In this post I will focus on a Quaker Woman named Anne Hutchinson, who lived from 1591 - 1643. She was born in Lincolnshire, England. Her father, Francis Marbury, was a Puritan minister who insisted his daughter learn to read.
After her father's death, Anne married William Hutchinson in 1612 and began to work in Alford as a midwife and a herbalist. Around the same time, Anne started teaching Bible sessions in her home with other women.
The Hutchinsons became followers of Puritan minister John Cotton.
The ascent of King Charles I in 1626 led to the persecution of certain Protestant sects by the Anglican Church of England. Puritans fled in large numbers.
Cotton was questioned by the Court of High Commission over concerns that his preaching about church reform was causing dissent. Cotton immediately went into hiding and fled to Boston in 1633.
At the age of 43, Hutchinson and her family, which included 10 children, joined Cotton in Boston in 1634.
Her husband rose to prominence in Boston, becoming a magistrate, while Anne joined a group of women who treated illnesses and assisted in childbirth.
Anne began to hold meetings in her home. By 1636, she was holding two meetings a week with as many as 80 people attending. During these meetings she was providing commentary on recent sermons. These meetings became so popular that she began offering meetings for men as well, including the young governor of the colony, Henry Vane.
However, she was at some point forbidden to continue her meetings and was eventually proclaimed a heretic at a church trial when she was put out of her congregation. She and her family were then banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony. They then went to live in the Rhode Island territory.
After her husband's death, Anne and her children moved to the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam.
One afternoon in the summer of 1643, Anne's family was attacked by Native Americans. Sadly she died that day.
Read Part Two HERE
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