Jeremiah Shuttleworth (Dedham, Massachusetts.
December 24, 1760 – October 11, 1858) was a merchant and postmaster fromPersonal life
editShuttleworth married Susanna "Sukey" Richards on February 1, 1798, and they were the parents of four children, including Hannah, Sam, and Jerry.[1][2][3][a] He was an incorporator of St. Paul's Church and served on the vestry.[4] His sister, Melitiah Shuttleworth, married Nathaniel Ames.[4][5]
Shuttleworth died October 11, 1858.[2]
Career
editJeremiah ran the West India Goods store out of his home, located at the corner of Church and High Streets.[6][7][8][3] It was likely the first permanent grocery store in Dedham.[8]
On April 1, 1795, Shuttleworth was appointed Dedham's first postmaster.[6][5][8][3][b] The post office, one of the first in the country, was housed in the store, where he would place all the mail on a table.[6][8] Residents would come into the store and help themselves to any letters addressed to them.[6] Shuttleworth was replaced as postmaster 38 years later, in 1833, by Dr. Elisha Thayer.[6][3] At his resignation in 1833, it was thought he was the oldest postmaster in the country.[2]
House
editShuttleworth leased a lot of land from St. Paul's Church at the corner of Church and High Streets.[9] The minister, William Montague, referred to the intersection as "Jere Square" in his honor.[9] The window shutters, which were painted green, were never opened.[3] In front of the store were scales for weighing hay.[3]
For many years, important notices were tacked to a buttonwood tree in front of the house.[10][11][c] It was where, for example, the first notice of Abraham Lincoln's death was posted.[11] Local tradition holds that the first notice posted there was a $50 reward for a stolen horse.[11] During the Civil War, when a soldier drilling pulled out an umbrella during a shower, he was hung in effigy from the tree.[12][13]
Shuttleworth left the house to Hannah, and upon her death she left it to the Dedham Historical Society.[14] The Historical Society sold the Shuttleworth home, which was moved to Bryant St, and custom built a new building for themselves on the lot.[15][7]
In 1936, Charles Mills painted a portrait of his house, where his shop and post office were.[16] It is currently in the collection of the Historical Society and was cleaned and conserved in 2016.[16]
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ Briggs & Ames 1891, p. 38.
- ^ a b c Morse, Abner (1861). A Genealogical Register of the Descendants of Several Ancient Puritans, V. 3: The Richards Family. H.W. Dutton. p. 111. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Clarke 1903, p. 11.
- ^ a b Worthington 1958, p. 10.
- ^ a b Briggs & Ames 1891, p. 30.
- ^ a b c d e Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 9.
- ^ a b "Three new buildings". The Boston. May 15, 1887. p. 13.
- ^ a b c d Smith 1936, p. 281.
- ^ a b Worthington 1958, p. 18.
- ^ a b c d Parr 2009, pp. 15–16.
- ^ Parr 2009, p. 16.
- ^ Hanson 1976, p. 242.
- ^ Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 119.
- ^ Parr, Jim (October 16, 2016). "Tales from a Dedham Graveyard 2- "Snatched from the tomb…"". Dedham Tales. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- ^ a b "Blue Hills Bank underwrites conservation of painting". The Dedham Transcript. March 14, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
Works cited
edit- Parr, James L. (2009). Dedham: Historic and Heroic Tales From Shiretown. The History Press. ISBN 978-1-59629-750-0.
- Dedham Historical Society (2001). Images of America: Dedham. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-0944-0. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- Worthington, Dr. Arthur Morton (1958). "History of St. Paul's Church in Dedham 1758-1958" (PDF). St. Paul's Church (Dedham, Massachusetts). p. 10. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
- Briggs, Samuel; Ames, Nathaniel (1891). The Essays, Humor, and Poems of Nathaniel Ames, Father and Son: Of Dedham, Massachusetts, from Their Almanacks, 1726-1775, with Notes and Comments. Short & Forman. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
- Smith, Frank (1936). A History of Dedham, Massachusetts. Transcript Press, Incorporated. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
- Hanson, Robert Brand (1976). Dedham, Massachusetts, 1635-1890. Dedham Historical Society.
- Clarke, Wm. Horatio (1903). Mid-Century Memories of Dedham. Dedham Historical Society.
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