Joseph Hewes
The father of Joseph Hewes (Adam Hewes) was one of the persecuted Quakers of New England and was compelled to depart from Connecticut in consequence of his religions tenets. A marked inconsistency has often been fearfully exemplified by those who have fled from religious persecution. The moment they obtained the reigns of power they have become the relentless persecutors of all who would not succumb to their authority and dogmatical dictation. In the biography of Charles Carroll the reader has one example. Under the administration of the Saybrook and Cambridge platforms a sterner policy was pursued towards the Quakers of New England than against the Roman Catholics of Maryland. Before these platforms were systematically dovetailed together the Baptist denomination was banished from the old settlements.Religious Persecution in the Colonies
Roger Williams came from Wales to Massachusetts in 1631 and preached the Baptist doctrine at Salem and Plymouth until 1636 when he and his flock were banished for their religious opinions. He and his adherents removed into the wilderness of Rhode Island and commenced the town of Providence. They formed the first church in New England where undisturbed freedom of conscience was enjoyed with a republican form of church government. The frame-work of the Cambridge platform was commenced by an ecclesiastical convention in 1646 and the superstructure completed in 1648. On this platform the municipal and legislative proceedings of Massachusetts were based for sixty years.1656. Law Passed against Quakers
In 1656 the legislature passed a law prohibiting any master of a vessel from bringing a Quaker into the Colony under a penalty of one hundred pounds. The next year a law was passed inflicting the most barbarous cruelties upon the members of this peace-loving sect-such as cutting off their ears, boring their tongues with a hot iron, unless they would desist from their mode of worship and doff their straight coats and ugly bonnets. In 1669 a law was passed banishing them on pain of death.Four of them refused to go and were executed!
Avoiding the Penalties
To avoid the penalties imposed, Adam Hewes, the father of Joseph, fled from Connecticut with his wife Providence and located near Kingston, New Jersey. As they crossed the Housatonic River in their flight they were so closely pursued by the Indians.Joseph Hewes was born at the new residence of his parents in 1730. he was education in the Princeton school, and afterward began a commercial apprenticeship in Philadelphia before enteriing into a successful mercantile business. For several years he spent his time in New York and Philadelphia and engaged largely in the shipping business. In 1760, Joseph Hewes settled in the friendly town of Edenton, North Carolina where he was elected to the Assembly of that province. He made no pretensions to public speaking, was a faithful working man, a correct voter and punctually in his place. At the onset of the Revolutionary War, he was among those who pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honors in the cause of Independence. He was a member of the Congress of 1774 and one of the committee that reported the rights of the American Colonies and became a member of Congress.
In 1779, in poor health, he left his seat in Congress, and died on November 10th. His remains were buried in Christ Church yard, Philadelphia, followed by the members and officers of Congress, the General Assembly and Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, the French minister, the military and a large concourse of other brave citizens.