Robert Harper (1629 - aft. 1704)

Born 1629 in England

Husband of Deborah (Perry) Harper — married 9 May 1654 (to 1665) in Sandwich, Plymouth Colony

Husband of Prudence (Butler) Harper — married 22 Jun 1662 in Sandwich, Plymouth Colony

Descendants

Died after Aug 1704 after age 75 in Falmouth, Barnstable, Province of Massachusetts Bay [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], Mike Perry [send private message], and Religious Society of Friends Project WikiTree [send private message]

Robert Harper migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Robert Harper was a Friend (Quaker). Join: Quakers Project Discuss: quakers

Note: Profile under reconstruction, T Stanton, Quakers Project, 12 Oct 2022. Kindly do not make changes or additions to this profile at this time. Please place all questions, concerns or suggestions in the Comments fields below the profile. Thank you.

Biography

Robert Harper's birth is estimated about 1630 and probably in England. His parentage and point of origin are presently undiscovered. See Research Notes for commonly seen but disproved parentage.

He first appears in New England records in May 1654 at the time of his first marriage. This is about the time Quakers are first seen in Sandwich where it was written by a J. Cudworth "that almost the whole town of Sandwich is adhering towards them" and he goes on to detail the horrific persecution of the Society of Friends in Sandwich which Robert had joined.^[1] Robert's name appears in a 1658 record of landowners in Sandwich.^[2] Well-known among the Quakers, his refusal to swear the Oath of Fidelity resulted in the ruinous fine of £44 (which is one half of some of the fines ordered at the same time).^[1]

His first marriage to Deborah Perry (b 1632, d 1665) was 9 May 1654 at Sandwich.^[3][4] Deborah passed away in Dec 1665. On 22 Jun 1666, Robert married again to Prudence Butler (b 1645, no extant death record), the daughter of Quaker Thomas Butler. There are several errors found in copies of the Sandwich Town Records which have caused various errors in the identification of various person and other issues for which the reader is referred to MacLean W McLean's article in The American Genealogist^[5] and George E Bowman's notes in Mayflower Descendant (19:106).

In 1661, he stood under the scaffold to catch the body of his friend and martyred preacher William Leddra when cut down by the Boston hangman. For this act Robert and his wife were banished (though this would seem not have been been permanent).^[6] See the extensive list of The Sufferings of Robert Harper below.

Children

The births of the children of Robert Harper are recorded in the Sandwich Town Hall records and also the Friends Monthly Meeting original records.^[5]

with Deborah Perry

• Mary - b 25 Dec 1655^[7] m Thomas Bowerman
• Experience - b 9 Nov 1657^[8] m Joseph Hull
• Stephen - b Jun 1662 m Eliphael (Smith) Perry
• Marcy (also seen Mary) - b 5 Dec 1665^[8] Note: she is also seen 25 Dec 1665 which is after the death of the mother which is suggesting a second entry which is perhaps a death date as there is no further record of Marcy/Mary.

with Prudence Butler

• Hannah - b 1 May 1670, m Isaac Robinson
• Elizabeth - b 16 Oct 1672 (Note: no further record of Elizabeth)
• Mercy - b 12 Jun 1675, d 7 Mar 1754 (Note: in the Sandwich Town Hall 3 x 5 card records she is mis-filed under Landers.)

The Sufferings of Robert Harper

The following points are some of the incidences of fines, whippings, and incarcerations of Robert Harper:^[9]

