INDEPENDENT MINDS: BOWNE & PARSONS WOMEN (Updated)

By Ellen M. Spindler, Collection Volunteer, and Charlotte Jackson, Archivist

The history of Bowne House has often been dominated by John Bowne and his struggle for religious freedom. However, we are now showcasing the contributions and activism of the no-less remarkable women affiliated with the Bowne House. From John’s pioneering Quaker wife, Hannah Feake, in the 17th century, to the “Parsons Sisters” who preserved the Bowne House and its legacy in the 20th , these women preachers, world travelers, philanthropists, social reformers, and preservationists made a significant difference outside the spotlight reserved for men. Our research into these and other remarkable Bowne women is ongoing.

THREE GENERATIONS OF 17TH CENTURY WOMEN

Hannah (Feake) Bowne (1637-1678)

Hannah Bowne, the first wife of John Bowne, was one of the first female Quaker ministers in America and a missionary who preached in at least three Colonies, the British Isles, and Northern Europe. Hannah was raised in Greenwich, CT., then claimed by the Dutch; she was related to the powerful New England Winthrop family through her mother, Elizabeth. Hannah married John Bowne in 1656 and soon thereafter became a Quaker; family lore credits her with converting John to the faith, and together the couple hosted the Meetings that ultimately led to his arrest in 1662. When George Fox, the English founder of the Quaker religion, visited Bowne House on his 1672 tour of the Colonies, he evidently found Hannah impressive, for he later sent a personal letter of recommendation to Quaker leaders in London: “I desire thee and some of your Women’s Meeting to assist Hanna Bowne when she goeth beyond the sea, for she is an honest woman and I know her well.”

John Bowne’s journal, his letters, and his eulogy at Hannah’s memorial indicate that she visited both Rhode Island and Maryland, and took at least two solo religious trips abroad, the first in early 1675 and the second in 1676. Such was John’s respect for his wife’s vocation that he willingly consented to stay behind and care for their seven underage children during her extended absences. The record suggests that she travelled around England and Ireland doing mission work, possibly helping George Fox to establish Women’s Meetings, a controversial initiative he undertook as part of the formalization of the Quaker faith around that time. John joined Hannah midway through her second trip, which included Holland, Flanders, and Germany. He reported that she preached to the Dutch in their own tongue, and revived a lapsed Meeting in the town of Emden. Hannah fell ill and died at the home of John and Mary Elson in London in the winter of 1678 (according to the modern calendar) with John at her side, and is buried there in Bunhill Cemetery alongside George Fox and other early Quakers.

 Elizabeth (Fones-Winthrop-Feake) Hallett (1610 – between 1657 & 1668)

Hannah undoubtedly inherited her strong will and independence from her mother, born Bess Fones and ending as Mrs. Elizabeth Hallett. Hannah’s traditional marriage to John Bowne and her radical religious career were a departure from her mother’s free-spirited life, which has been celebrated in Anya Seton’s historical novel The Winthrop Woman and Missy Wolfe’s biography Insubordinate Spirit.

Hannah was just ten when her father, Lieutenant Robert Feake, became mentally ill and departed for England. Alone with five children on their Greenwich estate in the contested borderlands of New Netherland, Elizabeth defied Puritan morality by openly cohabiting with Feake’s estate manager, a younger man named William Hallett. Accused of adultery despite having received an order of separation, she was threatened with confiscation of Feake’s estate, loss of custody, corporal punishment, and Hallett’s exile. Yet instead of separating, the blended family fled with the estate’s moveable goods and lived as virtual refugees for nearly two years, evading court orders in both New Netherland and Connecticut. Eventually Elizabeth took refuge with her kinsman John Winthrop, Jr., Governor of Connecticut, who may have formally married the Halletts and likely helped to negotiate the settlement with Director Stuyvesant that allowed them to return home in 1650. Stuyvesant later granted them land in Hallett’s Cove. Elizabeth’s bold gamble had prevailed; she survived to live and love on her own terms.

