On Saturday, March 8, a school bus load of mostly women from the South Coast of Massachusetts traveled to Boston to convey their deep concern over current attacks on their rights and freedoms. They exited the bus onto Beacon Street across from the State House and the statue of Mary Dyer, where they joined multitudes of like-minded women to make some short speeches, display their inspired signs and then march and chant around The Common.

Probably very few of the passengers and marchers were aware of their spiritual link to Mary Dyer, or her connections with the early history of Rhode Island and the South Coast of Massachusetts. In fact, she was one of the first women to challenge the autocratic Puritan leaders in Boston four centuries ago, to stand up for freedom of expression and the rights of women, and to pay the ultimate price for that stance. Having been warned to stay out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, she dared to return from her safe haven in Roger Williams’ Rhode Island and was hanged in 1660 on Boston Common for her sins.

Mary Dyer also had a connection with the South Coast and our local hero, Paul Cuffe. She was the grandmother of Bathsheba Hull who married Ebenezer Slocum in 1728 and joined him on his inherited farm along the Slocum River in Dartmouth. About the time of their marriage, her husband purchased a newly-arrived African boy-slave in Newport and brought him home, probably to serve as his bride’s houseboy.

Over the next 14 years, Bathsheba undoubtedly taught this bright young boy named Cuff to speak English and possibly also the beginnings of reading and writing.

In 1742, Ebenezer sold Cuff to his nephew, John Slocum, and three years later John Slocum granted Cuff his freedom. Cuff then went to work for another Slocum named Holder and in 1745 he married Ruth Moses, an indigenous woman from Cape Cod. In about 1750, Cuff and Ruth moved to Cuttyhunk Island where they tended sheep brought from the mainland during the warm months and raised 10 healthy children. By 1767 they had enough savings to buy a 120-acre farm on Old County Road in Dartmouth and they moved there with their family. The seventh of their children, and fourth son, was Paul Cuffe, who became a famous local hero.

Paul Cuffe probably never knew Bathsheba Hull Slocum and may not have heard of Mary Dyer. But he did learn from his parents about Quaker principles and ideals as well as Indigenous dedication to celebrating and caring for the earth. His efforts, in the last decade of his life, to help the people of Africa and the African Diaspora improve their lives and gain their freedom certainly were consistent with the teachings and example of Mary Dyer.

On the bus trip back to the South Coast after the celebration of Women’s Day in Boston, the passengers were informed about Mary Dyer and her early commitment to their cause. This article brings her story and the convergence of shared interests over multiple centuries to a wider audience.