Samuel Dunham

Citations

1. [S293] Issac Watson Dunham, Dunham Genealogy: English & American Branches of the Dunham Family 1907, Norwich, Connecticut, Samuel was one of those Plymouth townsmen found fit to bear arms in Aug., 1643 [Plym. Col. Rec., 8:188]. He served as a juryman between the years of 1657 and 1672. On June 7, 1665 he was granted thirty acres of land on the westerly side of the Namasskett River [Plym. Col. Rec., 4:94]. He was appointed a deputy in Plymouth June 3, 1668, a position that his father had held for many years [Plym. Col. Rec., 4:180]. He was sworn in as constable on June 3, 1674 [Plym. Col. Rec., 5:145]. On June 1, 1675 he was appointed a surveyor of highways [Plym. Col. Rec., 5:166]. On Mar. 7, 1676 Samuel and Sarah Fallowell, widow, were granted
   administration of the estate of John Fallowell [Plym. Col. Rec., 5:188]. On Oct. 30, 1675 it was reported to the court in Plymouth that John Fallowell "was accessory to his own death, by willful going into a deep pond, called Loute Pond, and drowned himself" [Plym. Col. Rec., 5:182]. John may have been Martha's son with William Fallowell; the deceased had m. Feb. 13, 1668 Sarah Wood (John) [Plym. Col. Rec., 8:31].
   Samuel and Martha may have moved to Middleboro', Mass. about 1678, for a Samuel Dunham from that town served on an inquest panel in Plymouth Jan. 6, 1679 along with John and Joseph Dunham, Samuel's brothers [Plym. Col. Rec., 6:7-8]. A "Samuell Dunham, of Middlebery" appeared at court Oct. 30, 1678 [Plym. Col. Rec., 5:272]. These records could, though, refer to the son or nephew of
   Samuel Dunham, Sr. In Dec. of 1681 Samuel was excommunicated from the Plymouth church for two years for intemperance (or, as Pastor John Cotton would elsewhere write, for being an "old drunkard" [Cotton Papers, 6, #6]) [Plym. Ch. Rec., 1:157]. On Mar. 7, 1682 Samuel Dunham, Sr. of
   Plymouth was fined five shillings by the Plymouth court "for being overtaken with drink" [Plym. Col. Rec., 6:82]. On June 17, 1683 Samuel was "called forth to manifest his repentance publicly in order to his reconciliation with the church" [Plym. Ch. Rec., 1:252]. The members of the church found his speech satisfactory, and he was reconciled to the church on July 1, 1683.
   On Nov. 20, 1689 Samuel Dunham was accused of taking the Lord's name in vain, having been heard to say "the curse of God is upon the head & pluck, with many other unsavory speeches; partly by intemperance in drinking which sister Jackson testified against him before the elders to his face" [Plym. Ch. Rec., 1:267]. He was laid under
   admonition and told not to come to the Lord's Supper until he had fully repented. He was accepted again to communion Sept. 8, 1690 [Plym. Ch. Rec., 1:270]. [Note: For more information on this family member see the Dunham Family's American Heritage].