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ABSTRACT
In the spring of 1727 members of Christ Church in Boston's North End received word that British logwood merchants residing along the Bay of Honduras intended to contribute over one hundred tons of costly dyewood to the newly constructed church. Although their settlements on the periphery of the Spanish American empire were not official English colonies, and they traded with all nations, British logwood cutters-known as Baymen-maintained strong ties to the British Empire, and this gift embedded them in the inner workings of Christ Church. This act of patronage by a small group of logwood merchants enhanced the Baymen's collective commercial reputation and provided an example of benevolence worthy of emulation, marking them as participants in a trans-Atlantic network of Anglicans who financially supported needy New England churches. As a gesture of thanks, the church furnished a prominently located double pew for these merchants' exclusive use. The Baymen's pew was a fixture at Christ Church for over thirty years, during which time church vestrymen actively solicited and procured logwood from the Bay of Honduras, and Baymen participated in religious life and governance at Christ Church. This article places the story of the Baymen's pew and larger trade in logwood within the imperial rivalries and voluntary associations of religion and commerce that characterized the mideighteenth-century Atlantic.
In the spring of 1727 vestrymen at Christ Church in Boston's North End received word that they would soon receive a generous gift: British merchants living and working in the Bay of Honduras intended to send them a large shipment of logwood, a dyewood found in the lowlands along the Yucatán Peninsula and the Bay of Honduras. Called logwood because it was cut in lengths for ease of shipment, this tree's heart contained a rich dye necessary for Europe's burgeoning textile industries, making it an influential commodity in relations among the English, Spanish, and Dutch empires. These logwood merchants operated outside the official British Empire, on the periphery of Spain's American empire - they were known throughout the Atlantic world as Baymen because of their residence along the Bay of Honduras - but their gift to Christ Church illustrates their connection to the British Empire.1 After learning of this gift, the church created a committee to "procure...