Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay ColonyDow, George Francis
History
Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Dow, George Francis
Massachusetts -- Social life and customs -- To 1775
At the February 29, 1648, session of the Salem Court eight cases
were tried. A Gloucester man was fined for cursing, saying, "There
are the brethren, the divil scald them." Four servants were fined
for breaking the Sabbath by hunting and killing a raccoon in the
time of the public exercise to the disturbance of the congregation.
If the animal had taken to the deep woods instead of staying near
the meetinghouse the servants might have had their fun without
paying for it. A Marblehead man was fined for sailing his boat
loaded with hay from Gloucester harbor, on the Lord's Day, when the
people were going to the morning exercise. Nicholas Pinion, who
worked at the Saugus Iron works, was presented for absence from
meeting four Lord's Days together, spending his time drinking, and
profanely; and Nicholas Russell of the same locality was fined for
spending a great part of one Lord's day with Pinion in drinking
strong water and cursing and swearing. He also had been spending
much time with Pinion's wife, causing jealousy in the family; and
the lady in question, having broken her bond for good behavior, was
ordered to be severely whipped. The other cases were for swearing,
in which the above named lady was included; for being disguised with
drink; and for living from his wife. And so the Court ended.
A curious instance of Sabbath breaking occurred at Hampton in
1646. Aquila Chase and his wife and David Wheeler were presented
at Ipswich Court for gathering peas on the Sabbath. They were
admonished. The family tradition has it that Aquila returned from
sea that morning and his wife, wishing to supply a delicacy for
dinner, fell into grave error in thus pandering to his unsanctified
appetite.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account