Testimony for Hannah, 1677/8

TITLE: TESTIMONY OF JOHN BOWNE FOR HANNAH BOWNE FOLLOWING HER BURIAL

DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.03-09

DATE: 2nd of the 12th month [February] 1677/8 (Old Style)

DESCRIPTION & NOTES

The Testimony, or eulogy, of John Bowne at Hannah Bowne’s memorial service, as recorded by the Quaker Meeting at the Sign of the Peel in St. John’s Street, Clerkenwell, 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 through the Low Countries as far as Emben in present-day German, both in English and the Dutch learned in her childhood. Most of what we know about Hannah’s life and her remarkable relationship with John Bowne comes from this deeply moving account.

Letter from Thomas Evernden (before 1678)

TITLE: LETTER FROM THOMAS EVERNDEN TO JOHN AND HANNAH BOWNE, OTHERS

DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.03-09

DATE: Before 1678

DESCRIPTION & NOTES

Prominent Maryland Quaker Thomas Evernden sends an Epistle, or religious letter, for the Bownes to share with a select group of fellow Quakers. This document shows the enduring ties between the Society of Friends in Flushing and those in the colony of Maryland, ties no doubt cemented by Hannah’s 1674/5 religious visit there. Evernden’s mention here of the preaching of Lydia Wright, one of three charismatic Wright sisters, also illustrates the influence of female preachers and missionaries in the Society of Friends. The date is not visible, but must fall before Hannah’s death in February 1678 (New Style), and likely precedes her 1676 departure on her final mission abroad.

Letter, Brocksopp to Easton, 1677

LETTER FROM JOAN BROCKSOPP TO ANN EASTON C/O JOHN & HANNAH BOWNE

DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.03-08B

DATE: 23rd of 6th month [August] 1677, Old Style

(2 September 1677, New Style)

DESCRIPTION & NOTES

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.” The two may have met during Brocksopp’s mission to America, when she and her traveling companion Elizabeth Hooten attended tthe first General Meeting of Friends in Rhode Island in 1661. 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, Brocksopp to Boston, 1677

LETTER FROM JOAN BROCKSOPP TO “YE RULERS OF BOSTON” C/O JOHN & HANNAH BOWNE

DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.03-08A

DATE: 23rd of 6th month [August] 1677, Old Style

(2 September 1677, New Style)

DESCRIPTION & NOTES

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 as punishment for their unorthodox preaching during their 1661 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. However, Brocksopp’s fearless audacity indicates the type of role model she set for Hannah.

Letter from Joan Brocksopp, 1676/7

LETTER, JOAN BROCKSOPP TO HANNAH BOWNE IN DUBLIN

DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.03-07

DATE: 23rd of 10th month [December] 1676, Old Style

(2 January 1677, New Style)

DESCRIPTION & NOTES

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 preaching in New England with her “yoke-mate” or fellow missionary Elizabeth Hooten. 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.

Address label, 1676

ADDRESS LABEL FOR HANNAH BOWNE IN LONDON

DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.03-06C

DATE: AROUND AUGUST, 1676

DESCRIPTION & NOTES

This address label accompanied the letters from John Bowne and Elizabeth Bowne to Hannah Bowne in London (see BFP 2018.1.3-06A and BFP 2018.1.03-06B.) The correspondence is sent care of John Elson, who with his wife Mary held a Quaker Meeting at their home near the Sign of the Peel in Clerkenwell, London.

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”

Letter from John Bowne, 1676

LETTER FROM JOHN BOWNE IN FLUSHING TO HANNAH BOWNE IN LONDON

DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.03-06B

DATE: 23rd of 5th month [July] 1676, Old Style

DESCRIPTION & NOTES

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.) This letter accompanied that of their daughter, Elizabeth Bowne (BFP 2018.1.03-06A) and was sent care of John Elson, who ran a Quaker Meeting in London with his wife Mary (see separate address label, BFP 2018.1.03.06C).

Letter from Elizabeth Bowne, 1676

LETTER FROM ELIZABETH BOWNE IN FLUSHING TO HANNAH BOWNE IN LONDON

DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.03-06A

DATE: 18th of 5th month [July] 1676 (Old Style)

DESCRIPTION & NOTES

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 of George Fox, 1675

TITLE: LETTER OF INTRODUCTION FROM GEORGE FOX FOR HANNAH BOWNE IN LONDON

DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.03-05

DATE: 11TH OF 5TH MONTH [JULY] 1675, OLD STYLE

DESCRIPTION & NOTES

George Fox was the founder and leader of the Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers. In this 1675 letter of introduction, he urges Friends in London to help Hannah “when she goeth beyond the sea,” referring to her trans-Atlantic religious visit and preaching tour. Fox attests 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 during his time with the couple. The addressee, “dear Mary E.” is mostly likely Mary Elson, who with her husband John hosted a Quaker Meeting at the Sign of the Peel in St. John’s Lane, Clerkenwell, London. Hannah and John were staying with the Elsons at the time of her death in 1678.

Letter from John Bowne, 1675

TITLE: LETTER, JOHN BOWNE IN OYSTER BAY TO HANNAH BOWNE IN LONDON

DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.03-04

DATE: 18TH OF 3RD MONTH [MAY] 1675, OLD STYLE

DESCRIPTION & NOTES

This letter from John Bowne to his wife reports to her from 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 from John Bowne, 1674/5

TITLE: LETTER, JOHN BOWNE TO HANNAH BOWNE IN MARYLAND

DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.03-03

DATE: 18TH OF 1ST MONTH [MARCH] 1674/5, OLD STYLE

DESCRIPTION & NOTES

This brief letter references a religious 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 demonstrate the strength of their social networks throughout the Colonies at a time when travel was difficult and dangerous.

Letter from John Bowne, 1663

TITLE: LETTER, JOHN BOWNE TO HANNAH BOWNE, FROM EXILE IN AMSTERDAM

DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.03-02

DATE: 9TH OF 4TH MONTH “CALLED JUNE” 1663, NEW STYLE

DESCRIPTION & NOTES

In this letter sent from Amsterdam during Bowne’s period of exile, he gives his wife Hannah 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 has dispatched to help her in Flushing, along with a variety of cargo (including possibly contraband Quaker writings) that he is shipping to Long Island. This letter offers insights into everyday tools and household items needed on a Colonial farm, alongside the Bownes’ struggle for religious liberty.

Letter from John Bowne, 1662

TITLE: LETTER, JOHN BOWNE TO HANNAH BOWNE, FROM JAIL IN NEW AMSTERDAM

DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.03-01

DATE: 5TH OF 9TH MONTH [NOVEMBER] 1662 [OLD STYLE]

(15 NOVEMBER 1662, NEW STYLE)

DESCRIPTION & NOTES

John Bowne wrote this letter to his wife Hannah 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 during the crucial harvest season. We get insight into the tremendous weight of labor and responsibility that fell upon Hannah during Bowne’s ordeal, but also the strength of familial and community ties in the Colonial-era farming settlement.