Gravesend, New Jersey and Lady Deborah Moody
You cannot think of Middletown, Monmouth County, NJ, without first understanding Gravesend, NY.
Gravesend, New Jersey, Founded by Lady Deborah Moody
When you think of Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey, it is easy to overlook the importance of Gravesend, New York. This is where Richard and Penelope met, married, and began their family.
Gravesend was established by Lady Deborah Moody (ca. 1583-1659). Before she married, Deborah Dunch was born in London in 1586. She was the daughter of Walter Dunch, the auditor of the Royal Mint, and his wife, Deborah. Her ancestors were loyal supporters of the British monarchy and the Church of England for decades. Deborah Dunch married Sir Henry Moody in 1606, becoming Lady Deborah Moody. |
After the death of her husband in 1629, Deborah became an Anabaptist. The Anabaptists were a Protestant sect of Christianity who believed that baptism shouldn’t occur until a person was old enough to agree to join the church. In England, where the Church of England was headed by the king, the Anabaptists were treated like criminals. When word of her new beliefs got out, Deborah was summoned to appear in court. Rather than face whatever punishment the government had in mind, Deborah gathered her wealth and set sail for the New World at the age of 54, in search of freedom to practice her beliefs in peace. She arrived in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1639.
Unfortunately, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was not the haven of religious toleration that Deborah had hoped. She gathered her fellow Anabaptists, and set out once again to find a place where they could practice their religion in peace. Deborah moved to the southwestern tip of Long Island, territory that now encompasses parts of Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Brighton Beach, and Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn. Deborah drew up the plans for her new community and named it Gravesend. It was the first New World settlement founded by a woman. She allowed the inhabitants of Gravesend to follow whatever religious practices they chose, so long as they abided by the laws of the colony. |
As the only English town in Brooklyn, Gravesend was relatively self-sufficient from the five neighboring Dutch towns. Starting with a stockaded town square, Moody based the design on and named the settlement after her hometown, Gravesend on Kent, England. She founded the town hall government, started a school, and established a church.
Richard Stout, the first Stout to arrive to American, was instrumental in help settling Gravesend. Gravesend's design was one of the earliest in the New World to employ a block grid system. Gravesend Avenue ran from the heart of town to the City of Brooklyn, providing residents of Gravesend with a route for trade and travel throughout Kings County. McDonald Avenue and Gravesend Neck Road formed the crossroads of the old foursquare town. After twenty-three years as a resident in Gravesend, now raising a family and accumulating considerable wealth, Richard found the competition for space to be stifling. Reflecting a concern seen over and over among the colonists in the area, he moved with a group of likeminded people across a small stretch of water to the new territory that would become Middletown, Monmouth County, New Jersey. |
The Spirit of Lady Moody
A Documentary Short.
To view a spectacular 13-minute, award winning, documentary film about Lady Deborah Moody, click on the image to the right for a direct link.
This was created by Patricia and Edward Sailer. Patricia grew up in Gravesend and explained a motivating factor in creating this original work, "I was fascinated by her haunting presence." |
Gravesend means, "At the end of the Grove."
It derives its name from two Saxon words, Grafes End.