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. When a person was warned out of a town, they were not necessarily forcibly removed (Benton 1911, pp. 51).
The first warning out in Plymouth Colony was recorded on June 6, 1654 in the village of Rehoboth (Tilton, 1918). Robert Titus was called into town court and told to take his family out of Plymouth Colony for allowing "persons of evil fame" to live in his home (Titus, 2004). The practice was common throughout the early Colonial Period, and died out in the early 19th century. In Vermont, for example, the law was changed to disallow "warning out" in 1817.
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