Jeremiah Shuttleworth

Shuttleworth married Susanna "Sukey" Richards on February 1, 1798, and they were the parents of four children, including Hannah, Sam, and Jerry.{{sfn|Briggs|Ames|1891|p=38}}{{Sfn|Clarke|1903|p=11}}{{Efn|Sam and Jerry cultivated a garden at the corner of Byrant Street and Eastern Avenue.{{Sfn|Clarke|1903|p=11}}}} He was an incorporator of St. Paul's Church and served on the vestry.{{sfn|Worthington|1958|p=10}} His sister, Melitiah Shuttleworth, married Nathaniel Ames.{{sfn|Worthington|1958|p=10}}{{sfn|Briggs|Ames|1891|p=30}}

Shuttleworth died October 11, 1858.

Jeremiah ran the West India Goods store out of his home, located at the corner of Church and High Streets.{{sfn|Dedham Historical Society|2001|p=9}}{{sfn|Smith|1936|p=281}}{{Sfn|Clarke|1903|p=11}} It was likely the first permanent grocery store in Dedham.{{sfn|Smith|1936|p=281}}

On April 1, 1795, Shuttleworth was appointed Dedham's first postmaster.{{sfn|Dedham Historical Society|2001|p=9}}{{sfn|Briggs|Ames|1891|p=30}}{{sfn|Smith|1936|p=281}}{{Sfn|Clarke|1903|p=11}}{{efn|Clarke has the date being 1793.{{Sfn|Clarke|1903|p=11}}}} The post office, one of the first in the country, was housed in the store, where he would place all the mail on a table.{{sfn|Dedham Historical Society|2001|p=9}}{{sfn|Smith|1936|p=281}} Residents would come into the store and help themselves to any letters addressed to them.{{sfn|Dedham Historical Society|2001|p=9}} Shuttleworth was replaced as postmaster 38 years later, in 1833, by Dr. Elisha Thayer.{{sfn|Dedham Historical Society|2001|p=9}}{{Sfn|Clarke|1903|p=11}} At his resignation in 1833, it was thought he was the oldest postmaster in the country.

Shuttleworth leased a lot of land from St. Paul's Church at the corner of Church and High Streets.{{sfn|Worthington|1958|p=18}} The minister, William Montague, referred to the intersection as "Jere Square" in his honor.{{sfn|Worthington|1958|p=18}} The window shutters, which were painted green, were never opened.{{Sfn|Clarke|1903|p=11}} In front of the store were scales for weighing hay.{{Sfn|Clarke|1903|p=11}}

For many years, important notices were tacked to a buttonwood tree in front of the house.{{sfn|Parr|2009|pp=15-16}}{{efn|It eventually was toppled during Hurricane Gloria in 1985.{{sfn|Parr|2009|pp=15-16}}}} It was where, for example, the first notice of Abraham Lincoln's death was posted.{{sfn|Parr|2009|pp=15-16}} Local tradition holds that the first notice posted there was a $50 reward for a stolen horse.{{sfn|Parr|2009|pp=15-16}} During the Civil War, when a soldier drilling pulled out an umbrella during a shower, he was hung in effigy from the tree.{{sfn|Parr|2009|p=16}}{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=242}}

Shuttleworth left the house to Hannah, and upon her death she left it to the Dedham Historical Society.{{sfn|Dedham Historical Society|2001|p=119}} The Historical Society sold the Shuttleworth home, which was moved to Bryant St, and custom built a new building for themselves on the lot.

In 1936, Charles Mills painted a portrait of his house, where his shop and post office were. It is currently in the collection of the Historical Society and was cleaned and conserved in 2016.

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{{reflist|refs=

{{Cite news | url = https://dedham.wickedlocal.com/article/20160314/NEWS/160317781 | title = Blue Hills Bank underwrites conservation of painting | date = March 14, 2016 | newspaper = The Dedham Transcript | access-date = June 4, 2021 }}

{{cite news | url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/68138843/boston-globe-5151887-three-new/ | title = Three new buildings | newspaper = The Boston | date = May 15, 1887 | page = 13 }}

{{cite web|url = https://dedhamtales.com/2016/10/16/tales-from-a-dedham-graveyard-2-snatched-from-the-tomb/ | title = Tales from a Dedham Graveyard 2- "Snatched from the tomb…" | first = Jim | last = Parr | date = October 16, 2016 | access-date = October 17, 2016 | publisher = Dedham Tales }}

{{cite news | url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78944630/dedhams-famous-buttonwood-tree/ | title = Dedham's Famous Buttonwood Tree | newspaper = The Boston Globe | date = July 31, 1904 | page = 45 | access-date = June 4, 2021 | via = Newspapers.com }}

{{cite book|last=Morse|first=Abner |title=A Genealogical Register of the Descendants of Several Ancient Puritans, V. 3: The Richards Family|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aP0UAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA111|access-date=June 4, 2021|year=1861|publisher=H.W. Dutton|page=111}}

}}

• {{cite book | title = Dedham: Historic and Heroic Tales From Shiretown | first = James L. | last = Parr | publisher = The History Press | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-1-59629-750-0 }}
• {{cite book|author=Dedham Historical Society|title=Images of America: Dedham|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cRpMDQffkGsC|year=2001|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-0-7385-0944-0|access-date = August 11, 2019}}
• {{Cite web | url = http://www.stpauls-dedham.org/sites/default/files/worthington.pdf | title = History of St. Paul's Church in Dedham 1758-1958 | first = Dr. Arthur Morton | last = Worthington | publisher = St. Paul's Church (Dedham, Massachusetts) |year=1958 | page= 10 |access-date = June 4, 2021}}
• {{cite book|last1=Briggs|first1=Samuel|last2=Ames|first2=Nathaniel |title=The Essays, Humor, and Poems of Nathaniel Ames, Father and Son: Of Dedham, Massachusetts, from Their Almanacks, 1726-1775, with Notes and Comments|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4adYAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA30|access-date=June 4, 2021|year=1891|publisher=Short & Forman}}
• {{cite book|last=Smith|first=Frank|title=A History of Dedham, Massachusetts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8EMAAAAYAAJ|access-date=June 4, 2021|year=1936|publisher=Transcript Press, Incorporated}}
• {{cite book|last=Hanson|first=Robert Brand |title=Dedham, Massachusetts, 1635-1890|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4oslAQAAMAAJ|year=1976|publisher=Dedham Historical Society}}
• {{cite book | title = Mid-Century Memories of Dedham | first = Wm. Horatio | last = Clarke | location = Dedham Historical Society |year = 1903}}

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Category:Massachusetts postmasters

Category:Businesspeople from Dedham, Massachusetts

Category:1760 births

Category:1858 deaths

Category:Burials at Old Village Cemetery

Category:18th-century American merchants