Genealogical notes of Barnstable families - citizen hylbom blog

GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BARNSTABLE FAMILIES. 265
were among the first in Sandwich who embraced the principles of
the Quakers. His father was an Ana Baptist, a sect that held to
some of the peculiar doctrines of the Qualters. His six sons and
others in Sandwich belonged to the same sect, or sympathized in
the views of the elder Allen, and readily received the doctrines of
the Quakers. The father had, ten years before the time of Barlow,
"laid down his life in peace." His sons were industrious and
prudent. William had accumlated a good estate for those times,
was hospitable, and his house was the resort of the early Friends.
The distraints which the Marshal had mad« in 1658 and 9, in payment
of the fines which had been imposed on him, had strip't him
of nearly all his goods. His house, his lands, a cow, left "out of
pity," a little corn, and a few articles of household furniture,
were all that remained, and he was living on bread and water, a
prisoner in the common jail in Boston. These things did not
move him, he held fast to bis faith.
Such was the condition of the family, when the Marshal
appeared with a warrant to collect additional fines. The sanctimonious
Barlow was drunk. The distress of the wife did not
move him. He took the cow which had been left "out of pity,"
the little corn remaining, and a bag of meal which a kind neighbor
had just brought from the mill. This was insufficient. He
seized a copper kettle, (two iron pots according to one tradition)
the only one remaining, and then mockingly addressing Mrs.
Allen, said: "Now Priscilla, how will thee cook for thy family
and friends, thee has no kettle." Mrs. Allen meekly replied
"George, that God who hears the young ravens when they cry,
will provide for them. I trust in that God, and I verily believe
the time will come when thy necessity will be greater than mine."
George carried away the goods, but he remembered the "testimony"
and lived to see it verified.
Friends, and among them were many who had no sympathy
for the doctrines of the Quakers, immediately provided for all
Mrs. Allen's wants, and soon after the trembling Magistrates of
Massachusetts, fearing that the royal displeasure would be visited
on their own heads, opened their prison doors, and ordered all
.who were in bonds, for conscience sake, to depart.
The letter of King Charles was dated Sept. 9, 1661, and was
addressed to all the Governors, Magistrates, &c., in his colonies
in New England, ordering them "to forbear to proceed any
further" against the Quakers, and to send such as were imprisoned
to England for ti'ial. The bearer of this dispatch was Samuel
Shattuck, a Quaker who had been banished from Massachusetts
on pain of death. He delivered the King's letter to Gov. Endicot.
It must have been exceedingly mortifying to the Magistrates, to
The men, whose names now belong to history, met there, they took sweet counsel together,
and there would some of their descendants delight to assemble and recall the memories of
the past.