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Lawrence and Cassandra (née Burnell) Southwick and their children were early colonial American immigrants who were among the first colonists to convert to the Quaker faith. The Southwicks and their children were severely punished for their religious beliefs, and theirs is considered the worst case of religious persecution against a Quaker family in American history.

Early Life
Lawrence and Cassandra were born in the mid- to late-1590s in England and were married January 25, 1623/4, at Kingswinford, Staffordshire, England. Along with their four surviving children, John, Josiah, Mary, and Daniel, the Southwicks emigrated to Salem, Massachusetts, sometime between mid-1637 and March 24, 1639, when they were admitted to the First Church in Salem. Lawrence was one of the first glassmakers in America, and practiced his craft in the part of Salem now known as Peabody, where he helped establish the first glass manufacturing district in America. Lawrence left the industry in 1642, and turned his attention to animal husbandry at which he was very successful.

Persecution of the Southwick Family
It is unclear exactly when the Southwicks converted to Quakerism. Records from the First Church in Salem regarding the Southwicks do not extend beyond the December 6, 1639, baptism of the their youngest daughter Provided, their only child born in America.

On July 9, 1644, the Southwicks testified as witnesses at Eleanor Trusler's trial, who was fined 20 marks for criticizing Edward Norris, pastor of the First Church in Salem, and John Endecott, the future governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony and founding church member. Cassandra said that prior to her arrival in America, she knew men were not the foundation of the church, and that she had questioned the government since arriving, indicating she had been exposed to ideas that would become some of the earliest tenets of Quakerism while still in England.

1657: English Quakers Holder and Copeland Visit the Southwicks
Thirteen years later, Cassandra was the first of the Southwick family to appear before the Salem Quarterly Court on charges related to her religious beliefs. She had not been attending worship services and on July 1, 1657, she was "admonished for usual absence from meeting."

Shortly after Cassandra's admonishment, the Southwicks hosted Quaker missionaries Christopher Holder and John Copeland, two of the original ten Quakers to arrive in America from England in 1656, at their family home for an extended visit to Salem.

During their visit, on August 29, 1657, Holder and Copeland attended a service at the First Church in Salem. After Pastor Norris' sermon concluded, laymen could speak and Holder addressed the congregation. His words infuriated the pastor and he protested, but Holder continued to speak until one of the church's commissioners "seized him by the hair and jerked him violently backward, at the same time attempting to force a handkerchief or glove into his mouth." The action divided the congregation. Some members protested while others encouraged the commissioner's actions. Fearing the missionary's life was in danger, congregant Samuel Shattuck tore the commissioner's hand from Holder's throat while vigorously protesting against "the injustice of the 'furious' action of the commissioner against a defenseless man." Holder, Copeland and Shattuck were immediately arrested; Shattuck on the charge of "being a friend to the Quakers." Holder and Copeland were brought before Governor Endecott, who sentenced them to starvation rations, nine weeks imprisonment, and 30 lashes with a three-knot corded whip to be carried out at Boston Common. Shattuck was also imprisoned, but released after paying a fine of £20.

The Southwicks were also arrested and jailed on September 21, 1657, for their hospitality and association with Holder and Copeland. Upon the discovery that Lawrence was still a member of the First Church in Salem, he was released from custody in order to be dealt with by church leaders. However, while still in custody, Cassandra was found with a copy of Holder’s “Declaration of Faith,” a document that would become an important influence on the drafters of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution that Holder wrote during his incarceration. It was the first known Quaker "Declaration of Faith" and the first declaration of American independence. Cassandra was subsequently jailed for seven weeks and fined forty shillings for "approving the written opinions of her guests."

During Cassandra's incarceration, on October 14, 1657, the General Court at Boston passed a new law introducing heavy fines and imprisonment against anyone who entertained or concealed a Quaker(s), and severe whippings for any woman in violation of the law. It is unknown whether Cassandra was whipped during her imprisonment.

On November 24, 1657, Cassandra, along with Holder, Copeland, Mary Clark and Richard Doudney were released from custody, but only Cassandra was permitted to return to her home at Salem. The others, as visitors to Massachusetts Bay Colony, were banished as required by law. NOTE: Find old banishment law.

1658: Punishment Against the Southwick Family Escalates
The family's punishments ranged in severity from reimbursement of court costs to large fines, whippings, starvation rations, and imprisonment in Boston for Lawrence, Cassandra and son Josiah.

TO DO LIST Unknown: Letter from Jail by Josiah: (Quaker Invasion of Massachusetts by Hollowell p88-89 -- Google Books) "Some have said we are the persecutors, but we know we are the persecuted: yet we can freely say, the Lord lay not your sin to your charge, for I believe many of you know not what you do."


