Historical Profile: Mary Dyer

Boston, MA. — Mary Dyer (1611–1660) was a Quaker known for her commitment to her religious viewpoints.  She became a martyr after being hanged in Boston, Massachusetts on June 1, 1660.  Dyer was born in England but left with her husband William to seek religious freedom.  Mary and William Dyer arrived in Boston in 1635.  While living in Massachusetts Bay Colony, Mary Dyer defied a banishment order placed on her from colony leaders.  Puritan leaders within the colony did not agree with the Quaker religious philosophy.  This disagreement led the Puritans to make laws against Quaker religious practices. 

On the day that she was executed, Dyer was asked to renounce beliefs in order to save her life.  Dyer refused to renounce her beliefs.  Before her death she said: “Nay, I came to keep bloodguiltiness from you, desiring you to repeal the unrighteous and unjust law of banishment upon pain of death, made against the innocent servants of the Lord, therefore my blood will be required at your hands who willfully do it; but for those that do is in the simplicity of their hearts, I do desire the Lord to forgive them.  I came to do the will of my Father, and in obedience to his will I stand even to the death.”

In 1997, Mary Dyer was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame and in 2000 she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

There is a statue of Mary Dyer located in front of the Massachusetts State House in Boston, Massachusetts.  The monument, sculpted by Sylvia Shaw Judson, was dedicated on July 9, 1959.
Mary Dyer statue at the Massachusetts State House.

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