As I have continued to
explore Quaker women narratives, I am drawn to the autobiographical renderings
of their lives, travels, and sufferings. This week I looked at an account written
by Joan Vokins, an English Quaker woman of the seventeenth century. Published in 1691 shortly after her death, the
text is a varied collection of her experiences in the Quaker world and her
extensive travels. In fact, Vokins appears a well-travelled globetrotter,
making acquaintances and visiting friends both in the Old and New World.
Additionally, the author consistently attributes the fortunate happenings of
her travels and at the meetings she visited to the Lord, even as she is weary
at times from the travel. The text stands as support to the ways in which
Quaker women clearly disengaged from the domestic sphere at times (as Vokins
left husband and children to missionize), specifically due to an adherence to
their spiritually-rooted agency.
Here are two small excerpts
from her writing about travel:
in Sandwich, Ireland- “when
they came from their worship I met them, first the Mayor and his Company, then
the Lawyer and his, and after that the Priest, with many more; and invited all
to come to our Spiritual Worship, and I would engage that if any of them, young
or old, male or female, had a Message from the Lord to deliver there, that they
should have liberty and not be abused” (Vokins 271).
In New York - “it was
with me to go to Long Island, and there the Ranters oppressed Friends, but the
Lord had a tender People there...and we were sweetly refreshed together; for
God’s Almighty Power was over all, in all Meetings wherever I came, to the
subduing of the dark Power that raged in the Ranters....and for its sake my
Soul was in deep travel;” (Vokins 265).
The first one is intriguing
for the ways in which Vokins approaches the male figures of the town’s power
structure. She paints them with entourage in tow, yet still she, as a single
person, addresses the audience with a persuasive defense of women’s speaking
and an invitation to all for spiritual liberation.
The second quote shows
how Vokins places herself centrally at the heart of the “refreshment” of the
meetings she visits. Although stressing God’s power, the reader can’t help but
be compelled to acknowledge that conflict is resolved “wherever I came” in
relation to Joan. Additionally, the
frequent and actual travel that Vokins’s account depicts is reflected by the
author in her conception of the “Soul.” In this manner, Joan must have
connected her literal travels with spiritual progress as well. The author may
have seized travel for spiritual ends, but in some ways, travel also enchanted
this Quaker woman and was intermingled with her sense of self and power. I
believe her account will be useful to my exploration of Quaker women at large.
Vokins, Joan. "God's Mighty Power Magnified." Hidden in Plain Sight: Quaker Women's Writings,
1650-1700. Edited by Mary Garman. Wallingford, PA: Pendle Hill Publications, 1996.
Sadie--just to mention that travel-writing is a new area of historical exploration--perhaps that is more "trendy" that Quakers currently in scholarship. But the idea of women being empowered by traveling outside the zones of patriarchal watch, whether colonial women in India or women on pilgrimage to Jerusalem seems relatable.
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