First Founders: American Puritans and Puritanism in an Atlantic World

Thomas Dudley and Thomas Shepard: Hammers of Heretics

Thomas dudley and Thomas shepard Hammers of Heretics When historians seek to highlight the variety of religious viewpoints in early New England, they more often than not examine the differences between those who found themselves outside the bounds of acceptable behavior—roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, Baptists, and Quakers —and the “orthodox” majority who sought to keep such troublers out of the puritan Zion. But it is equally important to recognize the diversity of outlook within the so-called majority. If John Winthrop and John Cotton represent in some sense those who were willing to believe that they could profit from open discussion of matters of faith and practice , Thomas dudley and Thomas shepard can stand for those who more closely fit the stereotype of the narrow-minded, persecutory puritan. W hen John Endecott, John Winthrop and John Wilson immigrated to New England the threat to English puritans was looming on the horizon. As the decade of the 1630s progressed, that threat became reality. William Laud was elevated from Bishop of London to Archbishop of Canterbury and used his authority to inquire into the efforts of his bishops to enforce directives aimed at curbing puritan influence. Clergy such as John Cotton, Thomas Hooker, and John davenport were among those who found their situations in the church no longer tenable. The Laudian initiatives served to drive conforming clergy such as these to leave England, and also served to radicalize other members of the puritan movement. The shifting dynamics of 64 First Founders the English religious scene meant that the puritanism of those who came to New England during those years might differ significantly from that of those who had built the religious foundations of the region. New ideas brought to America stimulated fresh discussions of faith and practice, the type of discussions that earned for the Boston church the reputation of being “the most glorious church in the world.” Leaders like John Winthrop, who had anticipated that in the New World “we shall see much more of His wisdom, power, goodness and truth, than formerly we have been acquainted with,” welcomed the exchange of new ideas as a way to further enlightenment, and desired only that all who participated acknowledged the possibility that they might be wrong. other leaders, such as deputy Governor Thomas dudley and the clergyman Thomas shepard, believed that the foundations were fine as they were and viewed the newcomers and their notions with suspicion. a typical sunday morning in the fenland town of Boston, England, in 1620 would have seen men and women converging on the church of st. Botolph. Many were inhabitants of the town. others traveled a distance to hear John Cotton preach. The dudley family would have likely been there. Thomas dudley was the steward of the Earl of Lincoln . His family frequently made the fifteen-mile journey from the Earl’s sempringham estate to Boston on a saturday so that they could attend the sabbath services in st. Botolph. dudley and his wife, dorothy, were usually accompanied by their daughter Anne, then eight years old, and their son samuel. on at least some such occasions, the dudleys may have encountered another family that journeyed far to hear Cotton. William Hutchinson and his wife Anne are believed to have often traveled the twenty-four miles from Alford, a journey of six hours, to attend to Cotton ’s ministry. After the services, it was customary for Cotton to gather the godly members of the congregation for additional prayers. There the Hutchinsons and dudleys would have joined others, such as Boston alderman Thomas Leverett—men and women who were recognized as saints and sought communion with one another. This wasn’t the sort of Thomas Dudley and Thomas Shepard 65 sermon gadding, the journeying from parish to parish to hear various preachers, that was common in John Winthrop’s stour Valley and other parts of the land. The dudleys, Hutchinsons, and other puritans who traveled to hear Cotton were not supplementing the preaching of a local godly minister, they were coming in search of what they couldn’t find elsewhere. This was the situation throughout most of the Midlands and the Northeast of England, where clusters of the godly struggled in the midst of indifferent or hostile neighbors. Thomas dudley, born in 1576, had been orphaned at the age of twelve and taken in by a puritan kinswoman of his mother. His grandfather had evidently...