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Gender and Authority in Seventeenth-Century Middlesex County, Massachusetts Edith Murphy University of New Hampshire, Durham

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Gender and Authority in Seventeenth-Century Middlesex County, Massachusetts Edith Murphy University of New Hampshire, Durham University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Fall 1998 Skillful women and jurymen: Gender and authority in seventeenth-century Middlesex County, Massachusetts Edith Murphy University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Murphy, Edith, "Skillful women and jurymen: Gender and authority in seventeenth-century Middlesex County, Massachusetts" (1998). Doctoral Dissertations. 2048. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/2048 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. NOTE TO USERS The original manuscript received by UMI contains pages with indistinct and/or slanted print. Pages were microfilmed as received. This reproduction is the best copy available UMI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. SKILLFUL WOMEN AND JURYMEN: GENDER AND AUTHORITY IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS BY EDITH MURPHY Bachelor of Arts, Bowdoin College, 1984 Master of Arts, University of New Hampshire, 1990 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History September, 1998 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9907590 UMI Microform 9907590 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED C 1998 Edith Murphy Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This dissertation has been examined and approved 'Bid^ertatiorrDirectorLaurel Thatcher Ulrich, Professor of History, Harvard University I ' / • ' s ij\, _ W. Jeffrey;Bo 1st.'err"Associate Professor of History J- gl&Lliam Harris, Associate Professor of History Lucy Salyer, Associate Prpr^ssor of History Deborah Winslow, Associate Professor of Anthropology 2_3 V Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. For My Parents Marion Rose Murphy John F. Murphy iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the archivists at the Supreme Judicial Court and the Massachusetts State Archives. In the early years of my work Bruce Shaw was very helpful and in recent years Elizabeth Bouvier has generously helped me order microfilm, answered questions, and provided copies of originals documents not available on microfilm. Librarians at the public libraries of Chelmsford and Norwood have patiently assisted me. The librarians at the special collections of the Concord Public Library provide a wonderful place to work. I am also grateful to the librarians at the University of New Hampshire. Louise Buckley has been particularly helpful. Thank you to my colleges, Aileen Agnew, Bill Jordan, Candice Kanes, Beth Nichols, Dave Richards, and the other members of the dissertation seminar for providing many helpful suggestions. Thanks to Stacy Hogsett for especially generous support and advice. Ann Plane provided a useful reading of material in chapter 3. Erin Miller, Larry Belvin, and Rosaly Aiello kindly proofread sections for me. I am grateful for the following financial support. A Small Grant Award from the Institute for Policy and Social Science Research at the University of New Hampshire allowed me to buy microfilm. University teaching and dissertation v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dissertation Grant from the History department paid for more microfilm and travel. The American Historical Association provided research expenses with a Littleton-Griswold Research Grant. I am grateful to the members of my dissertation committee: Jeff Bolster, Bill Harris, Lucy Salyer, and Deborah Winslow, for their time and suggestions. I have been extremely fortunate in my mentor, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. "Wisely aweful, but yet kind," she has done her best to encourage clarity in both thinking and writing. I am thankful for her patience and for the example she sets with her work and the doing of it. My parents' encouragement and engagement in my work has meant a great deal to me. Only my yokefellow, Tom Wight, knows how much he has contributed. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION.............................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................... V LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES.........................viii ABSTRACT................................................ ix CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION............................................ 1 I. "I WILL ARAINE YEA AT THE BAR": LAW AND ITS PRACTICE IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY MIDDLESEX COUNTY............ 31 II. THE PRACTICE OF COMMUNITY CONTROL.................. 64 III. "THIS DEPONENT WAS RESOLVED TO SEE": WOMEN’S AUTHORITY IN MIDDLESEX COUNTY...................... 112 IV. TOWNS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN: THE DISRUPTION OF AUTHORITY IN MALDEN AND WOBURN..................... 157 V. "THE NEGLECT WHEREOF . DOTH OCCASION MUCH SIN AND PROPHANES TO ENCREASE AMONG US:" THE REDOUBLED COMMITMENT TO GENDERED AUTHORITY.................... 229 CONCLUSION.............................................. 290 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY................................... 294 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES Map 1. Map of Middlesex County,Massachusetts, 1674....... 15 TABLES 2.1. Incidents Involving Alice and Samuel Stratton...... 78 2.2. People Involved in Stratton Cases.................. 82 3.1 Assault Cases, 1649-1660........................... 141 3.2 Breakdown of Assaults by Attacker and Victim, 1649-1660.......................................... 142 3.3 Cases with African and Indian Defendants, 1649-1660 .......................................... 142 4.1 Alphabetized Names of Women Who Signed Petition in Support of Marmaduke Matthews, October 28, 1651..... 170 5.1 Changes in Incidence of and Type of Punishment for Fornication, 1650-1679............................. 235 5.2 Comparison of Punishments for Premarital Fornicators for Defendants Who Did Not Marry, with Percentage of Cases that Were Premarital, 1650- 1679............................................... 238 5.3 Mean Severity of Whipping or Fine in Fornication Convictions, 1650-1679............................. 243 5.4 Frequency of Confessions by those Accused of Fornication by Sex, 1650-1679...................... 246 5.5 Known Punishments for Fornication by Sex of Defendant, 1650-1679............................... 256 5.6 Fornication Cases: Frequency for Defendants Tried as Couples or Alone, 1650-1679..................... 257 5.7 Fornication Cases In Which Men and Women Had Same Punishments, 1650-1679............................. 258 5.8 Punishment of Fornication Defendants by Race, 1650-1679 .......................................... 271 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. 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