I came at His command, and go at His command.

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Mary Barrett and William Dyer

Mary Barrett Dyer, my ancestor 12 generations ago, was an American pioneer, city co-founder, Puritan and Antinomian Bible study leader, Quaker minister, wife, mother of five living children, expelled from Massachusetts Colony six times, was twice taken bound to the scaffold, and finally executed by hanging for civil disobedience. A memorial statue of Mary is located facing the Boston Common.

William’s and Mary’s timeline:
.....William Dyer born/baptized: 19 Sep 1609, Kirkby Lathrope, Lincolnshire, England. This is modern Kirkby La Thorpe, between Sleaford and Boston. 
.....1611? Mary Barrett born. No record of parents or birthplace.
.....1625 William apprenticed at age 16 as fishmonger in London, retroactive to 1624. The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers guild was considered prestigious.
.....10-27-1633 After his 9 years of apprenticeship, Mary Barrett (approx age 22) marries William Dyer at St Martin in the Fields church, London. William is milliner selling scabbards, leather goods, etc. in New Exchange (a high-end shopping mall near the Strand). This is less than a mile from St Martin in the Fields church, in which parish they lived.
.....10-24-1634 Son William born/baptized in London, buried 3 days later on his parents' first wedding anniversary. This church was destroyed in London’s Great Fire, and rebuilt in a baroque design. However, the marble baptismal font and a wooden trunk predating the fire survive to the present.
.....1634/1635 winter. William and Mary emigrate to Boston.
.....3-3-1635 William takes Freeman oath in Boston.
.....1635 summer. 39,000 people die in plague epidemic in London.
.....10-20-1635 Son Samuel born and baptized in Boston.
.....1635/6 William granted land in Chelsea, Massachusetts.
.....1636 Mary joins Anne Marbury Hutchinson (whom William’s family knew in Lincolnshire) in “heresy” that God speaks to people (“Light”), that we are saved by faith not good works, that Christians are not bound by the moral law (antinomianism), that women and men are equal before God, that each individual should interpret law by own conscience, that Indian slavery was wrong (against Massachusetts Bay Company policy); Mary organizes women’s study/discussion groups, antagonizing Gov Winthrop.
.....10-17-1637 Mary gave birth to stillborn, deformed baby girl, two months prematurely. Anne Hutchinson is midwife. Based on Winthrop’s description, baby had anencephaly and other malformations, according to a neurologist (see below).
.....11-15-1637 William disfranchised from First Church of Boston for “seditious writing.” Gov Winthrop says, "The wife of one William Dyer, a milliner in the New Exchange, a very proper and fair woman, and both of them notoriously infected with Mrs. Hutchinson's errors and very censorious and troublesome."
.....1638 Dyers and Hutchinsons banished from Boston, have deadline of May 1 to be out of Boston. They move to Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
.....3-?-1638 In March, Gov Winthrop learns of stillborn baby. Probably at spring thaw, "monster" baby exhumed by Gov Winthrop; baby's deformity called evidence that Mary was heretic. (See below)
.....3-7-1638 William signs Portsmouth Compact. Becomes clerk of Portsmouth.
.....1640 Son William (second child by that name) born in Newport, Rhode Island.
.....1642 and 1644 Governor Winthrop’s account of stillborn baby’s deformation published in England. (English tabloid journalism! And why was Winthrop so vindictive as to pursue this for YEARS after the Dyers left?) “it was of ordinary bigness; it had a face, but no head, and the ears stood upon the shoulders and were like an ape’s; it had no forehead, but over the eyes four horns, hard and sharp; two of them were above one inch long, the other two shorter; the eyes standing out, and the mouth also; the nose hooked upward; all over the breast and back full of sharp pricks and scales, like a thornback [i.e., a skate or ray], the navel and all the belly, with the distinction of the sex, were where the back should be, and the back and hips before, where the belly should have been; behind, between the shoulders, it had two mouths, and in each of them a piece of red flesh sticking out; it had arms and legs as other children; but, instead of toes, it had on each foot three claws, like a young fowl, with sharp talons.”

Norman McNulty, MD, neurologist, says: “Interesting. Anencephaly is certainly part of the picture and it was probably some non-inheritable congenital malformation that led to this malformation. Sometimes, in utero strokes very early in development lead to lack of development of brain tissue (anencephaly) which is probably what happened here.”

