John Greenleaf Whittier Letter to decline Endicott celebraton 1878

John Greenleaf Whittier dodges Gov John Endicott ceremony in Salem Massachusetts. His letter to George M Whipple is posted below From September 22 1878 New York Times Archives

Thomas Macy court dealings with Puritans and Edward Wharton Source This year several persons were prosecuted and fined for violating the law of 1657, which prohibited ‘entertaining quakers.’ Among them was Thomas Macy, one of the first settlers of Newbury, but at this time a resident in Salisbury. Complaint having been made against him, he was summoned to appear before the general court, to answer the charges preferred against him. Instead of complying with the requisition, he sent a letter, of which the following is a copy. More on Quaker Persecutions
‘This is to entreat the honored court not to be offended because of my non-appearance. It is not from any slighting the authority of this honored court, nor from feare to answer the case, but I have bin for some weeks past very ill, and am so at present, and notwithstanding my illness, yet I, desirous to appear, have done my utmost endeavour to hire a horse, but cannot procure one at present. I being at present destitute have endeavoured to purchase, but at present cannot attaine it, but I shall relate the truth of the case as my answer should be to ye honored court, and more cannot be proved, nor so much. On a rainy morning there came to my house Edward Wharton and three men more; the said Wharton spoke to me saying that they were traveling eastward, and desire me to direct them in the way to Hampton, and asked me how far it was to Casco bay. I never saw any of ye men afore except Wharton, neither did I require their names, or who they were, byt by their carriage I thought they might b e quakers and told them so, and therefore desired them to passe on their way, saying to them I might possibly give offence in entertaining them, and as soone as the violence of the rain ceased (for it rained very hard) they went away, and I never saw them since. The time that they stayed int he house was about three quarters of an hour, but I can safely affirme it was not an houre. They spake not many word in the time, neither was I at leisure to talke with them for I came home wet to ye skin immediately afore they came to the house, and I found my wife sick in bed. If this satisfie not the honored court, I shall subject to their sentence: I have not willingly offended. I am ready to serve and obey you in the Lord,’
Tho. Macy [Essex County Court files]
Notwithstanding this explanation and apology, he was fined thirty shillings, and was ordered to be admonished by the governor, for ‘entertaining quakers,’ two of whom, William Robinson and Marmaduke Stephenson, were hung in Boston, December twenty-seventh, 1659. Tradition informs us, that Thomas Macy immediately after his sentence, took an open boat, and with his wife and children, went to Nantucket, was one of the first English settlers in that island, and there resided the remainder of his life. An amusing ballad, founded on the above-mentioned incidents, was written by the poet J.G. Whittier, and published some years ago in a Philadelphia annual.
A Collection of the Sufferings of the People Called Quakers: For the Testimony of a Good Conscience from the Time of Their Being First Distinguished by that Name in the Year 1650 to the Time of the Act Commonly Called the Act of Toleration Granted to Protestant Dissenters in the First Year of the Reign of King William the Third and Queen Mary in the Year 1689, Volume 2 
From  The history of the rise, increase, and progress, of the Christian people called Quakers

                                                   George M Whipple House in Salem
From [Gov. Endicott; Massachusetts; G. Whittier; Salem; Mass.,] Monday, September 23, 1878 Cincinnati Daily Gazette (Cincinnati, OH)

