The town of Dedham, Massachusetts, participated in the American Revolutionary War and the protests and actions that led up to it in a number of ways. The town protested the Stamp Act and then celebrated its repeal by erecting the Pillar of Liberty. Townsmen joined in the boycott of British goods following the Townshend Acts, and they supported the Boston Tea Party. Dedham's Woodward Tavern was the site where the Suffolk Resolves gathering was first convened.
At the outset of the war, nearly every man in town went off when the alarm was sounded following the Battles of Lexington and Concord. There were several Tories in the community, notably Rev. William Clark, but they were largely ostracized and even arrested for being traitors. Many soldiers passed through the town during the war, including George Washington. There was also an encampment of French troops under the command of Count Rochambeau.
In May 1776, several months before Congress acted, Town Meeting voted that "if the Honourable Congress should, for the safety of the Colonies, declare their independence of the Kingdom of Great Britain, they, the said Inhabitants, will solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support them in the measure."
Prelude to war
Stamp Act and the Pillar of Liberty
When Parliament imposed the Stamp Act 1765 on the 13 colonies, there was little effect in Dedham and thus little outcry. The one person most affected was Dr. Nathaniel Ames who would have to pay for each sheet of paper used in his almanac, his liquor license, and for his medical papers. He began stirring up his fellow townsmen, and Town Meeting appointed a committee to draft a set of instructions to Samuel Dexter, their representative in the Great and General Court. Seven men were appointed to the committee, but their draft was likely written by Ames. The letter, which instructed Dexter to oppose the Act, was unanimously approved on October 21, 1765.
When the act was repealed, there was great rejoicing in Boston but just an "illumination" at the Ames Tavern. Some of those celebrating included the Sons of Liberty, whose Dedham Chapter included Nathaniel Ames, Ebenezer Battelle, Abijah Draper, and Dr. John Sprague, as well as the Free Brothers, a similar group which included Ames, Battelle, Sam West, Manasseh Cutler, Nat Fisher, and Joseph Ellis Jr.
On July 22, 1766, Nathaniel Ames and the Sons of Liberty erected the Pillar of Liberty on the church green at the Corner of High and Court streets. A "vast concourse of people" attended its erection. All that was there on that date as a block of granite from Battelle's farm that had been squared, polished, and had an inscription written by Ames. It is the only monument known to have been erected by the Sons of Liberty.
Seven months later, a 10' pillar was added with a bust of William Pitt the Elder. Pitt was credited, according to the inscription on the base, of having "saved America from impending slavery, and confirmed our most loyal affection to King George III by procuring a repeal of the Stamp Act." The bust was carved by Skilling, a Boston craftsman best known producing figureheads for ships. The monument was destroyed on the night of May 11, 1769.
In inscription stated on the base's north face:
The Pillar of Liberty
To the Honor of William Pitt Esqr
& other Patriots who saved
America from impending slavery
and confirmed our most loyal Affections
to King George III by pro
curing the repeal of the Stamp Act
18th March 1766
And on its west face:
The Pillar of Liberty
Erected by the Sons of Liberty
in this Vicinity
Laus DEO REGI et Immunitatm
autoribusq. maxine Patrono
Pitt, qui Rempub. rurfum evulfit
Faucibus Orci. [Praise to God, the King, and the exceptional work of Pitt, the great- est benefactor, who plucked the republic from the jaws of Hell.
On December 1, 1766, Town Meeting voted to condemn the mob action in Boston that destroyed property. It also voted, as an act of thanks for repealing the Stamp Act, that those who suffered should be compensated by the province.
Townshend Acts
After Parliament adopted the Townshend Acts, Town Meeting voted on November 16, 1767, to join in the boycott of imported goods:
...that as this Town will in all prudent methods encourage the use of such articles as may be produced in the British American Colonies, particularly in this Province, and discourage the use of superfluities, imported from abroad, and will not purchase any article of foreign produce or manufacture of said Colonies.