This is a timeline of the history of the town of Dedham, Massachusetts.
17th century 1630s 1635 May 6, 1635 - The General Court granted permission to residents of Watertown to set off and establish new towns.
1636 March 1636 - The General Court ordered that the bounds of what would become Dedham be mapped out. April 1636 - The committee appointed to map out the bounds reported back. August 18, 1636 - The colonial settlers met for the first time in Watertown. The Town Covenant was signed. August 18, 1636 - Thomas Bartlett was ordered to begin surveying the land of the new plantation. August 18, 1636 - The Old Village Cemetery was set apart with land taken from Nicholas Phillips and Joseph Kingsbury. August 29, 1636 - The original proprietors requested additional land on both sides of the Charles River from the General Court. September 7, 1636 - The General Court incorporated Dedham. September 5, 1636 - The number of proprietors grew from 18 at the first meeting to 25 proprietors willing to set out for the new community. November 25, 1636 - So few people had actually moved to Dedham that the proprietors voted to require every man to move to Dedham permanently by the first day of the following November or they would lose the land they had been granted. November 1636 - A loophole was closed to ensure that those who were not committed to the same ideals were not admitted as townsmen.
1637 1637 - There are 31 men, plus their families, living in Dedham. 1637- The Fairbanks House was constructed. 1637 - Abraham Shaw arrived in Dedham. He was granted of land as long as he erected a watermill, which he intended to build on the Charles River near the present day Needham Street bridge. March 1637 -Many settlers moved to their new village. March 23, 1636–37 - The first town meeting held. April 1637 - The Town voted to begin keeping watch to prevent Indian attacks. May 1637 - Residents were lamenting the time and resources they were spending on patrols. June 3, 1637 - Ruth Morse was the first child born to white parents, John and Annis, in Dedham. July 18, 1637 - John Allin, Michael Metcalf, Robert Hinsdale, Eleazer Lusher, Timothy Dalton, and Allin's brother-in-law, Thomas Fisher, and others were admitted to town. August 11, 1637 - A total of 46 house lots had been laid out and it was voted to stop admitting new residents. August 11, 1637 - The Town voted to invite Peter Prudden and 15 or more of his followers to join them, but since Dedham was not geographically situated to become a center of commerce the invitation was declined. Late 1637 - Meetings are held to consider forming a church.
1638 1638 - First survey of the town is undertaken. 1638 - Abraham Shaw died before he could complete his mill. 1638 - Seven-year-old John Dwight disappeared in the woods near Wigwam Pond, an area known to be particularly infested with wolves. January 1, 1638 -The Town voted to construct a meetinghouse. November 1638 - The meeting house is complete. November 8, 1638- The church covenant was signed and the First Church and Parish in Dedham was gathered.
1639 1639 - Thomas Bartlett had stopped surveying land, work for which he was not paid. Late 1639 - John Phillips, though he had earlier rejected a call to be minister, decided to settle in Dedham after all. March 25, 1639 - Mother Brook was ordered to be dug at public expense by the Town, and a tax was levied on settlers to pay for it. April 24, 1639 - John Allin was ordained as pastor. John Hunting was ordained Ruling Elder. May 3, 1639 - The first seven selectmen were chosen "by general consent" and given "full power to contrive, execute and perform all the business and affairs of this whole town." May 17, 1639 - The first Town Clerk was elected.
1640s 1640s - The town began permitting residents to fence in their strips of land in the common field. 1640 - There are more than 200 residents. 1640- Thomas Bartlett sold his holdings in Dedham and left town. 1641 -The first corn mill was erected by John Elderkin at a dam on East Brook next to the present day Condon Park and near the intersection of Bussey St and Colburn St. January 1, 1644, by unanimous vote, Dedham authorized the first U.S. taxpayer-funded public school; "the seed of American education." July 14, 1641 - First recorded instance of water running through Mother Brook. October 1641 - John Phillips became unsatisfied in his new pulpit and returned to his old church in England. 1642 - Only months after opening his mill, John Elderkin moved out of town. He sold half of his rights to Whiting and the other half to John Allin, Nathan Aldis, and John Dwight. 1643 - A common tillage field of 200 acres was laid out and each man was assigned a specific length of fence to build to enclose it. 1644 - A sawmill was opened in Tiot. 1645 - Needham Street was laid out. 1646 - An addition is ordered to be built on the meetinghouse. 1646 - Jonathan Fairbanks joined the First Church and Parish in Dedham. 1648 - A vote is taken to purchase a bell for the meetinghouse. 1648 - There are approximately 400 residents. 1648 - John Thurston was commission by the town to build the first schoolhouse; he received a partial payment of £11.0.3 on December 2, 1650. 1648 to 1688 - The number of family names in town decreased from 63 to 57. 1649 - Joshua Fisher started Fisher's Tavern. October 23, 1649 - The General Court granted additional lands in what is today Medway so long as they established a separate village there within one year.