When the Hallett plantation burned down during the Peach Tree War of September 1655, she purchased 112 acres of land in Flushing as Mrs. Elizabeth Hallett. The deed dated October 1, 1655, describes a plot “next to the home lot of Thomas Bowne,” and another abutting land of Captain John Underhill. She may have chosen these locations for their matchmaking potential, for within a year Hannah Feake married John Bowne, while her other daughter, Elizabeth, later married Underhill. It was unusual for a married woman to buy property in her own name in the 17th century. However, Elizabeth had previously purchased “Elizabeth’s Neck” in Connecticut as an inheritance for Johanna, her daughter by the deceased Henry Winthrop. The presence of the deed in the Bowne House Archives suggests that the Flushing purchases were an inheritance for her Feake children, which later became incorporated into the Bowne Estate.

For his part, John Bowne appears to have been a dutiful son-in-law; his journal records an expenditure for “stockings for my mother [in-law.]” Hannah no doubt looked to her marriage and religion to offset the instability of her childhood. Yet the Bowne matriarch also followed her own mother’s precedent of female agency and independence.

Mary (Beckett) Bowne (1673-1707)

Hannah’s daughter-in law Mary Beckett was the first wife of John and Hannah Bowne’s son Samuel, who inherited the Bowne House. Like Hannah Bowne, the mother-in-law she never knew, Mary had a strong religious vocation that led her to a bold and unconventional choice. Mary grew up in Lancashire, England as the adopted daughter of two Quaker ministers, Elinor Lowe and Roger Haydock. Unlike some early Friends, Mary’s parents had land and a comfortable livelihood. However, at the age of 10, Mary decided to follow William Penn to the new Quaker colony of Pennsylvania, emigrating as an indentured servant with a family friend. Her father Roger Haydock wrote: “she comes of her own inclination to those parts, to which inclinations we have condescended…”

Mary later settled with foster parents Phineas and Phebe Pemberton, friends of the Bowne family with whom she corresponded after her marriage and move to Flushing in 1691. Their letters offer rare insights into household affairs and childrearing, topics lacking in the papers of Colonial men. She was evidently much esteemed among the Society of Friends. After Mary died at age 33, leaving eight children, the English preacher Samuel Bownas wrote to the grieving widower: “I hope that thou by this time hast learned how to take the Parting of so honorable a mate as thee had, which in my judgment has not left her fellow upon the continent of America.”

18TH - EARLY 19TH CENTURY WOMEN

Dinah (Underhill) Bowne (1707-1770)

Dinah Underhill was the great-granddaughter of Captain John Underhill, the famous Indian fighter who in old age married Hannah Feake’s sister Elizabeth and converted to the Quaker faith. Dinah was raised near Matinnecock on Long Island. Before her marriage she corresponded with a network of female Quaker preachers. One letter from Susannah Morris alludes to Dinah’s “gift” and urges her to undertake a missionary tour. In 1738 Dinah married John Bowne’s grandson, John Bowne III (1698-1757). Both she and John are described as Quaker ministers. They had four children, including one of the family’s most illustrious members: Robert Bowne (1744-1818), who established the Bowne and Co. Printers and was a founding member of the New York Manumission Society.

John III’s will left Bowne House to Dinah and their teenage son, John IV, stipulating that when the latter came of age the House be divided, with Dinah taking the western end, now the Parlor, and John to occupy the eastern portion, or original 1661 house. In her widowhood Dinah must have presided over the necessary modifications, giving the main wing of Bowne House its central entrance and current floorplan. According to the 2007 Historic Structures Report by Walter R. Wheeler, 18th -century aesthetic changes date to the same period of renovation. These include the wood paneling and moldings still seen in the Parlor, and “modern” double-hung sash windows. Thus, Dinah may be largely responsible for the look of Bowne House today. She lived in the House until her death in 1770.

Eliza (Southgate) Bowne (1783-1809)

Eliza Southgate Bowne married Walter Bowne (who later became Mayor of New York City) in 1803. Eliza was from Maine, was well educated, and met Walter at Saratoga Springs. Although she never lived in the house and passed away at an early age from consumption, she is notable for her letters, which were published in a volume entitled “Letters of Eliza Southgate Bowne, Mrs. Walter Bowne.” These were reprinted as “A Girl’s Life 80 Years Ago: Selections from the Letters of Eliza Bowne” in 1888. Written in a lively, accessible style, this book is still read today. Her portrait was painted in 1803 by Edward Greene Malbone, the most celebrated miniaturist of his generation. Decades after her death, her daughter-in-law Eliza Rapelye Bowne resided at the Bowne House for several years. A suite of the Mayor’s furniture was subsequently donated by a descendant and is on display in the parlor.

19TH-CENTURY BOWNE & PARSONS WOMEN

Mary (Bowne) Parsons (1784-1839)

The activist tradition established by John and Hannah Bowne continued among their 19th century Bowne and Parsons descendants. Mary Bowne, great-great-granddaughter of John Bowne, inherited the Bowne House along with her mother and three sisters following the death of her father John in 1804. In 1806 Mary married Samuel Parsons, a Quaker minister from a Manhattan merchant family, becoming the matriarch of the Bowne/Parsons family. Their children were James Bowne Parsons, Mary Bowne Parsons (Jr.), Samuel Bowne Parsons, Robert Bowne Parsons, William Bowne Parsons, and Jane Parsons.

Mary and her husband were ardent abolitionists whose family friends included English social reformer Joseph John Gurney and American anti-slavery activist Lewis Tappan. Samuel Parsons safeguarded the funds for the Flushing Female Association, a philanthropic organization primarily benefitting African Americans that was founded in 1814 by a group including two of Mary’s sisters. Mary focused her energies on the Quaker Meeting, where she served as Elder with a focus on religious education for youth. Mary passed her share of the Bowne House to her husband upon her death from consumption; as her sisters never married, this ensured that the Parsons would eventually inherit the entire property.

Female Ownership and Occupancy of Bowne House, 1804-1888

From 1804-1830 the house was exclusively owned by the widow Anne (Field) Bowne and four daughters of John Bowne IV; until 1888 it remained majority female-owned and occupied. When the unmarried women died, beginning with Catharine Bowne in 1830, they passed their 1/5 shares in the property to their nieces and nephews. Following Mary Bowne Parsons’ death in 1839, her husband Samuel Parsons inherited her share. Upon his death in 1842, it was distributed between their six children and their two daughters-in-law. The daughters-in-law received “dower shares,” to be inherited in widowhood; however, these reverted to the Estate when the wives predeceased their husbands. Despite this gradual dilution of female ownership, the House continued to be set aside for widows, unmarried females, and their young adult relatives until 1888.

Ann Bowne (1785-1863), Eliza Bowne (1787-1852), & Catharine Bowne (1789-1830)

The three sisters of Mary Bowne Parsons- Ann, Elizabeth (“Eliza”), and Catharine Bowne- remained unmarried and lived in Bowne House throughout their lives, first with their widowed mother, the former Anne Field, then with their young, unmarried nieces and nephews. As a child Eliza Bowne attended the Nine Partners Boarding School, which operated from 1796-1863 in a settlement called Mechanic (now near Millbrook, NY) in Central Dutchess County next to the “Old Brick” Meeting House, a center of Quaker activity. The school was the first co-educational boarding and day school in the State. It taught reading and math to both sexes. and was designed to inculcate Quaker values. Lucretia Coffin Mott attended and graduated soon after Eliza Bowne. Many students such as Mott later embarked on lives as abolitionists and women’s suffrage campaigners. Nine Partners Meeting and School coordinated Underground Railroad activities throughout Dutchess county in the leadup to the Civil War. We know of Eliza’s attendance due to a sampler she made there in 1800 at the age of 12. The details of the other sisters’ education are not currently known.

In 1814 Ann and Catharine became founding members of the Flushing Female Association, which by its dissolution in 1967 was the oldest non-religious philanthropic organization in Queens. Though not a founder, Eliza later became involved. The Association held regular meetings at the Bowne House. Catharine died in 1830, but Ann and Eliza were living at Bowne House with their unmarried nephews Robert Bowne Parsons and William Bowne Parsons in 1850, when both men were involved in the Underground Railroad. While the sisters’ participation is not documented, it seems likely that their young relatives acted with their knowledge and consent, and possibly their active cooperation.

