The Quakers Persevere

Salem Witch Trial - Google Image

Salem, a village in the Massachusetts Bay colony, is known for its infamous witch trials during the years of 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of being witches, and 20 were executed (including two dogs). Eventually, the Massachusetts Bay colony admitted the error in having these trials and compensated the families of those convicted. [1] 

Samuel Gaskill and his wife, Provided Southwick, my children’s 8th great-grandparents, lived in Salem at the time of the witch trials: They were Quakers. 

Quakers did not have the same religious beliefs as the Puritans, and it was not a crime to be a Quaker.  However, they were subjected to persecution and harassment – even to the extent of being considered heretics. Quakers could be flogged, branded, imprisoned, banished, or deported. They faced confiscation of all their property - both real and personal. One Quaker had his ear cut off. A few were executed for “ignoring and defying orders of banishment.” [2] This is the atmosphere in which Samuel and Provided lived - as did their parents.  

Samuel’s parents, Edward and Sarah Parker Gaskill (Gascoyne), emigrated from County Lancashire, England, in 1636, landing in Salem, Essex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, a crown colony. Edward had a “10-acre lot in the Great Cove.” [3] Samuel was born in Salem, June 7, 1639, and died in Salem, October 6, 1720. He married Provided on October 30, 1662, in Salem. 

Provided’s parents, Lawrence and Cassandra Burnell Southwick, also from County Lancashire, England, landed in Salem about 1627. Provided was born on October 6, 1641, and died in Salem, December 4, 1727. 

The Quaker religion first appeared in England between the years of 1642-1651. So, it’s my thought that Samuel’s and Provided’s parents (my children's 9th great-grandparents) became Quakers after arriving in the Massachusetts Bay colony.

Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick were persecuted by John Endicott, Governor of Massachusetts,

Southwick Home/Google Images

for their religious beliefs. Even though it was not a crime to be a Quaker, it was a crime to not attend church, to not observe the Sabbath, to not pay tithes, to criticize the government’s cruelty.

John Endicott/Google Image

The Southwicks suffered: [1] In 1657, Cassandra was jailed for seven weeks and fined 40 shillings. [2] In 1658, Lawrence and Cassandra, and a son Josiah, were jailed for 20 weeks for being Quakers. [3] In 1659, Provided and a brother Daniel were sentenced to be sold as slaves in the Barbados Islands for unpaid fines relating to being Quakers and non-attendance at church. Fortunately, the sentence was not carried out. However, the entire family agreed to leave Salem and went to Shelter Island, New York, where Lawrence and Cassandra died the following year in 1660 within three days of each other. [4] 

Fast forward to 1692. A woman, Abigail Soames, lived with Samuel and Provided. She may have been a relative or a friend; however, she was also a Quaker and per her examination in court, had been bedridden for a year. A warrant for her arrest was issued on May 13, 1692; she was described as a “. . . Single Woman, now Living at the house of Sam’l Gaskill in Salem; who stand accused of Sundry acts of Witchcraft donne or Committed by her Lately on the Body of Mary Warren. . . .” 

Despite all that happened to the Gaskills and the Southwicks, Samuel and Provided remained steadfast in their religious beliefs. When John Procter, the first white male to be accused of witchcraft in 1692 and his wife, Elizabeth, were jailed, Samuel and Provided were among many who signed a petition asking that they be released from jail. [5] 

When I first discovered the story of Samuel and Provided and what the Quakers had to endure in the Massachusetts Bay colony, I was both amazed and appalled. It’s hard to believe what our ancestors had to endure; but I am grateful they surmounted their difficulties and perservered.

