Bowers, Bathsheba (c. 1672–1718)

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Bowers, Bathsheba (c. 1672–1718)

American religious writer. Born c. 1672 in Charlestown, Massachusetts; died 1718; 3rd of 12 children of Benanuel Bowers and Elizabeth Dunster; never married.

With sisters, was sent by parents to live in Philadelphia to avoid the persecution of Quakers by the Puritans of Massachusetts; became a Quaker preacher; wrote An Alarm Sounded (1709), which argues for religious rights of women.