Women's History Month No. 22

"As I do understand it, laws, commands, rules and edicts are for those who have not the light which makes plain the pathway. He who has God's grace in his heart cannot go astray."

Anne Hutchinson (1591 ~ 1643)

So, sure, I'd heard of her, heard her name and knew that she was a woman of faith and courage (two traits I possess in negligable amounts), , knew that she was banished by her Puritan overlords, knew that her life has inspired some fervent artwork – this link will take you to a fabulous illustration by Edwin Austin Abbey, one of my favorites and now that I typed that I'm sorry. I mean, artwork is a minor deal when you're talking about a heroic, difficult, and passionate life cut short. I don't claim that I know all about her now, now that I've read a Wikipedia essay, looked her up in my encyclopedia, but I know more than I did:

that she came into the world in England.

that Anne Marbury uncommonly well-educated for a woman of her time..

that she and her husband Will Hutchinson had 15 children.

that they came to New England in 1634 - think what a voyage, what a journey that must have been.

that she came to an independent and individual way of thinking about her relationship with God. Shared it. Stood by it when it was dangerous to do so in her theocratic community. Imagine believing so strongly - I don't know that I can.

that she was ordered away from her community, out into the wild, colonial land.

and that she and her children, all but a daughter, were killed. I didn't know that. Now that I do, I'll have trouble forgetting it.

Ever.