Bowne/Parsons Women’s Participation in the Flushing Female Association, Founded 1814

Three generations of Bowne/Parsons women were involved in the Flushing Female Association, which operated from 1814 to 1967. Catharine and Ann Bowne were among the eighteen founding members of the Association, whose mission was to provide education to the poor (primarily children in the African-American community), since Flushing had no public schools at the time. Twelve of the founding members took turns teaching until a teacher was hired, and they all paid $2.00 a year to fund the school.

Initially, the school was racially integrated and open to all who had insufficient means for a private education. It operated in rented premises until 1821, when a one-story wooden schoolhouse was built on lots purchased on Lincoln Street between Main and Union Streets in Flushing. Circa 1838, the Association received two of its largest gifts, including one fund established by a Quaker donor for the schooling of poor African-American children whose parents had been held in slavery by Quakers. After about 1847, around which time Flushing commenced segregated public primary schools, the Association served solely African-American students, with public funds contributed after 1866. The school was temporarily closed after the draft riots in 1863, but a new brick school was built and opened near the old one. After the Board of Education took over the school in 1862, the Association offered extracurricular activities for the students; established the Flushing Colored Mission Sunday School, which ran from at least 1866-1910; and provided financial scholarships for African-American students.

In addition to Ann, Eliza, and Catharine Bowne, their niece Miss Mary B. Parsons, (daughter of the elder Mary Bowne Parsons) served as Treasurer of the Association for forty years until her death in 1878. Her own niece, Anna H. Parsons, was also an officer of the Association in 1914. While the work of the Manumission Society and the African Free School -established exclusively by men, including Robert Bowne- remains better known, the Flushing Female Association founded by Robert’s nieces and other Quaker women furthered a similar mission, and survived over a century longer.

Mary B. Parsons (1813-1878) & Jane Parsons (1826-1862)

The 1850 census describes Mary B. Parsons and her sister Jane as living in the House with their two maiden aunts, Eliza and Ann Bowne, and their brothers William B. and Robert B. Parsons. However, they did not lead a cloistered life. Letters show that both Mary and Jane Parsons used the Bowne House as a home base for travel to the Berkshires, England, and other places, and corresponded with family and friends during their travels. The family was cultured and befriended notables including judges, attorneys, and clergy. In one letter, Jane Parsons proposes hiring the notable portraitist Henry Inman to paint Mary, as he had painted their parents.

At one point, Mary remained in England for a significant period of time, and on at least one occasion met up with her brother Robert there. There is an 1858 certificate of her citizenry in connection with a passport application.

In 1870, Mary B. Parsons is described as a “Lady” living in the Bowne House alone with her maid. By the time of her death in 1878, the estate appears to have been in financial jeopardy. For several years thereafter, it was occupied by Eliza Rapelye Bowne, the widowed daughter-in-law of Mayor Walter Bowne, until her death in 1885.

MID 19TH-EARLY 20TH CENTURY WOMEN

Susan (Howland) Parsons (1824-54)

Susan (Howland) Parsons has been described by Mary Ellen Snodgrass in The Underground Railroad: An Encyclopedia of the Underground Railroad: People, Places, and Operations, as an active participant in the Underground Railroad with her husband Samuel Bowne Parsons, following her own family tradition of abolitionist sympathizers. As previously reported, she was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts to George and Susanna Howland. Her father George, Sr. was a wealthy merchant involved in the whaling industry and banking, yet he pursued philanthropic interests. Susan’s mother was a prominent female Quaker minister.

New Bedford was a well-known Underground Railroad destination and a “community of tolerance” where many freedom-seekers settled permanently. George employed the young Frederick Douglas, who wrote of him in his autobiography; his former home was included in the New Bedford Historical Society’s proposed “Abolition Row” historic district. Thus, New Bedford might have been one possible destination for the freedom seekers Samuel B. and Susan assisted in their escapes. Susan was also a distant cousin of another Quaker, Emily Howland (1827-1929), whose parents Slocum Howland and Hannah (Tallcott) Howland operated a stop on the Underground Railroad at their store and other facilities in Cayuga County in upstate New York.

