Deborah Moody
Encyclopedia
Lady Deborah Moody was the only woman to found a colonial settlement in early North America. She was the first female landowner in the New World. She had an unusual influence in a society dominated by men, and was described by contemporaries as "a dangerous woman."
in 1586, the daughter of Walter and Debora Dunch. She married Henry Moody, a marriage that granted her the formal title of Lady
. She became a widow by 1629.
Lady Moody left England in 1639 due to religious persecution. She was a believer in Anabaptism, a sect that rebelled against baptism of infants because a child cannot commit to religious faith. She first settled in Saugus, Massachusetts
, but left there in 1643 after being admonished by the Puritan
leaders for failing to conform to their religious beliefs. Many others with the same religious beliefs left with her.
She led a group of religious dissenters fleeing persecution to found the town of Gravesend
in 1645, in the Dutch
colony of New Netherland
. Today the area is part of Brooklyn
in New York City
, with the original town square still evident in the street layout. The people from Gravesend were granted religious freedom, which was unusual for that period. Deborah Moody became influential in New Netherland and had good relations with governor Peter Stuyvesant
. She is believed to be buried in Old Gravesend Cemetery
.
Biography
Lady Moody was born Deborah Dunch in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1586, the daughter of Walter and Debora Dunch. She married Henry Moody, a marriage that granted her the formal title of Lady
Lady
The word lady is a polite term for a woman, specifically the female equivalent to, or spouse of, a lord or gentleman, and in many contexts a term for any adult woman...
. She became a widow by 1629.
Lady Moody left England in 1639 due to religious persecution. She was a believer in Anabaptism, a sect that rebelled against baptism of infants because a child cannot commit to religious faith. She first settled in Saugus, Massachusetts
Saugus, Massachusetts
Saugus is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. The population was 26,628 at the 2010 census.-History:Saugus was first settled in 1629. Saugus is an Indian name believed to mean "great" or "extended"...
, but left there in 1643 after being admonished by the Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
leaders for failing to conform to their religious beliefs. Many others with the same religious beliefs left with her.
She led a group of religious dissenters fleeing persecution to found the town of Gravesend
Gravesend, Brooklyn
Gravesend is a neighborhood in the south-central section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA.The derivation of the name is unclear. Some speculate that it was named after the English seaport of Gravesend, Kent. An alternative explanation suggests that it was named by Willem Kieft for the...
in 1645, in the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
colony of New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
. Today the area is part of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, with the original town square still evident in the street layout. The people from Gravesend were granted religious freedom, which was unusual for that period. Deborah Moody became influential in New Netherland and had good relations with governor Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant , served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York...
. She is believed to be buried in Old Gravesend Cemetery
Old Gravesend Cemetery
Old Gravesend Cemetery is a historic cemetery at Gravesend Neck Road and McDonald Avenue in Gravesend, Brooklyn, New York, New York. The cemetery was founded about 1658 and contains the graves of a number of the original patentees and their families...
.