The Green Dragon Tavern was a public house located on Union Street (then known as Green Dragon Lane) in Boston . A popular meeting place for both the Freemasons and the Sons of Liberty , it was demolished in 1832.
96-481: The property had been inherited by Mehitable (Minot) Cooper from her uncle, William Stoughton , in 1701; Stoughton himself had acquired the property some time before June 1676. Valued at 650 pounds in 1705, the Green Dragon Tavern was purchased from her son, William Cooper, by physician and pamphleteer William Douglas in 1743. Douglas lived in the tavern, calling it his "mansion house". After his death in 1752,
192-506: A Member of Parliament for Newtown (Isle of Wight) . In 1702, he returned to New England after being appointed governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and Province of New Hampshire , posts that he held until 1715. His rule of Massachusetts was characterized by hostility and tension, with political enemies opposing his attempts to gain a regular salary and regularly making complaints about his official and private actions. Most of his tenure
288-458: A colonial administrator, but it also raised suspicions in the colony about his motives and ability to represent the colony's interests. The authority of the agents was limited, and the Lords of Trade insisted to the colonial administration that their agents be authorized to negotiate modifications to the colonial charter. The legislature refused this demand, which led to a quo warranto writ demanding
384-625: A commission was issued to him on October 8, 1685, as President of the Council of New England. The territories covered by his commission included the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Province of New Hampshire , the Province of Maine , and the "Narragansett Country", a territory at the heart of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (which both Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut Colony were trying to wrest away from Rhode Island). Randolph
480-404: A consequence, he gave the provincial assembly a significant degree of autonomy, which, once established, complicated the relationship the assembly had with later governors. He also took relatively few active steps to implement colonial policies, and only did the minimum needed to follow instructions from London. A commentator in the colonial office observed that he was a "good scholar", but that he
576-446: A division between the colonists and the governor which was not repaired until the 1760s. Business leaders who borrowed money were happy to pay it back later with depreciated currency, while lenders sought reforms to stabilize the currency. In 1714, Dudley's opponents proposed that a bank should issue as much as £50,000 in currency, secured by the shareholder's real estate properties. Dudley was opposed to this scheme, and instead convinced
672-473: A fruitless expedition against Port Royal. In 1708, a bitter attack on his administration was published in London entitled The Deplorable State of New England by reason of a Covetous and Treacherous Governor and Pusillanimous Counsellors , as part of a campaign to have him recalled. Dudley again rallied the provincial militias for a planned expedition against Quebec in 1709, but the supporting expedition from England
768-563: A hostility in Massachusetts toward royal governance, most frequently over the issue of the salaries of crown officials. The colonial legislature routinely challenged or disputed the prerogatives of the governor, and this hostility affected most of the governors of Massachusetts up to the American Revolutionary War and the end of British rule. Dudley's rule of New Hampshire, however, was comparatively uncontroversial. Joseph Dudley
864-535: A law enacting a new charter for the college, but the Board of Trade vetoed this law in 1696, again throwing the college's existence into jeopardy. Stoughton, then acting governor, made temporary arrangements for the college's governance while the assembly worked to craft a new charter. Ultimately, Harvard's charter problems would not be solved until 1707, when its 1650 charter was revived. Religious and political differences between factions of directors at Harvard boiled into
960-534: A new commission was issued to Samuel Shute , who promised to oppose attempts to introduce the land bank. He arrived in the colony and assumed the post of governor in October 1716, with William Dummer as his lieutenant. Dudley retired to the family home in Roxbury. He acted as an informal advisor to Governor Shute upon his arrival, and made appearances at public and private functions. He died in Roxbury on April 2, 1720, and
1056-488: A new position. Coxe was a proprietor of West Jersey and he considered Dudley for the post of lieutenant governor there, and Dudley was eventually recommended as chief of council to New York governor Henry Sloughter which he took up in 1691. In addition to his council duties, he negotiated with New York's Indians and sat as chief judge in the trial of Jacob Leisler , who had led the rebellion in 1689 that overthrew Andros' lieutenant governor Francis Nicholson . The trial
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#17328587879591152-541: A number of other high-profile religious and political figures in the colony stepped in to resolve the dispute. The peace was so successfully brokered that the elder Mather took part in the new church's dedicatory services. Stoughton was given the then-prestigious Green Dragon Tavern for his social status, one of Boston's most significant architectural and historical landmarks c. 1676 . He died at home in Dorchester in 1701, while serving as acting governor, and
