Lifestyles of early settlers of Dedham, Massachusetts facts for kids

The first European settlers in Dedham, Massachusetts lived a simple life, mostly focused on farming. Dedham was designed to be a very close-knit community, almost like its own small world. There wasn't a big difference in how much money people had. Even the richest people usually worked their own land, sometimes with help from a few servants.

Leaving England Behind

Many settlers felt a strong desire to leave England. For some, it was about their religious beliefs. Others had concerns about money, society, or politics.

In the 1600s, England faced many problems. The cloth industry, where many settlers came from, was struggling. There were also bad harvests and the plague was spreading. Many people were poor, and society couldn't support everyone. The colonies in North America seemed like a way to ease these problems. Early settlers also sent messages back to England, encouraging others to move to the new land.

How Land Was Shared

The first settlers bought land from the Wampanoag people. Then, they started dividing it up. Each man received a small plot for his house in the village. He also got strips of land for farming, meadows, and woods. These strips were in a shared field. The community decided what crops to grow and how to care for them. This shared farming method kept people in regular contact and close to the village.

Land was given out carefully. No family received more land than they could use. Married men got 12 acres, with four acres being swampy. Single men received eight acres, with three acres of swamp. Land was also given for serving the church and community.

Land was shared based on several things:

• The number of people in a household, including servants.
• A person's importance or usefulness to the church or community.
• If a man had a trade other than farming, he received materials for his work. Those who could improve more land also got more.

For the first 20 years, only about three percent of Dedham's land was given out. This was a choice to avoid giving huge farms, unlike in other towns like Watertown, Massachusetts. In 1657, there were still 125,000 acres left to share.

Between 1656 and 1667, over 15,000 acres were given to townsmen. In Dedham's first 50 years, a man who lived there for 25 years could expect to receive between 50 and 500 acres. The average was about 150 acres. This wasn't a giant farm, but it gave families security. It also allowed younger sons to inherit enough land to start their own successful farms. By 1690, much of the best land was already taken.

First-generation farmers could pass on about 150 acres to their children. Second-generation farmers might pass on even more. By the early 1700s, third-generation farms were about 100 acres. By the late 1700s, farmers might inherit only about 50 acres. This wasn't enough land to support a family.

Farming Life

Most of the land for farming was in a shared field. In 1643, a 200-acre common farming field was created. Each man was given a section of fence to build around it. This land was likely used by Native Americans before. Each man also got a plot within the field to farm. Settlers grew corn, beans, peas, and pumpkin. Later, they also planted wheat, rye, barley, and oats.

Areas like Dedham Island (now Riverdale) and along East Street were used for grazing animals like cattle, goats, and pigs. Another pasture was rented along the Neponset River.

A Close-Knit Community

Most of the first settlers stayed in Dedham for their whole lives. Very few people moved in or out each year. Because people didn't move much, Dedham became a very tight community. From 1648 to 1688, the number of family names in town actually decreased. By then, most residents could trace their family back to one of 30 families who had been there since before 1648. This stability was a very important part of Dedham's history. Even 100 years after it was settled, people rarely moved. Of every 10 men born in Dedham between 1680 and 1700, eight would die there. Only about 10% left on purpose, and they were usually wealthier.

The town and its people tried to avoid using the colony's court system. A person might be involved in a civil lawsuit only once in their life. Criminal cases were almost unheard of. In the 1600s, land deals were almost always between neighbors.

While settlers respected the colony's laws, they didn't always follow them strictly. However, they always paid their taxes to the colony. By 1681, residents were supposed to tell town leaders about any worker staying for more than two weeks. But this rule was mostly ignored.

Who Could Join the Town?

Early Rules (1630s)

From the very beginning, Dedham was careful about who could join. In 1636, a rule was made to ensure only people who shared the town's values were allowed. The Town Meeting voted that land could not be sold unless the buyer was already a resident or approved by most voters. If someone broke this rule, their land would be taken away.

In 1637, 46 house lots were set up, and the town voted to stop letting in new residents. This was because colonial law required homes to be close together, and the town needed time to figure out where new people could live.

Before this vote, some men who would become very important to Dedham were allowed in. These included John Allin, Michael Metcalf, and Eleazer Lusher. The town also invited Peter Prudden and his followers to join, but they declined because Dedham was not a major trading center.

Changes in 1657

Twenty years after Dedham began, the first settlers worried that as the town grew, their share of land would become smaller. So, on January 23, 1657, the town limited growth mostly to the children of current residents. Newcomers could still settle there if they shared the town's values, but they would have to buy their way in. Land was no longer freely given to new people.

Everyone living in town at the time received "common rights" based on their taxes. For every £18 they were taxed, residents got one "cow common right." This right could be divided into five goat or sheep common rights. This created 447 common rights in total, which would be used for all new land distributions. When 22 townsmen felt they didn't get enough rights, a committee gave them an extra 25.

Henry Phillips, a former town leader, was very unhappy with his share. He moved to Boston. Even though he had received a good amount of land, he led a rare public complaint to the colony's General Court. This was unusual because Dedham preferred to solve problems locally. The court gave Phillips six more cow commons. His friends also got more rights, and the church received eight additional cow commons.

Leaving Dedham Early

Four of the original landowners, John Coolidge, Thomas Hastings, Thomas Bartlett, and Robert Feake, never moved to Dedham. They quickly sold their land. Of those who did move, some left fairly early. The reasons aren't always clear. Ezekiel Holliman likely left for religious reasons after the arrival of the Allin group, who brought stricter religious rules. Timothy Dalton moved to Hampton, New Hampshire to become a church officer. His brother Philemon, along with Francis Austin, John Huggen, and Jeffery Mingey, soon followed him.

