My 9th Great Grandmother Wore the Scarlet Letter "A" (Part II)

Mary Magdalene Baily Bachiler May Well Be the Inspiration for Nathaniel Hawthorne's Novel, the Scarlet Letter, Published in 1850

I was emotionally captivated in high school with The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Never did I realize then that my own 9th Great Grandmother, Mary Bachiler, was likely the source of the novel's protagonist and heroine, Hester Pyrnne. In a book written in 1910 Mary was revealed as the woman inspiring Nathaniel Hawthorne's account of Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter. She is not the only possible inspiration, but highly possible.

THE GRAVES OF HESTER PYRNNE AND ELIZABETH PAIN 
The grave of Hester Pyrnne as described in The Scarlett Letter is that of Mrs. Elizabeth Pain at King's Chapel Burying Ground in Boston, Massachusetts, the same cemetery mentioned in the novel. Her grave had a crest upon it which could be perceived as a letter "A", a great scene for a movie. She gave birth to an illegitimate child by Samuel Pain, whom she later did wed. The child died in 1692 and Elizabeth was tried for murder in 1693. She was found not guilty of murder but was guilty of negligence in failing to get help to save the child. She was fined and flogged twenty times. I have found no information that she was charged with adultery and flogged and forced to wear the letter A.

THE LIFE OF HESTER CRAFORD AND HESTER PYRNNE 
Writer Laurie Rozakis has written that the inspiration, or an additional source of inspiration, for Hester Pyrnne is that of the life of Hester Craford who was flogged for adultery with John Wedg with whom she had a baby. Major John Hathorne was a magistrate in Salem in 1688, knew Hester Craford, and ordered her to be flogged publicly after the birth for her sin against society. I do not know what happened to Wedg for his punishment against society.

THE LIFE OF MARY BACHILER 
So we have two potential people inspiring Nathaniel Hawthorne's book. There is a third, Mary Bachiler, whom I have written about in My 9th Great Grandmother Wore the Scarlet Letter A Part 1. Briefly Mary Magdalene Baily Beedle Bachiler Turner had an affair while married to the excommunicated Rev. Stephen Bachiler, 60 years her senior. The affair was with her next door neighbor, George Rogers; they had a child together. Their relationship did not survive the social mores of the 1600s in the Massachusetts Bay Colony of Puritan intolerance. George and Mary were each given 40 lashes and she was forced to wear the Letter A emblazoned upon her clothing.

THE CASE FOR MARY BACHILER AS HESTER PRYNNE 
Eleanor Campbell Schoen in a presentation on the Reverend Stephen Bachiler, stated that "A book written in 1910 states that Mary Magdalene Bailey Beedle Bachiler Turner was the woman upon whom Nathaniel Hawthorne patterned Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter." This book was published at the time of the week-long Town of Eliot's Centennial of Incorporation. Eliot was part of Kittery until 1810. On page 25 of this 1910 book it states"The home of Mary Batchelder, wife of Samuel [Stephen] Batchelder, said to be the original of Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter." On page 35 it states that Mary Bachellor, "said to be the original of Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, signed the document" in 1652 along with the male landowners of Kittery acknowledging Kittery as subject to Massachusetts and its protections, rather than Maine.

Hawthorne's description of Hester Prynne's cottage was similar to the Staple property, the land and home of my ancestor, Mary's daughter Elizabeth Beadle who married immigrant Peter Staple. Mary is my grandchildren's 11th great grandmother.

The Staples Family History Association wrote in their newsletter volume 3, number 2 in January of 1980 that Nathaniel Hawthorne's ancestor, Captain William Hathorne, a Massachusetts Bay Colony commissioner, owned 870 acres of land just three farmsteads north of Mary's land in Kittery. Nathaniel made many long visits to Kittery and knew of the story of Mary Bachiler. Nathaniel was fascinated with colonial history and journaled the history of Mary, though not by name. He wrote extensive historical notes for his novels, such as The Scarlet Letter. According to the newsletter, Nathaniel wrote in his journal of a young woman "doomed to wear the letter A on the breast of her gown under an old colony law as punishment for adultery." Nathaniel had an very broad knowledge of Kittery and its people. The newsletter declares that the evidence is "strong" that Mary is Hester in the novel.

Significance can also be gained in realizing that Nathaniel knew Thomas Waite and his wife Maria Staples who was a descendant of Mary's. Thomas ran the Province House Tavern in Boston, one of Nathaniel's hangouts before 1838, the year he published Legends of the Province House, later republished as Twice Told Tales. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850. Nathaniel treasured history and used historical accounts in his stories. From the Waites he likely heard of Mary Bachilir.

In the Critical Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Literary Reference to His Life on page 214, there is a section devoted to the possibility of Mary Bachilir being the inspiration for Hester Prynne.

PARALLELS: Hester and Mary were strong women who were too often self-reliant. Both were strong willed. Both overcame public humiliation. Both had missing husbands. Both bear a child of adultery. Both wear the letter A. Mary was one to stand up to a battle, while Hester's acceptance was more low key and calmly reserved. Both accepted their punishments. Both found ways to support themselves; Hester did needlework and Mary did housework. Mary was bold in managing her property. Both were steadfast. Both married again. Both were memorable and even heroic. Both earned community respect.

A QUOTE FROM CHAPTER 2: "On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread, appeared the letter A."

PROOF: Is the proof unshakable? No, but it definitely bears consideration. At the very least Mary's history is another support of the life of Hester Pyrnne and was known to the Hawthorne family personally. Perhaps Hester Pyrnne may well have been inspired by my intriguing 9th great grandmother. Remarkable.

Book Sources: 
History of the Centennial of the Incorporation of the Town of Eliot, Maine, August 7-13, 1910. Ed. Aaron B. Cole & J. L. M. Willis, (1912), pp 25, 31, 35.