[1] Blumberg, J. (2007, October 23). A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials: One town’s strange journey from paranoia to pardon. Retrieved August 3, 2017, from http://www.smithsonian.com

[2] Mullet, Michael (2004). Curwen, Thomas (c. 1610-1689). Retrieved August 3, 2017, from http://www.oxforddnb.com

[3] Anderson, R. C. (2013). The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635. Retrieved August 3, 2017, from http://www.ancestry.com

[4] Caller, James Moore (2005). Genealogy of the Descendants of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick of Salem, Mass.: the original emigrants, and the ancestors of the families who have since born his name. Retrieved August 3, 2017, from http://www.ancestry.com

[5] Benjamin Ray and The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia (2002). The Salem witchcraft papers, Volume 3: Verbatim transcripts of the legal documents of the Salem witchcraft outbreak of 1692. Retrieved August 3, 2017, from http://salem.lib.virginia.eduss

The Search for Religious Freedom

Church of the Brethren logo

Wilhelmus Knepper (1691-1767), born in Solingen, Westphalis, Germany, is the son of Hans Peter Knepper (1658-1737).  Hans is the 8^th great grandfather of my daughter-in-law Melissa Murphy Oliver, and Wilhelmus is Melissa’s 7^th great-granduncle.

During this time, Germany only recognized the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches.  Other religions were banned, and people were imprisoned for not being a member of one of these two religions.   However, there were others who did not follow the beliefs of these two churches:  Today’s Church of the Brethren developed because of religious dissent.

The Church of the Brethren was founded in 1708.  Members of this church believed in adult baptism—separating them from the recognized state religions.  The followers of this church referred to themselves as the “brethren.”

Originally, Wilhelmus was a member of the Reformed Lutheran Church, being baptized on October 27, 1691.  However, in 1719, at the age of 23, he joined the Dunkard Church, also known as the German Baptist Church—today’s Church of the Brethren.  During the same year, Wilhelmus, and four other members of the Church of the Brethren, were arrested and taken to Dusseldorf to be tried for the religious crime of adult baptism. 

Wilhelmus, and the other, refused to recant their beliefs; thus, they were sentenced to hard labor in Solengen Prison, Julich, Germany.   A weaver by trade, Wilhelmus learned to make buttons, which he and the others sold for the goods they needed to survive; i.e., food and clothing.  Additionally, while in prison, Wilhelmus composed about 400 hymns. 

After one year, Wilhelmus, and the others, were released on November 20, 1720.  Because of the religious persecution the “brethren” were receiving, these religious dissenters had been resettling in the Netherlands where there was better tolerance.  Wilhelmus, and the other men who had been imprisoned with him, also went to the Netherlands.  While in the Netherlands, Wilhelmus met and married his wife Veronica Bloem (1702-1769).

Because of increasing religious persecution, the “brethren” emigrated to North America.  On July 7, 1729, a large group left the Netherlands with a large group Sailed on the Shill Allen, captained by James Craigie:  Wilhelmus and Veronica Knepper were part of the group.  The ship arrived on September 15, 1729, settling in Ephrata, Pennsylvania Colony.

Veronica and Wilhelmus had five children; the two listed below helped to advance the Church of the Brethren:

• Mary (1725-died after 1807) married George Adam Martin (1712-1794), a controversial German Baptist Church minister, from which he was ex-communicated.  He then became a minister of the Seventh-Day German Baptists. In 1764, he conducted a successful revival in the Antietam settlement, which gave birth to the present Snow Hill Society of German Seventh-Day Baptists.  He also founded a church at Stony Creek, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, where he is buried. 
• Elisabeth (1740-1807) never married.  In her will Elizabeth left land for use as a meeting-house and graveyard.  This gift is part of the present Mount Zion Cemetery in Quincy Township.  A small meeting-house was built on the donated in 1837 and was used in turn by the German Baptists and Seventh-Day German Baptists. In 1888 the building was replaced and used as a church by the German Baptists, Seventh-Day German Baptists, and Old Order German Baptists.  Like her father, Elizabeth she also wrote hymns.  She is among many family members buried in the Mount Zion Cemetery graveyard. 

Thomas Paine, one of our “found fathers” said the following:  “Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law. Wilhelmus Knepper’s story supports Paine's statement.