Quaker Persecutions Colonial New England by Lucius M Sargent

 From Dealings with the Dead Volume 1 By Lucius Manlius Sargent (June 25, 1786 – June 2, 1867) author, antiquarian, and temperance advocate. Son of Daniel Sargent and Mary Turner--great granddaughter of John Turner of Salem who built what would become known as "The House of the Seven Gables."
From No. LXII. (note some spelling is not correct, but recorded as written)
Draco, I think, would have been perfectly satisfied with some portions of the primitive, colonial and town legislation of Massachusetts. Hutchinson, I 436, quotes the following decree— "Captain Stone, for abusing Mr. Ludlow, and calling him Justass, is fined an hundred pounds, and prohibited coming within the patent, without the Governor's leave, upon pain of death." 
Hazard, Hist. Coll. I 630, has preserved a law against the Quakers, published in Boston, by beat of drum. It bears date Oct. 14th, 1656. The preamble is couched, in rather strong language—" Whereas there is a cursed sect of heretics lately risen up in the world, which are commonly called Quakers, who take upon them to be immediately sent of God," &c. The statute inflicts a fine of .£100 upon any person, who brings one of them into any harbor, creek, or cove, compels him to carry such Quaker away—the Quaker to be put in the house of correction, and severely whipped; no person to speak to him. £5 penalty, for importing, dispersing, or concealing any book, containing their "devilish opinions;" 40 shillings for maintaining such opinions. £4 for persisting. House of correction and banishment, for still persisting.
The poor Quakers gave our intolerant ancestors complete vexation. Hazard, II 589, gives an extract from a law, for the special punishment of two of these unhappy people, Peter Pierson and Judah Brown—" That they shall, by the constable of Boston, be forthwith taken out of the prison, and stripped from the girdle upwards, by the executioner, tied to the cart's tail, and whipped through the town, with twenty stripes; and then carried to Roxbury, and delivered to the constable there, who is also to tie them, or cause them to be tied, in like manner, to the cart's tail, and again whip them through the town with ten stripes; and then carried to Dedham, and delivered to the constable there, who is again, in like manner, to cause them to be tied to the cart's tail, and whipped, with ten stripes, through the town, and thence they are immediately to depart the jurisdiction, at their peril."
The legislative designation of the Quakers was Quaker rogues, heretics, accursed rantors, and vagabonds.
In 1657, according to Hutchinson, I 197, "an additional law was made, by which all persons were subjected to the penalty of 40 shillings, for every hour's entertainment, given to a known Quaker, and every Quaker, after the first conviction, if a man, was to lose an ear, and a second time the other; a woman, each time, to be severely whipped; and the third time, man or woman, to have their tongues bored through, with a red-hot iron." In 1658, 10 shillings fine were levied, on every person, present at a Quaker meeting, and £5 for speaking at such meeting. In October of that year, the punishment of death was decreed against all Quakers, returning into the Colony, after banishment. Bishop, in his "New England Judged," says, that the ears of Holden, Copeland, and Rous, three Quakers, were cut off in prison. June 1, 1660, Mary Dyer was hanged for returning, after banishment. Seven persons were fined, some of them .£10 apiece, for harboring, and Edward Wharton whipped, twenty stripes, for piloting the Quakers. Several persons were brought to trial—" for adhering to the cursed sect of Quakers, not disowning themselves to be such, refusing to give civit respect, leaving their families and relations, and running from place to place, vagabond-like." Daniel Gold and Robert Harper were sentenced to be whipped, and, with Alice Courland, Mary Scott, and Hope Clifford, banished, under pain of death. William Kingsmill, Margaret Smith, Mary Trask, and Provided Southwick were sentenced to be whipped, and Hannah Phelps admonished.
Sundry others were whipped and banished, that year. John Chamberlain came to trial, with his hat on, and refused to answer. The verdict of the jury, as recorded, was—" much inclining to the cursed opinions of the Quakers." Wendlock Christopherson was sentenced to death, but suffered to fly the jurisdiction. March 14, 1660.—William Ledea, "a cursed Quaker," was hanged. Some of these Quakers, I apprehend, were determined to exhibit the naked truth to our Puritan fathers. "Deborah Wilson," says Hutchinson, I 204, "went through the streets of Salem, naked as she came into the world, for which she was well whipped." At length, Sept. 9, 1661, an order came from the King, prohibiting the capital, and even corporal, punishment of the Quakers. 
Oct. 13, 1657.—Benedict Arnold, William Baulston, Randall Howldon, Arthur Fenner, and William Feild, the Government of Rhode Island, addressed a letter, on the subject of this persecution, to the General Court of Massachusetts, in reply to one, received from them. This letter is highly creditable to the good sense and discretion of the writers—" And as concerning these Quakers, (so called)" say they, "which are now among us, we have no law, whereby to punish any, for only declaring by words, dec., their minds and understandings concerning the things and ways of God, as to salvation and an eternal condition. And we moreover finde that in those places, where these people aforesaid, in this Coloney, are most of all suffered to declare themselves freely, and are only opposed by arguments in discourse, there they least of all desire to come; and we are informed they begin to loath this place, for that they arc not opposed by the civil authority, but with all patience and meekness are suffered to sayover their pretended revelations and admonitions, nor are they like or able to gain many here to their way; and surely we find that they delight to be persecuted by the civil powers, and when they are soe, they are like to gain more adherents by the conseyte of-their patient sufferings than by consent to their pernicious sayings." 
One is taken rather by surprise, upon meeting with such a sample of admirable common sense, in an adjoining Colony, and on such a subject, at that early day—so opposite withal to those principles of action, which prevailed in Massachusetts.
The laws of the Colony, enacted from year to year, were first collected together, and ratified by the General Court, in 1648. Hutchinson, I 437, says, "Mr. Bellingham of the magistrates, and Mr. Cotton of the clergy, had the greatest share in this work."

