This is a "Yankee Cassoulet", a hearty, savory dish of beans and pork that can be used as a side dish or as a one-pot meal.

Salt Pork was hugely important in colonial times. Many people could keep a pig, and when the surplus shoats were slaughtered, you would only get a few fresh roasts; all the rest of the meat would be salted and put into a brine barrel as salt pork.

With beans as a common storeable vegetable and pork as a common storeable meat, it's no surprise that every tavern and ship in the colonies tried to develop a good recipe to use those essential ingredients. 

This recipe is savory and wonderful, with beans baked in ham stock with a few traditional New England seasonings.