The George Fox Daybed: A Sacred Symbol

By Elise Helmers, Bowne House Executive Director, with research assistance from Charlotte Jackson, Bowne House Archivist

This month we shine a spotlight on a daybed that has become a symbol of the legacy of religious tolerance at the Bowne House.

The George Fox Daybed (Bowne House Archives)

The George Fox Daybed is currently on display in the 1661 room of the Bowne House, a historic landmark, located in Flushing, Queens. The Bowne House is the oldest surviving house in this borough, as well as the second oldest in New York City and New York State. Before the addition of adjoining rooms in the years following the site’s original construction, this space made up the entirety of the home. It functioned as the center of all daily activity for the Bowne family, as well as a meeting place for members of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers. Whether this is where the daybed was situated throughout the family’s occupancy remains unknown, but the current placement of the daybed in this room can be reliably traced to the late-nineteenth century due to photographic evidence.

Constructed in the William and Mary style, the daybed is made of oak and is believed by art historian Dean Failey to have been built sometime between the years 1690 and 1730. The spherical and cylindrical shapes of the eight legs and adjoining stretchers are characteristic of the turned component parts oftentimes found in this style of furniture. Their rounded forms are mirrored in the backrest’s arched crest rail, which is flanked by urn-shaped finials. Intended for rest and relaxation, the inclined slope of the leather-covered backrest and the addition of a cushion atop the bed frame allowed for comfortable reclining after a day of arduous work. In his book Long Island Is My Nation: The Decorative Arts and Craftsmen, 1640-1830, Failey suggests the “relative simplicity of the turnings and the similarity of the stiles of the stationary back with those on locally made chairs lend support to an American attribution," but the exact origins of the daybed are currently unknown. Research relating to this piece is still ongoing and includes an upcoming wood assessment project.[i] The results of this study will potentially reveal the approximate time period, species of wood, and location in which the daybed was constructed.

In addition to its historical importance as both functional and decorative object, the centuries-old lore of the daybed is connected to one of the most significant events associated with the home and its early residents: George Fox’s visit to the Bowne House in 1672. It is well-known that Fox, a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, stayed at the house during the course of his North American travels in the early 1670s. His visit was a momentous occasion for John Bowne and his family, as Fox was effectively recognizing their residence as the center of the Quaker community in Flushing.  According to later familial accounts of this occurrence, George Fox slept on the daybed during his stay. Discrepancies between the date of his visit and the estimated age of the piece raise questions about the reality of this account, but regardless of these contradictions, the story has remained important to the history of the Bowne family for nearly three centuries due to Fox’s renowned reputation. At a minimum, the daybed serves a symbolic function in reference to this historic moment.

George Fox’s visit to the American colonies was prompted by a series of events in the mid-seventeenth century, beginning with his imprisonment. In the 1650s, he was arrested in his native England for questioning common law due to his religious convictions. During the period of Fox’s incarceration, his fellow Quaker, John Perrot, proceeded to argue against a number of common practices within the Religious Society of Friends, including shaking hands at the conclusion of meetings. After Fox’s release from jail in 1666, he sought to reverse Perrot’s far-reaching influence by preaching in communities throughout the New World. According to Kenneth L. Caroll in his essay “Some Thoughts on George Fox’s Visit to America in 1672” (1972), Fox “did not come to America primarily to break new ground or to proclaim his message in areas where Quakerism had not yet appeared.” Instead, “his chief attention was given to the established Quaker communities which had been in existence for some years.” By August 1672, he and his companions had arrived in the colony of New York.

Postcard illustration of George Fox preaching between the Fox Oaks (Bowne House Archives)

 Prior to his North American visit, George Fox was familiar with the Bowne family’s contributions to Quakerism, as he had met John Bowne during the course of the latter’s exile in England in 1663. As notable members of the Quaker community in Queens, their home was a logical stop on George Fox’s thirteen-month long east coast route. It was during Fox’s sojourn in Flushing that he gave his famous sermon between two oak trees on the Bowne property. According to historical accounts, the crowd of Quakers who gathered to hear him preach at the home was far too large to fit inside its relatively small interior. To accommodate the unexpected size of the group, Fox moved his speech across the street, between two large trees that later became known as the Fox Oaks. In his autobiography, George Fox recalls his visit to Flushing and this sermon: “From Oyster Bay, we passed about thirty miles to Flushing where we had a very large meeting, many hundreds of people being there; some of whom came about thirty miles to it. A glorious and heavenly meeting it was (praised be the Lord God!), and the people were much satisfied.”

