John Bowne, (1627–1695), an English Quaker, arrived in New Netherland in 1649. Defying Governor Stuyvesant's attempts to suppress religious freedom, Bowne offered his home as a meeting place for fellow Quakers. This act landed him in jail, even leading to deportation, but eventually his conviction was overturned. Bowne returned to Flushing, acquiring land that included the Quaker Meeting House and a burial ground, where he rests after his death in 1695.

Before Bowne's arrival, this land belonged to the Matinecock people, native inhabitants of Flushing Creeke. Although history records land sales to the Dutch and perhaps to Bowne himself, it also documents prior violence against the Matinecock community, and a devastating smallpox epidemic in 1652. Despite these hardships, some Matinecock people remain a living presence in Queens today.