Appleton's Pulpit is a historic landmark in
Saugus, Massachusetts
Saugus is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. The population was 28,619 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Saugus is known as the site of the first integrated iron work ...
, United States. It is the location where
Major Samuel Appleton is said to have made a speech denouncing the tyranny of Colonial Governor Sir
Edmund Andros
Sir Edmund Andros (6 December 1637 – 24 February 1714; also spelled ''Edmond'') was an English colonial administrator in British America. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other ...
.
Speech
On September 19, 1687, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Samuel Appleton of
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
, Dudley Bradstreet of
Andover
Andover may refer to:
Places Australia
*Andover, Tasmania
Canada
* Andover Parish, New Brunswick
* Perth-Andover, New Brunswick
United Kingdom
* Andover, Hampshire, England
** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station
United States
* Andov ...
, and
Nathaniel Saltonstall
Col. Nathaniel Saltonstall – May 21, 1707 was a judge for the Court of Oyer and Terminer, a special court established in 1692 for the trial and sentence of people, mostly women, for the crime of witchcraft in the Province of Massachusetts Ba ...
of
Haverhill for being "persons factiously and seditiously inclined, and disaffected to his Majesty's government". Two additional warrants were issued on October 3 and October 5. It is believed that during this time, Appleton hid in the home of his son, Colonel Samuel Appleton, who owned the
Saugus Iron Works
Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site is a National Historic Site about 10 miles (16 kilometers) northeast of Downtown Boston in Saugus, Massachusetts. It is the site of the first integrated ironworks in North America, founded by John Wint ...
property (in what was then part of
Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn is the eighth-largest List of municipalities in Massachusetts, municipality in Massachusetts, United States, and the largest city in Essex County, Massachusetts, Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line ...
). While there, Appleton, according to tradition, delivered an address from a rocky cliff near the Iron Works in which he denounced the tyranny of Andros. The place where he is said to have delivered the speech became known as Appleton's Pulpit.
Accuracy
In ''Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony'', Thomas Franklin Waters disputed the traditional account of events. The October 5 warrant was issued for Samuel Appleton of Lynn for hiding from officers of the law. While it could be inferred that Samuel Appleton was hiding in Lynn and the warrant specified "Samuel Appleton of Lynn" to ensure his arrest, Appleton would testify in his sworn deposition that he was arrested on September 20 and remained in custody until his ultimate release. Therefore, the October 5 warrant was likely for his son, also named Samuel Appleton, who lived in Lynn from 1680 to 1688. Waters also stated that it is improbable that a fugitive from justice would openly harangue the public from a high ledge. However, if the event did take place, Waters contended that it was the younger Appleton who delivered the speech.
Historical markers
Thomas Gold Appleton
Thomas Gold Appleton (March 31, 1812April 17, 1884), son of merchant Nathan Appleton and Maria Theresa Gold, was an American writer, an artist, and a patron of the fine arts. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow became his brother-in-law after marrying A ...
, a descendant of Samuel Appleton, had a tablet about two and a half feet square fastened to the perpendicular face of the cliff, just below where the speech is supposed to have been made.
It was formally presented to the Town of Saugus in March 1882.
The tablet read
In 1930, the Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission erected a number of historical markers around the state.
Appleton's Pulpit was one of nine sites in Saugus the commission chose to place a marker, which reads
References
{{coord, 42, 28, 14.84, N, 71, 0, 40.43, W, region:US-MA, display=title
Historic sites in Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Saugus, Massachusetts
Appleton family