The Tangled Story Behind Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Concord’s Hanscom Airforce Base
W BY JAIMEE LEIGH JOROFF
When doing research, you occasionally come across a colossal mess that makes you think, “Wow! This is so inappropriate!” And you can’t wait to share it. This article is the result of one of those moments. Are you ready? We’re going back to the year 1632. Shrieking seagulls and ocean mist surround us as we walk down the swaying gangway of The William and Francis, just arriving from London, England, and docking in Boston Harbor in the newly formed Massachusetts Bay Colony. With us is the Reverend Stephen Bachiler, a Puritan minister who, like Concord’s own founding minister, Peter Bulkeley, was driven out of England for resisting the religious reforms of King Charles the I. Perhaps twelve weeks on the Atlantic washed away some of Reverend Bachiler’s grasp on the ten commandments because he seemed to soon forget about his third wife, Helena, who had arrived on the same ship with him. After a few contentious years serving as a minister throughout Massachusetts and Hampton, New 30
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Hampshire, the reverend settled his eyes – and hands– on another man’s wife. “This is so inappropriate!” shouted his clergy as they removed him from his pulpit and excommunicated him. Any resulting marital strife between the Reverend Bachiler and Helena was short lived, for she soon became ill and died. Widowed again and without a pulpit, the reverend moved across the Piscataqua River to Kittery, Maine (which would soon join the Massachusetts Bay Colony), where he was eventually restored to the church but barred from pastoral duties. Now along came a desperate young widow named Mary Magdalene Bailey Beadle, with her three little children in tow. An arrangement was made between Mary and Reverend Bachiler, and Mary and her children moved into the reverend’s house where Mary acted as the housekeeper. Rumors began to spread of Mary and the reverend‘s shared close attention to domestic activities. Reverend Bachiler was summoned before the black-robed
The Scarlet Letter, painting of Hester Prynne and Pearl by Hughes Merle (1861)
and white-collared clergy. “This is so inappropriate!” they stated, “Explain!” “It’s OK,” the reverend replied, “We’re married.” “By whom?” demanded the surprised clergy. “By me!” answered the reverend. Unlike these quotes, which are based on historical records and not verbatim, the reverend assured everyone that his marriage to Mary was real, and life went on respectably. As time passes, we all know it’s important to stay active. Walking is very good for you, but the rough ground of newly settled Maine would have challenged anyone’s footsteps, and it’s likely that 86-year-old Reverend Bachiler had trouble keeping up with 25-year-old-Mary, who walked down the road and met local (and young) man George Rogers. Say it with Mary: “Hello, George!” Mary and George became quite fond of each other until the two would soon obviously become three. “This is so inappropriate!” screamed the townspeople. In 1651, Mary and George were brought before the Georgeana (York) Court in
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The Adulteress & the Airman
