Deborah Moody

In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where she had first settled after leaving England because of persecution as an Anabaptist, she had been described by contemporaries as "a dangerous woman" and chose excommunication over giving up her beliefs.

She corresponded with other religious Nonconformists in the area, and espoused the views of Roger Williams on the invalidity of infant baptism.

In 1643, Director Willem Kieft of the Dutch West India Company was looking for new settlers to add to the population in New Netherland.

He had recently started a war with the local Lenape and wanted more settlers to defend the newly seized land.

Since the Netherlands and their colonies had policies of relative religious tolerance, in order to encourage trade, Moody's Anabaptist beliefs presented less of a problem.

Moody allowed total religious freedom in Gravesend, as long as it fell within the laws of the colony.

[4] Today, Gravesend, as its name became known, is part of Brooklyn in New York City, with the original town square still evident in the street layout.

In the fall of 2014, Moody was honored for founding the town of Gravesend in "Built by Women New York City",[5] a competition launched by the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation.