Early Life and Marriage Mary Bowne was born in Flushing, Queens County, in 1784, the daughter of John Bowne IV, a descendant of John Bowne I, the seventeenth-century defender of religious liberty. The Bowne family’s Quaker convictions and civic engagement shaped her outlook from an early age.

In 1806 she married Samuel Parsons, a fellow Friend and Quaker minister. The Parsons and Bowne families shared religious and moral ideals—simplicity, equality, and social reform. Mary and Samuel established their household in Flushing, where they raised eight children and remained active in both the Flushing and New York Monthly Meetings.

Quaker Ministry and Reform Work Both Mary and her husband were active in ministry and in the moral reform causes that characterized early nineteenth-century Quakerism. Their household became known for hospitality, religious devotion, and commitment to education and abolition.

The Parsons home, located near the Bowne House, became a gathering place for Friends engaged in anti-slavery work. Family letters and meeting records preserved in the Bowne House and Parsons family archives show that Mary and several of her children were directly involved in the operations of the Underground Railroad.

Abolitionist Activity and the Underground Railroad

Mary’s sons Robert, William, and Samuel Parsons continued their parents’ abolitionist mission. A significant piece of evidence linking the family to the Underground Railroad is a letter dated September 28, 1850—shortly after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act. Addressed to William Bowne Parsons, the letter requests help in concealing a “colored man” whose escape from slavery required “great care and caution.”

For years, the letter was attributed to an unknown "L. I. Jocelyn," but recent scholarship has confirmed the signature is that of Simeon S. Jocelyn (1799–1879), the noted abolitionist minister and co-founder of the Amistad Committee. The shaky signature was the result of an arm injury Jocelyn sustained in a railroad accident. The letter explicitly asked if the fugitive might be kept “perfectly unobserved” in the Flushing area, which was considered safer than Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

The obituary of another son, Samuel Bowne Parsons Sr., later recorded “his boast that he assisted more slaves to freedom than any other man in Queens County.” These accounts confirm that the Parsons and Bowne homes in Flushing served as active stations on the Underground Railroad, sheltering fugitives seeking freedom in the North.

Family and Philanthropy Mary’s three sisters—Ann, Elizabeth (“Eliza”), and Catharine Bowne—remained unmarried and lived at the Bowne House throughout their lives. In 1814, Ann and Catharine were among the founders of the Flushing Female Association, established to educate poor children, particularly those of African descent, at a time when no public schools existed in the town. Although not a founding member, Eliza later joined the effort.

The school initially admitted students of all races and faiths. In 1837, the Association received two large gifts, including a fund established by a Quaker donor to provide education for the children of formerly enslaved parents. After 1847, as Flushing introduced segregated public schools, the Association’s school continued specifically for African-American students, supported in part by public funds.

Death and Legacy Mary Bowne Parsons died on June 23, 1839, on the island of St. Croix, where she had traveled in an attempt to recover her health. Friends’ records describe her as “a woman of meek and steady faith, charitable to all, and zealous for righteousness.” Through her children’s work in education and the Underground Railroad, she and her husband carried forward the Bowne family’s long-standing witness to human equality and freedom of conscience.

Her descendants continued to influence social and civic life in Queens and New York through philanthropy, education, and horticulture, preserving the Bowne–Parsons legacy well into the twentieth century.