Sarah Gibbons (1634/5 – 1659) was an English Quaker preacher in America. She was one of the first to land and she was initially imprisoned and banished. She returned and died in an accident in 1659.

Life

Gibbons was maybe born in Bristol in 1634 or 1635. She was one of the women Quakers who were early travellors to America. The Quakers arrived in New England in 1656. Gibbons was on board the ''Speedwell'', she was 21 and few details are known of her early life. They set out from Gravesend and they arrived in September. Her story was recovered by others as it is clear if she was literate. The other Quakers included William Brend, John Copeland,

Christopher Holder Christopher Holder (1631–1688) was an early Quaker evangelist who was imprisoned and whipped, had an ear cut off, and was threatened with death for his religious activism in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and in England. A native of Gloucestersh ...

, Mary Prince, Thomas Thrifton, Mary Weatherhead, and a maid (and preacher) named

Dorothy Waugh Dorothy Waugh (1636 – 9 December 1666) was an English Quaker preacher who was twice a missionary to North America. She wrote a rare account of the use of a Scold's bridle during one of her many imprisonments. Life Waugh was born in Hutton in ...

. Their names were marked with a letter "Q" and were arrested, interrogated and the colony kept them prisoners for eleven weeks. The magistrates were worried about their influence on the other colonists and they were banished. In the following year Gibbons was among those who returned on the smaller ship ''Woodhouse''. Five were set ashore at the

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plantation of

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam (, ) was a 17th-century Dutch Empire, Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''Factory (trading post), fac ...

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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

): Robert Hodgson, Richard Doudney, Sarah Gibbons, Mary Weatherhead, and Dorothy Waugh.'A true relation of the voyage undertaken by me, Robert Fowler (etc)' in James Bowden, ''History of the Society of Friends in America'' (Charles Gilpin, London 1850), Vol. I, pp. 63-67
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They established a Quaker group on Rhode Island. From there over the next two years she went to Manhattan, Salem, Boston and Barbados to evangelise. Gibbons died in

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

in an accident with a canoe. She and others were using the canoe to come to shore, but the canoe leaked. Others were saved but Gibbons drowned.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbons, Sarah 1630s births 1659 deaths People from Bristol 17th-century Quakers Year of birth uncertain Deaths by drowning in Rhode Island