Lady Deborah Moody (1586 - 1659?) was the only woman to found a colonial settlement in early North America. She was the first female landowner in the New World.[1] She had an unusual influence in a society dominated by men, and was described by contemporaries as "a dangerous woman."
Lady Moody was born Deborah Dunch in London in 1586, the daughter of Walter and Debora Dunch. She married Henry Moody, a marriage that granted her the formal title of Lady. She became a widow by 1629. [2]
Lady Moody left England in 1639 due to religious persecution. She was a believer in Anabaptism, a sect that rebelled against baptism of infants because a child cannot commit to religious faith. She first settled in Saugus, Massachusetts, but left there in 1643 after being admonished by the Puritan leaders for failing to conform to their religious beliefs. Many others with the same religious beliefs left with her.
She led a group of religious dissenters fleeing persecution to found the town of Gravesend in 1645, in the Dutch colony of New Netherland. Today the area is part of Brooklyn in New York City, with the original town square still evident in the street layout. The people from Gravesend were granted religious freedom, which was unusual for that period. Deborah Moody became influential in New Netherland and had good relations with governor Peter Stuyvesant. She is believed to be buried in Old Gravesend Cemetery.[3]