Mary Elizabeth (Mitchell) Parsons (1829-1915)

Mary E. (Mitchell) Parsons has also been credited as possibly helping her husband Robert B. Parsons with his work on the Underground Railroad. In 1886 the House went to auction, but ultimately stayed in the family through her intervention of Mrs. Robert B. Parsons. Mary was the daughter of Judge John Mitchell and Caroline Green, who moved to New York in 1835 from Charleston, South Carolina, when Mary was still a young child. She married Robert Bowne Parsons, one of Flushing’s prominent nurserymen, on August 18, 1857 at Grace Church in Manhattan. Although her husband was the proprietor of his own nursery, Mary purchased the house at a tax auction with her own funds. The Bowne House Archives contains letters from far-flung Bowne descendants praising her for “saving” the House.

The 1900 Federal census shows Mary Mitchell Parsons as a widow living on Broadway in Queens with her 5 children and 3 female Irish servants, Robert having died in 1898. Bowne House was occupied by caretakers until her death in 1915. During this period Mary and her children began treating the House as a Museum and offering public tours. Mary’s 1915 will requested that the House not be sold. Her children then lived there until their age and infirmity necessitated its dedication as a Museum. This history, especially Mrs. Parsons’ purchase of the House with her own funds, presents unusual examples of female property ownership during those times, and women’s leadership in saving the Bowne House for posterity.

Mary’s obituaries state that, during the Civil War, she and other prominent women organized a nurses’ corps and provided assistance at Willetts Point to soldiers injured in battle. She is also described as one of the oldest Presidents of the Guild of St. George’s Episcopal church and an ardent church worker. She was a principal founder of the Children’s Home at Mineola, and a founder of the Flushing Historical Society, serving as active members of both. She is also reported as having visited often and done much for a Work House at Barnum’s Island. She was additionally a member of the Good Citizen League, as were her daughters Anna and Bertha. On her death she left a considerable estate of $463, 216.

Anna H. Parsons (1859-1948) & Bertha R. Parsons (1869-1946)

The final two residents of Bowne House were Bertha R. and Anna Hinckley Parsons, two unmarried daughters of Robert Bowne Parsons and his wife Mary (Mitchell) Parsons. Anna was the eldest of this ninth generation descended from John Bowne. The sisters spent their early adulthood on an extended world tour, traveling extensively in Europe but venturing as far afield as Egypt, Japan, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), among other exotic ports of call. At one point, Anna remained in Europe for three years. However, following their mother’s death in 1914, they settled in the Bowne House for good, although they continued to occasionally travel. Their brother Edward lived with them until his death in 1935.

Anna and Bertha continued occasional public tours of the House, zealously preserving the material and spiritual legacy of John Bowne and other early ancestors. In 1908 they wrote: “It contains the same old furniture, china, and papers; nothing has been changed that we could prevent.”

The sisters also devoted their time to civic and philanthropic work. Anna served as an officer of the Flushing Female Association and was involved with the Good Citizenship League and McCall mission. Bertha served as President of the Flushing Workers Association, an organization providing daycare and other aid to children of working women.

They appear to have been pillars of the local community; Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia himself gave a radio address from the Bowne House. Due to their advanced age, they and their brother William ultimately arranged to sell the Bowne House and its contents to the newly formed Bowne House Historical Society in 1947. Bertha’s obituary the year before mentioned that the Bowne House was believed to be the oldest home in America used by the same family continuously. Ultimately, the Parsons sisters may be remembered most for their final contribution in preserving the history of this historic landmark. Fittingly, Bowne House began its new life as a museum the same way it began its former life as a family home: with strong, visionary female leadership.

FURTHER READINGS

• Bowne, Eliza Southgate; A Girl’s Life 80 Years Ago: selections from the letters of Eliza Southgate Bowne with an introduction by Clarence Cook. (Charles Scribner’s sons, 1887)

• Seyton, Anya; The Winthrop Woman (Hodder & Straughton 1958)

• Snodgrass, Mary Ellen; The Underground Railroad: An Encyclopedia of People, Places, and Operations, (M.E. Sharpe 2008; Routledge New York 2015)

• Wolfe, Missy; Insubordinate Spirit: A True Story of Life and Loss in Earliest America 1610-1655 (Rowman & Littlefield 2012)