Damnable Heresy: William Pynchon, the Indians, and the First Book Banned (and Burned) in Boston

by David M. Powers, David D. Hall (Foreword by)

Overview

Misunderstandings between races, hostilities between cultures. Anxiety from living in a time of war in one's own land. Being accused of profiteering when food was scarce. Unruly residents in a remote frontier community. Charged with speaking the unspeakable and publishing the unprintable. All of this can be found in the life of one man--William Pynchon, the Puritan entrepreneur and founder of Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1636. Two things in particular stand out in Pynchon's pioneering life: he enjoyed extraordinary and uniquely positive relationships with Native peoples, and he wrote the first book banned--and burned--in Boston. Now for the first time, this book provides a comprehensive account of Pynchon's story, beginning in England, through his New England adventures, to his return home. Discover the fabric of his times and the roles Pynchon played in the Puritan venture in Old England and New England.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781630877613
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	01/19/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	268
File size:	29 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

David Powers is a native of Springfield, Massachusetts, and has long been interested in its earliest days, particularly the part that William Pynchon played in shaping its life. He traces his fascination with the area's history to finding a map of the early days of Pynchon's settlement in a book by Springfield historian Harry Andrew Wright. In time his interest led to a paper for C. Conrad Wright's American Church History class at Harvard Divinity School. Through extensive research since retirement in both New England and Old, Powers has explored as much of the story as he could for Damnable Heresy.
 
In the course of this study Powers deciphered coded notes that John Pynchon, William's young son, wrote down while the settlement's minister, the Rev. George Moxon, preached on Sundays in the 1640s. The teenager's jottings comprise a small booklet, which is one of the very earliest artifacts from Springfield. These notes, transcribed in Good and Comfortable Words, reveal the concerns the minister addressed. They also reveal him to be an able, engaging speaker who offered encouragement--and challenge--to the growing settlement he faithfully served through its earliest years on the edge of the "wilderness."


For more from David Powers, check out the following links:
Video of his Presentation on Damnable Heresy in Springfield, MA: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEHiWRks4pqupIoQH-ml-9A

Radio Interview on Pioneer Valley Radio: http://pioneervalleyradio.com/2015/05/06/david-powers-author-damnable-heresy-william-pynchon-the-indians-and-the-first-book-banned-in-boston/
David Powers is a native of Springfield, Massachusetts, and has long been interested in its earliest days, particularly the part that William Pynchon played in shaping its life. He traces his fascination with the area's history to finding a map of the early days of Pynchon's settlement in a book by Springfield historian Harry Andrew Wright. In time his interest led to a paper for C. Conrad Wright's American Church History class at Harvard Divinity School. Through extensive research since retirement in both New England and Old, Powers has explored as much of the story as he could for Damnable Heresy.
 
In the course of this study Powers deciphered coded notes that John Pynchon, William's young son, wrote down while the settlement's minister, the Rev. George Moxon, preached on Sundays in the 1640s. The teenager's jottings comprise a small booklet, which is one of the very earliest artifacts from Springfield. These notes, transcribed in Good and Comfortable Words, reveal the concerns the minister addressed. They also reveal him to be an able, engaging speaker who offered encouragement--and challenge--to the growing settlement he faithfully served through its earliest years on the edge of the "wilderness."

Videos

Rev. George Moxon's Preaching

Damnable Heresy Review

Table of Contents

Illustrations ix

Foreword David D. Hall xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction xv

A Note on Usage xx

Abbreviations xxi

Prologue 1

Part I A Puritan's Journey

1 The Rear Admiral under a Chilly Sun 5

2 A Royal Charter and Squantum Neck 12

3 Beaver Pelts and Jaw Harps 27

4 Canoes and Cotinackeesh 36

5 Pequots and Provocations 47

6 Corn and Credibility 59

7 Commerce and Community 67

8 Three Missing Boards and a Man in White 76

9 Meetinghouse and Minister 85

10 Dogs and Witches 95

11 A Doctrine Cleared and a Book Burned 103

12 Discussions in Divinity 109

13 Deeds and Decisions 124

14 The Pen-Man of Wraysbury 129

15 Disputation and Farther Discussion 141

16 Frost Fairs and Finales 148

Part II The Plight Of William Pynchon: A Magistrate And His Religion

17 The Trouble with Toleration 161

18 A Church for the Gentry 169

19 Governance in Changing Times 176

20 Dissension in the Court 184

21 In His Own Valley 189

Appendices

1 A Timeline of William Pynchon's Life 197

2 Fealty of William Pynchon at the Springfield Manorial Court 200

3 The Protestation of the General Court 202

4 Books and Authors Referenced in The Meritorious Price 204

5 The Will of William Pynchon 209

6 William Pynchon on Church Polity 211

7 Books Published by William Pynchon 212

Bibliography 217

Index 231