Deborah, Lady Moody (born Deborah Dunch) (1586– circa 1659) is notable as the founder of Gravesend, Brooklyn, and is the only woman known to have started a village in colonial America. She was the first known female landowner in the New World. As a wealthy titled woman, she had unusual influence in New Netherland, where she was respected. In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where she had first settled after leaving England because of persecution as an Anabaptist, she had been described by contemporaries as "a dangerous woman" and chose excommunication over giving up her beliefs. Biography Deborah Dunch was born in London in 1586, the daughter of Walter Dunch of Avebury Manor in Wiltshire and his wife, also called Deborah. The elder Deborah was the daughter of James Pilkington, Bishop of Durham and his wife. Walter's father was Sir William Dunch, the Auditor of the Royal Mint. Deborah married Sir Henry Moody, 1st Baronet, in 1606. By marriage she was entitled to be addressed as Lady Moody. She was widowed by 1629, after her husband died at age 46. Lady Moody left England in 1639 due to religious persecution, as she had adopted Anabaptist beliefs. At the age of 54, she settled in the town of Saugus, Massachusetts. She moved to a large farm in Swampscott, just outside of Salem. She corresponded with other religious Nonconformists in the area, attracting negative attention from her closest neighbor, Reverend Hugh Peter. Peter believed in religious unity in the Massachusetts Puritan colony. He had already expelled Anne Hutchinson, another Anabaptist woman, two years prior to Moody's arrival. In 1643, Moody was put on trial for allegedly spreading religious dissent. Puritan leader John Endecott described her as a "dangerous woman", during her trial. The Church told her to change her beliefs or be excommunicated. Moody chose excommunication. She gathered her fellow Anabaptists, and set out once again to find a place where they could peacefully practice their religion. In 1643, Director Willem Kieft of the Dutch West India Company was looking for new settlers to add to the population in New Netherland. He had recently started a war with the local Lenape and wanted more settlers to defend the newly seized land. Lady Moody had money and followers, and accepted the opportunity to create a new community. Since the Netherlands and their colonies had policies of relative religious tolerance, in order to encourage trade,