8 ARCHIVES AROUND NEW YORK An Illustrious Family BY CHARLOTTE JACKSON AND KATE LYNCH An archives documents nine generations of activism in a historic family home. uilt in 1661 by John Bowne, an English settler in present- day Flushing, Queens, the Bowne House is regarded as a national shrine to religious freedom. BowneB was a Quaker convert cele- brated for his successful defense of religious tolerance in the face of imprisonment and exile by the authorities of New Netherland, an Colorized postcard depicting Bowne House. From original print by Artist Jacques Gerard Milbert; ordeal documented in his journal Lithographer Charles Etienne Mott, 1825. and correspondence. The family preserved the possessions The seventeenth century letters in the first female Quaker preacher, and papers of the home’s residents the Bowne House Archives relate to Elizabeth Hooten, and her travelling over nine generations of continuous the missions of John Bowne and his companion Joan Brocksopp, who like occupancy, while furthering Bowne’s wife Hannah [Feake] Bowne as John Bowne was from Derbyshire. commitment to personal liberty Quakers in Flushing and abroad. Brocksopp features prominently in the through their own civic involvement. Hannah’s stepfather William Hallett Bowne House Archives and her letters The resulting collections form a was the schout (sheriff) of Flushing detail both John Bowne’s 1663 exile microcosm of New York History from until he was removed from office in and Hannah Bowne’s two missions the Dutch colonial period to the post- late 1656 by the New Netherland abroad between 1675 and 1678. WWII era. Council for allowing unlawful Baptist In 1662, John Bowne was arrested The colonial-era “Bowne Family meetings in their home. In 1657, the and banished for holding Quaker Papers of Flushing, Long Island” first English Quakers landed in New meetings in the house. George Fox, contains land deeds and other official Amsterdam and began converting the founder of the Religious Society records dating back to 1653; the many residents of the English towns. of Friends (Quakers), wrote letters personal and religious correspondence Arrests of locals who hosted English supporting the couple. When Bowne of John Bowne, his wife and descen- Quakers resulted in the Flushing traveled to Amsterdam for his tribunal dants; and Quaker records reflecting Remonstrance, a landmark document in 1663, Fox wrote a letter directing the family’s role as faith leaders. The demanding religious tolerance, whose Quakers in Holland to assist him. Fox archives also preserves facsimiles and signers included Bowne’s in-laws. later preached in Flushing and lodged transcriptions of John Bowne’s journal In 1661, John and Hannah attended at the Bowne House in 1672. In 1675, and account book, documenting his the Yearly Meeting in Rhode Island, Fox provided a letter of introduction farming and trading activities. where they may have encountered for Hannah Bowne on her overseas NEW YORK archives • SUMMER 2020 9 mission, likely focused on organizing Quaker Women’s Meetings. This early correspondence reflects the Quaker network John and Hannah Bowne connected to at home, in exile, and on missions in England, Ireland, Holland, Germany, and Barbados. There are no known letters from Hannah Bowne, only letters she received. She remains a compelling figure whose achievements are richly described by John Bowne in his 1678 Above: Letter of introduction by eulogy at the Quaker Meeting on St. BOWNE HOUSE ARCHIVES George Fox for Hannah Feake Bowne’s John’s Lane, London, where she died. 1675 religious voyage to England The eighteenth-century papers of Right: 1897 photograph showing the room John and Hannah’s descendants docu- where John Bowne was arrested in 1661 ment a legacy of Quaker faith, civic IMAGES: BOWNE HOUSE ARCHIVES leadership, horticulture, and trade. Their ranks include preachers and to his widow and four daughters; ministers, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, his daughter Mary and her husband, 100 postcards memorialize the grand social reformers, and government Quaker minister and abolitionist Samuel tour of Robert Bowne Parsons’ officials, including New York Mayor Parsons, later inherited the property. daughters, Anna and Bertha, that Walter Bowne (1829-1833). Female Mary Bowne Parsons’ sisters remained included Europe, Japan, Sri Lanka, missionaries, such as Patience Brayton unmarried, devoting themselves to and Morocco. These sisters inherited and Susanna Morris, continue to figure the Flushing Female Association, a Bowne House in 1915 and oversaw in Quaker correspondence. Revolution- racially integrated school for the poor its 1945 dedication as a museum. The ary history surfaces in a 1784 petition founded in 1814. The correspondence house, among the oldest in New York to the British Army, in which the New of Samuel and Mary’s six children City, is one of the best-preserved York Quakers refuse to serve in the reveals ties to anti-slavery activists like examples of Anglo-Dutch vernacular “City Watch,” a citizen patrol to deter Lewis Tappan and Gerrit Smith. A rare residential architecture. The Bowne street crime and riots that did not sit 1850 letter from Rev. Simeon Jocelyn, House Archives also encompasses well with the pacifist Quakers. vice-president of the New York State preservation activities, such as After independence, John’s great- Vigilance Committee, carried by a architectural drawings and historic grandson Robert ran Bowne and Co. fugitive slave, instructs William Bowne structures reports. Printers, which is still in business; sat Parsons to “assist this colored brother,” Bowne House Archives received a on the board of New York’s first bank which substantiates Bowne House’s 2018 grant from the New York State (now BNY Mellon); became a found- role in the Underground Railroad. Archives Documentary Heritage Pro- ing member of the Manumission Three generations of Bowne and gram to create finding aids for these Society alongside Alexander Hamilton Parsons “bluestockings” travelled and collections. While the colonial docu- and Aaron Burr; and served as an moved in cultured circles. The “Parsons ments remain off-site for preservation, African Free School trustee. and Bowne Papers” complement their high-resolution digital surrogates are When Robert’s brother John Bowne stories with photographs and prints, available. Visit bownehouse.org for III died in 1804, Bowne House passed maps, books, and ephemera. Nearly more information. www.nysarchivestrust.org.