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Jeremiah Shuttleworth

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Shuttleworth grave

Jeremiah Shuttleworth ((1760-12-24)December 24, 1760 – (1858-10-11)October 11, 1858) was a merchant and postmaster from Dedham, Massachusetts.

Personal life

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Shuttleworth 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

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Jeremiah 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

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Shuttleworth 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

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  1. ^ Sam and Jerry cultivated a garden at the corner of Byrant Street and Eastern Avenue.[3]
  2. ^ Clarke has the date being 1793.[3]
  3. ^ It eventually was toppled during Hurricane Gloria in 1985.[11]

References

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  1. ^ Briggs & Ames 1891, p. 38.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Clarke 1903, p. 11.
  4. ^ a b Worthington 1958, p. 10.
  5. ^ a b Briggs & Ames 1891, p. 30.
  6. ^ a b c d e Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 9.
  7. ^ a b "Three new buildings". The Boston. May 15, 1887. p. 13.
  8. ^ a b c d Smith 1936, p. 281.
  9. ^ a b Worthington 1958, p. 18.
  10. ^ "Dedham's Famous Buttonwood Tree". The Boston Globe. July 31, 1904. p. 45. Retrieved June 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b c d Parr 2009, pp. 15–16.
  12. ^ Parr 2009, p. 16.
  13. ^ Hanson 1976, p. 242.
  14. ^ Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 119.
  15. ^ Parr, Jim (October 16, 2016). "Tales from a Dedham Graveyard 2- "Snatched from the tomb…"". Dedham Tales. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  16. ^ a b "Blue Hills Bank underwrites conservation of painting". The Dedham Transcript. March 14, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2021.

Works cited

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