We still have a long way to go when it comes to equality here in America, and most everyplace else, for that matter. But, when I hear a story such as this one, I am thankful to be alive at this time in history, rather than in centuries past.
The story I will mention today happened on this date, July 11, in 1656. It was when the first Quakers landed in America, in Boston specifically. They were two women, Englishwomen, Ann Austin, and Mary Fisher. Now, let me remind everyone why the Puritans came to America not long before those Quakers. They were escaping religious prosecution, among other things. But when Ann Austin and Mary Fisher arrived here, they were not greeted with open arms. In fact, they were arrested on the spot and jailed by the Puritan colonial government.
Ann Austin was a mother of five children and described as a woman “stricken in years.” Her traveling partner was fellow Quaker Mary Fisher, who was unmarried, and a former maidservant. They first crossed from England to the colonies by way of Barbados aboard the good ship Swallow.
The mission of their trip was to profess to others their “truths” about god, but they were stopped abruptly when they reached pre-American soil in Boston. Those Puritan leaders did not want to hear anything other than what Puritans had to say about god. They did not want their Puritan people to think anything else might be true.
So when Fisher first pulled into port, having introduced herself, she was greeted with a whipping for showing up with new ideas. The Deputy Governor, named Richard Bellingham, would not allow Austin and Fisher to disembark from the ship. Then, he ordered that all the books and papers they had brought with them be burned.
Eventually, he ordered Austin and Fisher to be brought ashore and examined by the magistrates. The initial “once over” found that they were both transgressors of the laws, as blasphemous heretics. They were then confined to jail under horrible conditions.
The prison window was boarded up, and they were refused candles, cutting them off from all light sources. They were not allowed to have any writing materials and were forbidden to speak with anyone. Next, they were strip-searched for signs of witchcraft. They were checked for having a third tit or unusual skin moles. Or any little thing that might be an indication of demonic possession.
That Deputy Governor Richard Bellingham made it clear that anyone who tried to speak with them would be fined five pounds. As a final measure, they were refused food with the intention of starving them to death.
They most likely would have died there if it were not for the compassionate aged innkeeper Nicholas Upsall. Good Saint Nick bribed the jailer to smuggle in food; otherwise, they would surely have starved. After five weeks of such inhuman incarceration, the women were sent back to Barbados.
Only two days later, eight more Quakers arrived by the ship Speedwell. They were met with the same harsh treatment. Their jail sentence was for eleven weeks instead of five.
The Puritan leaders did not want Quakers in the new land, so, in an attempt to discourage further Quaker intruders, the authorities enacted the first anti-Quaker law on October 14, 1656.
One rule stated that shipmasters bringing Quakers to the colonies were fined a hundred pounds. Also, any newly arrived Quakers met with whippings. More laws were enacted. These included the cutting off of ears for some, exile for others, and sometimes hanging.
But, no matter what the Puritans tried, they could not deter the steady stream of Quakers coming to the New World, arriving as the “Children of the Light.” Ann Austin and Mary Fisher were the first two and were symbolic of what then had become the Quaker movement making its way to early America.
(I should note. Some sources say Ann and Mary spent five weeks in prison. Other sources say five years.). Either way, it would have been horrible.
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“God has no religion.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
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“Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.”
― Voltaire
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“Religion is like a pair of shoes…..Find one that fits for you, but don’t make me wear your shoes.”
― George Carlin
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Austin and Fisher. Quaker Bad Asses.