Several people moved to Weymouth, Massachusetts. Abraham Shaw planned to move before he died, and his son Joseph did move after selling their land. In the next year, Nicholas Phillips, Martin Phillips, Jonas Humphrey, John Rogers, and Ralph Shepard also moved there. Not everyone sold their land in Dedham. Some became "absentee landlords," owning land in Dedham for many years after leaving. After those who disagreed with the town left, a feeling of peace settled over Dedham for a generation.

About one-third of the early settlers lived in three different towns during their lives. However, moving around was much less common from 1650 to 1750.

Wealth and Daily Life

With a small population, a simple farming economy, and free land, there wasn't much difference in wealth. Early residents generally lived the same way and had similar standards of living.

In the early years, the wealthiest 5% of men paid only 15% of the taxes. In contrast, the wealthiest 5% in nearby Boston controlled 25% of that town's wealth. No rich nobles or gentlemen settled in Dedham. Very poor workers were rare because land was free. Even those who gained a bit more wealth still lived like everyone else, working their own fields.

In the early days, anyone considered poor was likely a sick widow, an orphan, or someone with a mental disability. By 1690, the poorest 20% of the population owned about 10% of the property.

At least 85% of the people were farmers. They called themselves "yeomen" or "husbandmen." There were also people who helped the farmers, like millers, blacksmiths, or shoemakers. Like in England, they were mostly subsistence farmers. This means they grew enough food for their families but didn't specialize in growing crops to sell or raising specific animals.

The first homes were all quite similar. They were built with wooden boards, stone fireplaces, and chimneys. The roofs were covered with thatch. The first floor had a living room and kitchen. Sleeping areas were in the attic, reached by a ladder. One resident listed the "necessary things" a settler should bring to New England: an iron pot, a kettle, a frying pan, a grid iron, two skillets, a spit, and wooden platters, dishes, spoons, and trenchers (wooden plates).

Later homes typically had two to eight rooms with a few beds, chests, and chairs. Each person might own two sets of clothes plus a good suit or cloak. A family might have a little silver or pewter. They usually owned a Bible, pots, pans, bowls, and storage bins. Outside, in the barn or shed, they would have farm tools and some stored crops. For animals, one or two horses, along with several cattle, pigs, and sheep, were common.

Work and Labor

Single people, including adult children, were not allowed to live alone unless they had enough money to set up their own home with servants. Each year, a day was set aside to assign young adults to other households as helpers. This was done to keep the family labor system going, which was important for the local economy. It also aimed to prevent problems that might come from living alone.

The family labor system also kept young adults in their family homes longer. Town and colony rules made a child's work very valuable. Records show that children in Massachusetts Bay Colony whose fathers died early, leaving them money to start their own homes, married sooner than those whose parents lived longer. Almost two-thirds of orphaned children married before age 25, compared to less than half of those with two living parents.

A 1693 colonial law allowed outside workers to come into towns without their employers having to pay very expensive fees. If a worker stayed in town for more than three months without being "warned out" by the town leaders, they could remain as a resident. The colony later changed this limit to one year in 1700. Once "warned out," a person could be forced to leave town at any time or treated as a homeless wanderer. Some stayed after being warned out. Others left or were forced out. However, many, especially children, were never warned out.

In the last 30 years of the 1600s, a shoemaker, bricklayer, and tanner were asked to move to Dedham.

Servants in Dedham

In 1681, there were 28 servants in 22 of the 112 households in Dedham. All but four of them were children, and 20 of the servants were white. There were ten boys, eight girls, two "Negro boys," two "Indian boys," one "lad," and one "English girl." There was also one man, one "Negro man," and two "maids." Servants were in 20% of homes but made up only 5% of the population. Most of them eventually became independent farmers.

Bringing in outside workers was rare, about two people or families per year between 1650 and 1769. Town leaders usually allowed most servants to stay for at least a year, but they set the rules for their stay.

Many children who lived in Dedham as servants may have been taken in partly out of kindness. After King Philip's War, there were many orphaned children. Dedham had strong connections to Deerfield, so it's thought that some of these children—both white and Native American—were affected by the war.

Servants were expected to be treated like family members. Residents didn't want an outsider to come work for a family and then become a burden that the whole town had to support. Some households had to pay a bond (a sum of money held as security) for their servants. For example, when town leaders told Thomas Clap to get rid of his maid servants, he had to use his saw mill as security in case they became a cost to the town.

When outside servants were first counted in 1681, a bond of £5 was usually set for white children born in New England who had not yet reached puberty. It was £10 for foreign-born or enslaved children, and £20 for those old enough to have children, which could create more expenses for the town. There was no charge for families who promised to send their child servants away before they reached puberty. Those willing to adopt children "as their own" didn't have to pay a bond. White orphans born in New England were cheaper because they were expected to return to their home communities and families. Native American children and those of African descent were more likely to be enslaved and remain in town as adults, so higher bonds were required. Adult servants were rare and only kept by the wealthiest families because of the expense.

Town leaders also had the power to take children out of homes and place them in other households to work. If a family didn't pay their taxes, or if a household wasn't seen as efficient enough, children could be moved to the homes of richer men. For example, because of "inconvenience and disorder" in John MacCintosh's family, town leaders ordered him to send one of his sons to serve another family. When the father refused, the leaders assigned the child to go to the home of Timothy Dwight.