This code was framed, by Bellingham and Cotton, with a particular regard to Moses and the tables, and a singular piece of mosaic it was. "Murder, sodomy, witchcraft, arson, and rape of a child, under ten years of age," says Hutchinson, I 440, "were the only crimes made capital in the Colony, which were capital in England." Rape, in the general sense, not being a capital offense, by the Jewish law, was not made a capital offense, in the Colony, for many years. High treason is not even named. The worship of false gods, was punished with death, with an exception, in favor of the Indians, who were fined £5 a piece, for powowing.


Blasphemy and reproaching religion were capital offenses. Adultery with a married woman, whether the man were married or single, was punished with the death of both parties; but, if the woman were single, whether the man were married or single, it was not a capital offense, in either. Man-stealing was a capital offense. So was willful perjury, with intent to take away another's life. Cursing or smiting a parent, by a child over sixteen years of age, unless in self-defense, or provoked by cruelty, or having been " unchristianly neglected in its education," was a capital offense. A stubborn, rebellious son was punished with death. There was a conviction under this law; "but the offender," says Hutchinson, ibid. 442, "was rescued from the gallows, by the King's commissioners, in 1665." The return of a "cursed Quaker," or a Romish priest, after banishment, and the denial of either of the books, of the Old or New Testament, were punished with banishment or death, at the discretion of the court. The jurisdiction of the Colony was extended, by the code of Parson Cotton and Mr. Bellingham, over the ocean; for they decreed the same punishment, for the last-named offense, when committed upon the high seas, and the General Court ratified this law. Burglary, and theft, in a house, or in the fields, on the Lord's day, were, upon a third conviction, made capital crimes. The distinction, between grand and petty larceny, which was recognized in England, till 1827, 7th and 8th. Geo. IV., ch. 29, was abolished, by the code of Cotton and Bellingham, in 1648; and theft, without limitation of value, was made punishable, by fine or whipping, and restitution of treble value. In some cases, only double. Thus, ibid. 436, we have the following entry—" Josias Plaistowe, for stealing four baskets of corn from the Indians, is ordered to return them eight baskets, to be fined five pounds, and hereafter to be called by the name of Josias, and not Mr., as formerly he used to be."
This lenity, in regard to larceny, Mr. Cotton seems to have been willing to counterbalance, by a terrible severity, on some other occasions. Mr. Hutchinson, ibid. 442, states, that he has seen the first drought of this code, in the hand-writing of Mr. Cotton, in which there are named six offenses, made punishable with death, all which are altered, in the hand of Gov. Winthrop, and the death penalty stricken out. The six offenses were—" Profaning the Lord's day, in a careless or scornful neglect or contempt thereof— Reviling the magistrates in the highest rank, viz., the Governor and Council—Defiling a woman espoused—Incest within the Leviticus degrees—The pollution, mentioned in Leviticus xx. 13 to 16—Lying with a maid in her father's house, and keeping secret, till she is married to another." Mr. Cotton would have punished all these offenses with death.
On the subject of divorce, the code of 1648 differed from that of the present day, with us, essentially. Adultery in the wife was held to be sufficient cause, for divorce a vinculo: "but male adultery," says Hutchinson, i. 445, " after some debate and consultation with the elders, was judged not sufficient." The principle, which directed their decision, was, doubtless, the same, referred to and recognized, by Lord Chancellor Eldon, in the House of Lords, in 1801, as reported by Mr. Twain, in his Memoirs, vol. I p. 383.