1248-458: A result, a significant number of cases were dismissed due to a lack of evidence, and Phips vacated the few convictions that were made. On 3 January 1693 Stoughton ordered the execution of all suspected witches who had been exempted by their pregnancy. Phips denied enforcement of the order. This turn of events angered Stoughton, and he briefly left the bench in protest. Historian Cedric Cowing suggests that Stoughton's acceptance of spectral evidence
1344-585: A review of Leisler's trial, and Dudley was forced to appear and defend his role in it. Afterward, Phips wrote to Cotton Mather that Dudley "is not so much talked of to be governor", and the appointment went instead to Lord Bellomont . Cutts continued to be active on Dudley's behalf, and he secured him election as a Member of Parliament representing Newtown in 1701. This made it possible for Dudley to further expand his own political connections in London. He managed temporarily to mend political fences with Constantine Phips and Cotton Mather, and he began lobbying for
1440-722: A series of intrigues to regain an office in New England. He ingratiated himself to the religious elements of the London political establishment by formally joining the Church of England. He acquired a patron in Baron Cutts , who engineered his appointment as lieutenant governor of the Isle of Wight where Cutts had been appointed governor. Dudley and Cutts assisted each other politically; Cutts worked to advance Dudley's agenda in London, while Dudley worked to promote that of Cutts on Wight. Dudley manipulated
1536-520: A series of intrigues to regain an office in New England. He ingratiated himself to the religious elements of the London political establishment by formally joining the Church of England. He acquired a patron in Baron Cutts , who engineered his appointment as lieutenant governor of the Isle of Wight where Cutts had been appointed governor. Dudley and Cutts assisted each other politically; Cutts worked to advance Dudley's agenda in London, while Dudley worked to promote that of Cutts on Wight. Dudley manipulated
1632-461: A slave named Peter. Word arrived in April 1689 of the 1688 Glorious Revolution , whereupon citizens rose up and arrested Andros. Dudley was away from the city but was arrested upon his return. Since he was ill, he was released into house arrest upon payment of a £1,000 bond, but a group descended on his home and carried him back to jail. He stayed in jail for ten months, in part for his own safety, and
1728-492: A special tribunal to deal with accusations of witchcraft, and in June appointed him chief justice of the colonial courts, a post he would hold for the rest of his life. In the now-notorious Salem Witch Trials , Stoughton acted as both chief judge and prosecutor. He was particularly harsh on some of the defendants, sending the jury deliberating in the case of Rebecca Nurse back to reconsider its not guilty verdict; after doing so, she
1824-582: Is named in his honor, as is one of the Harvard College dormitories in Harvard Yard . Construction of the first Stoughton Hall, in 1698, was made possible by his £1,000 gift. Joseph Dudley Joseph Dudley (September 23, 1647 – April 2, 1720) was a colonial administrator, a native of Roxbury in Massachusetts Bay Colony , and the son of one of its founders. He had a leading role in
1920-664: Is no known birth or baptismal record for him, and the date when his parents migrated from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony is not known with precision. What is known is that by 1632 the Stoughtons were in the colony, where they were early settlers of Dorchester, Massachusetts . Stoughton graduated from Harvard College in 1650 with a degree in theology. He intended to become a Puritan minister and traveled to England, where he continued his studies in New College, Oxford . He graduated with an M.A. in theology in 1653. Stoughton
2016-587: The Saint John River . The failure of these expeditions highlighted the inadequacies of the provincial forces, and the Massachusetts assembly appealed to London for aid. Peace between France and England was achieved with the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, but it did not resolve any issues concerning the Abenakis to the north. As a result, there continued to be tension on the frontier, and disputes over fishing grounds and
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#17328587879592112-471: The "court of assistants") favored accommodation, while the more representative lower house favored the opposition view. In 1682, Massachusetts sent Dudley and John Richards to London as agents to represent its case to the Lords of Trade. Dudley brought a letter of introduction from Plymouth Governor Thomas Hinckley to colonial secretary William Blathwayt , and the favorable relationship that he established with Blathwayt contributed to his future success as
2208-664: The "new" Green Dragon Tavern is located in 11 Marshall Street in Boston's North End. William Stoughton (Massachusetts) William Stoughton (1631 – July 7, 1701) was a New England Puritan magistrate and administrator in the Province of Massachusetts Bay . He was in charge of what have come to be known as the Salem Witch Trials , first as the Chief Justice of the Special Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692, and then as
2304-588: The 1680s Stoughton acquired significant amounts of land from the Nipmuc tribe in what is now Worcester County in partnership with Dudley. The partnership included a venture that established Oxford as a place to settle refugee Huguenots . Dudley and Stoughton used their political positions to ensure that the titles to lands they were interested in were judicially cleared, a practice that also benefited their friends, relatives, and other business partners. Concerning this practice, Crown agent Edward Randolph wrote that it