The Fox Oaks Stone, c. 1907 (Bowne House Archives)

The public response to Fox’s Flushing visit is indicative of his wide-reaching influence within Quaker communities, despite ideological opposition from Perrot. Today, the memory of this event is preserved in numerous ways, including through an inscribed stone monument that designates the spot of the Fox Oaks sermon. Less officially, the George Fox Daybed has become a relic commemorating the Bowne family’s associations with the Religious Society of Friends. Notwithstanding the remaining questions concerning provenance and attribution currently being researched, by the late-nineteenth century, family members had created a type of homemade shrine for the daybed that still exists today. Visitors to the Bowne House will see the daybed arranged in the corner of the 1661 room beside the fireplace and below a portrait of George Fox.       

View of the Hall, c. 1899 (Bowne House Archives)

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Sources

Carroll, Kenneth L. “Some Thoughts on George Fox’s Visit to America in 1672.” Quaker History, vol. 61, no. 2, 1972, pp.82-90.

Failey, Dean. Long Island Is My Nation: The Decorative Arts & Craftsmen, 1640-1830. 2nd ed., Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities, 1998.

Fox, George. George Fox: An Autobiography, edited by Rufus M. Jones. Philadelphia, Ferris & Leach, 1919, pp. 85.

Safford, Francis Gruber. American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007.

Vincent, Nicholas C. “American Furniture, 1620-1730: The Seventeenth-Century and William and Mary Styles.” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/will/hd_will.htm.

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[i] We gratefully acknowledge a grant from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network for the wood assessment of these furniture objects in the collection.

Thomas Bowne's Crutch: Tale of an Unexpected Encounter

By Charlotte Jackson, Archival Consultant to the Bowne House and Ellen Spindler, Bowne House Collection Volunteer

One Bowne House artifact that always fascinates visitors—especially schoolchildren—is the wooden crutch with which John Bowne’s father Thomas allegedly killed a bear.

Thomas Bowne’s Crutch or “Staff”

The story of the crutch has been passed down through Bowne family tradition. This 1897 archival photograph of the Parlor reveals that it was already treated as a cherished family artifact in the 19th century, displayed in the same wood and glass case it occupies today.

The crutch on display in the Bowne House Parlor, 1897.

DOCUMENTATION OF THE CRUTCH STORY

An early Bowne House tour script found in the Bowne House Archives relates the crutch story. Although unsigned, it is in the hand of Mabel Parsons (1872-1964), daughter of the noted landscape architect Samuel Parsons, Jr. and herself a Bowne descendant. The script may belong to the days when the Parsons Sisters, Anna and Bertha, lived in the House and offered tours featuring first-hand family lore. Her notes read as follows:

“Cane in Case –   Thomas Bowne’s – with which he killed a Bear in Woods on Bowne Street about 1650. Thomas Bowne was walking from the little house he had built on the site of the Flag Pole at the High School on Northern Boulevard to Bowne Street, when the Bear rushed out at him from the Woods and Thomas Bowne thrust his cane down the Bear’s throat and killed him. Thomas Bowne was the father of John Bowne who built the Bowne House and this story is absolutely true as it is told by Samuel Parsons in his Diary.”

Site marker from the Folklore Society. Photo: Stefan Dreisbach-Williams

The 1650 date must be approximate, as John Bowne first visited Flushing in 1651 and the family moved sometime between then and 1656. The original family cabin near the future Flushing High School, a five-minute walk from the Bowne House, would not have been built until that time. Thomas Bowne’s cabin remained standing until the 1830’s.

