Dorothy Carpenter, who made the study of the early Puritans of Massachusetts Bay her passion to the very end, died in her home in Waterville, Maine on January 7, 2010. This September she would have celebrated her 94th birthday. She was the author of the online book William Vassall and Dissent in Early Massachusetts, still available at http://home.gwi.net/%7Esscarpen/vassall/download.html.

It is not strange at all to her that Wiliam Vassall should have chosen to settle in Scituate, a toe into Plimoth Colony upon returning to the Bay in 1635, even though as one of the original assistants of the Massachusetts Bay Company, he would have been entitled to vast holdings of land in the Bay proper. The reason was his increasing alienation from the founders of Boston and environs over their religious and political intransigence and the reputation Plimoth held even at that early date for toleration.

As early as 1628 before the Arbella had set sail for Salem, William, still in England, had stood up for two disgruntled settlers who were being shipped home because they were still clinging to the prayerbook of the Church of England instead of the Separatist practices popular with the new ministers. William's advocacy of toleration and liberal thinking was to follow him throughout his days in Scituate, resulting finally in a petition to Parliament, which he secreted to England. The Remonstrance of Doctor Child, as it is known today, was a plea by seven courageous men to curtail what they and many others perceived to be arbitrary government by magistrates and minsiters who deprived many Englishmen of the vote and their civil liberties because they were not members of the Congregational church.

I met Dorothy Carpenter and her famiy at an inn in Freeport, Maine in January, 2008 over a lengthy lunch lasting well into the dinner hour. Together we laughed and shared our love of early Massachusetts history and men such as William Vassall, who were the heralds of enlightenment and democracy in America. I only wish I could have met her years ago to partake of her knowledge more fully. I am happy though, that our paths crossed ever so briefly and will think of her every time I portray Ann Vassall.