BOWNE HOUSE ARCHIVES PRESENTS: THE PAPERS OF HANNAH FEAKE BOWNE
Egbert van Heemskerck, “A Quakers’ Meeting” (detail)
The Bowne House Archives marks the close of Women’s History month by presenting the Papers of Hannah Feake Bowne. Thanks to the generosity of a grant from the Levy Foundation and New York Preservation Archives Project (NYPAP), we recently digitized the Colonial-era Bowne Family Papers of Flushing, Long Island, which will be coming online this Spring. Now for the first time we can present all the known surviving letters sent to and saved by the Bowne matriarch, along with her husband John Bowne’s loving testimony, or eulogy, delivered at her memorial and recorded verbatim by the Peel Street Quaker Meeting in London, where she died.
Hannah Feake Bowne (1637-1678) was the first wife of John Bowne and the mother of his oldest eight children. However, she was also an impressive figure in her own right: a female Quaker preacher and missionary at a time when most Christian denominations forbade women to speak in Church. Her strong sense of spiritual vocation led her to embark on at least two extended religious visits and preaching tours overseas, while John Bowne stayed at home managing their farm and family- an unorthodox arrangement that shows his great respect for her and her calling.
As noted, the Papers of Hannah Feake Bowne consist of correspondence received by her, or by her and John Bowne jointly, and the testimony of John Bowne about her life. Note that, as with most collections of personal papers, we have the letters that she received and not the letters that she sent, which would have ended up with their recipients, and largely lost to history. (For a discussion of the one known letter written by Hannah—which Bowne House does not own, and which may not have survived to the present day—see our previous article at https://www.bownehouse.org/letter-from-hannah-bowne.) Thus, as with so many women from before the contemporary era, we are in the position of having to reconstruct Hannah’s biography through the eyes and voices of others.
However, it is still possible to get a striking outline of her and her world from these documents, just as it is possible to discern the outline of someone’s features from the negative space of a silhouette (the early Quakers’ favorite form of portraiture.) From John Bowne’s letter to Hannah from jail, and his later letter from exile in Amsterdam, we discover what her life and responsibilities were like in his absence, and how religious persecution affected both husband and wife. George Fox’s letter of introduction for her shows the esteem that the founder and leader of the Society of Friends had for her. Correspondence from Joan Brocksopp, one of the very first female Quaker missionaries, illuminates the social network of Quaker women that Hannah had for friends and mentors. Finally, John Bowne’s moving testimony at her funeral presents the only true narrative that we have of her adult life.
Scroll down to view the documents and download both images and faithful, annotated transcriptions of these historic 17th-century records. The Bowne House Archives are indebted to our volunteer Kate Lynch for assistance with transcription and the Levy Foundation for a generous grant to cover the digitization of our collections.
LETTER FROM JOHN BOWNE TO HANNAH BOWNE, SENT FROM JAIL IN NEW AMSTERDAM
DOCUMENT ID: BFP #2018.1.3-01
DATE: NOVEMBER 5TH, 1662 (OLD STYLE) / NOVEMBER 15TH, 1662 (NEW STYLE)
John Bowne wrote this letter to his wife while jailed in New Amsterdam for the offense of holding forbidden Quaker Meetings in the colony of New Netherland. In it, he offers her advice on running the farm and providing for their family in his absence, along with recommendations as to which neighbor to ask for help with various tasks. We get insight into the tremendous weight of labor and responsibility that fell upon Hannah during Bowne’s ordeal, but also the strength of community ties in the Colonial-era farming settlement.
LETTER FROM JOHN BOWNE TO HANNAH BOWNE, SENT FROM EXILE IN AMSTERDAM
DOCUMENT ID: BFP #2018.1.3-02
DATE: MAY 31, 1662 (OLD STYLE) / JUNE 9, 1662 (NEW STYLE)
In this letter sent from Amsterdam during Bowne’s period of exile, he gives her a first-hand account of his appeal to the Dutch West India Company and his anger at what he perceives as their double-dealing and shabby treatment of him following his apparently successful appeal. It contains references to James Clement, the indentured servant whom he is sending on ahead to help her in Flushing, and a variety of cargo (including possibly contraband Quaker writings) that he is shipping to Long Island, offering interesting insights into everyday tools and household items needed on a Colonial farm alongside the Bownes’ struggle for religious liberty.
