Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Eleazer Lusher (died 1672) was a politician and military leader from

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...

Political career

Lusher had unmatched political influence in Dedham and was one of the most powerful men in the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

. He was one of ten men, constituting five percent of the adult male population, who were reelected so many times to Dedham's seven member Board of Selectmen that they filled sixty percent of the seats between 1639 and 1687. He served 29 one-year terms in total. He was

town clerk A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a To ...

for 23 years, having first been elected in 1641. Lusher was also a signer of the

Dedham Covenant The Dedham Covenant was a covenant that governed the early settlement of Dedham, Massachusetts. It mandated that only those with similar, Puritan, community values could live in the town and set about a method for mediating disputes. It also requi ...

. Between the years of 1650 and 1685, Lusher was one of three men elected to serve in the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...

. Additionally, he served on the Massachusetts Council of Assistants from 1663 to 1673. Other positions include being a diplomat, judge, and mediator. He was also on the commission that established the

Angle Tree Stone The Angle Tree Stone is a historic boundary marker astride the border of North Attleboro, Massachusetts and Plainville, Massachusetts. Description The slate marker was built in 1790 by a father and son team of gravestone makers. The stone was add ...

. He led a

trainband Trainbands or Trained Bands were companies of militia in England or the Americas,The Century Company: ''The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, A Work of General Reference in all Departments of Knowledge'', New York, 1911, Volume X, p. 6422, http ...

. In recognition of his service, he was awarded 500 acres of land near

Sudbury, Massachusetts Sudbury is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,934. The town, located in Greater Boston's MetroWest region, has a rich colonial history. History Incorporated in 1639, the bou ...

in 1666.

Personal life

Lusher, along with Joshua Fisher, owned a saw mill on the

Neponset River The Neponset River is a river in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its headwaters are at the Neponset Reservoir in Foxborough, near Gillette Stadium. From there, the Neponset meanders generally northeast for about to its mouth at ...

that is depicted on the seal of the Town of

Walpole, Massachusetts Walpole is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Walpole Town, as the Census refers to it, is located about south of downtown Boston and north of Providence, Rhode Island. The population of Walpole was 26,383 at the 2020 censu ...

. Lusher was one of the eight establishing members of the

First Church and Parish in Dedham First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

. Had he wished, Lusher "could have made a fortune" by exploiting the connections he made in the colonial government, as many others did. When he died he had a comfortable estate of 500 pounds but was not overwhelming wealthy. He is buried in the

Old Village Cemetery The Old Village Cemetery is an historic cemetery in Dedham, Massachusetts. History The first portion of the cemetery was set apart at the first recorded meeting of the settlers of Dedham on August 18, 1636, with land taken from Nicholas Phillips a ...

in the tomb of Timothy Dwight.

References

Works cited

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lusher, Eleazer Members of the colonial Massachusetts General Court from Dedham Year of birth missing Members of the Massachusetts Governor's Council 1672 deaths Diplomats from Dedham, Massachusetts Lawyers from Dedham, Massachusetts Burials at Old Village Cemetery Dedham, Massachusetts selectmen Dedham Town Clerks Signers of the Dedham Covenant Military personnel from Dedham, Massachusetts