1650s 1650- Dedham agreed to give up of what is today Natick to the "praying Indians. 1651 - There are approximately 100 families in Dedham. January 11, 1651 - Town Meeting voted to release Medfield. May 1651 - The General Court agreed to release Medfield. 1651 - A one shilling fine was imposed for taking a canoe without permission. January 1652 - Town Meeting voted to dig the "Great Ditch," creating the island of Riverdale. 1652 - Nathaniel Whiting sold his mill and all his town rights to John Dwight, Francis Chickering, Joshua Fisher, and John Morse for 250 pounds, but purchased it back the following year. 1652 - A bell is hung in the meetinghouse. January 1653 - The Town offered land to Robert Crossman if he would build a mill on the Charles where Shaw had originally intended. 1653 - Gunpowder begins to be stored in the meetinghouse roof. Disputes began arising with the Praying Indians of Natick. 1656 - Only three percent of the land, 3,000 acres, had been distributed, with the rest being retained by the town. Between 1656 and 1667, over 15,000 acres were allotted to townsmen. 1658 - A committee was appointed to look into setting up an ironworks within the town. 1658 - Jonathan Fairbanks served as selectman.
1657 1657 - Henry Phillips, a former selectman, was so upset by his allotment that he took off and moved to Boston. He led a group of dissatisfied settlers in a rare public complaint. He brought his complaint before the General Court, which was an action even more rare in a community whose covenant called for disputes to be resolved by local mediation. 1657 - The plastering work in the meetinghouse is complete. 1657 - There was still 125,000 acres remaining to be distributed to settlers. January 23, 1657 -The growth of the town was further limited to descendants of those living there at the time. Newcomers could settle there, so long as they were like-minded, but they would have to buy their way into the community. Land was no longer freely available for those who wished to join. Late 1650s There are more than 150 men, plus others, living in Dedham.
1660s 1660 - New residents were not invited to sign the Dedham Covenant. 1660 - Five men were sent to explore the lakes near George Indian's wigwam in Wollomonopoag and to report back to the selectmen what they found. March 1661 - It was voted to start a new settlement at Wollomonopoag. The Town sent Richard Ellis and Timothy Dwight to go negotiate with King Phillip to purchase the title to the area. 1661 - Dedham gave up attempts at friendly solutions and took the Praying Indians to court, suing for title to the land the Indians were inhabiting. 1661 - Richard Ellis refused to serve as Town Clerk. 1663 - A committee dispatched to evaluate land granted in return for 2,000 acres given to the "praying Indians" of Natick submitted a bill for their expenses. 1663 - A decline in church membership meant nearly half the men in town were not members. January 1663 - A meeting was called, and the 10 men who volunteered to go to Wollomonopoag raised several concerns about their ability to establish a village there. June 24, 1665 - Deadline given to Daniel Pond and Ezra Morse to erect a new corn mill on Mother Brook. August 1669 - The Town Fathers received an odd letter from King Phillip offering to negotiate for more land if they would quickly send him a "holland shirt."
1670s 1670s - As the Utopian spirit of the community waned, it became necessary to impose a tax to ensure the minister was paid. 1670 - Less than half of residents were church members. May 23, 1670 - The drawing of lots took place in what is today Deerfield.
1671 1671 - Five men attempt again to start a settlement at Wollomonopoag. April 12, 1671 - Zachariah Smith was passing through Dedham. He was found dead the next morning. August 1671 - John Allin dies. December 1671 - William Adams has been approached several times about becoming Dedham's new minister.
1672 February 17, 1672 - William Adams agrees to preach in Dedham.
1673 February 3, 1673 - A referendum to build a new meetinghouse was held with voters casting a piece of white corn if they were in favor and a piece of red corn if they were opposed. The vote was nearly unanimous in favor. May 7, 1673 - The General Court separated the town of Deerfield, with additional lands, provided they establish a church and settle a minister within three years. May 27, 1673 - William Adams moves to Dedham. June 16, 1673 - The new meetinghouse was erected. September 1673 - William Adams begins preaching on a trial basis. October 16, 1673 The General Court separated the new town of Wrentham, Massachusetts. December 3, 1673 - William Adams is ordained.
1674 1674 - People began sitting in places other than those assigned for them in the meetinghouse.
1675 1675 - Laws that restricted the presence of strangers were rarely enforced. 1675 - The Colony took the Town to court for failing to establish a grammar school. 1675 - Taxpayers paid more the county and colony than they did to the town, reflecting a growing importance of the regional bodies and the cost of the colony expanding westward. June 26, 1675 - Captain Daniel Henchmen and a company of militiamen arrived in Dedham after the raid on Swansea. December 8, 1675 - Plymouth Colony governor Josiah Winslow and Captain Benjamin Church rode from Boston to Dedham to take charge of the 465 soldiers and 275 cavalry assembling there and together departed on for the Great Swamp Fight.
1676 February 1676 - During the battle in Lancaster, Jonas Fairbanks and his son Joshua both died. Richard Wheeler, whose son Joseph was killed in battle the previous August, also died that day. July 25, 1676 - Pomham, one of King Phillip's chief advisors, was captured in Dedham.
1677 September 1677 - John Plympton and Quentin Stockwell were captured in Deerfield and marched to Canada. November 1677 - When a great black boar, eight feet long, walked into town, nearly every man was assembled around it with his musket before they could subdue it. Eventually it would take 13 bullets before it was killed.
1678 1678 - Oldest known instance of the name "Mother Brook" being used. 1678 - Town Meeting voted not to hear any more complaints from Nathaniel Whiting about his mill.
1680s 1680s - The Town fathers sought out and purchased the rights to the land from every native person who claimed to own land or hold title.