Cynthia said "freemens' oath in the subject line, but... >From: "Christina Aubin" <aubin@gate.net> > A list of those who took "the oath of fidelity" from > Sorry to be dense but can you tell me what the oath was? > Thanks, > Christina Christina says oath of fidelity. One really must be very specific here. A freemens' oath, at least in the late 1700s/early 1800s, at least in Vermont, was simply one's admission to the freemens' meetings and thus to the voter rolls. I.e., it was part of "registering to vote" in elections, as we would put it. The oath was taken the same day that one first voted in an election, too. Kinda like drive-thru voter registration. BUT!!!! An oath of fidelity COULD be something else depending on time and place. Could be, for example, a promise to be a good boy and not do that again after having sinned, say for example, in Shays' Rebellion. The question, to be answered properly, needs to specify when and where this oath was taken, and if possible in what context. Lester Powers ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.
Oaths were a big deal back then. There was also the Oath of Supremacy that many Puritans were forced to sign before they could sail to the New World -- "supremacy" of the Church of England. Since they were not separatists, they could sign it with a clear conscience. In Bristol alone there was discovered thousands of such signed oaths from that period. Since my WETMOREs are said to have sailed to MBC from Bristol, they may be among them. Unfortunately I can't find the reference anymore. :-( The same oath probably was required in other ports. Yrs aye, Warren ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lester M Powers" <lesterps@juno.com> To: <CT-RIVER-VALLEY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, December 04, 2000 11:08 PM Subject: [CRV] Re: Freemens' oath > Cynthia said "freemens' oath in the subject line, but... > > >From: "Christina Aubin" <aubin@gate.net> > > A list of those who took "the oath of fidelity" from > > Sorry to be dense but can you tell me what the oath was? > > Thanks, > > Christina > > Christina says oath of fidelity. > > One really must be very specific here. A freemens' oath, > at least in the late 1700s/early 1800s, at least in > Vermont, was simply one's admission to the freemens' > meetings and thus to the voter rolls. I.e., it was > part of "registering to vote" in elections, as we > would put it. The oath was taken the same day that > one first voted in an election, too. Kinda like > drive-thru voter registration. > > BUT!!!! An oath of fidelity COULD be something else > depending on time and place. Could be, for example, > a promise to be a good boy and not do that again after > having sinned, say for example, in Shays' Rebellion. > > The question, to be answered properly, needs to > specify when and where this oath was taken, and if > possible in what context. > > Lester Powers > > > ________________________________________________________________ > GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! > Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! > Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: > http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. > > > ==== CT-RIVER-VALLEY Mailing List ==== > This list covers genealogy and history of The Connecticut River Valley > Accuracy is important--double check your spelling and dates . > Got information to share-----share them.....list sources > http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl > http://www.quadrangle.org (genealogical lib for Ct-River-Valley area) > http://www.acpl.lib.in.us [research lib in Indiana] > listowner; NewEnglander1620@mail.ccsinet.net > > ============================== > Search more than 150 million free records at RootsWeb! > http://searches.rootsweb.com/ >