Excerpts from Some Account of the Early Part of the Life of

Elizabeth Ashbridge,. . . Written by Herself

Reprinted in Early American Writing

Published in 1994

"Once he came up to me, took out his penknife, and said 'If you offer to go to meeting tomorrow, with this knife I'll cripple you, for you shall not be a Quaker.'"

Elizabeth Ashbridge (1713–1755) was born in England and brought up a member of the Anglican faith (Church of England, the official state church). At the age of fourteen she eloped (ran away and got married), but her husband died within five years. Soon after his death she went to America as an indentured servant. (An indentured servant was an immigrant who signed a...