1687 – Historic Ipswich

Appleton's Pulpit Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission

The defiant Samuel Appleton

By Gordon Harris on September 17, 2019 • ( 6 Comments )

In 1687, a warrant was issued for the arrest of several Ipswich men for being “seditiously inclined and disaffected to his Majesty’s government.” The 62-year-old Major Samuel Appleton scorned the appearance of submission and remained imprisoned in the cold Boston Jail through the winter.

Birthplace of American Independence

By Historic Ipswich on April 19, 2015 • ( 2 Comments )

Resistance by the citizens and leaders of Ipswich to a tax imposed by the Crown in 1687 is commemorated in the seal of the town of Ipswich, which bears the motto, “The Birthplace of American Independence 1687.”