Hannah Williamson, a leader of the Free Love Sect

reformed Philadelphia prostitute (see Project and Jesse Elliott parentage Discussion)

Met Gates at the age of 27. Preached on the streets in Philadelphia. Arrested for vagrancy, before moving to the Chester County countryside. Like her partner Gates' wife Mary, a former Quaker.

In 1855, one of the group’s members, Hannah Shingle, was murdered in her farmhouse by her own axe, but it was never determined who the perpetrator was. Soon after this, the group fell apart and Williamson moved away from the township in 1857

"Gates believed that the coming of Christ changed the very nature of human love. He believed that "falling in love" was "an enchantment of the devil". Gates (and Williamson) instead advocated a "free intercourse between sexes" instead of monogamy. His free-love ideal emphasized kindness, generosity and tenderness for the loved one.
(So, Gates deserted his wife in Philadlphia and departed for the countryside)

Along with Hannah Williamson, a self-declared prophet, Gates established a small community for himself and his followers in East Coventry Township, Pennsylvania. The area became known as Free Love Valley due to two of the more controversial tenets of his sect: nudism and polyamory.[5][2]

Gates died in 1846 and was succeeded by Williamson.

An unsolved murder within the community ultimately led to its breakup: one of the members, Hannah Shingle (an aged woman), was murdered in her own home with her own axe. The sect dissolved and Williamson left the area in 1857." = wikipedia edited by MMvB
elsewhere:https://www.dailylocal.com/2013/05/18/chester-county-prison-ledger-...
"Known as the ‘Battle Axes of the Lord,’ the men and women involved in this group were followers of Philadelphian Theophilus Gates, who preached that men and women should not be confined to the boundaries of marriage when looking for intimate joy, and his female counterpart, Hannah Williamson. Their leader at the time, Daniel Stubblebine, and others, including Lydia Williamson, were arrested by county authorities and charged with adultery and fornication.

Some spent time on their sentences in prison, while others were pardoned by the governor at the time (who happened to be from nearby Trappe," just across the Schuylkill) (Rofini slyly noted that the men charged were in their 50s, the women in their 20s.)

of passing interest

https://licustranslation.com/2011/07/13/hannah-and-her-lovers/ Text from “Theophilus The Battle-Axe”, Charles Sellers, 1930. Patterson & White, Philadelphia.

looking for her parents:
# U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 for Robert Williamson

Pennsylvania Chester
New Garden Monthly Meeting
Minutes of New Garden

Name: Robert Williamson
Home in 1830 (City, County, State): New Garden, Chester, Pennsylvania had one female 15-19

1. 1820 United States Federal Census for John Williamson

Pennsylvania Delaware
Upper Providence had female 10-15

1. Name: Thomas Williamson

Home in 1820 (City, County, State): Marple, Delaware, Pennsylvania Enumeration Date: August 7, 1820 has a female Under 10
The WIlliamsons may have been in West Chester in 1810:
Name: Thomas Williamson
Residence Date: 6 Aug 1810
Residence Place: West Chester, Chester, Pennsylvania, USA
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25: 1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25: 1
Number of Household Members Under 16: 1
Number of Household Members: 3