The 'Staples Family History Association Newsletter' (SFHAN), Jan 1980, ed. James C. Staples, with Martha S. Dildilian, Ross P. Staples, and Mrs Burton Murdock 

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins Victor C Sanborn ; Stephen Bachiler and Unforgiven Puritan; Excerpt from "History of the Town of Hampton, New Hampshire" page 589-590; Excerpt from the "Press Reference Library, Notables of the Southwest" page 13 

Old Kittery and her Families by Everett S. Stackpole, author. 1903.

Schoen, Eleanor Campbell. Our Fascinating Ancestor, Stephen Bachiler - A Presentation by Eleanor Campbell Schoen, Record Type: Presentation, Location: Solomon and Naom. (May 22, 1999). 

Batchelder, Batcheller Genealogy, Author: Frederick Clifton Pierce Call Number: CS71.B366

Critical Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne: a literary reference to his life and work, by Sarah Bird Wright 

My 9th Great Grandmother Wore the Scarlet Letter "A" (Part I)

                             Did Mary Magdalene Baily Bachiler Inspire Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 Novel the Scarlet Letter?

As a longtime genealogy buff, I decided to research the Staples surname, part of my maternal lineage. My grandmother Esther Eaton of Searsport Maine was the granddaughter of Hiram Eaton and Nancy A. Staples. I knew a lot about Captain Eaton, but very little about Nancy. My research led me to the Massachusetts Bay Colony town of Kittery, which is now part of Maine, and to the family of Peter and Elizabeth Beadle Staples. Elizabeth's mom was Mary Baily Beadle Bachiler Turner. Other ways to spell these surnames, for example, would be Bailey, Baley, Beedle, Batchelder. Mary made my breath catch. 

Of all the books I read in my high school's literature class, The Scarlet Letter was and is my favorite. The struggle of Hester Pyrnne was my struggle to understand her life and the society of her generation. Never did I imagine my ninth great grandmother could be the catalyst for Hester Pyrnne. In a book written in 1910 Mary was revealed as the woman inspiring Nathaniel Hawthorne's account of Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter.

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE AND THE SCARLET LETTER 
Captain William Hathorne, as the name was originally spelled, was an immigrant and a Massachusetts Bay Colony commissioner. Captain Hathorne was an ancestor of writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. For his valued service to the Colony, Hathorne was granted 870 acres of land along the Piscataqua River, just three farmsteads north of that of my ancestor Mary in Kittery so Capt. William Hathorne knew the story of Mary and Stephen. On his later visits to the area, Nathaniel Hawthorne, an avid follower of colonial stories, learned about Mary Beadle Bachiler of Kittery. Hawthorne's journal does not name Mary specifically, but does "note a young woman doomed to wear the Letter A on the breast of her gown under an old colony law as punishment for adultery."

THE LIFE OF MARY BAILY BEADLE BACHILER TURNER 
Mary Baily's first husband was fisherman Robert Beadle, lost at sea in 1648. Widowed, her second husband was Reverend Stephen Bachiler, who was in his 80s, about sixty years her senior. Stephen had been excommunicated in England and in America he was punished for allegedly attempting to seduce the wife of a neighbor in Hampton, NH, which took him to Kittery as a missionary. Oliver Wendell Holmes described him as "that terrible old sinner and ancestor of great men"; i.e. President Nixon and Daniel Webster. Mary was hired as his housekeeper. The townsfolk buzzed about her being in the same house as the tainted reverend, forcing them to marry on April 1, 1650. Stephen conducted their marriage but failed to file a record of the marriage within a few days and was forced by the Colony to do so. In 1651, while married to the elderly Stephen, Mary was convicted of adultery with her next door neighbor, widower George Rogers by whom she became pregnant. George received flogging of "forty stripes save one" and, following the birth of their child which adulteress Mary named as Mary Bachiler instead of Mary Rogers, Mary was flogged with 40 stripes and was forced to wear the letter A on her gown. The reverend was ordered to live with his wife Mary. The reverend tried and failed to get a divorce, was pursued by many religious enemies, and ultimately returned to London where he died at 95 years of age. The child of George and Mary grew to up to wed William Richards and led a respectable life in Portsmouth, NH.

Adulteress Mary Bachiler, on the other hand, was further involved with the law on 14 October 1652 when the Kittery District Court charged her with "entertaining idle people on the Sabbath." Despite her run-ins with the governing law, just a few days later on November 1, 1652 Mary signed a Certificate of Submission turning Kittery over to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Mary, who was a principal land owner in Kittery after she was granted the land of her former husband, Robert Beadle, was eligible to sign the document, and did. Mary knew how to write her signature; many men did not. It is interesting that the town put the property of Robert Beadle in her name and did not follow the custom of her current legal husband, the Reverend, being granted the land. Mary received additional land in 1653 and 1654 because she had signed this certificate.

Thomas Turner worked at the Hansom Shipyard in Kittery and wanted to marry her, but was not able to as the Reverend failed in his divorce request. So, the resilient Mary appealed to the Massachusetts General Court for divorce in 1656. To support her position she stated that she did not wish to live on charity of others and needed to be free to marry and care for two ailing children who were in her charge and to preserve her holdings. Also she alleged that Reverend Stephen was married again in England. Add possible bigamy to his list of sins. She married Thomas in 1657 when she was 34 and led a respectable and quiet life thereafter. Ironically, 17 days after her divorce was granted, Stephen died in England on October 31, 1656.

Mary's life does, in fact, fit with the fictional account of Hester Pyrnne, the Puritan protagonist in The Scarlett Letter. In Part II of this article, I will share what I found about Mary inspiring Hawthorne to write his novel.  Read on....

Photo of an A:  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/ScarletLetter.svg