Back to the question of who was in the Quaker party that sailed to America in 1657, they are named in many books of Quaker history and I list them below. The Woodhouse left England for America in June 1657 with Robert Fowler as captain. Warned by experienced seamen against attempting to cross the ocean in such a small boat, some of the crew had backed out. Even Fowler considered calling it off, but George Fox talked him into going ahead. Six of the passengers, William Brend, John Copeland, Sarah Gibbons, Christopher Holder, Dorothy Waugh, and Mary Wetherhead, had crossed the Atlantic the previous summer on the Speedwell. First-time members of this Quaker mission, not yet banished from Boston, were: Robert Hodgson (in his 30s--he figures in my family history); Mary Clark (middle-aged); Richard Doudney; Humphrey Norton; and Wm. Robinson (always described as “young”). The voyage took two months, but they reached New Amsterdam safely, and paid a courtesy call on Gov. Stuyvesant before sailing through the then perilous East River and into Long Island Sound. Fowler left five of his passengers to preach in Dutch territory: Dorothy Waugh, Mary Wetherhead, Richard Doudney, Sarah Gibbons, and Robert Hodgson. Continuing on board to Rhode Is. (arriving on Aug. 3 according to some sources) were the two oldest, Wm. Brend /Brent and Mary Clark, together with John Copeland, Christopher Holder, Humphrey Norton, and Wm. Robinson. In time, all 11 passengers reached Rhode Island and made their way by various routes on to Plymouth and/or Boston. Within 2 ½ years, all had been imprisoned, several had been cruelly treated, and five were dead. But the seeds planted by their work sprouted, and they left small but viable Quaker meetings from Mass. to Virginia. -- S. Newton