MORE ON L M SARGENT & his ancestors Visit the Sargent House Museum in Gloucester MA 
From Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society By Massachusetts Historical Society By Edward J Lowell

William Sargent, the great-grandfather of the subject of this notice, was born in England,1 being the son of William Sargent and Mary, his wife, whose maiden name was Epes. He was educated at Barbadoes, and moved to Gloucester in Massachusetts about the year 1678, where he acquired two acres of land on Eastern Point and built him a house.
William Sargent married, on the 21st of June, 1678, Mary, daughter of Peter Duncan, by whom he had thirteen children.' Of these the sixth was Epes Sargent, whose first wife's maiden name was Esther Macarty. Her seventh child was Daniel, born on the 18th of March, 1731, who married, on the 3d of February, 1763, Mary, daughter of the Hon. John Turner, of Salem. Below Mrs. Daniel Sargent (Mary Turner Sargent)

Daniel Sargent moved to Boston between 1770 and 1780, and occupied a store on Long Wharf, and a house in Atkinson Street (now Congress Street), near the corner of Cow Lane (now High Street). There is nothing now left in Boston to recall the old wooden houses such as this, with their gables toward the street, and their gardens where old-fashioned flowers filled the beds and where pear-trees shaded the rather ragged grass of the days when lawn-mowers were not invented. At the end of the garden was the summer-house, decorated in this case with a landscape by the hand of one of the children of the family, who had gone to England to study under Sir Benjamin West. But it must have been before this work of art was begun that, on the 25th of June, 1786, the subject of this notice, Lucius Manlius Sargent, was born. Here he lived until 1794, when the house was burnt down, and his father moved first to Fort Hill, and afterwards to the corner of Essex and Lincoln Streets.
Mr. Daniel Sargent must have been a rich man; for when he died in 1806, he left each of his six surviving children with at least a competency. He had been interested in the fisheries, and had had many dealings with the fishermen of the coast. After his death a package was found among his effects, with the following inscription: "Notes, due bills, and accounts against sundry persons along shore. Some of them may be got by suit or severe dunning: but the people are poor; most of them have had fisherman's luck. My children will do as they think best. Perhaps they will think with me, that it is best to burn the package entire." It is to the credit of Mr. Sargent's sons that they adopted his suggestion, and that all the contents of the package went into the fire. A list was first made of the evidences of debt thus destroyed, the amount exceeding thirty-two thousand dollars. The story of the occurrence and of the joy of one of the forgiven debtors is touchingly but anonymously told in the fifty-fifth number of "Dealings with the Dead."

 

