of her in the Church of Christ is very great and the Memorial of her will not be forgotten for her Works praise her and will be had in everlasting rememberance with the Lord. The 14th Day of the 8th Month 1686. Ann Travers A short Testimony to the good Life of a worthy Matron in Israel Ann Whitehead I Knew her six and twenty Years ago after the breaking forth of that blessed day of God upon us and she was made an early partaker of the day Star that arose in us even in the Hearts of Thousands both Sons and Daughters of which this my dear Sister Ann Whitehead was one of the chosen Vessels and by her Integrity and Faithfulness was fitted and prepared to and for her heavenly Masters Use and Service and so by receiving her pure divine Sap and Virtue from the blessed divine Root she grew up to be an honorable Vessel throughly furnished unto every good Work she was called unto yea a living Member of the true Body and Church of Christ yea a living Branch of the true Vine my Soul can bear her witness with many more who partaked of her Virtue and saw her motherly Care in the Church and for the good of all and so can do no less in Truth and Righteousness then let her Name be had in living Remembrance and though her bodily presence be removed from us yet her living Works praise her in the Gate for with Wisdom Prudence and godly Sincerity she was richly adorned hating even the Garment spotted by the Flesh and very severe she was against any that had defiled their Garments for her Garment was made White in the Blood of the Lamb and she was like one of those who had not defiled their Garments And they shall walk with me in White for they are Worthy saith he that is Holy and True and now what shall I say my Heart is deeply affected to think of our great loss for a true Mother in Israel is gone and taken away to inherit and possess that Crown Immortal laid up for her who loved his appearance and was a faithful follower of the Lamb in the Regeneration and is now fat down in the Kingdom of Glory with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and so we cannot Mourn as those without Hope but in the will of my heavenly Father to learn subjection by all my Tryals and Exercises the desire of my Soul is that we that are left behind may be faithful Followers of the footsteps of this our dear Sister with her dear and honorable Companion whose Paths their just Paths have been and are as a clear and bright shining Light shining forth more more to the consolating refreshing of my Soul with very many more and so that Spirit in her unto which I was united shall never dye and in this we feel her amongst us and are content in the will of the Lord. Lucretia Cook This Testimony lives in my Heart for my wel-beloved and rightly esteemed Friend Ann Whitehead SHE was one that did truly fear God by which she had learned a great degree of true Wisdom and through the inspiration of Gods holy Spirit had attained to a good and sound Understanding both of Spiritual and Natural things through which she was made a Vessel of Honour being one whom the Lord had fitly furnished to be of great use and truly serviceable to and amongst the Houshold of Faith through the virtue of that Life which the Lord often communicated through her to and amongst them insomuch that their inward outward Life was often Refreshed Comforted and Strengthned yea I can say and am oblieged to acknowledg that the Lord made her Instrumental to 〈◊〉 both for which I bless the Lord on her behalf and that he hath made known and preserved me in the sence of that Righteous Principle which her Christian Practice did often reach to and answer as Face answereth Face in a Glass and this is that indeed by which I know many with me can in their Spirits seal to who were and are sharers of the Virtue of that indwelling Life which her Spirit was gathered into and blessed be the Lord doth my Soul say in the lively sence of her Joy and endless Felicity who did receive an hundered fold in this Life as an earnest of that Incorruptible Immortal Life and is now entered into the full possession of it being an Heir of that Promise Blessed are the Dead that Dye in the Lord she is ceased from her Labour and her Works follow her And now alas what shall I say An Isralite is gone this day Who true and faithful was to God Against all Wickedness a Rod A tender Mother yet indeed Well furnished to help our need Well then bewail our loss may we So faithful true and wise was she For often did she recommend Us to the Lord our lasting Friend Our loss indeed how shall we take What but her gain can it up make For sure revived this may be One said to dye is gain to me Which gain transcends me thinks I find Her reward great that 's in my mind In Gospel work she had a share Great was her Labour and her Care To bring more Children