2400-480: The Abenaki as British subjects, and friction persisted over British colonial expansion into Maine which flared into Dummer's War in the 1720s. The war worsened currency and finance problems in Massachusetts. The province had been issuing paper currency since the 1690s, and the issue of large amounts of this currency was causing it to depreciate compared to precious metals used in other currencies. The situation caused
2496-588: The Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature in 1693. In these trials he controversially accepted spectral evidence (based on supposed demonic visions). Unlike some of the other magistrates, he never admitted to the possibility that his acceptance of such evidence was in error. After graduating from Harvard College in 1650, he continued religious studies in England, where he also preached. Returning to Massachusetts in 1662, he chose to enter politics instead of
2592-537: The Connecticut River in northern Massachusetts, southeastern Vermont, and southwestern New Hampshire. These lands were auctioned off in April 1716, and Connecticut used the proceeds to fund Yale College . Dudley's commission expired in 1714, six months after the death of Queen Anne, as did that of Lieutenant Governor William Tailer . The governor's council was dominated by his political opponents, and they asserted its authority at that point. They assumed control of
2688-581: The English fort at Pemaquid, Maine . Church had still not departed in August 1696 when he learned that the fort had been taken and destroyed . The instructions Stoughton issued to Church were somewhat vague, and he did little more than raid Beaubassin at the top of the Bay of Fundy before returning to Boston. Before Church's return Stoughton organized a second, smaller expedition that unsuccessfully besieged Fort Nashwaak on
2784-762: The French had already begun rallying them to their cause and the war began with raids on the settlements of southern Maine in August 1703. Dudley called out the militia and licensed privateers to raid French shipping, such as Thomas Larimore ; he also fortified the Massachusetts and New Hampshire frontiers from the Connecticut River to southern Maine. The French and Indians raided Deerfield in February 1704, prompting calls for retaliation, and Dudley authorized aging Indian fighter Benjamin Church to lead an expedition against settlements in Acadia . He also engaged in protracted negotiations for
2880-827: The Judges also being parties." From 1713 to 1722, Dudley was recorded as owning a slave named Brill. Historian John Palfrey wrote that Dudley "united rich intellectual attributes with a groveling soul", forging political connections and relationships in his early years for the purpose of his own advancement. He capitalized on his favorable family connections to the Puritan leadership of Massachusetts to establish connections in England, but then betrayed those Massachusetts connections when it became necessary to further his quest for power. Thomas Hutchinson also served as provincial governor and wrote an extensive history of Massachusetts; he wrote that Dudley "had as many virtues as can consist with so great
2976-402: The Massachusetts governorship after the death of Bellomont in 1701. In this he was successful, receiving commissions as governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire on 1 April 1702 from Queen Anne . Dudley served as governor until 1715, and his administration was marked by regular conflict with the general court, particularly in the early years. His instruction from the English colonial office
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3072-466: The Navigation Acts, although they did not adhere to the letter of the law, understanding that some provisions of the acts were unfair, such as requiring payments of multiple duties. Some violations were overlooked, and they suggested to the Lords of Trade that the laws be modified to ameliorate these conditions. Nevertheless, the Massachusetts economy was harmed by their otherwise vigorous enforcement of
3168-450: The New England colonies into a single province called the Dominion of New England . This work was still in progress when King James II took the throne in 1685. However, there were difficulties in drafting a commission for intended governor Sir Edmund Andros , and this prompted Randolph to propose an interim appointment. Dudley was chosen for this post based on Randolph's recommendation, and
3264-429: The Puritan magistrates "were of opinion that God would never suffer me to land again in this country, and thereupon began in a most arbitrary manner to assert their power higher than at any time before." Elections of colonial military officers were compromised when many of them also refused to serve. Dudley made a number of judicial appointments, generally favoring the political moderates who had supported accommodation of
3360-636: The Revolution". The Sons of Liberty led by Samuel Adams , Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Boston Caucus each met there. Though membership in the Sons of Liberty was secret, it is widely believed to have included Samuel Adams, Dr. Joseph Warren, Paul Revere, John Hancock, James Otis, and Benjamin Edes (owner of the influential Boston Gazette ). The Boston Tea Party was planned there and Paul Revere (a Mason)
