Elizabeth Ashbridge
Elizabeth Ashbridge was an 18th-century New England Quaker minister and autobiographer born in Cheshire, England. Her compelling autobiography, Some Account of the Fore Part of the Life of Elizabeth Ashbridge, provides a valuable firsthand account of her spiritual journey, her conversion to Quakerism, and the challenges she faced as a woman preacher in the 18th century. Ashbridge's writings offer insights into the social and religious landscape of colonial America, particularly the experiences of women and the development of Quaker communities. Her life story is characterized by her resilience in the face of adversity, her unwavering commitment to her faith, and her powerful voice as a religious leader.
Biography
Early life
Elizabeth Sampson was born in 1713 to Thomas, a ship surgeon, and Mary Sampson of Middlewich in Cheshire, England. Mary Sampson was a devout member of the Church of England, and raised her daughter and Thomas' two children from a previous marriage in adherence to her faith. Few details are known about Elizabeth's family or her early life, however, her autobiography sheds light on some aspects of her life. In her autobiography, which details her life from the time she was first married until the death of her second husband, Ashbridge reveals that when she was 14 years old, in 1727, she eloped without parental consent, only to become a widow after five months of marriage.Unwelcome at her parents' home, Ashbridge was sent to Dublin, Ireland; there, she resided first in Dublin with a relative of her mother and member of the Society of Friends, or Quakers. Upon finding life in accordance with his strict religious beliefs "gloomy", she moved to Ireland's west coast, where she stayed with Catholic relatives.
Voyage to British America and life in New England
In 1732 Ashbridge sailed to New York as an indentured servant, owned first by a woman in the slave trade and later by the ship's captain. After completing three of the four years of servitude required to pay her passage to the colonies, she bought her freedom with money she earned performing odd jobs and sewing. With her new-found freedom she considered a career on the stage, even going so far as to befriend members of local playhouses and study scripts in her spare time; instead, she married a school teacher surnamed Sullivan.The nature of Sullivan's profession led the couple to travel widely throughout New England in search of schools in need of a schoolmaster. They settled briefly in Westerly, Rhode Island, where Ashbridge half-heartedly joined the Baptist church. After a failed attempt to travel to England, they moved to Boston in 1735, then back to Rhode Island later that year, where Ashbridge once again joined the Church of England. While visiting relatives in Pennsylvania, Ashbridge was taken with the Quaker faith, and became convinced, much to the disapproval of her husband. The couple stayed some time in Delaware, then moved on to Mount Holly, New Jersey, home of the influential Quaker John Woolman. Both Ashbridge and her husband taught school there. Her religious beliefs caused much turmoil in her marriage, and, in a drunken stupor, Sullivan enlisted himself as a soldier and left for Cuba in 1740. Later, claiming the Quaker's right to pacifism, he was beaten brutally for his refusal to serve and died in a hospital near London in 1741. Her autobiography ends with Sullivan's death.
Indentured Servitude
As part of her journey to America, Elizabeth Ashbridge was eventually placed in a cruel household where she lived as an indentured servant. Since she was about to make her first transatlantic passage, Ashbridge was unaware of the dangers involved with an ocean voyage. One of those dangers was the threat of being taken as an indentured servant. Initially, Ashbridge thought a woman she was to accompany to America would be a kind "Gentlewoman" companion; however, before Ashbridge realized that her companion had malicious motives, she was kidnapped and kept aboard a ship for three weeks.Following her captivity, Ashbridge was still determined to travel to America, and she returned to the ship. Shortly after, Ashbridge learned that some Irish servants had planned a mutiny. In spite of her informing the ship's captain of the planned attack on the crew, Ashbridge was forced into servitude: "The captain caused an indenture to be made, and threatened me with a , if I refused to sign it." Ashbridge lacked the travel funds to make her way across the Atlantic, and the captain took advantage of her misfortune.
