Bathsheba Bowers
Bathsheba Bowers was a notable figure in early American Quaker history, born into a large family of English Quakers in Charlestown, Massachusetts. In response to Puritan persecution, her family relocated to Philadelphia, a city renowned for its tolerance and significant Quaker community. At the age of thirty-five, Bowers moved to South Carolina, likely to further the Quaker faith and connect with the growing Friends community there. Remaining single throughout her life, she lived in South Carolina until her death in 1718 at the age of forty-six.
Bowers is recognized as a pioneering woman writer of her time, publishing her personal journal despite the societal norms that typically discouraged women from doing so in early colonial America. Her writing offers a unique perspective, blending daily life with her profound spiritual reflections. The most notable of her works, "An Alarm Sounded to Prepare the Inhabitants of the World to Meet the Lord in the Way of His Judgments," was published in 1709 and reveals her deep emotional connection to her faith. Through her writings, Bowers aimed to inspire and support others in their spiritual journeys, sharing her own experiences of seeking divine guidance and understanding God's will.
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Bathsheba Bowers
- Born: June 4, 1671
- Birthplace: Massachusetts
- Died: 1718
- Place of death: South Carolina
Biography
Bathsheba Bowers, one of twelve children born to English Quakers, was raised in Charlestown, Massachusetts. When the Puritan persecution of Quakers became intolerable in the late seventeenth century, her parents sent Bowers and three of her sisters to live in Philadelphia, a city known for its liberality and its large Quaker population. At thirty-five, she moved down to South Carolina, probably to spread the Quaker faith and to join the growing community of Friends there. Remaining single throughout her life, Bowers lived in South Carolina until her death in 1718, at the age of forty-six.
In many ways, Bathsheba Bowers was a pioneer as a woman writer. Although it was not uncommon for English Quakers, women included, to publish their journals, she expected criticism for publishing her chronicle, which defied cultural norms, because American women in the broader society did not commonly publish their writings at the time. Whereas nearly all colonial diaries provide a glimpse of what daily life was like for early Americans, Bowers’s publications, like most Quaker journals, present an intimate look at a woman’s religious zeal.
Bowers’s zealous spiritual longing unfolds itself in her only extant work, the 1709 An Alarm Sounded to Prepare the Inhabitants of the World to Meet the Lord in the Way of His Judgments, and her language is that of a woman always emotionally on edge, awaiting a sign from God. The understood purpose in her writing was to support and increase the faith of others and to reassure them that someone else shared in their elusive human search to understand and carry out God’s will.