Warning out of town

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Warning out of town was a widespread method in the United States for established New England communities to pressure or coerce "outsiders" to settle elsewhere (Benton 1911, pp. 106–113, 115, 117). It consisted of a notice ordered by the Board of Selectmen of a town, and served by the constable upon any newcomer who might become a town charge

The practice was common throughout the early Colonial Period, and died out in the early 1800s. In Vermont, for example, the law was changed to disallow "warning out" in 1817.

[edit] References

  1. Benton, Josiah Henry (1911), Warning Out in New England, 1656–1817, Boston: W.B. Clarke.