Lucius Manlius Sargent went to several schools in Boston and its neighborhood, ending with the Phillips Academy at Exeter, where he remained about three years. He then entered Harvard College in the class that graduated in 1808. He left college, however, before finishing his course. He is described by a classmate as being at this time tall, handsomely proportioned, and very muscular, and as having a fine Roman cast of countenance. He was a good horseman, whether in the saddle or with the reins, a strong swimmer, and a good fencer with the broadsword. He was considered the best Latin scholar in college, and his witty sayings were quoted in his class.
After leaving college Mr. Sargent studied law in the office of Mr. Samuel Dexter. He was admitted to the bar on the 14th of March, 1815, but he never practiced. Mr. Sargent married, on the 3d of April, 1816, Mary, daughter of Mr. Barnabas Binney, of Philadelphia. By her he had three children, — Mary Turner, who died unmarried in 1841; Horace Binney, afterwards Colonel Sargent, who is still living; and Manlius, who died in infancy. Mrs. Sargent died in 1824, and in 1825 Mr. Sargent married Sarah Cutter Dunn, daughter of Mr. Samuel Dunn, of Boston. Her only child was Lucius Manlius Sargent, who served his country in the late Civil War, first as a surgeon, and then as a captain of cavalry, and who was mortally wounded at Weldon on the 9th of December, 1864.
Mr. Sargent was elected a member of the New England Historic, Genealogical Society in 1850, and a Resident Member of this Society in 1856. He died on the 2d of June, 1867, in the eighty-first year of his age. His widow, one son, and seven grandchildren survived him.
Mr. Sargent's numerous writings first appeared in newspapers and magazines, but several of them have been collected and published in more permanent forms. A volume of verse from his pen appeared in 1813, under the title of " Hubert and Ellen, with other Poems." The style is flowing, the versification good; and what is more rare, the poems are eminently readable.
About twenty years after the publication of these poems Mr. Sargent became deeply interested in the temperance reform. He delivered numerous addresses on the subject, several of which have been published. About temperance in drinking few persons deeply interested can speak temperately. The evils of drunkenness are so great that a warm-hearted or excitable man who observes them loses his head, and is almost necessarily drawn into exaggeration. Mr. Sargent did not wholly escape this danger; but his addresses were pointed, clear, and eloquent. He wrote, moreover, a series of temperance tales, which passed through several editions, and which were so well thought of that a hundred thousand copies of one of them was printed for distribution by a gentleman of New York.
But the papers which are most interesting to this Society, and to which Mr. Sargent probably owed his election here, form a series which appeared in the "Transcript" from 1847 or 1848 to 1856, and which was published in the latter year in two volumes, with the title " Dealings with the Dead by a Sexton of the Old School." The book is made up of a hundred and sixty articles, or essays, full of archaeology, criticism, and anecdote. The author was unfortunate in the character which he assumed, and we read altogether too much in his pages of tombs, graves, cremation, and undertakers. But with all this there is much that is interesting, much that is instructive. In spite of the lugubrious title, the style of the work is sufficiently lively. As is natural with a book made up of articles from a newspaper, it is better to dip into the "Dealings " than to undertake to read them consecutively.

WILLIAM SARGENT AND HIS DESCENDANTS
1. William Sargent, of Exeter, in England; m. Mary Epes; went from Exeter to Bridgetown, Barbadoes, and returned to England. His son,
2. William Sargent (called the second) born in Exeter, England, came to Gloucester previous to 1678, for he m. June 21, 1677, Mary, dau. of Peter Duncan and granddaughter of Samuel Symonds. She died Feb. 28, 1724, aged G6; he died before June, 1707. They had: 1. Fitz William, b. Jan. 6, 1678; d. Jan. 28, 1699.
2. Peter, . b. May 27, 1680; d. Feb. 11, 1724. 3. Mary, b. Dec. 29, 1681 ; m. Herrick, of Beverly. 4. Daniel, b. Oct. 31,-1685; d. July 20, 1713. Struck by lightning. 5. Jordan, b. Jan. 22,1687; d. 1689.
6. Epes, b. July 12, 1690; d. Dec. 6, 1762, aged 72. 7. Ann, b. 1692; d. Oct. 8, 1782; m. Nat. Ellery, Feb. 16, 1720 ; they had children and gr. children. 8. Andrew, b. Aug. 21, 1693. 9. Samuel, b. 1694; d. Oct. 11, 1699. 10. Fitz John, b. 1696 ; d. Jan. 20, 1697. 11. Machani, b. April 9, 1699; d. day of birth. 12. Jabez, b. Jan. 30. 1700, d. day after birth. 13. Fitz William, b. Oct. 21, 1701; d. in N. Hampshire, a "bachelor," D.S. 14. Winthrop, b. March 11, 1703.
There is much obscurity touching the birthplace of William Sargent, second. Mr. L. M. Sargent, in Ms diary (page 3), observes: "William Sargent, my great grandfather, was born in Gloucester, and married Mary Duncan, daughter of Peter Duncan, June 21, 1677, and her grandfather; Deputy Governor, performed the ceremony." If William were born in . Gloucester, it is singular that no trace of it can be found. How far the following anecdote may throw any light on the place of his nativity, the reader may judge:
"I have heard my eldest brother, Daniel, and my cousin, also much older than myself, Mr. Epes Sargent, speak of a tradition, which is extremely interesting, if true, and a very pleasant story, if false.
"William Sargent, my gr. gr. grandfather, having made his runaway match with Mary Epes, came over and settled in Gape Ann, i. e. Gloucester, Mass, having no intercourse with his family in England, who after many years, supposing him dead, gave the same name to another son, born in his absence. This other now came as mate of a brig to Cape Ann, and there met his brother. They are said to have met upon the shore, the older brother assisting to haul in the boat, as she came to land from the brig. As an Englishman he welcomed them from the old country. His interest was increased when he discovered the young man to be his fellow townsman. This led to more particular inquiries. 'Do you know an old man by the name of Sargent?' 'I have good reason to know him; he is my father.' 'Then you are my brother.'" [Diary, page 1.]

