Governor Winthrop thus speaks of her in his journal : " In 1643, Lady Moody was in the colony of Massachusetts, a wise and anciently religious woman, and being taken with the error of denying baptism to infants, was dealt withal by many of the elders and others, and admonished by the church of Salem, whereof she was a member, but persisting still, and to avoid further trouble, etc., she removed to the Dutch, against the advice of her friends." On the 19th of December, 1645, Governor Kieft, of New Amsterdam, issued a general patent for the town of Gravesend, Long Island, to Lady Deborah Moody, Sir Henry Moody, her son, George Baxter and James Hubbard, their heirs and successors, " to have and enjoy free liberty of conscience, according to the customs and manners of Holland, without molestation." Gravesend was planted entirely by English settlers from Massachusetts, and, unlike the "five Dutch towns," which constituted the rest of Kings County, the records, which are still well preserved, were kept from the commencement of the settlement in the English language.
THE DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT.
Friends came to Gravesend in considerable numbers in 1657. Many of the inhabitants embraced their doctrines, and their first religious meeting on Long Island was established there. It was recorded that " meetings were held at the house of Lady Moody, who managed all things with such prudence and observance of time and place as to give no offense to any person of another religion ; so she and her people remained free from molestation."