3456-504: The Younger and great-grandson of John Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. John Winthrop and Ann Dudley were parents of Catherine [Winthrop] wife of Colonel Epes Sargent the parents of Paul Dudley Sargent (1745-1828). Dudley owned large tracts of land in Massachusetts when he died, principally in Roxbury and Worcester County . The Worcester properties he purchased from the Nipmuc in partnership with William Stoughton, and he
3552-408: The absence of an appointed governor) for about six years. He was one of the province's major landowners, partnering with Joseph Dudley and other powerful figures in land purchases, and it was for him that the town of Stoughton, Massachusetts was named. William Stoughton was born in 1631 to Israel Stoughton and Elizabeth Knight Stoughton. The exact location of his birth is uncertain, because there
3648-479: The acts. Dudley and Randolph eventually had a falling out over matters related to trade, administration, and religion. "I am treated by Mr. Dudley worse than by Mr. Danforth ", Randolph wrote, comparing Dudley to one of the opposition magistrates. While Dudley governed, the Lords of Trade decided to include the colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut in the dominion, based on a petition from Dudley's council. Andros' commission had been issued in June, and he
3744-448: The administration of the Dominion of New England (1686–1689), which was overthrown in the 1689 Boston revolt . He served briefly on the council of the Province of New York , from which he oversaw the trial which convicted Jacob Leisler , the ringleader of Leisler's Rebellion . He then spent eight years in England in the 1690s as Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Wight, including one year as
3840-791: The anger of Charles II , who had intended to acquire those claims for the Duke of York . They were unsuccessful in maintaining broader claims made by Massachusetts against other territories of Maine and the Province of New Hampshire . Their limited authority upset the Lords of Trade , who sought to have the colonial laws modified to conform to their policies. The mission of Stoughton and Bulkley did little more than antagonize colonial officials in London because of their hardline stance. For many years Stoughton and Joseph Dudley were friends, as well as political and business partners. The two worked closely together politically, and engaged in land development together. In
3936-517: The area now known as Maine ) was in the forefront of the war with New France , and its northern frontier communities suffered significantly from French and Indian raids. Governor Phips was frequently in Maine overseeing the construction of defenses there, leaving Stoughton to oversee affairs in Boston. During one such absence, for example, Stoughton was responsible for raising a small force of militia intended to help protect neighboring New Hampshire, which
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4032-511: The brief tenure of the Earl of Bellomont as governor, and again became acting governor on the latter's departure in 1700. He was by then in poor health, and accomplished little of note in his final year. The corporate existence of Harvard College had been thrown into turmoil by the recission of the colonial charter in 1684, upon which the Harvard charter depended. In 1692 the provincial assembly passed
4128-446: The charges were heard, and Dudley was optimistic that he would be named the next governor. At this point, Dudley's enemies from New York and Massachusetts joined forces to deny him the opportunity. Jacob Leisler's son was in London attempting to have the attainder reversed against his father's estate. A bill was introduced into Parliament to accomplish this, with assistance from Massachusetts agent Constantine Phips. The debate included
4224-474: The claim that dominion rule without representation violated the Rights of Englishmen . When Andros was arrested in April 1689 in a bloodless uprising inspired by the 1688 Glorious Revolution in England, Stoughton was one of the signatories to the declaration of the revolt's ringleaders. Despite this statement of support for the popular cause, he was sufficiently unpopular due to his association with Andros that he
4320-501: The colony's council of assistants (a precursor to the idea of a governor's council) almost every year from 1671 to 1686, and represented the colony in the New England Confederation from 1673 to 1677 and 1680 to 1686. In the 1684 election, Joseph Dudley , who had been labelled as an enemy of the colony (along with Stoughton, Bulkley, and others) for his moderate position on colonial charter issues, failed to win reelection to
4416-518: The council. Stoughton, who was reelected by a small majority and was a friend and business partner of Dudley, refused to serve in protest. In 1676 he was chosen, along with Peter Bulkeley , to be an agent representing colonial interests in England. Their instructions were narrowly tailored. They were authorized to acquire land claims from the heirs of Sir Ferdinando Gorges and John Mason that conflicted with some Massachusetts land claims in present-day Maine . These they acquired for £1,200, incurring
4512-557: The general court who had acted against him in 1689, further increasing his unpopularity in Massachusetts. In contrast, his tenure as Governor of New Hampshire was popular; its legislature specifically praised him to the Queen after learning of complaints levelled against him by his Massachusetts opponents. Dudley was active in managing colonial defenses during Queen Anne's War . He attempted to forestall French-orchestrated Indian hostilities by meeting with Indians at Casco Bay in June 1703, but
4608-408: The government on February 14, 1715, under the provisions of the provincial charter concerning governance in the absence of the governor and his lieutenant. Just six weeks later, news arrived from England that Dudley's commission had been temporarily confirmed by King George I , and he was reinstated on March 21. However, Dudley's political opponents were active in London, especially those involved in
4704-633: The king's wishes in the battle over the old charter. He renewed treaties with the Indians of northern New England, and traveled to the Narragansett Country in June to formally establish his authority there. Dudley was significantly hampered by the inability to raise revenues in the dominion. His commission did not give him authority to introduce new revenue laws, and the Massachusetts government had repealed all such laws in 1683 in anticipation of losing their charter. Furthermore, many people refused to pay
4800-505: The land bank proposal, and they convinced the king to appoint Colonel Elizeus Burges as governor later in the year. Burges' commission was proclaimed in Boston on November 9, 1715, ending Dudley's commission. Burges was not in the colony, so governance fell to Lieutenant Governor Tailer whose commission had been renewed. Jonathan Belcher and Jeremiah Dummer , the brother of Dudley's son-in-law William Dummer , bribed Burges to resign his commission without leaving England in April 1716, and
4896-414: The ministry. An adept politician, he served in virtually every government through the period of turmoil in Massachusetts that encompassed the revocation of its first charter in 1684 and the introduction of its second charter in 1692, including the unpopular rule of Sir Edmund Andros in the late 1680s. He served as lieutenant governor of the province from 1692 until his death in 1701, acting as governor (in
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#17328587879594992-491: The open during the late 1690s. Increase Mather , then the president of Harvard, was theologically conservative, while a number of the directors had adopted moderate views, and in these years they began a struggle for control of the college. This split eventually led to the founding in 1698 of Boston's Brattle Street Church , which issued a manifesto explicitly distancing itself from some of the more extreme Puritan practices advocated by Mather and his son, Cotton . Stoughton and
5088-418: The parliamentary election processes on the island to ensure that Cutts' chosen candidates were elected, which made Cutts highly unpopular on Wight—although he continued as its governor until his death in 1707. Dudley also tried to assist Cutts with some financial difficulties, and he schemed with Cutts' father-in-law to gain permission to mint coins for use in New England. Dudley's principal object of intrigue
5184-429: The parliamentary election processes on the island to ensure that Cutts' chosen candidates were elected, which made Cutts highly unpopular on Wight—although he continued as its governor until his death in 1707. Dudley also tried to assist Cutts with some financial difficulties, and he schemed with Cutts' father-in-law to gain permission to mint coins for use in New England. Dudley returned to England in 1693 and embarked on
5280-422: The provincial attorney general, "this country will never be worth living in for lawyers and gentlemen, till the charter is taken away." This letter was discovered and published, fueling Colonial opposition to his rule. Dudley also angered the powerful Mather family when he awarded the presidency of Harvard to John Leverett instead of Cotton Mather. He consistently vetoed the election of councilors and speakers of
5376-733: The provincial legislature to issue £50,000 in bills of credit . The financially powerful interests whom he upset with this move proved to be his downfall. In 1713, surveys determined that the border between Massachusetts and the Connecticut Colony had been incorrectly sited in the 17th century, and that Massachusetts had consequently distributed lands that actually belonged to Connecticut. Dudley and Connecticut Governor Gurdon Saltonstall negotiated an agreement in which Massachusetts would retain those lands but would grant to Connecticut an equivalent amount of land. The Equivalent Lands amounted to over 100,000 acres (400 km ) on either side of
5472-433: The remaining taxes on the grounds that they had been enacted by the old government and were thus invalid. Dudley and Randolph also attempted to introduce the Church of England into New England, but they were largely unsuccessful; they did not have buildings to house their new churches, and they recognized the danger of forcing Colonial churches to share their buildings with the Church of England. Dudley and Randolph enforced
5568-499: The return of captives taken at Deerfield. Boston merchants and the Mathers accused Dudley of being in league with smugglers and others who were illegally trading with the French, in part because he specifically refused permission for Church to attack the Acadian capital and commercial center of Port Royal . He sought to forestall these criticisms in 1707 when he sent the colonial militia on
5664-466: The scrutiny of King Charles II in the 1660s, and it faced a substantial threat in the late 1670s. Crown agent Edward Randolph was sent to New England in 1676 to collect customs duties and to enforce the Navigation Acts , and in the process he documented a list of issues and took his complaints to the Lords of Trade in London. The colonial leadership was divided on how to answer this threat. Dudley
5760-405: The surrender of the colonial charter. Dudley brought this news to Boston at the end of 1683, igniting a heated debate in the legislature, with the opposition party again prevailing. The leadership of the opposition included Reverend Increase Mather , and they began to view the accommodationists as enemies of the colony, including Dudley and Bradstreet. Richards sided with the opposition, and Dudley
5856-502: The tavern passed to his sister, who sold it to the St. Andrews Lodge of Freemasons in 1766. The Masons used the first floor for their meeting rooms led by Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts , Joseph Warren (killed at Bunker Hill ), followed by Grand Master John Hancock . The basement tavern was used by several secret groups and became known by historians as the "Headquarters of
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#17328587879595952-589: The use of Acadian territory by New Englanders for drying fish continued. Stoughton and Acadian Governor Joseph Robineau de Villebon exchanged complaints and threats in 1698 over the issue, with Villebon issuing largely empty threats (he lacked the needed resources to execute them) to seize Massachusetts ships and property left in Acadian territory. Stoughton appealed to London for diplomatic assistance, which had some success in reducing tensions. Stoughton served as acting governor until 1699, while still also serving as chief justice. He remained lieutenant governor during
6048-472: The war, Dudley also authorized expeditions against the Abenakis of northern New England, but these were largely ineffective. The war quieted to some extent after the fall of Port Royal, with only small raiding parties hitting frontier communities, and peace came in 1713 with the Treaty of Utrecht . Dudley negotiated a separate peace with the Abenakis at Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1713. He hoped to separate
6144-585: The western Kennebec tribe from French influence and consequently adopted a fairly hard line, threatening to withhold trade that was vital to their survival and reiterating claims of British sovereignty over them. The Treaty of Portsmouth (1713) resulted from those negotiations and repeated the claims of sovereignty. Dudley claimed that the French had ceded Abenaki lands as part of Acadia, and one sachem responded: "The French never said anything to us about it, and we wonder how they would give it away without asking us". Nevertheless, Dudley and succeeding governors treated
6240-534: Was "impossible to bring titles of land to trial before them where his Majesties's rights are concerned, the Judges also being parties." This was particularly obvious when Stoughton and Dudley were part of a venture to acquire 1 million acres (4,000 km ) of land in the Merrimack River valley. Dudley's council, on which Stoughton and other investors sat, formally cleared that land's title in May 1686. When Dudley
6336-511: Was "not suited to enforce the Navigation Act ". In 1695 Stoughton protested the actions of French privateers operating from Acadia , who were wreaking havoc in the New England fishing and merchant fleets. In an attempt to counter this activity, he authorized Benjamin Church to organize a raid against Acadia. While Church was recruiting men for the expedition, New France's governor, the comte de Frontenac , organized an expedition to target
6432-767: Was a pious preacher who believed in the "Lord's promise and expectations of great things." England was at the time under Puritan Commonwealth Rule , although 1653 was the year Oliver Cromwell dissolved Parliament, beginning The Protectorate . Stoughton preached in Sussex , and after Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, Stoughton lost his position in the crackdown on religious dissenters that followed. With little prospect for another position in England, Stoughton returned to Massachusetts in 1662. He preached on several occasions at Dorchester and Cambridge, but refused offers of permanent ministerial posts. He instead became involved in politics and land development. He served on
6528-588: Was admitted as a freeman in 1672. He became a member of the Massachusetts General Court representing Roxbury in 1673, and he was elected to the colony's council of assistants in 1676. King Philip's War broke out in 1675, and Dudley was a commissioner who accompanied the colonial militia into the field against the Indians. He was present at the Great Swamp Fight in which the Narragansett tribe
6624-465: Was an influential force arguing for Leisler's execution, although this is disputed by testimony from anti-Leisler councillor Nicholas Bayard . Dudley left New York for his home in Roxbury in 1692 and re-established connections with political friends such as William Stoughton, who had just been appointed lieutenant governor of the newly chartered Province of Massachusetts Bay under Sir William Phips . Dudley returned to England in 1693 and embarked on
6720-487: Was appointed to a long list of subsidiary posts, including secretary of the colony, which gave him considerable power. Randolph arrived in Boston with Dudley's charter on May 14, 1686, and Dudley formally took charge of Massachusetts on May 25, but his rule did not begin auspiciously. A number of Massachusetts magistrates had been named to his council but they refused to serve, and he was unable to reconcile with Increase Mather, who refused to see him. According to Randolph,
6816-465: Was based partly in a need he saw to reassert Puritan authority in the province. Unlike his colleague Samuel Sewall , who later expressed regret for his actions on the bench in the trials, Stoughton never admitted that his actions and beliefs with respect to spectral evidence and the trials were in error. Stoughton was also involved in overseeing the colonial response to King William's War , which had broken out in 1689. Massachusetts Bay (which included
