***-----Original Message----- ***From: Bill Churchill [mailto:churchil@koyote.com] ***Sent: Monday, August 26, 2002 1:58 PM ***To: MAPLYMOU-L@rootsweb.com ***Subject: [PLY/MA] Able to Bear Arms lists *** *** ***I have an ancestor on an early Plymouth “Able to Bear Arms” listing. ***What was the qualification of being included on the list? Male, able-bodied, between 16 and 60. These were people on the edge of a wilderness they often believed to be populated with dangerous enemies, exposed to attack from the sea, and not inclined to be overly punctilious about social status when it was a question of defense. The able to bear arms list is therefore almost a comlete listing of the adult male population.