to that place Where Godworks in them by his Grace This I observ'd that still she aim'd The Truth of God might not be blam'd Which faithful Labour I did find Was from a just and righteous mind And now I pray O Lord keep me Even all my days faithful to thee That so an Isralite indeed I may be found of Isaacs Seed Of which right Seed was this my Friend I testifie and so shall end Abigail Fisher. A TESTIMONY concerning Ann Whitehead DEar Ann is gone her Glass is Run She 's entred into Rest She lived here in Gods pure Fear Dy'd in him and is Blest She serv'd the Lord in Faithfulness And when her end drew nigh Told me her Work was finished She 'd nought to do but Dye She did desire her Love to Friends Remembred it might be In that which universal is The Truth which maketh free Great was her Zeal great was her Cars And Labour in her Day To serve and helpful be to those Were turn'd into Gods Way She was a Vessel fitted and Prepared by the Lord To honour him and lov'd all those Who serv'd him with accord Oneness of Heart oneness of Mind Amongst Gods Children dear She valued high Exhorting all To dwell in Gods pure Fear With Wisdom and Discerning great The Lord did her endue Quickness of Sight and Sence she had With Judgment Sound and True To me she was a trusty Friend And good advice did give Her Memory to me is Sweet In that where she did Live And certainly our loss is great May many Children say A Mother that in Israel was Is from us t'ane away But yet the Lord the Living God Her Husband will remain To us a Father dear and will His Childrens Cause maintain 'Gainst those that do his Work
and though she signified that a sadness had come over her Spirit for two or three Weeks insomuch that she was ready to Weep as she said when any Friends looked upon her or spake to her and that she had been something troubled at it as not knowing any thing by her self as the reason thereof but that she was naturally Pensive as she said being then clearly got over all that Sadness of Spirit and over all her Affliction and Pain insomuch that the more near she drew towards her end the more chearful she was her Spirit being greatly revived and comforted in the great love of God and his tender mercies to her whose mercies endure for ever to them that fear him This faithful Servant of our Lord Jesus Christ was in such Patience such Contentedness such Subjection of Spirit and holy resignation to the will of the Lord that she appeared no ways burdened with the thoughts of Death nor concerned nor in the least troubled about it Life immortal was over all But still she was given up in the will of God desiring others not to be concerned nor troubled about her if the Lord pleased to take her away saying Let me go away quietly Upon the 25th 5th Month 1686 when her antient and faithful Friend Mary Stout of Hartford came to visit her towards evening being asked if she knew her she said Yes very well 't is Mary Stout I have my Memory very well and my Understanding is clear though I am very Weak but I am given up into the will of the Lord whether to Die or Live for I have been faithful to him in what I knew both in Life and Death When she discerned any Friends troubled she was concerned would say There 's no cause for you to be troubled or concerned for I am well and in peace and have nothing to do c. with several more words to the same purpose Besides the many seasonable tender Christian Exhortations and Counsel which on her dying Bed she gave in the love of God to particular Friends which I pray God may be truly remembered and practiced and her many weighty and apt expressions in discourse on several occasions relating to Truth c. On the 26th 5th Month 86. in the evening Ann Whitehead said to her Husband c. The Lord is with me I bless his Name and I am well It may be you are afraid I should be taken away and if I be the will of the Lord be done Do not trouble your selves nor make any great ado about me But my dear go to Bed go to Rest and if I should speak no more words to thee thou knowest the everlasting love of God c. The next morning being the 27th 5th Month 1686 near three in the morning she quietly departed this Life at Briget Austil's at Southstreet in Middlesex her Husband Sister Ann-Mary Freeman Ann Cox Mary Stout and Briget Austil being present at her departure And now dear Friends the great tenderness gravity and solemnity among our tender and loving Friends accompanying her Body to the Burial on the 29th of the 5th Month 1686 did very deeply affect my Heart Friends love was felt beyond utterance Thus having given you my dear Friends this naked account I tenderly recommend you all to the grace of God to preserve you in the unity of his holy Spirit faithful to serve out your Generation in the love of God and blessed concord therein I pray God