.....1643 Son Mahershallhashbaz born Newport, Rhode Island
.....1647 Son Henry born Newport, Rhode Island
.....1648 or 1649 Daughter Mary born Newport, Rhode Island. William is Attorney General.
.....1650 Son Charles born Newport, Rhode Island. Charles is my ancestor. He is Mary’s last child at about age 41.
.....1652 Mary and William sail to England with Roger Williams, to revoke some of Gov Coddington’s powers. William Dyer returns same year and continues political and civil career. Mary stays in England five years, studying Quaker beliefs with George Fox, who preached all over England, but seems to have been based in the northwest part of England. More info on George Fox: http://www.strecorsoc.org/gfox/title.html
This is the Parliamentary period, with Cromwell the Lord Protector ruling after execution of Charles I in 1649.
.....1657 Mary sails back to America via Barbados, landing in Boston, unaware of Gov Endecott’s new laws regarding Quakers. On arriving in Boston in 1657 she is imprisoned for 7-8 weeks in dirt-floored cell, depriving William of wife, and children of their mother. William writes eloquent and touching letter on her behalf; she is released. On the petition of her husband was permitted to go with him to Rhode Island, but never to return to Massachusetts.
.....1658 Mary and William travel to Boston, protesting Gov Endecott’s new law banning Quakers. Mary arrested and expelled from colony. William not arrested because he’s not Quaker, and he’s a public official in Rhode Island.
.....1658 Mary arrested in New Haven, Connecticut for preaching.
.....1659, summer. She walks through forest from Providence to Boston, a distance of 39 miles, to visit fellow Quakers in jail.
.....1659, September. Mary arrested and permanently banished from Massachusetts Colony.
.....1659, October. Mary returns to Boston to visit Quakers, arrested and sentenced to death. She, with William Robinson and Marmaduke Stevenson was tried and convicted for "their rebellion, sedition and presumptuous obtruding upon us notwithstanding their being sentenced to banishment on payne of death, as underminers of the government." Robinson and Stevenson were executed October 27, but through the petition of her son, William Dyre (son William was Mayor of New York in 1680 so accounts have his title as Mayor—but he was not Boston mayor at age 19), she was reprieved on the same conditions as before. Mary Dyer also stepped up the ladder, her face was covered and the halter put round her neck, when the cry was raised, "Stop! for she is reprieved." She was again banished. Released to custody of husband after husband William’s 8-30-1659 letter and son William’s October 1659 letter. Mary writes after the death of Robinson and Stevenson: "When I heard your last Order read, it was a disturbance unto me, that was so freely Offering up my life to him that give it me, and sent me hither to do, which Obedience being his own Work, he gloriously accompanied with his Presence, and Peace, and Love in me, in which I rested from my labour, till by your Order, and the People, I was so far disturbed, that I could not retain anymore of the words thereof, than that I should return to Prison, and there remain Forty and Eight hours; to which I submitted, finding nothing from the Lord to the contrary, that I may know what his Pleasure and Counsel is concerning me, on whom I wait therefore, for he is my Life, and the length of my Days, and as I said before, I came at his command, and go at His command."
.....1659 Mary returns to Rhode Island, preaches on Long Island, New York. Also asked to preach Quaker beliefs to Indians on Shelter Island.
.....4-?-1660 Mary returns to Boston without telling husband. (She’d been expelled several times already.) Arrested.
.....5-31-1660 Convicted, sentenced to death.
.....6-1-1660 Mary hanged on Boston Common, aged about 49 years, leaving children aged 10 to 25.
.....1661 William marries Catharine _______. Nothing is known of her.
.....1662 William and Catharine have child Elizabeth.
.....1676/1677 William dies.
.....1959 Memorial statue to Mary Barrett Dyer erected in Boston, facing the Common.
_______________________
Ancestry lines:
William Dyer b. 1609, Lincolnshire.
.....Father: William Dyer, farmer/landowner and church warden, son of John Dyer and Jane Ernley
.....Mother: Dorothy Shirley (maybe)

