrificial way.[19] Once a decision was made, all were to abide by it with no further dissent or debate.[10] For the first fifty years of Dedham's existence, there were no prolonged disputes that were common in other communities.[24]

Signers

The Covenant was first signed on August 15, 1636. Five signers of the covenant, John Allen, Thomas Carter, Timothy Dalton, Samuel Morse, and Ralph Wheelock, were university graduates.[4]

The 125 signatories of the Covenant, in the order in which they signed, are:[25]

  1. Robert Feake
  2. Edward Alleyn
  3. Samuel Morse
  4. Philemon Dalton
  5. John Dwight
  6. Lambert Generye
  7. Richard Euered [Everett]
  8. Ralph Shepheard
  9. John Huggin
  10. Ralph Wheelock
  11. Thomas Cakebread
  12. Henry Phillips
  13. Timothie Dalton
  14. Thomas Carter
  15. Abraham Shawe
  16. John Coolidge
  17. Nicholas Phillips
  18. John Gaye
  19. John Kingsbury
  20. John Rogers
  21. Francis Austen
  22. Ezekiel Holliman
  23. Joseph Shawe
  24. William Bearstowe
  25. John Haward
  26. Thomas Bartlet
  27. Ferdinandoe Adams
  28. Daniell Morse
  29. Joseph Morse
  30. John Ellice
  31. Jonathan Fairbanks
  32. John Eaton
  33. Michaell Metcalfe
  34. John Morse
  35. John Allin
  36. Anthony Fisher
  37. Thomas Wight
  38. Eleazer Lusher
  39. Robert Hinsdell
  40. John Luson
  41. John Fisher
  42. Thomas Fisher
  43. Joseph Kingsberye
  44. John Batchelor
  45. Nathaniell Coaleburne
  46. John Roper
  47. Martin Philips
  48. Henry Smyth
  49. John Fraerye
  50. Thomas Hastings
  51. Francis Chickering
  52. Thomas Alcock
  53. William Bullard
  54. Jonas Humphery
  55. Edward Kempe
  56. John Hunting
  57. Tymothie Dwight
  58. Henry Deengaine
  59. Henry Brocke
  60. James Hering
  61. Nathan Aldus
  62. Edward Richards
  63. Michaell Powell
  64. John Elderkine
  65. Michaell Bacon
  66. Robert Onion
  67. Samuell Milles
  68. Edward Colver
  69. Thomas Bayes
  70. George Bearstowe
  71. John Bullard
  72. Thomas Leader
  73. Joseph Moyes
  74. Jeffery Mingeye
  75. James Allin
  76. Richard Barber
  77. Thomas Jordan
  78. Joshua Fisher
  79. Christopher Smith
  80. John Thurston
  81. Joseph Clarke
  82. Thomas Eames
  83. Peter Woodward
  84. Thwaits Strickland
  85. John Guild
  86. Samuell Bulleyne
  87. Robert Gowen
  88. Hugh Stacey
  89. George Barber
  90. James Jordan
  91. Nathaniell Whiteing
  92. Beniamine Smith
  93. Richard Ellice
  94. Austen Kalem
  95. Robert Ware
  96. Thomas Fuller
  97. Thomas Payne
  98. John Fayerbanke
  99. Henry Glover
  100. Thomas Hering
  101. John Plimption
  102. George Fayerbanke
  103. Tymoth Dwight
  104. Andr Duein
  105. Joseph Ellice
  106. Ralph Freeman
  107. Joh: Rice
  108. Danll Ponde
  109. John Hovghton
  110. Jonathan Fayerbank Jr.
  111. James Vales
  112. Thomas Metcalfe
  113. Robert Crossman
  114. William Avery
  115. John Aldus
  116. John Mason
  117. Isaac Bullard
  118. Cornelus Fisher
  119. John Partridge
  120. James Draper
  121. James Thorpe
  122. Samuell Fisher
  123. B. Benjamin Bullard
  124. Ellice W. Woode
  125. Thomas Fisher

Text

I The Society Covenant in these terms, viz.

1. We whose names are hereunto subscribed, do in the fear and reverence of our almighty God, mutually and severally promise amongst ourselves and each to other, to profess and practice one faith, according to that most perfect rule, the foundation whereof is everlasting love.

2. That we shall by all means labor to keep off from us, all such as are contrary minded; and receive only such unto us, as be such, as may be probably of one heart with us; as that we either know, or may well and truly be informed to walk in a peaceable conversation with all meekness of spirit, for the edification of each other in the knowledge and faith of the Lord Jesus; and the mutual encouragement unto all temporal comforts in all things; seeking the good of each other, of all which may be derived true peace.

3. That if at any time difference shall arise between parties of our said town, that then such party and parties, shall presently refer all such difference unto one, two, or three others of our said society, to be fully accorded and determined, without any further delay if it possibly may be.

4. That every man that now, or any time hereafter, shall have lots in our town, shall pay his share in all such rates of money and charges as shall be ims upon him rateably in proportion with other men, as also become freely subject unto all such orders and constitutions, as shall be necessarily had or made, now at any time hereafter from this day forward, as well for loving and comfortable society in our said town, as also for the prosperous and thriving condition of our said fellowship, especially respecting the fear of God, in which we desire to g and continue, whatsoever we shall by his loving favor take in hand.

5. And for the better manifestation of our true resolution herein, every man so received, to subscribe hereunto his name, thereby obliging both himself and his successors after him for ever as we have done.[26]

Notes

  1. ^ Barber has the date as August 15, 1636.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c "A Capsule History of Dedham". Dedham Historical Society. 2006. Archived from the original on October 6, 2006. Retrieved November 10, 2006.
  2. ^ a b Lockridge 1985, p. 4.
  3. ^ Lockridge 1985, p. 94.
  4. ^ a b Smith 1936, p. 11.
  5. ^ Lockridge 1985, p. 8.
  6. ^ a b Barber 1848, p. 455.
  7. ^ Lockridge 1985, p. 5.
  8. ^ a b c "The Dedham Covenant". A Puritan's Mind. 1636. Archived from the original on 2006-12-17. Retrieved 2006-11-27.
  9. ^ Lockridge 1985, p. 9.
  10. ^ a b Lockridge 1985, p. 7.
  11. ^ Lockridge 1985, p. 89.
  12. ^ Lockridge 1985, p. 90.
  13. ^ Brown & Tager 2000, p. 38.
  14. ^ a b c Lutz 1998, pp. 68–70.
  15. ^ a b Lockridge 1985, pp. 5–6.
  16. ^ Barkalow 2004, p. 492.
  17. ^ a b Woods, Thomas E. (4 January 2004). The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. Simon & Schuster. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-59698-040-2. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  18. ^ a b Lockridge 1985, p. 23.
  19. ^ a b Barkalow 2004, p. 495.
  20. ^ a b Lockridge 1985, p. 14.
  21. ^ Lockridge 1985, p. 6.
  22. ^ Mansbridge 1980, p. 134.
  23. ^ Lockridge 1985, p. 12.
  24. ^ Lockridge 1985, p. 15.
  25. ^ Hill 1892, p. 3.
  26. ^ First Church (Dedham, Mass.) (1840). Dedham Pulpit: Or, Sermons by the Pastors of the First Church in Dedham in the XVIIth and XVIIIth Centuries. Perkins & Marvin. p. 278.

Works cited

Categories