keep you comfort and supply you with all that 's needful for you to the end of your days and in the end crown all your labours of Love for his Names sake with a Crown of Life and Glory that fades not away Amen Your assured Faithful Friend and Brother G. Whitehead Written in the 5th and 6th Months 1686. Ann-Mary Freeman HER Testimony for her dear Sister Ann Whitehead AS to my dear Sister Ann Whitehead who was greatly beloved in the Lord by all that knew her aright in the blessed Truth of God for that she was always given up as a true and faithful Member of his Church to serve him in constant sincere Obedience in her Generation and Day on all accounts as is well known whose practice and manner of Life Conversation being not only Blameless but of good Report and Savour amongst Men from her Youth up when I was but a Child she took me unto her care and tenderly educated and helped me many Years and though young in Years then yet this I can testifie that her desires and inclinations were always religiously bent to serve the Lord both in Private and Publick in that way of Worship her Understanding reached to being so given up and devoted to his Service that her Zeal for the same hath carried her through much hardship of Body early and late and in due time the Lord answered the desires of her Soul in visiting her with his Gospel Day and powerful Testimony of the glorious Light thereof which she willingly imbraced through the Lords goodness and love to her and gave up to walk in the Light of the Living and was a Sufferer for bearing Testimony to the Truth and found great Peace and Satisfaction and the Lords presence and blessings in her Faithfulness and Perseverance and indeed as a natural Sister I can say and that in true thankfulness to God I have had great cause to bless the Lord in her behalf for she was a Treasure to me of great Value and I can truly say I honoured her as my Mother and she was not only a blessing to me but also to my Fathers House and the Memorial of her is pretious to me and will be blessed to Generations to come and now as it hath pleased the Lord to take her hence and I am deprived of so dear and near a Relation I am though in the bowed-downness of my Spirit before him subjected and reconciled to his will as knowing he giveth and taketh and in his own time and pleasure in whose hand the breath of all is So she is gone to Rest and I am fully satisfied her Soul is in Peace and Joy with the Lord eternally Much more might be said of her by me but her daily Care and Service being so well known by Rich and Poor Old and Young I shall forbear inlarging knowing her Reward is with her and her Works follow her for she did spend and was spent to serve the Lord faithfully in Truth and Righteousness to the end of her days and this I am a Witness of though one of the meanest in Gods Vinyard who am by Name Ann-Mary Freeman A Testimony for my dear and wel-beloved Friend Ann Whitehead whom I dearly loved in the Lord and that for her Works sake and for what the Lord had done for her I Had a true knowledg of her in the blessed Truth according to my measure she was a blessed Instrument in the hand of the Lord about some twenty seven Years ago it was my lot
of God She was adorned and furnished by the Truth with a good Understanding true Wisdom and sound Judgment to discern between things that differ whereby she was made a very serviceable Member in the Church of Chrst and a Mother in Israel to many Children ministring the Word in due season sutable to every State and Condition and I can truly say we have been often Refreshed and Comforted together in the Lord and one in another in our Women's Meetings where the Weak and Feeble have been strengthened and that which was heady high abased and brought low and Truth over all exalted and we as Members of that one Body of which Christ Jesus our Lord is the Head build up together a spiritual Houshhold unto God And this was the Labour Travel of our dear Friend and faithful Labourer in the Work Service of the Lord who was therein drawn forth to visit us at our Quarterly-Meeting at the Bull and Mouth the 5th of 5th Month 86. and it was the last publick Meeting she was at amongst us for she was then weak in Body yet she was strong in the Lord and in the power of his might was she enabled to bear a faithful Testimony for the Truth against all such that made a profession of it and was high and lifted up above the pure fear of the Lord and that measure of Truth which many had received and been partakers of in the beginning also signifying of what little value all the Glory Pride vain Fashions Customes and Friendships of this World are and how they all pass away and will not stand any one in stead in the day of account which will certainly overtake all therefore she exhorted and laboured in