Mary Dyer

Mary Barrett Dyer, a Quaker martyr, was hanged on Boston Common in 1660 for her refusal to recant her faith. Mary and her husband William were originally Puritan English emigrants who left Massachusetts in 1638 to follow Anne Hutchinson to Rhode Island. A year later, the Dyers settled in Newport. In 1650, Mary and William traveled to England where they converted to Quakerism. Quakers were welcome in religiously tolerant Newport where their community was thriving. In contrast, Quakerism was banned by law in Boston and punishable by death. This threat did not dissuade Mary from traveling to Boston, where on two occasions she was imprisoned and later released. A third visit to Boston resulted in her execution in 1660.