Col. Epes Sargent grandfather of L. M. Sargent. "I recollect," said an aged and respectable citizen of Gloucester, B. K. Hough, Esq. (to L. M. Sargent), " when a boy, of seeing your uncle Epes Sargent. He was a good friend to my widowed mother, and took two of my brothers aad brought them up. He died of smallpox in the old war."

  Paul Dudley Sargent entered the army of the Revolution, April, 1775, and continued therein about three years. He was present in several engagements, and was wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill. After leaving the army he resided in Salem, and engaged in navigation. In 1783 he removed to Boston and continued in the same business, but unsuccessfully; and meeting with heavy losses. he removed to Sullivan, Me. When the country was organized, he received, at one time, three commissions from Gov. Hancock—as Justice of the Peace, Judge of Probate, and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was the first post-master in Sullivan, and held the office till he resigned in favor of his son. For above and other particulars, Mr. L. M. S. refers to a letter of June 2, 1845, from his granddaughter, Mrs. M. W. Wilkinson. He commanded a regiment in July, 1776, under Gen. Ward at Cambridge. [See Sparks's Washington, vol. iii. p. 456.]

Daniel Sargent (Epes,3 William,3 William1), b. March 18, 1731; m. Feb. 3, 17G3, by Rev. Mr. Barnard, to Mary, dau. of John and Mary Turner. They had seven children:

1. Daniel,5 b. Juno 15, 1764; d. April 2, 1842, aged 78.

2. Ignatius, b. Nov. 1, 1765; d. Jan. 18, 1821, aged 56.

3. John Turner, b. March 27, 1769: d. Feb. 10,1813, aged 44.

4. Henry, b. 1770; d. Feb. 21, 1845, aged 74.

5. Mary Osborne, b. Sept. 30, 1780; d. Sept. 12, 1761, aged 1.

6. Winthrop, b. Jan. 31, 1783 ; d. Jan. 11, 1808, aged 25.

7. Lucius Manlius,b. June 25, 1786; d. June 2, 1867. 

Lucius Manlius8 Sargent (Daniel Epes,3 William,3 William1), b. June 25, 1786; d. June 2, 1807; m. Mary Binney, dan. of Barnabas and Mary Binney, of Phila., April 3, 181G, by whom he had three children. She died Feb. 3, 1824.

1. Mary Turner, b. June 28, 1818; d. Aug. 2, 1811. 

2. Horace Binney, b. June 30, 1821.

3. Manlius, b. Jan. 27, 1824; d. July 3, 1825.

He m. second, Sarah Cutler, dau. of Samuel and Sarah Dunn, of Boston, July 14, 1825. 

She died Aug. 8,  1868. They had one child:

    1. Lucius Manlius, b. in Boston Sept. 15, 1820 a physician killed in battle 1864 

                                    "Camp near Falmouth, Va." by Lucius Manlius Sargent.

This drawing, from 1863, is part of a letter to Sargent's young son, George; he wrote, I shall try and get leave to come home one of these days. I hope you will be glad to see me when I come. If you are not glad, I shall be very sorry, I can tell you. I have not got anything to love here. All that I've got to love in this world is in Jamaica Plains.