6912-565: Was born in Roxbury , Massachusetts Bay Colony , on September 23, 1647. His mother was Katherine Dudley (née Dighton or Deighton; formerly Hackburne) and his father was Thomas Dudley , one of the founders and leading magistrates of the colony. His father was 70 when he was born and died in 1653. His mother then married Reverend John Allin , who raised the young Dudley at his home in Dedham, Massachusetts . He graduated from Harvard College in 1665 and
7008-505: Was buried in the cemetery now known as the Dorchester North Burying Ground . He was a bachelor, and willed his mansion and a portion of his estate to William Tailer , the son of his sister Rebeccah. Tailer, who was twice lieutenant governor and briefly served as acting governor, was buried alongside his uncle Stoughton. The only sermon of Stoughton's to be published was entitled New-Englands True Interest . The sermon
7104-622: Was buried next to his father in Roxbury's Eliot Burying Ground , accompanied with the pomp and ceremony appropriate to his position. In 1668, Dudley married Rebecca Tyng, who survived him by two years. They had 12 children, 10 of whom survived to adulthood. His son Paul served as attorney general and chief justice of Massachusetts, and Dudley, Massachusetts is named for his sons Paul and William, who were its first proprietors. His daughter Katherine Dudley married Lt. Governor William Dummer ; another daughter Ann Dudley married John Winthrop (1681–1747), son of Wait Winthrop, grandson of John Winthrop
7200-475: Was called off. Support arrived from England in 1710, and a successful siege led to the fall of Port Royal and the beginning of the Province of Nova Scotia . Boston was again the organizing point for the 1711 Quebec Expedition combining British and provincial forces. The expedition failed disastrously, however, when some of its transports foundered on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River . During
7296-426: Was commissioned in 1686 to temporarily head the Dominion of New England , Stoughton was appointed to his council, and he was then elected by the council as the deputy president. During the administration of Sir Edmund Andros he served as a magistrate and on the council. As a magistrate he was particularly harsh on the town leaders of Ipswich , who had organized tax protests against the dominion government, based on
7392-453: Was controversial, and Dudley's role made him many enemies. Leisler was convicted of high treason and sentenced to death. Governor Sloughter was initially opposed to immediately executing Leisler and his main ally and son-in-law Jacob Milborne , preferring to defer the decision to the king. But he changed his mind under pressure from anti-Leisler forces in his council, and the two men were executed on 16 May 1691. Cotton Mather claimed that Dudley
7488-448: Was convicted. Many convictions were made because Stoughton permitted the use of spectral evidence , the idea that a demonic vision could only take on the shape or appearance of someone who had made some sort of devilish pact or engaged in witchcraft. Although Cotton Mather argued that this type of evidence was acceptable when making accusations, some judges expressed reservations about its use in judicial proceedings. Stoughton, however,
7584-535: Was convinced of its acceptability, and may have influenced other judges to this view. The special court stopped sitting in September 1692. In November and December 1692 Governor Phips oversaw a reorganization of the colony's courts to bring them into conformance with English practice. The new courts, with Stoughton still sitting as chief justice, began to handle the witchcraft cases in 1693, but were under specific instructions from Phips to disregard spectral evidence. As
7680-478: Was decisively defeated. In 1679, Dudley was recorded as owning an enslaved Native American girl. Dudley served for several years as a commissioner to the New England Confederation , and was sent by the administration on diplomatic missions to neighboring Indian communities. He served on a committee that negotiated the boundary between Massachusetts and the Plymouth Colony . The colony's governance came under
7776-562: Was denied elective offices. He appealed to the politically powerful Mather family, with whom he still had positive relations. In 1692, when Increase Mather and Sir William Phips arrived from England carrying the charter for the new Province of Massachusetts Bay and a royal commission for Phips as governor, they also brought one for Stoughton as lieutenant governor. When Phips arrived, rumors of witchcraft were running rampant, especially in Salem . Phips immediately appointed Stoughton to head
7872-501: Was dominated by the French and Indian Wars , in which the two provinces were on the front lines with New France and suffered from a series of major and minor French and Indian raids. He orchestrated an unsuccessful attempt to capture the Acadian capital of Port Royal in 1707, raised provincial militia forces for its successful capture in 1710, and directed an unsuccessful expedition against Quebec in 1711. Dudley's governorship initiated
7968-464: Was given an annex to the commission with instructions to bring Rhode Island and Connecticut under his authority. Governor Andros arrived in December 1686 and immediately assumed the reins of power. Dudley sat on his council and served as judge of the superior court and censor of the press. He also sat on the committee that worked to harmonize legislation throughout the dominion. Andros' appointed council
