When I first heard the story of James and Eden (names have been changed since this is a public blog) from my family tree, I wondered at their survival of such opposition.
James and Eden were married in 1659 in England and they had at least 10 children. In 1660, Eden was arrested for attending a Quaker meeting and extreme opposition followed them throughout the rest of their marriage. Because of religious persecution they had a hard time holding a house, running a business, and so their financial situation was in disrepair.
We think that Eden possibly had two of her children while in prison (during separate arrests, of course.) James was also later arrested while attending a meeting with Eden.
We have letters from or in behalf of the family asking for assistance with housing or trying to get their family to America. It's possible many people didn't want them for a neighbor because of Eden's beliefs, and many people wouldn't have wanted to support their business for the same reason.
It was a mess. All because she was strong enough to stand for her beliefs. And if memory serves me right, James did not share those beliefs, at least in the beginning. But that is a tidbit from my memory that I can't verify.
Even so, I remember thinking to myself that it must have taken a lot of love and respect for each other to get through all of it.
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