Lucius Manlius Sargent JR (1826-1864) 1857 graduate of Harvard Medical School, was an accomplished draughtsman and was appointed the first artist of the Massachusetts General Hospital. At the beginning of the war, he became a surgeon with the 2nd Massachusetts Volunteers, then joined the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry in October, 1861, where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

                                                       Mrs. Lucius M Sargent

Quaker Persecution Article

Old article found on Quaker persecutions. If you would like a copy pdf sent to you for a cleaner read please post a request or contact me
Date: Saturday, October 20, 1849
Paper: Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, MA)

Quakers in Newbury MA

By Melissa Berry @ Newburyport News

---- — “The tale is one of an evil time,
When souls were fettered and thought was crime.
And heresy’s whisper above its breath
Meant shameful scourging, and bonds and death.”
— John Greenleaf Whittier

As we enjoy this season of good food and drink, as well as the liberty to choose which local house of the Lord we fancy, we can be thankful that Puritan tyrants no longer patrol our pastures as they did in our ancestors’ day.  

In Newbury, the early settlers ran into conflict with Puritan authority over ecclesiastical differences. Quakers especially were in the hot bed, and anyone that harbored the “cursed sect” would feel the fiery fury of local officials. These aggressively “bloodthirsty” and “extremely fanatical” men were not open to compromise. When dealing with dissenters, in the words of John Proctor, Puritan “justice would freeze beer.”

When the Quakers came to the Colonies, they brought with them a spiritual democracy that threatened the Puritan aristocratic system. Their simplistic faith had an absence of clergy, creed and sacrament; moreover, they gave women equality. The head honchos like Endicott and Hawthorne labeled them “dangerous intruders invading our borders” and “wandering vagabonds.” Despite the tenacious efforts of the magistrates who wanted to eliminate the “vile heretics,” which included branding, whipping and cropping, the Quakers just kept coming, and the good folk of Newbury were more than willing to board and support them.

Phelps Farm

In the summer months of 1658, the farm of Robert Adams played host to two Quaker missionaries, William Brend and William Leddra. The Phelps family of Salem held a secret Quaker meeting, and Adams escorted the guest speakers to the gathering. See Hannah (Baskel) Phelps Phelps Hill - A Quaker Woman and Her Offspring Unfortunately, word got out and the constables came to break up the assembly and haul in all the “quaking heretics.”

When the law boys arrived, chaos broke out, and perhaps the distraction of finding their wives in the midst of this devil’s den allowed Adams to sneak his guests out and bring them back to Newbury. However, it would not be long before the authorities would track them down. Captain Gerrish and the minister paid a call on their buddy Adams, and despite their best efforts to resolve things amicably, Brend and Leddra were turned over to Salem Court. Adams paid the fines, but his friends faced a different fate.
Picture of Quaker Trial from Laura George

The tragic events that followed were nothing short of extreme cruelty. Confined to the Boston jail, Brend and Leddra were starved and repeatedly beaten with a three-pitched rope until they were on the brink of death. The disapproving sentiment of the public reached Endicott. Knowing he had to intervene, Endicott sent in a surgeon. Russell L. Jackson asserts that the aged Brend, with help from an “unseen Healer,” rose from his sick cot as he still had more light to spread and preach about in New England.

In August 1659, Thomas Macy (see Powow Preacher Spats with Puritans) was prosecuted and fined 30 shillings for hosting four Quakers. Two of his guests, William Robinson and Marmaduke Stephenson, would later be executed upon the gallows on Dec. 27, 1659. (Visit The Thomas Macy Home-Colby House

Fed up with the Puritan government, Macy “shook the dust from off his feet” and departed to Nantucket, where the iron hand of these despots did not reach. Thomas left “because he could not in justice to the dictates of his own conscience longer submit to the tyranny of the clergy and those in authority” (Macy Papers). His journey was a spiritual sign of deliverance as he, his family, Isaac Coleman and Edward Starbuck survived a fierce storm that raged like the Furies on their open boat.

Others like Coffin, Swain, Pike and Folger joined Macy on Nantucket. Allen Coffin noted that, while it was not an Elysium, the island was indeed blessed with “plenty’s golden smile” and “a refuge of the free.” Thanks to these brave, forward-thinking men, Nantucket became the first settlement to enjoy complete separation of Church and State.

