Herodias (Long) (Hicks) (Gardiner) Porter ca. 1623-ca. 1722

I mentioned Herodias briefly in this posting. Most women in colonial America left few records.  Not she.  Not only did she leave records, she was centuries ahead of her time. 

To read more about her, I suggest two articles:

"John and Harwood Hicks" by Josephine C. Frost, New York Genealogical & Biographical Record 70 (1939):116.  This has her testimony for her divorce from John Hicks dated 3 December 1643.  [He severely beat her.]

"The Parentage of George Gardiner of Newport, R.I." by G. Andrews Moriarty, The American Genealogist 21:191-200. This includes her testimony when seeking a separation from George Gardiner, dated 3 May 1665, which includes the fact that she married at age 13 and sent off to New England with John Hicks immediately thereafter.

Herodias had two children by John Hicks and then divorced him.  She lived with and never married George Gardiner, with whom she had seven children.  After her separation from him, she married John Porter, one of the most influential men in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.  She then had him deed great chunks of his land to her Gardiner children!  She was an ardent Quaker and was whipped for such in Boston on 11 3 mo. (May) 1658 [unlike Mary Dyer, she must have heeded the law and stayed out of Massachusetts thereafter].  And she lived to be nearly 100 years old.

Divorce at that time was only done by legislation, so both times her case was heard by the Rhode Island General Assembly and granted by them and signed by the Governor.  It should be noted that John Hicks was granted a separate divorce in 1655 from New Amsterdam, having moved to Long Island.

Her story would be a story of strength and courage today.  It's unbelievable in 17th century New England.  Not surprisingly Herodias even has a Facebook Page!

Michael descends from her twice through her son Thomas.  However, the inter-relationships are so tangled, it will take another posting to explain them.

Comments

[Patti Browning]

Wow! She sounds like an incredible woman! I am certainly going to read her story. Thank you for sharing it.

[Jo Ann Butler]

Hi Martin,are you a Herodias Long descendant? If so, we are cousins. I have been researching Herodias for years, and her courage impressed me so much that I wrote an historical novel about her, "Rebel Puritan." I am publishing it this fall, and have also posted my research sources on my website, www.rebelpuritan.com. Thanks for bringing this remarkable woman's story to today's readers. Jo Ann Butler

[Lhartline]

Hello, I am the 11th great granddaughter of Herodias Long and John Hicks. I descend from their son Thomas. I am working on the line in my blog to show how I got her from such an interesting woman. Enjoyed your blog about her and will actually take a little time to look at the rest of your blog.

Lea

[Marcus Smith]

I'm really glad to see that other people are discovering Herodias Long. I bumped into her story in a book called "Fissures in the Rock" by Richard Archer. A remarkable story. I'm proud to be a descendant!