 * Search for date and confirming info pertaining to Endiecott and Bellingham ordering all imprisoned Quakers to be lashed 2x per week. See p33-34 Genealogy of the descendants of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick of Salem, Mass. Supposedly happened after Copeland & Brend were incarcerated.

Also see: Quaker Invasion of Massachusetts p173-75 for timeline details

March 1658: "In March, 1658, John Small, Josiah Southwick and John Burton are apprehended in Dedham for being Quakers, while on their way to Rhode Island to provide a residence for themselves and families, and to escape from their persecutors. They were released and resumed their journey." (Genealogy of the descendants of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick of Salem, Mass. p10 Felt's)

'''Note: "Another who suffered at Salem, was Edward Harnet, a settler of nearly seventy years in age. So many fines were levied upon him for not attending the authorized place of worship, that it appeared probable that all the little property which he possessed, and which was his main dependence in declining life, would be sacrificed to the cruelty and rapacity of his enemies. To prevent this result, he felt free to emigrate to Rhode Island, after disposing of his house and land; and several others, who were similarly harassed, concluded to leave the scene of persecution. John Small, Josiah Southwick, and John Buffum were of this number, and while proceeding to Rhode Island, in order to find a location in this favored province where they could settle their families, they were arrested and carried to Boston. This, however, was an outrage on the liberty of the colonist, which even the intolerant Endicott refused to sanction; and on appealing to him the Friends were liberated." Hal V Worthington Part 4'''

June 1658 - Provided "repented and was released" (Delorey p41) (Essex County Court Records 2:106 maybe)

June 29, 1658 - Mary and her husband Henry Trask, Daniel and Provided appear in court for having attended a meeting at Nicholas Phelps' home. (Genealogy of the descendants of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick of Salem, Mass. p10 Felt's -- no mention of any punishments, although others who attended are). One Mr. Bishop testified that a Quaker missionary named William Brand, who arrived in America with Holder and Copeland, visited the Southwick home for several hours.

July 1658 - Provided back before the court "absence from meeting and for being present at two Quaker meetings." No longer repentant. (Delorey p41) Essex County Court Records 2:106 July 1, 1658 - (New England Judged) - Warrant issued for arrest of Brend & Leddra, Lawrence & Cassandra, Josiah, Samuel Shattuck, Joshua Buffum, Samuel Gaskin. pp59-60 One of the jurors was Mayflower passenger Richard More. Mayflower Bastard: A Stranger Among the Pilgrims p44 (Google Books)

July 5(?), 1658 (confused about date as written) - It is ordered that Lawrence and Josiah "are reserved to lose their ears." (The Friend Volume 14 p190 https://books.google.com/books?id=zDhHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA134&dq)

July 16, 1658, Letter from Jail by Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick, Josiah Southwick, Samuel Shattuck and Joshua Buffum (Quaker Invasion of Massachusetts by Hollowell p175-176 -- Google Books) (New England Judged pp63-64) Note: Gregorian Date

October 19, 1658 - Lawrence, Cassandra and Josiah (with Shattuck, Phelps, & Buffum) are imprisoned at the time of this order. They are warned that if they continue breaking the law, they will be banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony. They are then ordered to be released. (p349 Governors Records [see May 11 '59 for volume info). "...and it is referred to the County Court of Suffolk to declare this sentence to them, and thereupon to release them out of prison."

November 1658 - See Essex County Court Records 2:135 for reference to Provided (Delorey p41)

1659: Sentences of Slavery and Banishment; Exile at Shelter Island and London
May 11, 1659: Daniel and Provided sentenced to slavery (Quaker Invasion of Massachusetts by Hollowell p50 and 175 -- Google Books) (New England Judged by Bishop p88-89) (Delorey p41) Provided is the only known white woman in American history to be sentenced to slavery. (Records of the governor and company of the Massachusetts bay in New England. Printed by order of the legislature Volume 2 Part 1 Page 366 https://archive.org/details/recordsofgoverno41mass [note: penalty for celebrating Christmas is below this text)