Mary Barrett (nothing is known of parents)
Children of William and Mary (Barrett) Dyer:
.....William, bapt. 24 Oct 1634; buried 27 Oct1634, London, England
.....Samuel, bapt. 20 Oct 1635, Boston, MA; d. 1678, Kingstown, RI; m. abt 1660, Anne Hutchinson, granddaughter of Anne (Marbury) Hutchinson
.....Stillborn daughter, 17 Oct 1637, Boston, MA
.....William, b. abt 1640, Newport, RI; d. 1687/8; m. Mary Walker
.....Mahershallalhashbaz, b. abt 1643, Newport, RI; d. bef 1670; m. Martha Pearce
.....Henry, b. abt 1647, Newport, RI; d. Feb 1690; m. Elizabeth Sanford
.....Mary, b. before 1650, Newport, RI; d. aft 26 Jan 1679, DE; m. by 1675, Henry Ward
.....Charles, b. abt 1650, Newport, RI; d. May 15, 1727; m. (1) Mary Lippett; m. (2) Martha (Brownell) Wait
___________
Charles Dyer b. ~1650 Newport, Rhode Island d. 5-15-1709
Spouse: (1) Mary Lippett, born 1650 died before 1690; married circa 1669 Newport probably daughter of John and Rebecca Lippitt
Spouse (2) Martha Brownell born 5/1/1643 Portsmouth Newport RI died 2/15/1743-44 Portsmouth daughter of Thomas Brownell and Ann Bourne married 3/8/1690-91 Newport. Martha died childless at age 101 but raised Charles' children.

.....Children of Mary Lippett and Charles Dyer:
1. James, born 1669 Little Compton Newport RI died circa 1735 Bucks Co. PA married Elizabeth ? 1696 in Little Compton;
2. William, house carpenter, born circa 1671 Little Compton executed 4/21/1719 Newport RI for murder of his wife Hannah Briggs daughter of Thomas Briggs and Mary Fisher;
3. Elizabeth born circa 1677 Little Compton died 7/1715 RI, married Tristram Hull 2/9/1698-99 son of Joseph Hull and Experience Harper;
4. Charles, blacksmith, born circa 1685 Newport Newport RI, died 1/7/1626-7 Cranston Providence RI, married Mary Lapham 8/26/1709 Dartmouth Bristol MA daughter of John Lapham and Mary Mann;
5. Samuel, born circa 1687 Little Compton died 9/15/1767 Newport Newport RI married Desire Slocum 1/19/1709-10 Jamestown Newport RI. Samuel cared for his stepmother Martha in her home until she died at age 101 in 1744. He raised his brother William's children after William murdered his wife and was executed in 1718. And Samuel may also have taken in Elizabeth Dyer Hull's children when she and her husband died in 1718 and 1719.
___________
Elizabeth Dyer
m. 12-19-1698 in Newport, RI. Resided in South Kingston, RI.
Tristram Hull b. 10-8-1677 Barnstable, Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Hull.
___________
Bathsheba Hull
Ebenezer Slocum
____________
Capt Edward Slocum, 1748-1822 Captain in Federal Army, American Revolutionary War.
Unknown wife
____________
Oliver Wellington Slocum b. 1794
Persis Felton  (descendant of Rev. Samuel Skelton of Sempringham, Lincolnshire and Salem, Massachusetts) 
____________
Persis Slocum b. 1834 Ohio
Andrew Wolfe b. 1835 Ohio
____________
Mary Belle Wolfe  b. 1872 Kansas d. 1960 Saskatchewan
Hiram Frank Benner b. 1864 Ohio d. 1924 Estonia, Saskatchewan
____________
Reita Belle Benner b.1892 Hart, Michigan d. 1949 Owasso, Michigan
Milo Francis Anson  1882-1960 
____________
Andrew Allerton Anson  1914-1997
Lois Elizabeth Stone  1913-1999
____________
Judith Louise Anson 1937-1993
Kenneth Lee Robinson 1935-
____________
Blog author Christy K Robinson

RELATED ARTICLE ON MARY BARRETT DYER: click here.

More information on Mary Barrett Dyer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Dyer , http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nwa/dyer.html
More information on William Dyer: http://shrevehistory.com/Related-Family-Dyer-William_Mary_Dyer.xml

An old-fashioned Christmas

Throughout December, my parents loved to do traditional activities to prepare for Christmas: bake and decorate shaped cookies (to give to the neighbors), hold a Christmas-theme recital for Mom’s piano students, and decorate the house differently each year. We always cooked the entire Christmas feast from scratch.

One year, we thought we’d do the “Little House on the Prairie” sort of décor. We strung popcorn to lay garlands on the Christmas tree, and baked gingerbread men and other frosted cookies, pierced their heads, and threaded yarn through them to make dangling ornaments. (Tragically, many cookies broke when pierced, and we were forced to eat our mistakes.) We finally had enough cookies and popcorn to decorate our tree, and we went to bed.

The next morning, I went to the living room to admire our — hey! What happened to all the cookies and popcorn? Gypsy, the 25-pound miniature poodle, lay behind the tree, looking guilty as sin, with probably two pounds of Christmas treats in her tummy. She’d stood on her hind legs and walked around the tree, eating everything up to 36 inches from the floor. The glass and paper ornaments remained pristine.

