from the Providence Institution for Savings "The Old Stone Bank" History of Rhode Island, Vol. III by John Williams Haley, "The Rhode Island Historian" published by Providence Institution for Savings, 1939. pp. 33 - 35. "MARY DYER. A martyr is commonly described as one who testifies by his death to his faith or principles, and the martyrdom of countless individuals seems to have been one of the most important phases of man's history when one goes right back to the beginnings of things and follows the course of human progress through the centuries to the present time, and including the present time. It is sometimes difficult to understand the whys and wherefores of a single case of martyrdom because few of us have experienced such convictions as will urge us to join with any group, religious or political, for the purpose of compelling by force others to accept some given set of tenets or principles; neither have many of us felt such convictions as will lead us to violent death simply because we fail to accede to some group or established authorities in matters politic or religious. However, even though martyrdom seems like something that belongs to the Middle Ages or before, it is not far removed from us in this day and age, and it certainly was common to our ancestors here in New England, not so many years ago, comparatively speaking. And, there's one case of martyrdom that comes very close to home, and it concerns one who left Massachusetts and came to Rhode Island actuated by the same motives, and forced into exile for the same reasons, that guided the footsteps of Roger Williams to these shores just three centuries ago. The story of this particular martyr is virtually a sequel to the tale told of Anne Hutchinson, the leader of the party of religious exiles who first settled the Island of Aquidneck, and although this story does not reach its conclusion until a date that is a little in advance of the period that is being stressed at present in this series of chronologically arranged episodes, nevertheless, it started shortly after the founding of Providence in 1636. William and Mary Dyer came to this country in 1635 and arrived in Boston at the time when Roger Williams was having his greatest difficulties with the authorities of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This couple had previously lived in London where Mr. Dyer was engaged in the millinery business. Mary, his wife, was a person of unique character, courageous, inclined to be fanatical, of sweet disposition, attractive in person and highly intelligent. Upon the arrival of the Dyers, in Boston, they were immediately admitted to membership in the Boston Church of which John Wilson was the pastor and John Cotton was the teacher. Their lives were lived without incident until Anne Hutchinson instituted her famous meetings for women. Mary Dyer attended these meetings and became very friendly with Ann Hutchinson. And then, when the latter heard her sentence of excommunication pronounced by the Elders of the Puritan Church in Massachusetts and rose to depart from the church from which she had been banished, she did not go unaccompanied. Another woman as fearless as Anne also rose from the congregation and passed down the aisle and out the door at her side. This other woman with the courage of her convictions was Mary Dyer." continued in part 2.