May 11, 1659: Lawrence, Cassandra and Josiah (with Shattuck, Phelps, & Buffum) are permanently banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony, this time with orders to leave by June 8. If found in Massachusetts after this date, it is ordered they will be executed. (p367 Governors Records [see May 11 '59 for volume info) (Besse volume 2 p 197-198) They were the first American Quakers to be banished upon pain of death, as well as from their home colony (previous banishments, including Mary Dyer's (Besse vol 2 p196), Copeland's, and Holder's (p178 Besse), were reserved only for Quakers from Rhode Island and England who visited Massachusetts and did not carry the threat of death upon their return). (Sewell p362) (Besse vol 2 p190 Sufferings of the Quakers "The Act for Banishment on pain of Death.: An ACT made at a General-Court held at Boston, the 20 th of October 1658" http://dqc.esr.earlham.edu:8080/xmlmm/docButtonB?XMLMMWhat=builtPage&XMLMMWhere=E6875814B.P00000187-190&XMLMMBeanName=docBean&XMLMMNextPage=/printBuiltPageBrowse.jsp) Lawrence and Cassandra sought refuge at Shelter Island, New York, while Josiah along with Shattuck and Phelps went to London via Barbados (Sewell p362), and Buffum moves to Rhode Island.

During his exile in London, England, Josiah, along with Shattuck, Phelps, John Rous and Copeland, published a pamphlet titled "New England A Degenerate Plant" sometime in 1659, which contained several court records of the proceedings against them, as well as a letter written by an unknown New England magistrate to a friend in London.

October 18, 1659: Mary and Margaret Smith & Son are imprisoned for attending Boston Martyr's trial (Robinson, Stevenson, Dyer). (Genealogy of the descendants of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick of Salem, Mass. p10 Felt's, p20-23 Records of Governor [records from Boston Martyrs' sentencing])

November 1659 - See Essex County Court Records for reference to Provided (Delorey p41) 2:193

November 12, 1659 - Arrests are ordered for Mary and Provided with sentences already imposed: imprisonment and 10 lashings each. (p411 Governors Records [see May 11 '59 for volume info)

1660: Death at Shelter Island; Slave Auction
In the spring of 1660, Lawrence and Cassandra died within three days of each other at Shelter Island. Their burials established the first known Quaker cemetery in America.

1659-60 -- Reference to Cassandra claiming she was greater than Moses, etc. -- slandered in court ["Minutes of the Magistrates" p122 (Quaker Invasion of Massachusetts by Hollowell p175-176 -- Google Books)]



May 10, 1660: At Salem Quarterly Court, Provided and Daniel are fined and ordered to be imprisoned until they could be sold as ordered by the Governor's Court the previous year. (Delorey p41-43) Essex Quarterly Court Records 2:202

May 31, 1660: Mary has been in prison (unsure how long) under the threat of banishment, which her husband is not. She and Margaret Smith are ordered to be sent to the House of Corrections and "kept to constant labor and meane diet" until the court orders their release. Their sentences of banishment are suspended, "unless their husbands shall choose to carry them out of this jurisdiction, and not return without leave first obtained." (p433 Governors Records [see May 11 '59 for volume info)

May 31, 1660: All imprisoned Quakers are allowed to return to England, never to return to Massachusetts without first obtaining permission. (p433 Governors Records [see May 11 '59 for volume info)

June 1660: Treasurer Edward Batter notes Provided and Daniel owe £10, "their fines not paid." (Delorey p42) Essex Quarterly Court Records 2:224

After June 1660, Batter attempts to sell Provided and Daniel at auction. (Delorey p42-43) (Wells "The Peabody Story" p161)

December 21, 1660: "A letter from Mary and Margaret Smith to the Governor, relative to the persecution of their denomination, concludes: 'From your house of correction (in Boston) where we have been unjustly restrained from our children and habitations, one of us for about 8 months, the other 10 months; and where we are yet continued by you oppressors, yet know no Shame." Mary and Margaret Smith attend Boston Martyr's trial. (Genealogy of the descendants of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick of Salem, Mass. p10 Felt's) See entire "A Letter from Mary Trask and Margaret Smith", to Governour Endicot" at Beese vol 2 p212-213

1661: King Charles II's Order to Suspend Laws Against the Quakers
May 28, 1661: All Quakers (except two) ordered released from prison. Unsure if any Southwicks are included. (Governors Records [see May 11 '59 volume 5 part 2)

September 9, 1661: King Charles writes letter to the court. (Governors Records [see May 11 '59 volume 5 part 2)

September 9, 1661: Josiah returns to Massachusetts from exile in England. "Josiah Southwick having come from banishment, is ordered by the assistants to be stripped from his girdle upwards, tied to a cart's tail and whipped ten stripes in each of the towns of Boston, Roxbury and Dedham." (Genealogy of the descendants of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick of Salem, Mass., p12, referencing Felt's Annals of Salem) (New England Judged 223-224) (detailed story with singing Sewell p362 https://archive.org/stream/historyofriseinc12sewe#page/n367/mode/2up/search/southwick <---Sewell also offers quote to court by Josiah) (Besse vol 2 p224-225).

