Bowne House Restoration Underway
BY LIZ GOFF

The oldest house in Queens County is about to undergo a much-anticipated facelift.

Trustees of the Bowne House Historical Society last week unveiled plans for a $2.7 million restoration project that includes restructuring of the historic home's timber frame and construction of a 1,400-square-foot Visitor's Center, complete with archives, offices, restrooms and space for exhibitions and lectures.

"This is a very special place," Donna Cartelli, executive director of the Bowne House Museum, said. "It deserves very special care."

John Bowne's role in securing religious freedom in the United States dates back to the early 1600s, when Bowne arrived in the colony of New Amsterdam and built his home in the community now known as Flushing.

Bowne's odyssey began when a religious group known as the Society of Friends settled in New Amsterdam, where they began to openly practice the Quaker religion.

Shortly thereafter, the governor of New Netherland, Peter Stuyvesant, banned all forms of religious worship in the colonies, with the exception of the Dutch Reformed religion.

The citizens of Flushing, who believed the town should be open to all forms of religious expression, called on the town clerk, Edward Hart, to draw up a document which would declare that New Amsterdam would be open to everyone for free expression of religious views. That document, which was all-encompassing, even extending freedom to worship to Jews and Muslims, was dubbed the "Flushing Remonstrance."

The Flushing Remonstrance was signed on December 27, 1657 by 28 freeholders of the town, settlers who put their lives and welfare on the line by putting ink to paper. The move set off a seven-year struggle for freedom of religious worship in the Colony of New Netherland.

Bowne, who had observed the Quakers worshipping in nearby woods to avoid persecution, opened his home to the group for worship. When Stuyvesant learned of this, he had Bowne arrested and imprisoned on a ship which, on Stuyvesant's orders, was to sail "to wherever (the ship) shall land."

After a long and arduous journey, the ship docked in Ireland, where Bowne was released, penniless, owning only the clothes on his back.

Bowne eventually journeyed to Holland, where he pleaded against Stuyvesant's ban before officials of the Dutch West India Company in Amsterdam. The Dutch West India Company in actuality owned the colony and was its true governing body.

The officials agreed with Bowne's argument. They sent a strong message to Stuyvesant, ordering him "hands off" the issue of religious freedom in the colonies, and they set Bowne free. Bowne returned to Flushing in 1664, having won his battle for freedom of religious worship in the New World.

More than 125 years later, the tenets of The Flushing Remonstrance would be included in the Bill of Rights as a guarantee of religious freedom in the United States.

The Bowne House was converted to a museum in 1947 and has since welcomed generations of visitors. Rumors of spectral sightings have long surrounded Bowne House, inspiring the curious to see if the ghostly image is truly that of John Bowne, its master.

The renovations will take an estimated two years to complete, Cartelli said. Funds for the $600,000 Visitor's Center, scheduled for completion in early 2009, will be raised through a series of fundraisers, along with contributions from local elected officials.

Additional funds will be available when Bowne House officially joins the Historic House Trust of New York City, a non-profit organization that operates in conjunction with the city Department of Parks and Recreation. Transferring care of Bowne House to the Historic House Trust will allow trustees to receive government funding for care, renovations and upkeep, Cartelli said.

City Councilmember John Liu, whose district includes the Bowne House, and Borough President Helen Marshall have agreed to help fund the restoration, contingent on the trustees ability to raise $200,000 toward the endowment.

Cartelli said architects have developed plans to protect delicate artifacts located at the Bowne House and have hired construction workers trained in historical repairs to assist in the project.