Ambrose Martin was one of the first settlers of the early colonial town of Concord, Massachusetts. While living there, he was fined 10 pounds, a large sum for the time, for speaking out against the Puritan church covenant, stating that it was "a stinking carrion and a human invention," thus being part of one of the first recorded instances of the censure of free speech in colonial America, a freedom that later became a pillar of the United States Constitution. Martin had been unable to pay the fine in cash, so authorities seized a cow from his property and sold it for 20 pounds. The difference of 10 pounds was due to Martin, but he refused to accept it, maintaining he be repaid either the entire sum of the fine or nothing at all.