A Heritage of Light

On a bitterly cold day in the winter of 1710-1711 in the Colony of Virginia, brothers, Abraham and Benjamin Cooke are summoned from their labor in their blacksmith shop to their favorite uncle’s death bed.  John Cooke entrusts them with a secret mission to find his Native American mistress, Nuttah and their son Hassan and convey his bequests for them.  Benjamin and Abraham relying upon their Quaker faith, divine providence and their survivalist’s skills launch upon this adventure into the wilderness not knowing where their trip will take them.  They meet seemingly insurmountable obstacles along the way including treacherous betrayal by a Native American hunting party, who at first befriends them and invites them into their camp, but later decide to bind them up and sell them as slaves to another tribe.Almost simultaneously Benjamin and Abraham’s brothers, William and Nathan have their ship impounded for violation of English Navigational Acts by a ruthless captain of an English Man of War ship. Their Great Uncle Isaac provides them counsel to brace them for their coming ordeal. He tells them of their family saga of faith and practice as Quakers (Society of Friends) Because of their family’s spiritual heritage their ancestors through the early years in Colonial Virginia have stirred up controversy with their Anglican neighbors, particularly for their civil disobedience against the norms and ordinances of Anglican social stratification. Their radical beliefs that all persons regardless of race or gender are equal and precious to God and endowed with His Holy Light and thus should be treated with respect; even towards Native Americans and African slaves. Their ancestors accepted that all people have received revelation of God and are subject to judgment and reconciliation. Thus they believed in the freedom of conscience for all persons and the liberty to practice their faith.  Their Quaker ancestors both male and female have been missionaries of this good news into the other Colonies and particularly to North Carolina. It is because of their social conscience that their family has willfully disobeyed the English Navigational Acts. Uncle Isaac commends them to not submit to fear under persecution but to trust the Light within them to keep the faith.  The English captain has a hidden agenda of impressing their ship to arm it to use in the employment of Queen Anne’s Wars. William and Nathan adamantly oppose his orders because of their deep rooted pacifist’s convictions. He kidnaps them and brutally abuses them. He locks them in the hold of his ship with the intent of breaking their resolve.  He spares no acts of cruelty in his perverse attempts to break their will.Meanwhile a deadly epidemic of Small Pox sweeps across the Colony of Virginia and if it continues as usual it will kill a third of the population. The aforementioned Cooke brothers’ Aunt Sarah and their Great Aunt Esther by marriage who both are Quaker physicians decide to call a special meeting of the three local Quaker Meeting groups to organize the efforts of the women of these groups to take preemptive action to stem the tide of the deadly epidemic. By an unexpected twist of divine providence, Abraham and Benjamin are led to their appointed destination; not as expected to slavery, but to unimaginable blessings which will change the course of their lives and of their Quaker community forever. 3