1634-1638
On September 18, 1634, Nat Steele is at the Great
Cove, already being called the Town Dock, when the Griffin drops anchor
with some hundred passengers from England. Nat sees Hannah Fletcher for the
first time, as the romping eighteen-year-old leaps ashore from Griffin’s
longboat. – In 1635, Nat will marry Hannah, a union filled with love and
support through some of the darkest days in early Boston.
At the dock, Nat witnesses a heated exchange
between two Griffin passengers, who’ve been hurling broadsides at each
other throughout the voyage. Reverend Zecheriah Symmes is a strait-laced
black-coat given to five-hour sermons spiked with barbs against women. His
opponent is forty-three-year-old Anne Hutchinson, herself a minister’s
daughter, a witty charismatic woman unafraid of speaking her mind against
bigots like Symmes.
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| Anne Hutchinson, memorial, Massachusetts State House |
In her home town of Alford, Lincolnshire, people
consider Anne a prophet. She regularly traveled twenty miles to Boston to hear
Reverend John Cotton preach at ancient St. Botolph’s. On her return, her own
“congregation” would attend her discourse on Cotton’s sermons. Sometimes Anne
preached to them herself, like other gifted women filled with the grace of the
Lord.
Anne is a midwife and skilled nurse married to
William Hutchinson, a wealthy merchant. The couple land in New England with ten
of their living children, one son already in the colony to prepare for the
family’s arrival. Young Edward has bought a house directly across from the home
of Governor Winthrop. It is an auspicious location for the Hutchinsons, though
one that will soon bring Anne under the glare of her most determined detractor.
Agnes Steele is one of the first “disciples” of
Anne Hutchinson. They’re drawn together because of a common interest in folk
medicine. Agnes’ work with the Indians brought a wide knowledge of the native
pharmacopoeia, which she eagerly shares with the gifted newcomer.
Thomas is filled with dread seeing Agnes befriend
“a haughty female, more bold than a man.” – “I beg you, mother, keep your
wits,” he pleads. “Don’t let this American Jezebel deceive you.”
Thomas and his mother are members of First Church,
which is headed by the over-zealous John Wilson. So devout is the reverend, that
at Sunday meals, he commands all at his table to speak only of God or keep
silent.
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| Reverend John Wilson, First Church, Boston |
Like every colonist, Nat attends services on the
Sabbath, but has yet to demonstrate worthiness as an elected saint. Nat sees no
wrong in his mother’s friendship with Anne Hutchinson. He himself joins a group
of merchants who attend the prophet’s meetings that soon attract as many as
eighty people, one in six of the town’s population.
In October 1635, the merchants get a second
champion, when one of England’s brightest young men lands at the settlement.
Henry Vane is twenty-two, with flowing locks and flashy clothes, the very image
of a Puritan nightmare. Henry is nonetheless a visible saint come to “savor the
power of religion in New Jerusalem.”
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