• 1 June 1658 – Robert was fined £10 at Plymouth for failure to take the “oath of fidelitie.” (Ten pounds could purchase a calf or colt, so it was a considerable penalty in that economy.)
• July 1658 – Robert's property seized: Two oxen, al he had fit to work, one heifer, one bull £14; five cows, all the cattle he had, and his house and land, £30. The marshal left him with one cow "so poor that she was ready to die, and that was all they left him for the relief of himself and family."
• 2 Oct 1658 – Robert was fined £5 for refusing to take the “oath of fidelitie,” along with twelve others of Sandwich.
• 7 Jun 1659 – Robert and other Quakers appeared before the Plymouth court for failure to take the “oath of fidelitie,” and fined £5.
• 6 Oct 1659 – Robert appeared before the court for failure to take the “oath of fidelitie,” and fined £5 at Plymouth. A month later, Mary Dyer visited Sandwich.
• 8 or 13 June 1660- Robert was fined £5 for refusing to take the “oath of fidelitie.”
• 2 Oct 1660 – Robert was convicted for refusing to take the “oath of fidelitie,” at the General Court in Plymouth; fined £6 at Plymouth.
• 2 Oct 1660 – Robert and Deborah Harper were fined £4, “for being att Quakers meetings.”
• 13 Oct 1660 – Robert and Deborah Harper and others visit Quaker friends in Salem’s jail, arrested and committed to Boston’s House of Correction. They petitioned for release on 24 Dec 1660, but no record is noted of their disposition at that time.
• 24 Mar 1661 – Robert, who must have been recently released from Boston prison, “stood under the scaffold and caught in his arms the body of his friend William Leddra, the martyr preacher,” when Leddra’s hanging rope was cut. For this, he and his wife were banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony (different jurisdiction from Plymouth Colony). In late June/early July 1661, an order from King Charles II arrived in Massachusetts that stopped executions for religion's sake. It also had the effect of reducing (though not stopping) persecution of the Quakers.
• 1663 – Robert was sentenced to be "publickly whipt for his intollerable insolent disturbance, both for the congregation of Barnstable and Sandwich."
• 1670 – Again the same sentence was passed upon Robert Harper "for reviling Mr. Walley," minister of Barnstable.

Research notes

A previous version of this profile had Joseph Harper of Braintree attached as a father. There was a Joseph Harper (1639-) of Braintree, who was claimed to be Robert's brother in online trees, but there is no evidence of an older Joseph, the supposed father. (The claimed Jan 3, 1662 death date is not in the records). Dorcas (Harper) Woody (abt.1636-abt.1695) of Boston, is also shown to be a sister, but again, without evidence.

Devere Allen states that there may be some familial relationship with William Harper found in Salem in 1641 but the nature of the relationship is unknown.^[10]

Torrey, NE Marriages entries: HARPER, Robert & 1/wf Deborah PERRY (-1665); 9 May 1654; Sandwich {MD 14:171; Gen. Adv. 3:75, 4:9; Hull 259; Perry (,7) 45; NYGBR 3:38; Swift (1955) 44}

HARPER, Robert & 2/wf Prudence BUTLER; 22 Jun 1666; Sandwich {MD 14:171; Robinson (,1) 79-80; Gen. Adv. 4:9; Swift (1955) 44-45}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Besse, Joseph, A Collection of the Sufferings of the People called Quaker, 1674, II:193-95
2. ↑ Freeman, Frederick, The history of Cape Cod: the annals of Barnstable County, including the district of Mashpee, Boston, Geo C Rand, II:59-60
3. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records, Sandwich, Barnstable, 1:22 and 2:1248
4. ↑ Sandwich Friends Monthly Meeting Records, microfilm, 60:62
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} McLean, MacLean W., Robert Harper of Sandwich and his Son Stephen of Falmouth. TAG 48:215. Subscription.
6. ↑ Weygant, Charles H., The Hull Family in America, Pittsfield, Mass, Sun Printing, 1913, p 260
7. ↑ Mayflower Descendant 14:168
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Mayflower Descendant 14:171
9. ↑ Robert Harper at the William and Mary Dyer site. Accessed 13 Oct 2022
10. ↑ Allen, Devere. The Allen Families and 83 Connected Families. Wilton, Connecticut, January 1947, p 115

• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 21 February 2020), memorial page for Robert Harper (1630–1705), Find A Grave: Memorial #190970436, ; Maintained by Stan Arnold (contributor 48121400) Unknown. [Not a burial record, memorial only]
• Dartmouth, MA: Quaker Records, 1699-1920. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2021). From Dartmouth Historical Arts Society images and indexes,. Dartmouth, MA. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB2796/i/61545/8/10002094467
• http://marybarrettdyer.blogspot.com/2012/06/grandparents-in-law-quaker-connection.html