Gravesend's Lady Deborah Moody
- aurel53
- Mar 8, 2015
- 4 min read
Several years ago, I did a historical walk with the Outdoors Club. The area we walked was in Brooklyn. It was over an hour from Manhattan and it was one of the six original Brooklyn towns, Gravesend. What fascinated me was the woman who established this town, Lady Deborah Moody. She intrigued me for what she accomplished at a time when women were not allowed to even own land. Only a few history books have her listed as a pioneer, a strong, determined and trailblazing woman.
Lady Moody born in Wiltshire, England around 1586. Her father was a lawyer and member of the English Parliament. Queen Elizabeth I governed the country. English society was patriarchal with women not allowed to have careers. Some women had some education, usually with a tutor. More than likely this is how Lady Moody received her education, for she was well-educated.
She married Henry Moody, a wealthy landowner and bore him a son and daughter. In 1622 Henry was appointed a baronet by James I, unfortunately, he did not live too much longer after this to enjoy his new position. As a widow, she received a permit to move into her London home for a short period of time. The Court of the Star Chamber ordered her to return to her estate, since she had overstayed her permit.
At this point, she began to make moves which few women had ever done. She decided to leave England and was granted permission to join the Massachusetts settlement. She joined John Winthrop's Puritans, but found herself in disagreement on the baptism of babies. As an Anabaptist or Mennonites, she believed that only children who could think for themselves should be baptized. The Massachusetts Puritans made it difficult for her to continue practicing her belief.
A determined woman, she again made the decision to leave this area and sailed to New Amsterdam. In 1643 she received a patent from Director-General Willem Kieft to establish a settlement. The land was on the southwest corner of Long Island and named it Gravesend, after an English town. This was an English settlement on Dutch territory. She was the first female to receive a land grant in New Amsterdam, actually in the colonies.
On December 19, 1645 Governor Kieft granted a charter to Gravesend. This was a unique document for the following reasons:
1) first time a woman's name is first on a patent and it was written in gold while the men’s name were in black ink
2) this was an English town on Dutch land;
3) allowed Gravesend to print and record all documents in English and not Dutch;
4)the only town granted self-rule; they created a government, had monthly township meetings and voted for three magistrates
5) granted the right for “free liberty of conscience” or to practice religious freedom.
Lady Moody and her followers created a planned community and developed a block grid system. She divided her settlement into four equal sections and each one had 10 lots, totaling 40 homes. This may have been the first planned community in the colonies. One can still see remnants of her 4 squares.
Since Gravesend was granted self-rule, she a formed a town hall government and Lady Moody voted. The first woman to cast a vote in the colonies. She allowed the Quakers to hold their first meeting in her home. Gravesend has the oldest Quaker establishment in the US. As an educated woman, she and her son had a large library. She loaned her books to her neighbors, thereby creating the first library in the colonies. She also established a church in her community and a school.
Lady Moody was the first in so many things. A woman with courage to strike on her own, to stand by her convictions, pick up a gun to fight the Indians, and granted religious freedom to others. A woman for all to know, to have in our history books, to emulate, an unparalleled woman of the 17th century.
After researching the history of this incredible woman, I have more questions than when I started this journey. Why did it take more than 3 centuries for women to get their vote, when she voted? Why did it take over 130 years for the colonies to have a Bill of Rights, yet this woman was able to get it from the Dutch governor? Author Victor H. Cooper has named her New York's First Lady of Liberty, and she is. I do believe that Lady Moody should be credited for the blueprint of our democracy, she really was the First Lady of Liberty.
SOURCE:
More than Petticoats - Remarkable New York Women, by Antonia Petrash, Guildford, CT, The Globe Pequot Press, 2002
The Book of Women’s First by Phllis J. Read and Bernard L. Witlieb, Random House Reference, paperback 1992
A Dangerous Woman: New York's First Lady Liberty. by Victor H. Cooper, Bowie, MD; Heritage Books, 1995
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