Once in America, Ashbridge lived with a hypocritical master who outwardly demonstrated his religious practices; however, he was tyrannical and abusive toward his servant. In one instance, her master requests the service of the "town whipper" to discipline Ashbridge. Although his treatment is cruel, Ashbridge notes, in a moment of confident desperation, "Then, fixing my eyes upon this barbarous man, I said, ‘Sir,... if you think that I deserve such punishment, do it yourself." After three years of living under indentured servitude, Ashbridge was able to purchase her freedom by buying out the remaining terms of her contract. Her experience with such difficult circumstances prompted her to question her own belief in God: "I became hardened and was ready to conclude that there was no God." Roxanne Harde examines criticism that suggests that Ashbridge's denying of the master's religious beliefs is an example of how this strong Quaker minister exercises Agency and finds her own religious voice. Ashbridge likely already knew the role her poor financial situation played in obtaining her contract of indentured servitude. Thus she became more financially empowered as a result of the difficult experiences in her master's home. To survive, Ashbridge would sew, and she explains that "when I had Served near three years, I bought off the remainder of my Time & then took to my needle, by which I could maintain my Self handsomely."
Rebellion and Reconciliation with Patriarchy
At the beginning of Some Account of the Early Part of the Life of Elizabeth Ashbridge, Ashbridge remarks that her father was absent from the Ashbridge household while she growing up. As a surgeon, Mr. Ashbridge "made many long voyages" and left young Elizabeth with her mother. As Ashbridge ages, her mother becomes a "pattern of virtue" for her to follow.Around the age of twelve, Ashbridge begins to feel conflicting emotions towards religion: she disregards religion, but also has an intense desire to be loved by the Lord. These emotions indicate that Ashbridge correlated "the Lord" with her absent father. She wants to be loved by these paternal figures and is angered that she does not feel such love. At the age of fourteen, Ashbridge rejects patriarchy by abruptly leaving her father's house and entering into an improper marriage. After the death of her husband five months later, her father refuses to accept her back into his household. Her mother sends her to Dublin until she can re-gain her father's affections. In this account, Ashbridge portrays her mother as a welcoming figure, and her father as a repulsive force.
While away from her mother, Ashbridge becomes acquainted with a Catholic widow. She begins to associate this woman as her motherly role model and even begins to adhere to the Catholic faith. They spoke to each other freely about religion, with "each of defending particular tenets." It was these conversations that made Ashbridge curious about Roman Catholicism; she was intrigued by the widow's tales of "such mighty miracles, done by their priests" that Ashbridge "began to be shaken in own belief." Asbridge began to attend mass with the widow because, though interested, she was "yet resolved not blindly to adopt their creed." She reaches the point of conversion, but speaking with the Catholic priest drives her away from the religion. Ashbridge's tone towards the Roman Catholic belief system, though she almost converted, was mostly negative. She calls them "papists," which was a widely used descriptor but was chiefly negative. While she was "not averse" to confessing her sins, she called the recital of beliefs the priest wanted her to swear by "ridiculous" and said they "made sick of new intention." At this point in her spiritual journey, Ashbridge cannot adhere to a religion in which she feels directly influenced by the patriarchal system.
Ashbridge's tendency to seek motherly figures is also shown when she naively trusts the "gentlewoman" who promises her passage to Pennsylvania. After realizing that this woman has betrayed her, Ashbridge refers to her as a "vile creature." At this point in the autobiography, Ashbridge begins to portray women in all of their complexities. Once in America, Ashbridge remarries a man that she does not truly love. Though she never states the exact reason for the marriage, Ashbridge implies that there was some sort of superficial or physical connection that brought the two together.
In her marriage, she feels, once again, the repression of patriarchal rule. In a second blatant rebellion of patriarchy, Ashbridge steps outside of her marriage to pursue her spiritual convictions. In the Quaker religion, Ashbridge finds a sense of community, rather than a patriarchal hierarchy. The Quaker religion welcomed female speakers who were considered spiritually equal to their male counterparts. In this community, Ashbridge finds an escape from male-dominated society. As she continues to attend Quaker meetings, she ceases to associate the Lord with an absent male figure. In her final conversion experience, Ashbridge notes that a woman brings the invitation of salvation to her, as she states: "…there stood a grave woman, holding in her right hand a lamp burning… said, ‘I am sent to tell thee that, if thou wilt return to the Lord thy God, who created thee, he will have mercy on thee…’"