our queer elders
sarah white norman & mary vincent hammon
“we present the wife of hugh norman, and mary hammon, both of yarmouth, for lewd behavior with each other upon a bed.”
—plymouth colony general court records, 6 march 1948
the first (and only) known conviction for lesbianism in the united states took place in the mid-1600s in what is now modern day cape cod. in plymouth colony, in present day yarmouth, sarah white norman (~1623–1654) and mary vincent hammon (1633–1705) were accused of “lewd behavior with each other upon a bed.” while mary was admonished (perhaps due to her age), sarah was convicted and sentenced “to make a public acknowledgment … of her unchaste behavior.” records indicate that sarah’s husband moved back to england without her, whereas mary went on to have several children with her husband.
here’s the kicker: in 1653, their accuser, richard berry (1626–1681), was ordered, along with another man, to “part their uncivil living together.” this is mentioned in tandem with another (heterosexual) adultery order, suggesting that richard was perhaps also engaging in lewd behavior upon a bed—with another man.
1644 map of yarmouth, ma. note richard berry’s house at #21.
about the song
plymouth colony court records from 1648 (published 1855, 1968).
very little is known about sarah and mary other than what is written in court records. “every oyster” is an imagining of how the two might have met in colonial cape cod, maybe while harvesting shellfish. the hypocrisy of whole saga led me to research some more original texts—the 1599 geneva bible, the version of the bible brought to north america by the colonizers.
“every oyster” reinterprets matthew 7:1-5 (“or how sayest thou to thy brother, suffer me to cast out the mote out of thine eye, and behold, a beam is in thine own eye?”) as a testament to queer joy.
every oyster
I first saw you on the flats
the days were warmer and the light began to last
you were licking brine off of your fingers
with every oyster I fell fast
we fit together like the shore and the sea
and I’ve known the devil but he’s never known me
we fit together you’re not unlike me
and I’ve known the devil but he’s never known me
it was 1648
on Yarmouth shores along the Great Baye
I welcomed you upon my bed
we rose like tides and crashed like waves
we fit together like the shore and the sea
and I’ve known the devil but he’s never known me
we fit together you’re not unlike me
and I’ve known the devil but he’s never known me
why seest thou the sand in thy sister’s eye
and perceivest not the pearl in thine
who hast never tasted sea’s sweet flesh
to transcendest not to the divine
to the divine
in the darkness where we laid
we heard footsteps but we weren’t afraid
we saw richard in the lamp light
I kissed you anyway
we fit together like the shore and the sea
and I’ve known the devil but he’s never known me
we fit together you’re not unlike me
and I’ve known the devil but he’s never known me
k.a.castagno 2024
recommended reading
records of the colony of new plymouth, in new england, edited by nathaniel b. shurtleff and david pulsifer. published 1968.
same-sex desire in the english renaissance: a sourcebook of texts, 1470-1650 by kenneth borris. published 2004.
astray by emma donoghue. published 2012. the short story, “the lost seed,” is inspired by the court proceedings.