LETTER FROM JOHN BOWNE TO HANNAH BOWNE IN MARYLAND
DOCUMENT ID: BFP #2018.1.3-03
DATE: MARCH 18, 1674 (OLD STYLE) / MARCH 28, 1675 (NEW STYLE)
This brief letter references a visit that Hannah made to Quakers in the colony of Maryland in the winter and spring of 1674/75- the earliest evidence that we have so far of her religious travels prior to her first overseas voyage. Such travels show how itinerant Quaker women and men were and the strength of their social networks throughout the Colonies at a time when travel was difficult and dangerous.
LETTER FROM JOHN BOWNE IN OYSTER BAY TO HANNAH BOWNE IN LONDON
DOCUMENT ID: BFP #2018.1.3-04
DATE: MAY 18, 1675 (OLD STYLE) / MAY 28, 1675 (NEW STYLE)
This letter from John Bowne to his wife reports to her on the annual meeting of Long Island Quakers held in Oyster Bay. He writes of discovering second-hand Hannah’s departure from Maryland for England: “the news of thy being gone, for which the Lord had fitted me, as thou hast known in like cases formerly.” This indicates both that Hannah’s religious vocation had led her to make unplanned journeys in the past, and that John had accepted these activities on the part of his spouse. He also reports on the drowning death of Quaker missionary Hannah Wright and a confrontation with a splinter sect called the Ranters.
Letter, John Bowne to Hannah Bowne Bowne, May 1676. (Bowne House Archives)
LETTER OF INTRODUCTION BY GEORGE FOX FOR HANNAH BOWNE IN LONDON
DOCUMENT ID: BFP #2018.1.3-05
DATE: JULY 11, 1675 (OLD STYLE) / JULY 21, 1675 (NEW STYLE)
George Fox was the founder and leader of the Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers. Here, he urges Friends in London to help Hannah “when she goeth beyond the sea,” attesting that “she is an honest woman, and I know her well.” Fox had stayed with the Bownes in Flushing during his 1672 tour of the Colonies, and preached to a crowd outside the Bowne House, as reported in his Journal. Obviously Hannah’s character had favorably impressed him.
Letter of Introduction, George Fox for Hannah Bowne in London, July 1675
Note: Document repaired & conserved with the aid of a generous grant from the Levy Foundation (Bowne House Archives)
LETTER FROM ELIZABETH BOWNE IN FLUSHING TO HANNAH BOWNE IN LONDON
DOCUMENT ID: BFP #2018.1.3-06A
DATE: JULY 18, 1676 (OLD STYLE) / JULY 28, 1676 (NEW STYLE)
Elizabeth “Betsy” Bowne writes to her mother Hannah during Hannah’s religious visit and preaching tour overseas. She expresses her longing for her mother, but also a shared religious fervor and conviction that despite the physical distance they are united in spirit. Elizabeth, the eldest of the Bownes’ seven surviving children, was just 17 years old at the time, but would soon take on the responsibility of caring for the younger children following John Bowne’s departure to join Hannah a few months later.
Letter, Elizabeth Bowne to Hannah Bowne, July 1676. (Bowne House Archives)
LETTER FROM JOHN BOWNE IN FLUSHING TO HANNAH BOWNE IN LONDON
DOCUMENT ID: BFP #2018.1.3-06B
DATE: JULY 23, 1676 (OLD STYLE) / AUGUST 2, 1676 (NEW STYLE)
John Bowne writes to Hannah during her second religious visit and preaching tour abroad, expressing his desire to join her overseas and assuring her as to the preparations that he is making at home for the care of their farm and family. (John would join her towards the end of that year and accompany her on her final travels.)
ADDRESS FOR HANNAH BOWNE IN LONDON
DOCUMENT ID: BFP #2018.1.3-06C
DATE: AROUND AUGUST, 1676
NOTE: This address label accompanied the letters from John Bowne and Elizabeth Bowne to Hannah Bowne in London (Documents BFP #2018.1.3-06A and BFP 2018.1.3-06B, above.)
TRANSCRIPTION: “These for the hands of his verey loveing wife Hanna[h] Bowne in London or ealsewheare // thes [ ? ] with Care. // to be left at Jon Ellson at ye Signe of ye Peele in Sant John Streete In London”
Address label to Hannah Bowne in London, about August 1676.