November 27, 1661: Governor's Court reads King Charles' letter during the session. Laws regarding the Quakers are suspended as a result of the letter. (Governors Records [see May 11 '59 volume 5 part 2)

1662-1670, 1676: Aftermath
November 28, 1662: Sarah Southwick (John's wife), Mary, Daniel and Provided return to court with a group of Quakers, and convicted and fined for "frequently absent from the public ordinances." p19-20 Essex County Records vol3

November 24, 1663: John and his wife Sarah, Mary, Josiah and Daniel were again returned to court, convicted and fined. It appears from the record John was only fined. p116-117 Essex County Records vol3

November 29, 1664: Josiah and his wife Mary, Provided and her husband Samuel Gaskill, Mary, John and Daniel returned to court and convicted. pp223-224 Essex County Records vol3

November 28, 1665: Josiah and his wife Mary, Daniel, Provided and her husband Samuel, Mary, and John (summons dated November 20) were all fined for frequent absence from worship. This was John's last appearance before the court. John's wife Sarah died in 1658. pp292-293 Essex County Records vol3

June 26, 1666: Josiah and Daniel are ordered to be whipped for frequent absence of "public ordinances. p343 Essex County Records vol3

November 27, 1666: Provided's husband Samuel, Josiah's wife Mary, Daniel's wife Esther all convicted. Warrants are issued for Josiah, Daniel and Provided for failure to appear. p381, 386 Essex County Records vol3

November 26, 1667: Josiah was fined 10 shillings for "contempt of authority by keeping on his hat after he was required to pull it off." p460 Essex County Records vol3 Josiah and Daniel fined 20 shillings for not attending services. Failure to pay these fines would result in a week in jail at Ipswich at their expense. p462 Essex County Records vol3 Summons dated Novmeber 7th. p466 Essex County Records vol3

Continue with volume 4 Persecution ends with Daniel and Josiah in June 1670.

Add Josiah and Daniel's involvement with building first Quaker meeting house.

Children and Legacy
Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick had seven children, five of whom survived into adulthood and were persecuted alongside their parents. The surviving children were:

Quaker Monument at Shelter Island
Since early Quakers usually did not memorialize their dead (Samuel Shattuck being a rare exception), tombstones were not erected on Shelter Island for Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick. However, on July 17, 1884, they were memorialized on a four-sided monument dedicated to Nathaniel Sylvester and the early Quakers who visited and sought shelter from persecution on the island. It is located in a quiet grove, later named Woodstock, near the head of the Gardiner's Creek.

Statue Proposed at Salem
Frederick Fanning Ayer, a New York City attorney and descendant of the Southwicks,, offered to commission a statue honoring Lawrence and Cassandra as a gift to the City of Salem. He commissioned J. Massey Rhind to design the statue, which depicted a man and woman being attacked by a tiger and was presented to the Salem City Council in 1904. There was considerable objection by Salem's citizens of a tiger depicting the "Spirit of Puritanism" and most notably Governor Endecott. Despite the objections, a city council special committee recommended accepting the monument under certain circumstances. In a letter to the City Council, Ayers wrote "Aside from a desire to offer your people what I think would be an ornament to their city, I had at heart the yet more valuable object of a lesson to those who shall come after us, that there is no glory in the persecution of of free thought and religious freedom. I had no thought of pleasing those who still believe in persecution." Ayers and Rhind refused to change the design, and in January 1907, Salem Mayor Thomas G. Pinnock and five aldermen recommended against the project. Their report concluded “It is unfilial, it is unfair, it is untrue, for us, the successors of these men, to erect upon the very ground which they consecrated to public use forever, a rampant tiger as representing the predominant surviving traits of their character.” The statue was never made.

In Popular Culture
The story of the Southwick children, most notably Provided, is depicted in a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier named after Cassandra entitled The Ballad of Cassandra Southwick.

Famous Descendants

 * Bebe Buell, American singer, former fashion model, and Playboy magazine's November 1974 Playmate of the Month
 * Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
 * Lyndon LaRouche, eight-time candidate for President of the United States
 * Richard M. Nixon, 37th President of the United States
 * Leslie H. Southwick, federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, former judge on the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Judge Southwick briefly discussed the Southwick's influence as his ancestral role models in his autobiography, The Nominee: A Political and Spiritual Journey.
 * Solomon Southwick II, American Revolution-era printer and newspaper publisher
 * Solomon Southwick III, newspaper publisher and principal organizer of the Anti-Masonic Party
 * Liv Tyler, American actress and former child model