Student Research

The History of Student Councils in Beverly as an Example of John Dewey’s Participatory Government

Author: Uri Lafontant

The Nathan Dane Archival Collaborative

The need

The challenges that generated this project came from the lack public access to documents stored at local historical societies. There are many conditions that create this lack of access to these documents, although most of these can be traced to lack of space and financial support. Many historical societies have valuable collections that due to the lack of professional staff, have never been cataloged. This lack of cataloging creates two major challenges to the researcher: first, do we know where in the archives the sources are located? and second, do we even know what sources we have?

The Nathan Dane Archival Collaboration may not be the perfect solution, but at least it has identified the challenge and is an attempt at a solution.

The seed

The idea for this project germinated from the Swensrud Teacher Fellowship funded and administered by the Massachusetts Historical Society. I was fortunate to be included as one of these Massachusetts teachers in the first class of Swensrud Fellows in the summer of 2001.

The Swensrud Fellows were given desks, unlimited support,and research assistance. I have never been in a more productive and supportive research environment. Each of the Swensrud Fellows chose a project that would in some way take advantage of the tremendous facilities and personnel at MHS, and would in turn benefit our students and respective communities.

After numerous discussions with Massachusetts Historical Society director William Fowler, Stephen F. Riley Librarian Peter Drummey, and Swensrud Fellow Director Linda Smith Rhoads, the concept of an archival collaborative project began to take shape. We then contacted Paige Roberts, director of the Beverly Historical Society, and Thomas Scully, director of the Beverly Public Library. They enthusiastically added their expertise, energy, and work ethic to the Nathan Dane Archival Collaboration. As usual, Reed Ueda, a history professor at Tufts University and a close friend, served as my sounding board and educational advisor.

The fruit

One of the large leather-bound scrapbooks containing Dane’s papers at the Beverly Historical Society. (Photo by Patrick Murray)

We all felt that the best method to attempt this project would be to choose a notable person from Beverly history who had an impact beyond the local community, and whose papers were disseminated between both the Beverly Historical Society and the Massachusetts Historical Society. We decided on Nathan Dane as our focus. Dane had a notable career; he was a Massachusetts Delegate for the Articles of Confederation, the architect of the Northwest Ordinance, a Massachusetts State legislator, a member of the Hartford Convention, a founder of the Massachusetts Temperance Society. He also wrote a law book whose proceeds established the first endowed chair at Harvard Law School. Dane was a resident member of the Massachusetts Historical Society (ironically, the personal letters documenting this are at the Beverly Historical Society).

The first step was to survey what Dane materials were at the Beverly Historical Society, as these materals had not previously been cataloged. Many of Dane’s documents were found to be pasted in large leather-bound scrapbooks.

Marc Mahan, one of my best United States History students, had been volunteering at the Beverly Historical Society over the summer of 2001. I asked him if he would like to be involved in this project. Marc spent over 150 hours (working 8 hours a week for 20 weeks) photocopying, digitizing, and cataloging over 100 Dane manuscripts. This was truly a herculean effort that was successful in no small part due to the support and expertise of Beverly Historical Society archivist Samantha Grantham and director Paige Roberts.

Over 50 of Dane’s manuscripts were written in cursive and needed to be transcribed as part of the digitization project. Marc Mahan brought in photocopies of Dane’s manuscripts and asked classmates for help in transcribing them. Both of my government classes unanimously volunteered to help as an act of civic virtue (as no extra credit was offered).

We now needed a person with the technological expertise to create the website that would make the documents accessible. Kevin McGrath, Beverly High School librarian, and without reservation the finest young educator with whom I have ever had the pleasure to work, volunteered his time and technological and editorial skills.

The final piece of the project would demonstrate the practical application of the collaborative. The students from my Primary Research through the History of Beverly class were now ready to use documents from both the Massachusetts Historical Society and Beverly Historical Society to research various aspects of Dane’s illustrious career. Each student would then write an original research paper using the Dane documents.

The student’s topics concerning Dane are as follows:

The Northwest Ordinance (Patrick Murray)
Dane’s Influence on Manassas Cutler and the settlement of Marietta, Ohio (Lindsey Gendall)
American Foreign Relations During the Articles of Confederation (Shauna Cahill)
The Harford Convention (Ethan Norton)
The Massachusetts Temperance Society (Matt Bray)
The Legacy of General Abridgement and Digest of American Law and Harvard Law School (Becky Engle)

In addition to workng under the enthusiastic guidance of Samantha Grantham and Paige Roberts at the Beverly Historical Society, these students spent innumerable hours at the Massachusetts Historical Society. They took the train from Beverly to Boston and then the subway to 1145 Boylston Street on Thursdays after school until 8:00 PM and on Saturday mornings. The staff at MHS created an atmosphere where students always wanted to return. In addition to being scholars, Bill Fowler, Peter Drummey and Nick Graham demonstrated that they are also caring and passionate teachers.

The efforts of these students — Marc Mahan, Matt Bray, Shauna Cahill, Rebecca Engle, Lindsey Gendall, Ethan Norton, and Patrick Murray — should not be understated. In a world where elementary schools often provide banquets and trophies for little effort or commitment, where there is rampant grade inflation (even at Harvard University), where there is already little free time in their busy and complicated lives, these students made the ultimate commitment. They leave a legacy that was not motivated by personal gain or recognition but by civic virtue and the desire to make their community a better place. Although these modest heroes will never be given a banquet, trophy, or letter jacket, they will always be champions in my book. Their parents and community should be proud. I know that I am!

