In the spring and summer of 1774, news had reached Boston that Britain’s Parliament had enacted several measures in retaliation for the Destruction of the Tea, known as the “Intolerable Acts. Samuel Adams and the Boston committee of correspondence developed a non-importation pledge known as the “Solemn League and Covenant”. The Covenant called for its signers to halt the purchase of British goods after August 31st. Westford was one of the towns that supported the pledge.
Join Dan Lacroix as he explains the significance of this act and how it affected the people of Westford.
Dan P. Lacroix, Former President, Westford Historical Society, Captain of the Westford Colonial Minutemen is a student of Westford’s 18th century history and webmaster of “westford1775.org“, a resource for Westford’s Revolutionary period history.
What is Westford 250? In 2025 the nation will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the start of the Revolutionary War. Join the Westford Museum and Historical Society as we explore Westford’s history in the American Revolution and related stories.
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We will also have to on-loan from the J.V. Fletcher Library the original document signed July 3, 1774. The original Solemn League and Covenant was donated to the Library by Mary A. Tenney in 1916.
Below is the letter to the J.V. Fletcher Library from Mary A. Tenney.
The Eliot, Roxbury, Mass
April 19, 1916
To the Trustees of the Public Library, Westford, Mass;
Dear Sirs;
I am sending you a document which has long been preserved in my family. It is, as you will see, the so-called Solemn League and Covenant, which was entered into in protest against the Boston Port Bill.
In explanation of having this document in my possession I may say that I had an ancestor in Westford in then Revolutionary times, Deacon Jonathan Fletcher and his father William Fletcher, both of whose signatures appear upon the paper, were respectively my great-great-grandfather and great-great-great grandfather. We suppose that one of them was a town officer when the Covenant was circulated, and, the custom of those days, allowed it to remain among his private papers. There seems to have been at that time no systematic preservation of public documents by the town.
Through my Fletcher ancestors this document was passed down to my grandfather, Sampson Tuttle, Jr. The members of his family now living agree that it should properly be returned to Westford, and I am informed that your Public Library will be glad to receive and care for it.
At the request of Mr. Albert Matthews, of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, the document was exhibited a few months ago at one of their meetings. Mr. Matthews, who is a profound student of colonial matters, prepared a paper giving its history, which will appear in the Transactions of the society. Some separate copies have been printed, one of which at the author’s suggestion, I send to you.
Respectfully yours,
(Miss) Mary A, Tenney
Note: One can speculate that Miss Tenney’s Westford ancestry, William Fletcher and Deacon Jonathan Fletcher, may have kept the document in safe keeping. As in 1774 it may have been interpreted as treason against the Crown of England if found!
Link to Mr. Albert Matthew’s presentation at the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, December 23, 1915
A Stated Meeting of the Society was held at the house of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, No. 28 Newbury Street, Boston, on Thursday, 23 December, 1915, at three o’clock in the afternoon, Vice-President Andrew McFarland Davis in the chair.
Mr. Albert Matthews exhibited a copy of the Solemn League and Covenant which, after a few changes, was adopted by the town of Westford on July 4, 1774, and which contains the signatures of 207 signers. Follow link to Mr. Matthews’ presentation: THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT, 1774