WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JANUARY 23, 2020 15
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
to Freedom’ for all Americans
The Quaker Meeting House in Flu s hi ng. Photo courtesy of Rob MacKay
if any of these said persons come in love unto us, we cannot
in conscience lay violent hands upon them, but give
them free egresse or regresse into our town and houses . .
. This is according to the Patent and Charter of our town .
. . which we are not willing to infringe or violate.”
The Remonstrance did little to sway Stuyvesant. Aft er
receiving the Remonstrance, he ordered the town of Vlissing’s
government changed. Persecution continued, and
arrests were made.
The targets of persecution included John Bowne
himself, who allowed Quakers to meet in his home. In
1662, Bowne was arrested and subsequently ordered by
Stuyvesant expelled from the colony. Aft er being sent
to The Netherlands, Bowne made appeals to the Dutch
West India Company, which ordered Stuyvesant to end
religious persecution.
Bowne returned to Flushing in 1664 — the same year
that the British took control of New Netherlands and
renamed it New York.
The Bowne House hosts tours on Wednesdays from
1 to 4 p.m. Admission is $10 per person, and there are
special rates for group and school tours. Bowne House
members are admitted free. For more information,
visit bownehouse.org, call 718-359-0258 or email offi ce@
bownehouse.org. (Those interested in organizing school
tours can email bownehouseeducation@gmail.com.)
* * *
If you have any remembrances or old photographs of
“Our Neighborhood: The Way It Was” that you would like
to share with our readers, please write to the Old Timer,
c/o Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361,
or send an email to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com. Any
print photographs mailed to us will be carefully returned
to you upon request.
Pages of the Flushing Remonstrance, which had been damaged by a fi re while kept in storage at a
site in Albany in 1911. File photo
/bownehouse.org
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
/bownehouse.org
link
link