Another unattributed tour script from the early decades of the Museum describes the crutch as a “Staff,” and situates the bear attack “on the Turnpike, now Northern Boulevard.” The Turnpike occasionally crops up as a landmark in our 17th century Flushing land deeds, suggesting that present-day Northern Boulevard served as a major artery for the area as far back as the 1650’s. The crutch was also cataloged in record books where details of the Museum’s collection were kept in a time before computerized databases. Here we first hear of Thomas Bowne’s nickname:

Item Description: “John Bowne’s father was known as ‘Lame Thomas’ who walked with a limp and used this crutch to travel around. Family legend states that Thomas was walking through the forests of Queens when he was confronted by a black bear. His only defense was his crutch so he shoved it in the bear’s mouth and choked it to death.”

THOMAS BOWNE (1595-1677)

We know little of Thomas Bowne aside from this anecdote. He was born in “County Derby,” England in 1595 and died at Flushing in 1677 at the age of 82. His will describes him as a “Yeoman,” a freeholder or farmer who owned his own land. After his wife Mary died in 1647, Thomas lived for 30 years as a widower, which was unusual in the 17th century. Thomas emigrated from England to Boston in 1649 with his son John and daughter Dorothy. They continued to retain a share of Lime Tree Farm, the family property in their hometown of Matlock.

After a short time in Boston, the family relocated to Vlissingen (later Flushing), a settlement then part of New Netherland that had many English residents. Thomas built a cabin there and John resided with him until he married Hannah Winthrop Feake in 1656, building the Bowne House by 1661. In 1676 Thomas signed a deed of gift conferring his interest in the family farm at Matlock, England to John, from “natural affection and fatherly love,” but also “for divers other good causes and consideracions, mee thereunto especially moving.”

Thomas’s injury may have made it difficult to earn a livelihood as a farmer in the semi-wilderness of Long Island, let alone provide for a spouse; there is some documentation, including the above deed and his Will, that he relied on his son to support him in whole or part for some years. His limp notwithstanding, “Lame” Thomas Bowne evidently proved more than a match for the unlucky bear. Today, his crutch has been restored to its previous place in the Parlor, standing sentry outside what was formerly called the  William Penn bedroom. His legend lives on for another generation of visitors.

HOW THE CRUTCH WAS PASSED DOWN IN THE FAMILY

Photo: Stefan Dreisbach-Williams

The following inscription appears above the crutch in its display case:

Staff of Thomas Bowne, émigré 1649 (with which he is said to have killed the bear). Presented by Jas: B. Parsons to Richard Hartshorne Bowne. By his daughter, Mrs. Isaac F. Wood, returned to the “Old Bowne House,” 1893

The inscription describes the crutch as “presented by” Jas B. Parsons. James Bowne Parsons (1809-1894) was the eldest son of Samuel Parsons and Mary Bowne, and brother to Mary, Samuel, Robert, William, and Jane Parsons. James was a merchant in New York City, unlike his brothers who were involved in the family horticulture business. Their father Samuel Parsons (1774-1841), whose diary is credited with recording the bear story, married John Bowne’s great-great-granddaughter, Mary Bowne.

James Bowne Parsons and Richard Hartshorne Bowne (1810-1881), the recipient of the crutch, were second cousins and also brothers-in-law through their marriage to sisters Eliza and Emily Cock. Their shared great-grandparent was John Bowne II, who resided in the house until 1757.  Richard Hartshorne Bowne was also a grandson of the renowned Robert Bowne, founder of Bowne Printing Company and trustee of the New York Manumission Society.

Richard’s daughter Sarah E. Bowne (1844-1916), who returned the crutch to the Bowne House in 1893, married Isaac F. Wood. Wood was a founder and librarian of the American Numismatic and Archaeological Society of New York and owned a historic medallion collection. Sarah herself became the first female member of the Society and was elected a “resident life member” in 1878. Given this background, she was well equipped to appreciate the artifactual value of the heirloom she inherited. Clearly the crutch was a cherished family object passed down from generation to generation until finally returned to its rightful home.