Elson Letter, 1679/80

TITLE: Letter from John Elson in London to John Bowne

DOCUMENT ID: BFP 2018.1.02-16

DATE: 23 February 1679/80 (Old Style) / 5 March 1680 (New Style)  

John Elson of London sends Bowne and his children greetings and love from his family. He invokes his love of God and God's love of his followers, offering comfort to Bowne on the death of his wife by assuring him that she is doing God's work and is at peace. Elson then sends greetings to several Quaker couples on Long Island (the Storys, the Olivers, and the Maddocks) and requests that Bowne write with news of his own family's welfare.

Notes:
John Elson and his wife Mary hosted a Quaker Meeting in their home on Peel Street in London. John Bowne and his wife Hannah Feake Bowne were staying with the Elsons at the time of Hannah’s death in the winter of 1677/8, following an arduous preaching tour of the British Isles and the Low Countries.