Excerpt from The History of Dedham: From the Beginning of Its Settlement, in September 1635, to May 1827 Some facts related in the following Sketch, will appear trivial. I am not certain that a suflicient reason can be given for extending the history of a town of no considerable extent, to so many pages. Several considerations, however, have prevailed over this doubt. It has appeared to me that a town like Dedham, having its first settlement at an early date, having c0pious materials for an history, and nearly resembling a much larger extent of country around it, in its character and past transactions, might be properly selected for a full historical and topographical description. The history of a town, although much of it must necessarily have only a local interest, may yet be so arranged, that it may afford some views of society, not exhibited in more general histories. It may bring us nearer the homes, and enable us to see more distinctly the do ings of the inhabitants. It may assist us in tracing the origin of manners and customs, and in judging of the influence of laws and public proceedings, on the character of the people. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.