Christianity: Details about 'Anne Hutchinson'
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Anne Hutchinson (July, 1591 – August 20, 1643) was the unauthorized Puritan preacher of a dissident church discussion group and a pioneer in Rhode Island and the Bronx.
Early yearsHutchinson was born Anne Marbury on an unknown date sometime in July of 1591 in Alford, Lincolnshire, England. Her parents were Francis Marbury (1555-1611), a clergyman, and Bridget Dryden (1563-1645). At the age of 21, she married William Hutchinson. They were part of the Puritan movement, especially following the teachings of John Cotton. Migration to the New WorldPuritans, just like other non-Anglican sects, were being forced to pay taxes to the Crown in England and they began to migrate to America for greater financial freedoms. Hutchinson emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1634, in response to the preacher John Cotton's doing so. She, her husband William, and eight of their children sailed to America on the Griffin. Three other children had been born to them but had died when young. Another child was born after they went to America, but he too died young. Hutchinson's religious activitiesMany women in the community respected Hutchinson, largely because of her extensive knowledge of the Bible. She began holding weekly sessions to discuss Cotton's sermons in her home where she would explain the sermons to the other women, and eventually began including her own thoughts. At some point she began to hold a weekly meeting for men and women as well as the meeting for women only. Hutchinson then testified about her own personal closeness with God, which apparently caused the Puritan leaders to consider her arrogant. She went so far as to say that God gave her direct personal messages, which made even John Cotton uncertain about whether he should support her. Hutchinson emphasized the belief that salvation was by faith alone, which is a typical Protestant belief. Although this doctrine was accepted and taught by Puritans, it was not very compatible with the authoritarian, theocratic system that the Puritan leaders favored, as it tended to make the individual feel that he could take control of his own spiritual life and his own relationship with God. She and her followers began to be called Antinomians (see Antinomianism) because of this emphasis on faith rather than obedience to the ethical instructions of the Bible. She held to predestination, but preached that it implied good works were futile, and restricting one's behavior was arrogant. She also argued that many of the clergy were not among the "elect", and entitled to no spiritual authority. She challenged assumptions about the proper role of women in Puritan society, and eventually began to attack the clergy openly. Death and memorialsShe died in 1643, with five or six of her children, of scalping by the members of the Siwanoy tribe. One of her children, Susanna Hutchinson was taken by the indians, but later returned to what was left of her family. Some literary critics trace the character of Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter to her persecution. Hawthorne may have been symbolizing Hutchinson in the trials and punishment of Prynne. The rose bush in the novel supposedly came up from the foot of Anne Hutchinson outside of the prison. In southern New York State, the Hutchinson River, one of the very few rivers named after a woman, and the Hutchinson River Parkway are her most prominent namesakes. An elementary school in the Westchester County town of Pelham is another. A statue of Hutchinson stands in front of the State House in Boston, Massachusetts. It was erected in 1922. The inscription on the statue reads: Anne Marbury Hutchinson Baptized at Alford Licolnshire England 20 – July 1595 Killed by the Indians at East Chester New York 1643 Courageous Exponent of Civil Liberty and Religious Toleration. In 1987, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis pardoned Anne Hutchinson, in order to revoke the order of banishment by Governor Endicott, 350 years earlier. DescendantsThree U.S. Presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush (see Bush family) are her descendants. Another descendant, Eve LaPlante, is the author of the most recent biography of Anne Hutchinson, American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans. References
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