Mary Pearsall was born in Shrewsbury, St. Chads, Shropshire, England. She had emigrated bo Massachusetts by 1639. Mary and John Tilton were among the first Americans to become Quakers. The Dutch Governor of New Amsterdam, Peter Stuyvesant made continual efforts to stamp out "these raving Quakers " by fines and imprisonment. John Tilton and his wife Mary were among those who had to endure hard persecutions. Mary was charged with the crime of having gone, like a sorceress from door to door to lure and seduce the people, even young girls to join the Quakers. John was charged with having permitted Quakers to quake at his house in Gravesend.

The son of Robert Tilton and Elizabeth Focell (Tilton) - John Tilton and his brother William migrated and settled in Lynn Mass. The reason for this migration was, that they were discontented with the situation of England at that time. John and his wife Mary, later moved to Long Island, New Amsterdam. Mary and a friend,Deborah Moody stood up in the Ana-Baptist Church and denounced infant-baptism, saying they didn't believe that infants were doomed to hell just because they were not baptized. They (the Tiltons), were run out of town. After they were in Long Island only a short time, they allowed the Quakers to hold a meeting in their house. The court records show that the town speople threw rocks at their house for allowing such a meeting - as they said -"For the Quakers to Quake at their house". They later joined the Quakers and many of their descendants were Quakers.

   The earliest assured case of theocratic censure on the ground of antipedobaptist error occurred December 14, 1642, at the Salem Quarterly Court. The record runs

       "The Lady Deborah Moody, Mrs. King, and the wife of John Tilton were presented for holding that the baptizing of infants is no ordinance of God." 

Sources:

• http://baptisthistoryhomepage.com/massach.hist.by.newman.html
• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/d/a/i/Tamara-Daily/GENE1-0016.html
• http://mysite.verizon.net/vze3sbrn/AlbertP/Tilton.htm