Gypsy didn’t know the Genesis story about not eating from the tree in the center of the garden, or the one about David eating the sacred bread in the tabernacle. She was smart, but she was just a dog with a sweet tooth. Stolen bread tastes sweet, but soon your mouth is full of gravel. Proverbs 20:16 MSG. Gypsy wasn’t completely at fault. Valuables are safe in a wise person’s home; fools put it all out for yard sales. Proverbs 21:20 MSG. We should have known that edible decorations would be too tempting for a dog!

Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes. Mark 4:24-25, MSG. Pet lovers understand that whatever we give our animals in treats, toys, vet bills, and other expenses, we receive back in rich measure.

This is a worrisome time in the global economy. We’re trying to plan our personal, church, and corporate budgets for the next year, wondering whether we should freeze at current levels, invest now while prices are low, cut back on essentials, or conserve every penny against the time when pennies are again worth stooping to pick up. Pay off those bills to avoid interest, or take advantage of tax deductions and depreciation? Should we look for extra income from freelance or part-time jobs?

It’s gift-giving time in almost every culture, whatever the religious (or non-religious) beliefs. Should we limit our spending? Stimulate the economy with the purchase of a giant electronic marvel or gas-guzzling vehicle for the family? Think about handicrafts or homemade goods for gift-giving? Is there anything left of you to volunteer at a soup kitchen, tie quilts at the Dorcas meeting, deliver meals to the homebound, or rock preemies at the neonatal ward?

Perhaps instead of giving Dad another thing for his shelf (and eventually the garage rafters), we should consider giving a gift in his name. You know the kind: to help buy a motorcycle for pastors of far-flung parishes or a mission plane for Papua New Guinea, or the shipment of donated medical equipment to a third-world hospital. And for your brother’s teenagers, a gift to an orphanage – or sponsoring a child with Compassion International. http://www.compassion.com/

Doing good deeds motivated by love, and leaving the materialism and rush behind, will give us that feeling of an old-fashioned Christmas. Christmas is about the heart, not about stuff. It’s being like God: compassionate, merciful, loving and forgiving – not doing the expected thing for advertisers and corporations.

That applies to all of us. Let’s invest our tender care, our gentle touch, our careful respect, in people. It’s the best gift we can give. Material goods pale in comparison to pleasant relationships. We’ll all be blessed beyond measure.

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5:6 NIV. That is exactly what Jesus did when He came to dwell with us. Surprisingly, He expressed His faith in us: His faith that we would listen to His voice and learn to be like the One Who expresses Himself through love.

If we love Him, we will keep His commandments, which are to love the Lord with all we are, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. That kind of love would blow modern Christmases out of the water! It would be a bright, guiding star in the darkness, leading seekers to the Light.

It starts with YOU.

Annual Christmas epistle

Dear Family and Friends,
Usually, as I review the events of the year that I’ll report on in the Christmas epistle, I wonder at how quickly the year passed. This year seemed longer than usual! And it is: it's a leap-second year, and a second will be added between 3:59:59 and 4:00 a.m. at the end of the year.

Last winter, I made several road trips to Phoenix and stayed with my brother Brian and his family. I spent some time with Dad and Susanne, and Dad’s snowbirding sister and brother-in-law, Carolyn and Ted Berkland. It was so nice to be with family. Also while in Phoenix, I reunited with some friends of long standing. (Notice I’m not calling you “old friends.” That is because I am sensitive, respectful, and kind to my elders.) I got to meet some dear friends I’d only known online; and the delightful Jan Karlen visited me here in Redlands.

In March, I drove all the way to Desert Hot Springs (about 40 miles) to meet Bobby and friends who’d flown and driven there from Phoenix (about 360 miles) to do a concert. We had a memorable time with rehearsal, the restaurant, the concert, and afterward. Note to self: being the only woman at a men’s quartet rehearsal: fantastic idea. Must repeat. Here's the album: http://family.webshots.com/album/562794061NlCICn

In April I got to meet my new cat, Smetana. She was only five weeks old when I met her with the foster mom from Redlands Humane Society. She’s a cuckoo in the nest, as her mother cat and litter mates were completely different. So I’m thinking: daddy cat was half tabby, half Siamese, and she takes after him. The great thing is that she does not have the Siamese voice. In fact, at 9 months, you can barely hear her kittenish squeak. I brought her home on May 31. She gets along famously with Mali, the 4-year-old Siamese (they both love to wrestle), and with Evie, the 7-year-old Border collie (who’s not sure what to do when Smetana tries to cuddle with her). Smetana’s name was one I learned in Ukraine and Russia last year: sour cream or crème fraiche, and they put it on absolutely everything. She’s very light and has four white feet. That makes her a lynx-point snowshoe Siamese, even if she is a little mutt. I have to put clear packaging tape on upholstered corners to keep those evil claws out of my furniture. She loves to snuggle, and has a world-class purr. Which she uses on me at 4:00 a.m. That’s just wrong. Album: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/561590626vnTXMl

