Anne Hutchinson

In The Hummingbird and the Sea, I write briefly about a woman called Anne Hutchinson. When she and her family come under attack from the wicked Reverend Dent, Leah Hallett mentions her parents had once been supporters of Hutchinson. It struck me that readers might want to know a more about this highly controversial woman.

Anne Hutchinson is one of the most famous and controversial women of the early colonial era. She challenged gender roles and the male-dominated church through her popular preaching.

Early life

Born in Lincolnshire, England in 1591, Anne was one of 12 surviving children of Francis Marbury, a dissident Puritan minister. Marbury insisted his daughters learn to read although it was unheard of at the time for girl children to do so. Marbury also taught his daughters the scriptures, inspiring Anne to become an avid thinker on religious issues.

Once Anne married, she worked as a healer and midwife while also holding bible sessions in her home for other women, teaching them the scriptures just as her father had taught her. The Hutchinsons soon became followers of the young, radical minister, John Cotton who preached that mercy was preordained by God but damnation was determined by earthly behaviour.

So popular was her at-home preaching that Cotton used Anne to spread his own message. In turn, women flocked to his congregation and helped to strengthened his position in the church. However, after being interrogated by the Court of High Commission over his dissenting religious views, Cotton fled Boston in 1633 to seek refuge with other dissenters across the sea in the American colonies. The following year the Hutchinsons (including their 10 children) fled as well. Anne was to give birth to 12 children in total.

Boston life

While her husband became a magistrate and rose to prominence in Boston society, Anne continued her work as a healer and midwife and developed a strong network of like-minded female friends and supporters. She was also crucial in ensuring Cotton’s rise to power in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Interested people (including men) frequented Anne’s twice-weekly meetings that were predominantly critiques of Cotton’s sermons. Boston society had an appetite for Anne’s ideas. Even the Governor of Massachusetts, Henry Vane, was a devotee.

It was at this time Anne developed the religious philosophy that became the focus of her preaching in the new world, a philosophy that diverged from Cotton’s and that of the Church. She believed salvation was attainable to anyone who worshipped God directly, through a personal connection. Behaviour did not affect whether a believer went to heaven. These beliefs were in direct violation of Puritan doctrine.

Dangerous ideas

By 1636 Anne began to receive a great deal of negative attention from the Puritan leaders of the colony. They claimed an outbreak of sin would be the result of her spreading her dissenting ideas. Anne Hutchinson became a direct threat to the status quo of the church. One of the loudest voices to speak against Anne was her old friend, John Cotton. Spurred by Cotton, the church passed a resolution banning Anne’s meetings. Anne, of course, ignored the order.

Heretic

The following year Anne was called to appear before the court. Cotton was to testify against his former colleague and supporter. John Winthrop, the Puritan lawyer and the founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, would preside. Questioned by a quorum of men, Anne stunned them all with her knowledge of the Bible and her argumentative prowess. But she went too far. She claimed she had spoken directly to God and had knowledge of a prophecy that proclaimed the ruination of the church and the colony. However, it was her overt challenge of the all male theocracy that sealed her fate. Anne Hutchinson was immediately proclaimed a heretic. She and her family, and her supporters were banished from the colony.

Anne Hutchinson standing before her accusers

Final Years 

Anne and her supporters found a home on Rhode Island but she was constantly under watch by Winthrop’s spies. Anne became pregnant again, but suffered throughout the pregnancy and eventually gave birth to what is known now as a hydatidiform mole, a condition where a non-viable egg implants itself in the womb. Considering the harsh trial she had just endured, the cold winter, her six month imprisonment and her age (Anne Hutchinson at the time was most likely menopausal) it is not surprising she suffered. Winthrop and other Puritan leaders gloated over her misfortune, telling their congregations it was the judgement of God that she should ‘bring forth deformed monsters’.

Not long after the settlement on Rhode Island was established there was talk that the Massachusetts Bay Colony might bring the island under their control. Alarmed, Anne was desperate to move to an area where Winthrop could not touch her - she chose New Amsterdam in the Dutch jurisdiction. However, her freedom was short lived. Anne’s family was attacked by Native American Siwanoy warriors at their home. Fifteen people including Anne were axed to death, their bodies burned.

American Jezebel

When he heard of Anne’s death John Winthrop announced an instrument of the devil had been dealt with justly. He held a grudge until his own death, writing an aggressive essay about her, calling her ‘American Jezebel’ and blaming all the colonies ills on this one woman.

Today, Anne Hutchinson is considered one of the early American feminists.