Chapter 12: 1638-1660, The spiritual journey of a man and his family

Unfortunately, the Howland brothers weren’t the only ones having problems with the established church. In the summer of 1638, Richard Lippincott arrived in Boston from England aboard The Martin. It had only been a few years previous that John Winthrop and his associates had founded their “city on a hill,” but Boston was well on its way to becoming the nerve center of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He settled first at Dorchester and was quickly confirmed to be a member of the established church there.

2 A little over a year later, he married Goody Abigail after going through the rigors of a Puritan courtship and was declared to be a freeman by the court in Boston. Their first son was born there the following year. “I will call him ‘Remembrance’ in honor of the memories I have of my native country,” Richard declared. “If the good man that is my husband so desires to name our son, then let him forever be known by that name,” Abigail agreed.

3 Their happiness, however, was interrupted by Richard’s increasing distaste for the strictures on life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In short, Richard had begun to regard the practices of the established church as too stiff, formal and steeped in beliefs and traditions that he could not find in Scripture.

4 “They have a form of godliness, but they deny the power of it!” he declared to Abigail one day. “They have turned the freedom which we have in Christ into heavy chains that bind us to the temporal things of this earth,” he continued.

5 Over the years that followed, things only got worse for Richard. His statements about his personal convictions became more public and more strident over that time. Finally, in 1651, he was formally excommunicated from the established church.

6 The following year, Richard, Abigail and the children had had enough and returned to England. Another son was soon born there, and Richard decided to name him ‘Restore’ to commemorate their homecoming. “We have been restored to the land and happiness which gave birth to us!” he declared. Once again, however, their happiness would prove to be short-lived.

7 It was about this time that Richard and Abigail met a lady named Margaret Fell. Like them, Margaret had grown very disenchanted with the established church and its teachings. “I know of a man who has opened the pages of a new book to our understanding – the book of Jesus Christ,” she told them. Eager to hear more about this new way, Richard and Abigail were pleased to be introduced to her friend George Fox and hear his message.

8 In the midst of a large gathering of the citizens of Plymouth (where he and Abigail were then residing), Richard declared that “Christ is the Word of God, and the Bible represents a piece of God’s mind!”

9 Unfortunately, the mayor overheard the remark and had him arrested and imprisoned for his “blasphemous and dangerous heresy.” Nevertheless, Richard was able to secure his release within a short time and rejoiced in the persecution which he had been subjected to for Christ’s sake.

10 In fact, when another son was welcomed into their family that fall, Richard named him ‘Freedom’ in commemoration of the event. “God has seen my suffering and rewarded me with Freedom,” he told his friends and neighbors. “Hereafter, we shall be devoted to following the light which God has revealed to us whatever the consequences may be,” Richard promised.

11 The mayor of Plymouth, however, was just as determined as Richard. In 1660, while attending another meeting of the Quakers there, Richard was once again arrested and imprisoned. Indeed, many of the leading members of the community found themselves in the same circumstances that year.

12 Fortunately for Richard and his friends, the Commonwealth had ended a few months before; and the monarchy had been restored in the person of King Charles II. The new king did not like extremes and disliked bullying and persecution, and Margaret Fell decided to appeal to him on behalf of her brethren who were then languishing in prison.

13 Toward that end, she wrote a letter to the king explaining both the movement and the various persecutions to which its members had been subjected to during the interregnum. She said: “As a people, we have been hated and despised. Many people have spoken against us and have said that we are not fit to live. Thus, we have suffered as a people and have been imprisoned, whipped and subjected to the spoiling of our goods.”

14 Fell continued: “We, nevertheless, openly declare our fidelity to the king and our desire for peace, love and unity among all people. We, therefore, humbly petition you to cause our friends to be released from the Prisons and so keep their innocent blood from staining your hands.”

15 Because of that letter, Richard and many other Quakers were released from prison later that year. “The things which we suffered in Massachusetts look insignificant when compared to what we have suffered here,” Richard told Abigail when he returned home. “And, I’ve heard that Roger Williams has founded a new and more tolerant colony there in our absence,” he continued.

16 “What are you saying, husband?” Abigail asked. “I am saying that I think that we should leave England for good and return to America.” “I have devoted my life to God, and to you and our children,” she began. “I will follow you to the ends of the earth!” With tears welling up in his eyes, Richard embraced his wife; and they began making the necessary preparations for yet another trip across the Atlantic Ocean.