LETTER FROM JOAN BROCKSOPP TO HANNAH BOWNE IN DUBLIN
DOCUMENT ID: BFP #2018.1.3-07
DATE: DECEMBER 23, 1676 (OLD STYLE) / JANUARY 2, 1677 (NEW STYLE)
Joan Brocksopp of Little Normanton in Derbyshire was one of the earliest female Quaker missionaries and no doubt a role model for Hannah. The Bownes likely met Brocksopp at the first General Meeting of Quakers in Rhode Island in 1661, when she was in New England. Her letter consists mostly of religious sentiments, but exhortations such as “be not discouraged, but lift up thy head,” and references to “the trial of thy faith, that it be made more precious than gold that is seven times tried in the fire,” may be more personal references to a stillbirth that Hannah had suffered in Dublin.
Letter, Joan Brocksopp to Hannah Bowne, December 1676 (O.S.)/January 1677 (N.S.) - (Bowne House Archives)
LETTER FROM JOAN BROCKSOPP TO “RULERS OF BOSTON” AND JOHN & HANNAH BOWNE
DOCUMENT ID: BFP #2018.1.3-08A
DATE: AUGUST 23, 1677 (OLD STYLE) / SEPTEMBER 2, 1677 (NEW STYLE)
This address to “ye Rulers of Boston” was accompanied by greetings to John and Hannah Bowne, whom Brocksopp was entrusting with the task of delivering it upon their return to the Colonies. Brocksopp and her “yoke-mate,” or fellow missionary, Elizabeth Hooten had been jailed in Boston and driven into the New England wilderness for their unorthodox preaching during their prior visit there; hence her exhortations to the authorities to repent and be saved. As this letter is still in the Bowne Family Papers, it seems that it was never delivered. Brocksopp’s fearless audacity indicates the type of role model she set for Hannah.
Letter, Joan Brocksopp to “ye Rulers of Boston” and John & Hannah Bowne, Aug./Sept. 1677
LETTER FROM JOAN BROCKSOPP TO ANN EASTON C/O JOHN & HANNAH BOWNE
DOCUMENT ID: BFP #2018.1.3-08B
DATE: AUGUST 23, 1677 (OLD STYLE) / SEPTEMBER 2, 1677 (NEW STYLE)
This letter to Ann Easton of Rhode Island, a friend of Brocksopp’s youth, was bundled along with the previous one to “ye Rulers of Boston” and the Bownes were entrusted with the task of traveling back to New England with these missives and seeing that they found their intended recipients. The fact that both remain among the Bowne Family Papers indicates that they never made it. Likely John was preoccupied in the aftermath of Hannah’s death in England and forgot to deliver them upon his return.
LETTER FROM THOMAS EVERNDEN TO JOHN AND HANNAH BOWNE AND OTHERS
DOCUMENT ID: BFP #2018.1.3-09
DATE: NO DATE (BEFORE FEBRUARY 1678)
An Epistle, or religious letter, from a prominent Maryland Quaker for the Bownes to share with a select group of fellow Quakers. This document shows the enduring ties between Quakers in Flushing and those in the colony of Maryland, ties no doubt cemented by Hannah’s 1674/5 visit there. Evernden’s mention here of the preaching of Lydia Wright, one of the charismatic Wright sisters, also illustrates the influence of female preachers and missionaries in the Society of Friends. The date of sending is unknown, but must be before Hannah’s death in February 1678.
TESTIMONY OF JOHN BOWNE FOR HANNAH BOWNE AT HER MEMORIAL
DOCUMENT ID: BFP #2018.1.3-10
DATE: FEBRUARY 2, 1677 (OLD STYLE) / FEBRUARY 12, 1678 (NEW STYLE)
The testimony, or eulogy, of John Bowne at Hannah Bowne’s memorial service, as recorded by the Quaker Meeting at Peele Street in London. Hannah died here at age forty, following an epic preaching tour that took her far from home and family to preach in the British Isles and the Low Countries as far as Emben, both in English and the Dutch learned in her childhood. Most of what we know about Hannah’s life and her relationship with John Bowne comes from this emotional account.
