What Was a Freeman in Colonial New England?
Old Records Give Status to Men Designated as “Freeman”
Feb 23, 2009
It doesn’t take long when working with colonial records to realize that special status is awarded to those referred to as “freeman”. How did this come about?
The Freeman Oath
Before being admitted freeman in the early colonies one had to subscribe to the “freeman’s oath”. Here is the form as administered in 1634:
“I, (name), being by God’s providence, an inhabitant & freeman within the jurisdiccon of this commonweale, doe here sweare, by the greate & dreadfull name if the ever-lyveing God that I will be true & faithfull to the same & will accordingly yeilde assistance & support thereonto, with my person & Estate, as in equity I am bound, and will also truely indeavor to mainetaine & preserve all the libertyes & previlidges thereof, submitting my selfe to the wholesome lawes & orders made & established by the same; and further that I will not plot nor practise any evill against it, nor consent to any that shall soe doe, but will timely discover and reveal the same to lawfull authority, nowe here established, for the speedy preventing thereof.
“Moreover I doe solemnly bynde myselfe in the sight of God, that when I shall be called to give my voice touching any such matter of this state, wherein freemen are to deal, I will give my vote & suffrage, as I shall judge in myne owne conscience may best conduce and tend to the publique weale of the body without respect of persons, or favour of any man. Soe help me God, in the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Original spelling used in this transcription.)
Freeman and Freeholder
In addition to being a freeman, a man might also be a freeholder. Here is how Joshua Coffin treats this in his history of Newbury, Masachusetts.
- A man might be a freeholder & not a freeman, and vice versa.
- He might be a voter in town affairs, and yet neither a freeholder nor a freeman.
- A freeman was one who had taken the freeman’s oath, and which alone entitled him to vote in the nomination of magistrates and choice of deputies, alias representatives.
- A freeholder was one who, either by grant, purchase or inheritance, was entitled to a share in all the common and undivided lands.
Who Could Vote at Which Meetings
The above distinctions determined at which type of town meeting a man could vote. The town clerk wrote everything in the same book. The inhabitants knew who could attend “a meeting of the freemen” or “a meeting of the freeholders.” There could also be “a meeting of the freeholders and inhabitants,” a “generall towne meeting” or “a legall towne meeting”.
When any town officers were to be chosen, or money raised, all male inhabitants could vote.
At a 1639 town meeting in Hampton, New Hampshire, attended by all inhabitants, it was voted to impose a one shilling fine on any freeman who, after due notice of a town meeting, failed to be there within a half hour of the time the meeting was called for. The constable had the duty of collecting such fines.
The settlers thought these town meetings were crucially important. They had crossed the Atlantic in order that they could enjoy freedom of choice. This was their form of representative government and they cherished it.
SOURCES: Dow, Joseph, History of the Town of Hampton, New Hampshire (1893: Salem, MA); Coffin, Joshua, The History of Newbury, Newburyport and West
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