During May, June, and July, I bottled about 180 pints (that is a lot!) of fruit jam from my trees: mulberry, peach, plum. It’s not the jammin’ that’s so much work: it’s the fruit prep. Stemming, peeling, pitting. I used every jar I had, even the dozens I’d bought at the thrift store. And I gave away many, many bags of fresh peaches to the neighbors and co-workers. Such a bounty from one tree! This November, I made about 10 pints of pineapple guava jam, and I think I’m done until May. In addition, I have tomatoes, green chilis, strawberries, blueberries, pluot, cherry, almond, lemon, lime, orange, and a volunteer bell pepper that was a lovely surprise. When I made salad, a pepper seed jumped into the coffee grounds I mulch plants with, and grew up in the lemon tree pot.

Album: http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/562088700KYgKLa

Over the spring and summer, I connected with more than 115 people from my past and present, by networking with them on Facebook. Between relatives, co-workers, alumni, church people, and professional peers, I’ve had a really fun time with instant messaging, communicating, commenting on photos, etc. I’ve even connected with historians and authors I admire. It’s much more grown-up and clean-cut than MySpace, and my friends range from their teen years to their eighties.

I’ve done genealogical research from my home computer, and spent a lot of time in the 10th through 14th centuries. I started an Excel file of where ancestors are buried, and it has hundreds of names and locations on it. In my research for previous trips to England and France, I learned that there’s no such thing as an index of medieval burial places. Muahahaha – until now! I love finding effigies in English and French churches. Finding those stone memorial statues became my hobby several years ago. I’m thinking of ways to make the ancestors come alive in a book. Don’t hold your breath about it, though, because I have no time.

Back in the 21st century, my cousin Phil Berkland and his wife Christine came to visit in September. I hadn’t seen Phil in maybe 18 years, and never met Christine. So it’s like I have new cousins!

Just before my birthday, I came down with a mystery illness. Lab tests and three doctors couldn’t figure it out. After two weeks of scary symptoms (like arthritis—I was too weak and pained to open a water bottle or play the piano—and my limbs turning dark red for 2 days) it finally went away. Score another win for humble ibuprofen. And I thank God for overall excellent health.

In October, I turned 50 (or 7 in dog years). My friends took me out for dinner, had me over for filet mignon, gave me a gift card at work, took me to lunch, one sent a giant box filled with gifts, Dad and Susanne sent a gift card, and my brother hosted a party for me in Phoenix (shared with my sister-in-law Stacey). The lunches went on for three weeks. Must try this 50-scam more often.

Work: same place, and lots of stuff to do. This year, I put out six 24-page magazines, designed 6 or 8 magazine ads (for other magazines), wrote or re-wrote several video scripts for DVD and television, wrote 13 email newsletters with supporting web pages and devotional articles, and countless other projects.

Archive of articles: http://www.thequiethour.org/resources/devotionals.php

We got a few percentage points of salary raise, but it’s a nonprofit ministry, so none of us is keeping up with inflation. California has been in recession months longer than the nation has, and taxes and expenses are higher here. I’ve been extremely conservative with my finances, so I have a small car payment and the mortgage, and no other debt. To have an emergency cushion against the recession, I saved my dough instead of going on a much-needed vacation. (Sigh… It’s called “stay-cation.”) To burn off stress, I do a lot of gardening and playing with the critters.

I’m active in church music, playing and singing at least twice a month with two ensembles, and other service music. I sub with the choir and organ at the same Methodist church, and play for weddings or funerals at various churches as requested.

I am so honored to be included in the activities and affections of my neighbors the Avalos family. They invite me for all the holidays, welcoming their baby granddaughter, for their birthdays and mine, and just for hanging out. When I need lovins or turkey gravy or the Christmas lights stapled to the eaves, they’re here for me.

May the Lord bring us the love, acceptance, trust, loyalty, compassion, and peace of mind that we all crave, and the security and strength to feel comfortable about expressing those same qualities to each other.

Merry Christmas and a blessed new year to you, my friends, my loved ones.

Christy K Robinson
Evie, Mali, and Smetana