In a message dated 5/26/02 10:47:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time, ussenterprise@sasktel.net writes: << could someone possibly explain to me -or indicate to me a good website, about this "Freeman List" that so many books/articles refer to. i have many ancestors who came over to America from England and then made their way into NB & NS. there is always a notaion that they became a "Freeman"?? >> Freeman: In Colonial days this term referred to any male over twenty-one years old who owned personal property or real estate valued at a prescribed amount. He also was obliged to be a peaceful man, endorsed by a majority of the town's Freemen. Only after this vote at a semi-annual meeting of the selectmen, could the man take the Freeman's Oath. His duties were to elect deputies to the General Assembly of the colony and to elect new Freemen. He was a member of a local church and had the right to vote and pay taxes. Source: "A to Zax, a comprehensive dictionary for genealogists and historians" by Barbara Jean Evans, © 1995 Hope this helps, Dianne

The explanation Dianne quotes below of freemanship is a good, basic definition. I am sure she is aware that it is of necessity somewhat limited, and because there were others interested I would like to add a bit which is more specific to Plymouth Colony. The qualifications for freemanship varied from place to place and over time, and as with all human affairs, what was officially recorded may not always have been how things were actually done. A book which I like very much by George D. Langdon, Jr., _Pilgrim Colony: A History of New Plymouth 1620-1691_(New Haven, Yale University Press,1966), p. 81 has this comment: "Like Massachusetts [the Bay Colony, as opposed to Plymouth Colony], Plymouth began to use the word freeman to designate citizenship, including the right to vote for the governor and assistants and to hold colony office. But unlike the Bay Colony, Plymouth did not at first attempt to spell out statuatory requirements for freemanship. Before 1656 no legislative statement of qualifications existed; and even thereafter candidates were required only to secure approval of the freemen in their towns before presenting their names to the General Court [which then acted upon them]." Langdon argues for a relatively broad franchise in an article in _William and Mary Quarterly_20:513-26, "The Franchise and Political Democracy in Plymouth Colony." H. Roger King, in _Cape Cod and Plymouth Colony in the Seventeenth Century_(Lanham, MD, University Press of America, 1994) pp 148-52 argues that being granted freemanship was not simply a matter of meeting official qualifications. He concludes that "While not in a position to pass restrictive town ordinances, as the General Court could do for the colony, the towns nonetheless exercised strong influence over freemanship. They did so primariliy by limiting the honor to those who were of known quality or the descendants of early founders and settlers." p. 151 The definition quoted below does not allow for the fact that the practices in the colonies were fluid, evolving, and subject to changing circumstances. No mention is made, for instance, of church membership. While in the Bay Colony church membership was an early requirement, it was not until Plymouth was confronted with what they considered the menace of the extreme Quakers that a religious requirement was formalized. But again, all this was fluid and flexible and there were surely "unwritten" practices. I'm no expert on this, I just wanted to add that freemanship was not quite as simple a matter as the definition quoted suggests, and that on the whole it appears that in Plymouth Colony, while the Good Old Boy network seems to have been working, freemanship seems to have been more open than in Mass. Bay. One would have to be careful in making assumptions about a particular ancestor based on his being or not being a freeman. ***Freeman: In Colonial days this term referred to any male over twenty-one ***years old who owned personal property or real estate valued at a ***prescribed ***amount. He also was obliged to be a peaceful man, endorsed by a ***majority of ***the town's Freemen. Only after this vote at a semi-annual ***meeting of the ***selectmen, could the man take the Freeman's Oath. His duties ***were to elect ***deputies to the General Assembly of the colony and to elect new ***Freemen. He ***was a member of a local church and had the right to vote and pay taxes. *** ***Source: "A to Zax, a comprehensive dictionary for genealogists and ***historians" by Barbara Jean Evans, © 1995 *** ***Hope this helps, *** ***Dianne *** *** ***==== MAYFLOWER Mailing List ==== ***Check out the web page of the General Society of Mayflower ***Descendants at http://www.mayflower.org/ *** ***