On March 16, 1663, John Emery was presented to the court at Ipswich and charged with entertaining Quakers. The whole ordeal caused quite a buzz, and Rev. Parker showed up with a posse, demanding some answers. Sarah Emery asserts: “At this period one can scarcely depict the commotion such an incident must have caused in the secluded and quiet settlement of Quascacunquen, on the banks of the winding Parker, or appreciate the courage evinced by John Emery and his wife in thus rising above popular prejudice, and fanatical bigotry, and intolerance.” For this offence, the court fined Emery four pounds, plus costs and fees.

While we are grateful to live with religious freedom, we must also be grateful that our ancestors’ spirit, courage and light was not extinguished despite the tyrannical terror of dark Puritanical forces.
Happy Thanksgiving! Thank You to the Port Library Archives and Cheryl Follansbee.

The Quakers among us: 17th and 18th centuries

Andover Townsman, Andover, MA September 19, 2013 The Quakers among us: 17th and 18th centuries Andover Stories By Kimberly Whitworth, Andover Historical Society

---- — The Quaker faith is not the first thing that comes to mind when you look out over Andover’s hills and view the many weather vane-topped church steeples dotting the landscape. Andover, along with most of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was founded by English Puritans.

North Parish Church — as well as other churches throughout Andover and North Andover — traces its roots to the Puritans who arrived during the Great Migration of the 1630s and settled the town. And within these Puritan communities, Quakers were present.

The story of Quakers among the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay is not one of acceptance and harmony. During the 17th century, both the Quaker and Puritan movements emerged in rejection of the Church of England. But this is where similarities in the two religions end.

Quakers professed tolerance and peace toward all, believing that God could speak to people directly. In contrast, Puritans believed the Bible supplied all religious authority. This led Puritans to strive for conformity in their communities, permitting no other religious groups within the borders of Massachusetts Bay.

Quakers began arriving in Massachusetts Bay during the 1650s. They challenged the established order, interrupting church services by shouting their disagreements with Puritan ideology. According to published accounts, one Quaker woman, Lydia Wardell, took her protest so far as to fully disrobe during services in Newbury while another Quaker woman, Deborah Buffam Wilson, protested in a similar fashion by walking naked through the streets of Salem.

During this time, a number of Quakers began settling in Salem. While the Quakers in Boston seemed far away from Andover, their presence in Salem felt alarmingly close to home.

Massachusetts Bay leaders acted quickly and passed a law against the “cursed sect,” banning Quakers from the colony. This law also imposed fines against anyone bringing a Quaker to the colony and proscribed corporeal punishment against any Quaker who returned to the colony after banishment.

The first members of North Parish Church agreed with the law enacted in 1657. Andover’s early congregation believed in religious conformity and saw toleration to be evidence of a lack of faith.

Historians and writers generally view Simon and Anne Bradstreet as moderate in their views, with Simon Bradstreet often described as a “just and benevolent leader.” Nevertheless, even though no Quakers disturbed the peace in Andover, some of the church’s members were prominent in Quaker persecutions, especially Simon Bradstreet in his capacity as magistrate.

Records show that at “... court in Ipswich, and in the ministerial councils at Newbury, he was zealous against offenders.” Bradstreet’s most notable persecution was that of Nicholas Phelps, a Salem resident whose descendants later settled in Andover.

Over time, Puritans accepted the presence of Quakers, but they remained a minority in Essex County. The most notable Quaker living in Andover during the 18th century was a man named Thomas Houghton.

Houghton left a wealth of letters, some of which are housed at the Andover Historical Society. From these letters and others, we learn he emigrated from England after his paper manufacturing business failed due to a lawsuit over what he considered an unjust tax on his product.

He arrived in Andover around 1789, finding employment at a new paper mill being set up on the “Shawshin River” by Judge Samuel Phillips. Phillips did not take an active role in the business, trusting the running of it to Houghton.

Houghton’s letters speak of his economical and moral habits, both of which find their origins in Quaker teaching. It is clear he applied these teachings to his work life because the paper mill became a profitable concern within a few years. By 1795, Phillips brought Houghton on as a partner. Houghton’s son eventually succeeded him in the business.

Adding a site link from Barbara Poole Life from the Roots blog pics of Andover graves