Southwick family

The Southwick family of Salem were persecuted for being Quakers. Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) missionaries arrived in Salem in 1636. Their message of simplicity, harmony, truth and equality appealed to many of the colonists, especially women. But the Puritan establishment considered Quakers heretics. When the Quakers refused to attend Puritans church services, they were arrested and fined, as church attendance was mandatory in those days.

On June 26, 1658, a gathering of Quakers in Salem was raided. Those arrested included the Southwick family; parents Lawrence and Cassandra, sons Josiah and Daniel and Provided. The family was sent to prison.

See Also

• Genealogy of the descendants of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick of Salem, Mass. by J. M. Caller

• Hidden History of Salem by S. Saville, p. 56-63

• Salem in the Seventeenth Century by Philips, p. 154, 196-8