Wilbraham and the Non-Consumption Pledge of 1774

The roots of the American Revolution ran deep long before the first shots were fired at Lexington. Across Massachusetts, the growing protest against taxation without representation stirred ordinary citizens to action, none more so than in the small, young town of Wilbraham, barely seven years old when the crisis began.

In 1769, Boston merchants organized an economic protest aimed squarely at Britain’s tariffs on imported goods. They pledged to stop importing taxed British merchandise, and they urged citizens throughout the colony to stop buying from any trader who refused to join the effort. Copies of this pledge were circulated across Massachusetts, eventually reaching the residents of Wilbraham in the spring of 1770.

Even at this early date, Wilbraham made its position clear. At a town meeting on May 1, 1770, moderated by Lieut. Thomas Merrick, the townspeople publicly praised the Boston merchants for “preferring the public good” over private profit. Their vote expressed admiration, hope, and solidarity, and they ordered the statement to be recorded and sent back to Boston for publication.

This was, as later historians noted, Wilbraham’s first recorded voice in the struggle for American liberty.

At that same meeting, some citizens wanted to go further, proposing formal votes on avoiding purchases from non-compliant merchants and responding to the “Horrid Murder” of the Boston Massacre. But a rumor that Parliament might repeal the duties, paired with the town’s modest sense of itself as an “infant town,” led residents to proceed cautiously. They set aside the more aggressive proposals, though their sympathy and commitment were unmistakable.

On March 5, 1770, British soldiers shot into a crowd of rowdy colonists in front of the Custom House on King Street, killing five and wounding six. Library of Congress

For several years, Wilbraham watched events unfold between Boston’s patriots and the royal governor. But by 1773, the issue could no longer be ignored. The Crown’s decision to pay colonial officials directly, without the consent of the people, sparked alarm.

On April 6, 1773, Wilbraham elected a committee of five, Ezra Barker, Isaac Brewer, Eleazer Bliss, John Bliss, and Nathaniel Warriner, to respond to a pamphlet prepared by Boston’s famed Committee of Correspondence, written in part by Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren. Their reply, delivered on April 20, was humble but bold.

The citizens acknowledged they were late to respond and were aware that some might consider them too small or inexperienced to speak out. But they declared that at such a “critical time,” even a young town must be “very bold” in defending its rights. Quoting the biblical figure Elihu, they explained that although young, they could no longer remain silent while their liberties were threatened.

Their resolves affirmed:

• That the rights described by Boston’s committee were just and accurate.

• The colonists had done nothing to merit the Crown’s displeasure.

• That loyal subjects could not “dare sit still” in the face of encroachments on their freedoms.

• That petitions, lawful action, and prayer were necessary to restore their privileges.

These statements reflect Wilbraham’s growing sense of responsibility as part of a colonial community united against injustice.

By late 1773 and 1774, tensions escalated dramatically. The Boston Tea Party in December 1773, an act in which a future South Wilbraham resident, Robert Sessions, took part, brought harsh retaliation. British troops occupied Boston, and local towns prepared for the possibility of war.

On June 23, 1774, Wilbraham held a “very full” town meeting, notable as the first meeting opened with prayer. Boston had sent out a new set of documents, commonly known as the Non-Consumption Covenant, calling for a complete break in commercial dealings with Great Britain.

Wilbraham took these materials seriously. After extensive discussion, the town made slight modifications to the phrasing and appointed a committee, Deacon Warriner, Lieut. Thomas Mirick and James Warriner, to see how other towns responded before returning the signed covenant to Boston.

The covenant was clear and uncompromising:

• No imports from Great Britain.

• No purchase or consumption of British goods.

• No trade with anyone who continued to import or buy such goods.

This was Wilbraham’s formal entry into the most sweeping boycott effort of the colonial period.

A total of 125 Wilbraham men, likely the heads of households, signed the Non-Consumption Pledge. Their names represent nearly every prominent family in the town: Bliss, Warriner, Stebbins, Hitchcock, Burt, Chaffee, Chapin, Langdon, and many others. Their signatures remain a powerful testament to Wilbraham’s unity and conviction.

As the crisis deepened, Wilbraham’s concern turned spiritual as well as practical. The town voted to set aside a day of fasting and prayer every three months, believing that divine guidance was needed “in the great crisis.” They also appropriated twenty-five pounds to build a stock of ammunition, an acknowledgment that peaceful protest might not be enough.

By early 1775, tensions were at a breaking point. Wilbraham appointed committees to enforce the Continental and Provincial Congress resolutions and selected Maj. John Bliss was a delegate to the Provincial Congress at Cambridge. Donations were gathered for the suffering poor in besieged Boston, and local “minutemen” stood ready for immediate service.

From cautious beginnings in 1770 to decisive action in 1774, Wilbraham evolved from a modest “infant town” into a community firmly committed to the patriot cause. Its response to the Non-Consumption Pledge, thoughtful, united, and courageous, stands as a significant chapter in the town’s early history.

The signatures of those 125 men remain a lasting symbol of Wilbraham’s resolve: ordinary citizens choosing sacrifice over submission, unity over fear, and principle over convenience, in one of the most critical moments in American history.