Wicked Puritans of Essex County

by Tom Juergens (History Press, 2011)

 

Who wouldn't pick up a book with a title like this one? If this isn't enough to peak your curiosity, the chapter titles will pull you in-"Sex: The Good, The Bad, and the Loathsome." The first sentence of this chapter dares you to continue: "The Puritans were not, as it turns out, all that puritanical about sex." A marriage was judged null and void for failure to "perform the duty or office of a husband." Some of the fornication charges against men and women were "insinuating dalliance" or "wanton dalliance," "improper relations," "committing folly," and "entertaining."  Informants were everywhere and the accursed frequently confessed when questioned.  The chapter, "Brutal Business in Flesh and Blood," describes slavery and the treatment of slaves in early Massachusetts. This is a well-researched book with the stories you didn't hear or read about in your high school history classes. From the cover, "Local historian Tom Juergens shines a new light on the Puritan era with a collection of sordid stories that reveals the ugly truths behind whippings, brandings and mutilations." The book includes a bibliography for those who wish to do further research. Images help to illustrate the restraints and punishment methods used on the men and women accused or found guilty of an offense.

 

 The Congregational Library is excited to welcome back George Washington University Ph.D. candidate Richard J. Boles as part of our Brown Bag Lunch series on Tuesday, February 5th. Mr. Boles' talk, "A Free Negro Who Also Owned the Covenant With Us" will address African American affiliation with northern Congregational, Dutch Reformed, and Presbyterians churches during the eighteenth century. Although these three denominations were each part of the "Reformed" tradition, levels of black affiliation in these churches varied significantly. Many blacks were active and willing participants in Congregational churches, but few blacks affiliated with Dutch Reformed and Presbyterian churches in the same period. What accounts for these differences and what does this information suggest about the histories of enslaved and free blacks in the North?

 

All Brown Bag Lunches begin promptly at 12:00pm and run until 1:00pm. We encourage you to register early online.

 

  Dr. Margaret Bendroth, the Executive Director of the Congregational Library, will deliver a two part lecture on the History of the Congregational Church at the Wellesley Hills Congregational Church as part of their Adult Education program. Part I is scheduled for Sunday, February 2nd and Part II is scheduled for Sunday, March 3rd. Both parts will take place in the Church's reception room after the service. The Hills Church welcomes other interested Congregational Churches to join them for Dr. Bendroth's series the story of the Congregational Way's long, complicated, and fascinating tradition, from the landing of the New England Pilgrims to the formation of the United Church of Christ. 

 

More information about the Hills Church can be found on their website and a complete schedule of their Winter/Spring 2013 Adult Education is available in PDF here.

 

A new edition of Ka Baibala Hemolele or the Hawaiian Language Bible is being put out by Mutual Publishing. The original 1839 Bible, a 19 year labor by missionary Rev. Hiram Bingham with help from a cadre of others, played a significant role in the development of the written form of the Hawaiian language and has had an important presence in the preservation and teaching of Hawaiian culture. 

 

However, that 1839 version, as well as the subsequent 1868 and 1994 versions lacked the diacritical marks common to modern Hawaiian readers. The publisher's press release explains in further detail:

 

This new Baibala is not a new translation but a new edition that respells the text of the original Hawaiian Bible using the modern Hawaiian orthography. As indicated, two additional characters have been added: the 'okina (glottal stop)-a consonant that had been left out of the set of letters selected by the missionaries in 1826 when they created written Hawaiian; and kahakö-macrons used to mark elongated Hawaiian vowels. (The sounds represented by these characters were always present in the spoken language.) No words have been added or any omitted. Each word, phrase, sentence and passage was considered in its Biblical context and respelled using strict rules and guidelines. 

 

This new edition, created with support from the Partners In Development Foundation's Hawaiian Bible Project will join the Congregational Library's copy of the 1843 printing in our collection in the near future.