the Word of Truth that all might be warned against awakened out of all those things which grieves the good Spirit of the Lord are contrary to the pure mind will of God that so your Souls might live to God through your obedience to the Truth and the operation of his Power which works in them that believe to do those things which are acceptable in his Sight that God over all may be glorified for he alone is worthy of all Glory and Praise for evermore Oh that we which yet remain may be found following the footsteps of this our dear Friend as she followed Christ leaving us a good example in all manner of god-like Conversation She was a pattern of Wisdom and Sobriety and her Integrity to God was manifested through her labour of Love and faithful Service for the Truth's-sake In her Life time she sought the good of all and at her Death manifested her Love the same to all being sweetly kept in a living Injoyment of true Peace and Rest with the Lord her Love flowed forth uoto all the whole Flock and Family of God desiring that we might all live in Love And the God of Peace said she be with you preserve you and keep you all in true Love Peaece and Unity with himself and one with another And in this peaceable frame of Spirit I am satisfied that this our dear Friend resigned and gave up to the will of the Lord as in her Life time so at her Death having fought the good Fight finished her Course and kept the Faith and is at Rest with the Lord and her Memory is blest forever Susanna Dew AND I was truely glad I had an oppertunity to visit her in the time of her weakness for I was Comforted and well refreshed with the rest of my Friends then present in the feeling and injoyment of that Love Life which still lives and will remain with all the upright in Heart And altho her Body be removed from us her memory lives in that which is beyond words So unto that pure everlasting Power which works in us and for us both to will and to do according to his good pleasure be all Glory and Honour with Everlasting pure holy Prayses it ascends and is ascribed and given unto him that lives for ever and for evermore S. D. A TESTIMONY FOR Ann Whitehead A Living Testimony springeth in my Heart concerning that worthy Friend and Sister yea Mother for so she was to many Anne Whitehead who was endued with much Wisdom from above and one of great Courage with godly Zeal in the Work and Service of the Lord and a godly care she had over the Flock and Family of the Lord oh often would she come forth in our Womens-Meeting with a living Testimony which hath much refreshed my Heart and Soul and I doubt not but many more can say the same with me stirring up the pure Mind in many and often did exhort all to see how and in what they were gathered often did the Spirit of God move on her Heart to put all in mind that they might have their Minds exercised in their own Gift oh the great care she had to exalt the Name and Power of the Lord over all and that all might come to feel the Power to administer Life to their Souls Blessed be the Lord and Magnified be his pure and holy Name I have often felt him in the midst of our Assembles as an overflowing Fountain and that our own have overflowed to the praise and glory of his Name this is not to adore the Creature but that as she was a faithful Follower of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ so we may be found walking in her steps that as I am fully satisfied this dear and wel-beloved one hath finished her Course and laid down her Head in perfect Peace with the Lord and is enrered into her Rest it may be so with us Dear Ann is fallen asleep yet doth her memorial live and will be had in everlasting remembranee So dear Friends let us be diligent in our places and be found good Examples as dear Ann was in her Day being nursing Mothers and Patterns of Gravity to those Young Ones that are coming up that they may have cause to praise the Lord on our behalfs as a remnant hath on behalf of her that is gone and we must follow the Lord knows how soon therefore dear and wel-beloved let us in all things be careful that we set no bad example to any neither in our Habit or Behaviour I have seen much in my time since the Lord convinced me of his ever blessed Truth that lawful things have not been expedient in Apparel as well as other things So dear Friends this is the true desire of my Heart and Soul and the breathing of my Spirit that we may walk so circumspect in our Day Age and Generation so that when our Change cometh we may lay down our Heads in Peace also to the Praise and Glory of the great Name of the Lord our God who is worthy of all Honour Glory and living Thanksgiving not only at this time but henceforth and for evermore Amen Mary Plumsted MAny are the Testimonies concerning our dear Friend and Sister Ann Whitehead