W. Dean Eastman

The Life of Nathan Dane

Author: Marc Mahan

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Nathan Dane played a significant role in the government of Massachusetts and for the United States. He was best known for his work on the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Nathan Dane did much more than just drafting the Ordinance, which established the settlement Northwest of the Ohio River. He was a statesman and a lawyer. Dane spent many years of his life reading and writing. He was a member of Congress and the Senate for a number of years. Nathan Dane was a prominent and important man in the small city of Beverly, Massachusetts.

Nathan Dane was born to Daniel Dane and Abigail Burnham who resided in Ipswich, Massachusetts. He spent the early days of his life on the farm in Ipswich, Massachusetts. On the farm Dane learned the value of hard work. He spent most of his days on the farm attending a small common school. Dane enjoyed reading in his leisure time and also he was passionate about mathematics. After reaching the age of twenty-one he became determined to further his education and attempt college level courses. Nathan spent only eight months preparing himself for college. He then entered Harvard College in 1774, and graduated in 1778 with high honors. Soon after completing his college education he read law in the office of Judge William Wetmore of Salem while he was also teaching in Beverly. In November 1779 he was married to Mrs. Mary Brown. On his admission to the bar in 1782 he started his own practice in Beverly.

Mr. Dane was elected a Representative of Beverly in the General Court of Massachusetts in 1782 and the three following years. He was elected delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress in 1785. Dane was reelected in 1786 and 1787. As a delegate his chief focus for consideration before the Congress was the government and organization of the territory Northwest of the Ohio River.

In the previous year a group of Revolutionary War veterans, headed by Gen. Rufus Putnam, Winthrop Sargent, and a few others became interested in the Ohio Valley. A major participant in the Northwest Ordinance was Manasseh Cutler. Cutler joined the Ohio Company and was one of the original members to draft its articles and agreement. The Ohio Company planned to secure the area near the Ohio and Muskingum rivers from Congress. Cutler was sent to New York in 1787 to negotiate with Congress. Nathan Dane created the outline for the administration of the territory and then submitted them to Cutler who made a few suggestions. The Ordinance was adopted July 13, 1787. Cutler worked with Congress and lobbied hard for the Ohio Company. On October 27, 1787, a contract was signed by the Treasury Board granting the Ohio Company the right to occupy a half a million acres of the region. Soon after the contract was signed, colonization began. The first settlement of Ohio was the town of Marietta.

In the Northwest Ordinance, Dane took the initiative to exclude the region from involuntary servitude. Slavery would never be allowed in the new territory. Dane composed the final draft of the Ordinance, which established the future of the territory Northwest of the Ohio River.

Dane opposed the new federal Constitution as it was finally drafted. He was unsuccessful in the election for the state convention to consider its ratification.

Nathan Dane retired from congress and resumed his law practice in Beverly. In 1790 he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate and was reelected in 1793, the same year he was appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Essex County. He resigned without taking his seat on the bench. In 1795 Dane was appointed a commissioner to revise the laws of the Commonwealth. He was reelected annually to the Massachusetts Senate from 1793- 1798. He was becoming increasingly hard of hearing, making it difficult for him to participate in public assemblages. Dane continued to assist in the work of the Statute Revision, in 1812, Dane along with Presscott and Story, composed the commission appointed to revise and publish the Massachusetts colonial and provincial laws. In the same year he was elected a Presidential elector. In 1814, Dane went to the Hartford Convention. It was believed by many, the Hartford Convention was a meeting to secede from the union. The members of the Convention including Dane were thought to have wanted to create a new country. He was also chosen as a delegate from Beverly to the constitutional convention of 1820, it was known that he would be unable to attend.

At this time Dane had become entirely deaf, he withdrew from his practice and devoted his time to completing two works which he had continuously written for upwards of thirty year. “A Moral and Political Survey of America,” was never published. His other work was a general abridgment and district of American Law with Occasional Notes and Comments, was published in eight volumes in 1823, a supplementary volume appeared in 1829. This was so important because this was the first book of law to be written and published in the United States. His books were used as text books in schools and as general outlines for laws in Massachusetts.

Dane was a member of the Massachusetts Agricultural Society, the Massachusetts and Essex Historical Societies, the American Antiquarian Society. He was elected an honorary member of the Michigan and Indiana Historical Societies for his work on the ordinance, which established the basic laws of those states. There was also the Dane Law Library of Ohio, which he was a donor. He was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Temperance Society. This was the first Society of its kind. He was also the president and a major contributor to the Society. The Massachusetts Temperance Society was established with the hope to stop public drunkenness and drinking at the workplace. This Society displayed the morals and ethics of Dane.

Dane spent most of his life having problems with his hearing. He was increasingly deaf so he was asked to dismiss himself from many of the societies he was a member of. The meetings were oral and Dane had a tough time dealing with his deafness.

The last twenty years of Dane’s life he never spent less than twelve and often fourteen hours a day in his library. He was regarded as a simple man. He had a thirst for knowledge and read in his library until the day before he passed away. In his lifetime he gave $15,000 to Harvard Law School. This went to Dane Professorship of Law and also to the founding of Dane Hall. He died in Beverly at the age of eighty-three.

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