8064-518: Was granted land in Oxford, Massachusetts for the purpose of settling French Huguenots . He frequently used his position to ensure that his land titles were judicially cleared, especially when president of the dominion and governor of the province. This was a practice that also benefited friends, relatives, and business partners. Edward Randolph wrote that it was "impossible to bring titles of land to trial before them where his Majesties's rights are concerned,
8160-430: Was hostile to the present order of the colony and was working against his commission as colonial agent. Randolph, in contrast, believed that Dudley's election loss meant that he would make a good crown servant. As a result, rumors began circulating in Boston in late 1684 that Dudley might be appointed governor, with Randolph as his deputy. The charter was annulled in 1684, and the Lords of Trade began planning to combine
8256-573: Was intended to represent all of the combined territories. However, travel was difficult, and the government did not reimburse travel expenses; consequently, his council was dominated by representatives from Boston and Plymouth. Dudley and Randolph were widely regarded as a significant part of the tyranny of Andros' reign. Dudley's position as judge brought him the harshest criticisms and complaints, in particular when he enforced unpopular laws imposed by Andros concerning taxes, town meetings, and land titles. During this period, Dudley acquired ownership over
8352-502: Was one of the largest structures in Boston. Primarily composed of brick , the building had three floors in the back and two in front; greeting visitors was a copper dragon mounted on an iron crane. According to Steven D. Barleen in The Tavern (2019), "no tavern from this era (pre- revolution ) is as famous or as important in American history" as the Green Dragon Tavern. A pub self-styled as
8448-416: Was originally delivered at the election of 1668, and was published in 1670. In it he harkened back to the founding of the colony, saying "God sifted a whole Nation that he might send choice Grain over into this Wilderness", but also lamented what he saw as a decline in Massachusetts society, and urged the lay members of society to defer judgment to their clerical elders. The town of Stoughton, Massachusetts
8544-401: Was part of a moderate faction which supported accommodating the king's demands, along with his brother-in-law Simon Bradstreet and William Stoughton , and they were opposed by others who did not want the crown to interfere in the colony's business. These factions were separated in part along class lines; the wealthier land owners and merchants who dominated the legislature's upper house (called
8640-645: Was placed: On this spot stood THE GREEN DRAGON TAVERN The secret meet place of the Sons of Liberty, And in the words of Webster, the Headquarters of the Revolution. To mark a site forever as Memorable as the birthplace of American freedom, this tablet is placed by the Massachusetts Society of the Sons of Revolution. The Green Dragon Tavern was located at Green Dragon Lane (today's Union Street) in Boston's North End. At 0.75 acres (0.30 ha) in size, it
8736-424: Was removed from the council of assistants in the 1684 election. The episode also led to accusations that Dudley had secretly schemed in London to have the charter vacated as a means of personal advancement. He did discuss the form of a replacement government with Edward Randolph, although this discussion did not take place until after the quo warranto writ was issued. The opposition viewed this as evidence that he
8832-481: Was sent from there to Lexington on his famous ride. In January 1788, a meeting of the mechanics and artisans of Boston passed a series of resolutions urging the importance of adopting the Federal Constitution pending at the time before a convention of delegates from around Massachusetts. The building was demolished in 1832. A warehouse was subsequently built in its place. On August 19, 1892, a commemorative plaque
8928-404: Was similarly being devastated by raids. In early 1694 Phips was recalled to London, to answer charges of misconduct. He delayed his departure until November, at which time Stoughton took over as acting governor. Phips died in London in early 1695, before the charges against him were heard. Stoughton viewed himself as a caretaker, holding the government until the crown appointed a new governor. As
9024-416: Was the removal of William Phips as Massachusetts governor, something that he did not hide from the colony's agents. Phips' rule was unpopular in Massachusetts, and he was recalled to England to answer a variety of charges brought by his opponents. Dudley caused Phips to be arrested shortly after his arrival, on the charge that Phips had withheld customs money from the crown. Phips died in February 1695 before
9120-498: Was then sent back to England at the command of King William , along with Andros and other dominion leaders. Colonial authorities brought charges against Andros and Dudley, but none of their agents in London were prepared to take responsibility for making those charges in court, so they were dismissed and both men were freed. Dudley was stranded in London with limited connections, so he appealed to Blathwayt for assistance. He also asked business associate Daniel Coxe for help in finding
9216-577: Was to gain a regular salary for the governor. He and all of the succeeding royal governors, however, were unsuccessful in extracting this concession from the Colonial legislature, and it became a regular source of friction between representatives of crown and colony. Dudley pressed his complaint in letters to London, in which he complained of men "who love not the Crown and Government of England to any manner of obedience". He wrote in one letter to his son Paul , then
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