ENGLISH HISTORICAL COMMENTARY The Mayflower Compact, November 21, 1620

IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620.

Mr. John Carver, Mr. William Mullins,

Mr. William Bradford, Mr. William White,

Mr Edward Winslow, Mr. Richard Warren,

Mr. William Brewster. John Howland,

Isaac Allerton, Mr. Steven Hopkins,

Myles Standish, Digery Priest,

John Alden, Thomas Williams,

John Turner, Gilbert Winslow,

Francis Eaton, Edmund Margesson,

James Chilton, Peter Brown,

John Craxton Richard Britteridge

John Billington, George Soule,

Moses Fletcher, Edward Tilly,

John Goodman, John Tilly,

Mr. Samuel Fuller, Francis Cooke,

Mr. Christopher Martin, Thomas Rogers, Thomas Tinker, Mr. John Allerton,

John Ridgdale Thomas English,

Edward Fuller, Edward Doten,

Richard Clark, Edward Liester

Richard Gardiner,

The Mayflower's compact historical commentary Kind of text: From my point of view, I consider it, as a Legal, Political and a Testimonial text, because it's a witness of all the settlers, due to different causes, such as: a) there were Religious Puritans who had escaped to Dutchland, and wanted to prosper, b) there were adventurers, looking for a new way of life. c) there were people who only wanted to make money out of the patent. I consider it legal, because it sets a set of a new Law system for them, free men “Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony” Temporal frame WHAT HAPPENED IN ENGLAND IN 1600s There is a change in the Dynasty, from the Tudor Era of Mary Tudor, who wanted to restore the Catholicism, and thus she is called Bloody Mary, due to her brutally actions against Protestants. Now, there is a new Era, the Era of the Stuarts (House of Stuarts) and it unificated the thrones of England and Scotland, and their banishment and restoration would mark a time of tremendous social upheaval. The first Stuart, James I, boasted that he was an old and experienced king, but he and his son found that their subjects meant to instruct them. These kings believed in their “Divine Right” to rule as they chose, but the villagers had another path, that of king had to consult their people in Parliament. The refusal of the Stuarts to understand this tradition of parliamentary liberty ended up with a civil war, in which British people emerged victorious. Charles I was executed in 1649 and since then they couldn`t find no satisfactory alternative to take the place fo a monarch, so in 1660 they came back. Looking outwards, it was a time of great expansions, so the explorations of the world, begun by Elisabethan reign, was impulsed under the Stuarts and Richard Cromwell. With new discoveries, Britain's first empire began to take shape. In 1609, Hudson explored the river and bay in Canada; some fifty years later, the Hudson Bay Company, chartered by Charles II, would have a monopoly in the region. In 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers sailed to America and founded Plymouth Colony in New England. A year later, there were attempts to colonize Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Three years after that, Virginia became a crown colony, and a decade later, the first settlers went to Maryland. In 1646, the Bahamas were colonized and New York was seized from the Ducth. It was also a period where many of the things that are now part of our everyday life appeared for the first time in Britain. Tobacco, coffee and chocolate becaeme part of a fashinable life. Potatoes were part of everyone's diet by 1670. Forks for eating were introduced from Italy. The first newspapers, the first insurance companies for property, logarithms, the slide-rule, the first papent laws and copyright laws, postal services, calculating machines and the barometer, the first coke furnaces for smelting iron ore, were all introduced during this time. When James I (1603-1625) came from Scotland to claim his new throne, he started a new age in Britain. He was supremely self-confident of his ability to rule England as he has ruled Scotland. The king was an intellectual in an age which had little time for subtlety, but he had little undestanding of English history. His proposals for the toleration of Catholics were tactlessly presented to an unwilling Parliament, and swept away by the anti-Catholic feelings which followed the discovery of the gunpodwer plot to blow up the king in 1605 At the time, when the monarchy became monolithic, divisions in Britain were growing. Religion was the main cause of division. Fears of King James' liberal attitudes to religion and his Presbyterian background were amongst the causes of the celebrated Gunpodwer Plot of November 1605, in which the plotters, led by Robert Catesby, aimed to blow up Parliament. The plot was betrayed and Guy Fawkes, a former soldier in the Spanish army in the Netherlands, was discovered with the gunpodwer beneath the Houses of Parliament. He was tried by the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Thomas Fleming, and was hung, drawn and quartered. King James I lacked common sense, the supreme virtue of Elizabeth's counsellor, Robert Cecil, who also served James as chief minister. After Cecil's death in 1612, James abandoned all his policies. Cecil had negociated Jame's succession and acted as a treasurer until his death. The one legacy Cecil left behind was Hatfield House, the incomparable work of wealth, taste and dynastic pride, which he had buitl in the Hertfordshire. Thereafter, James relied on men whose contemporaries deemed unsatisfactory as chief advisers: Robert Carr, earl of Somerset, and George Villiers, Ducke of Buckingham, both of whom had been rapidly elevated to the peerage by the king. One of the James first quarrels with his subjetcs concerned foreign policy. His over-riding concern was to avoid the expense of foreign wars and so he made peace with Spain, reversing a policy which Englishmen had come to regard as a way of life. Another problem was that the Puritans of England were prospering, and they wished to prosper further by destroying the Spanish monopoly of trade with the Americas. At the same time, James I was convinced that he could settle the bitter religious strife that was dividing his kingdom by imposing a compromise. In 1617, James published a Book of Sports, which allowed certain games to be played on Sundeays. For the Puritans, this was the final proof that James had turned his face against true religion. Three years later, the Mayflower set sail with its first cargo of Puritan exiles. The Pilgrim Fathers were bound for a new world, where they could practice their religious beliefs freely. In Britain, the king and the people were set on a collision course. The firs of the confrontations which were to lead England to civil war came when the House of Commons asserted its strength by impeaching the Lord Chancellor, Francis Bacon, in 1621. Bacon was the most original thinker who ever served a Stuart Monarch. He combined a long and distinguished career in the government service with a leading place in the world of science and letters. His works, together with those of his contemporary, the biologist William Harvey, constitute the most enduring contribution of the age to the progress of scientific thought and discovery. WHAT HAPPENED TO AMERICA IN 1600s The process of colonization of North America was an invasion of territory that had been controlled and settled for centuries by the indigenous population. The arrival of the Europeans constituted an intrusion, which, in the long term, the American Indians were unable to resist. The indigenous tribes had come to North America during the last ice age from the Asian continent from Siberia to Alaska, when the sea levels dropped and a land bridge was uncovered in the Bering Strait. Over time they spread all over the American continent. Christopher Columbus has discovered America in 1492. A few years later, the most powerful European nations began to claim areas of the American continent and establish colonies there. There was a contest among European powers to exploit these new lands, which they were determined to take control of. It did not even occur to them that the lands were the shared property of the indigenous population. Some of the indigenous Americans traded with the Europeans and became dependent on European goods. The Europeans brought new germs with them to which the American Indians had no natural resistance. Epidemics of European diseases, such as smallpox, measles and typhus, previously unknown in the American continent, caused widespread death in many of the American Indian tribes. The Europeans were initially drawn to America to acquire wealth and to establish new homes. European sovereigns rushed to claim as much territory as possible in order to found settlements on the territory. In the early 1600s, a number of colonies were set up in quick progression. In 1607, the English established a colony (Jamestown) in Chesapeake Bay, in 1608, the French settled in the North, in what is now Quebec, and the Dutch began their interest in the region that became present-day New York. Within another generation, the Plymouth Company (1620), the Massachusetts Bay Company (1629), the Company of New France (1627), and the Dutch West India Company (1621) began to send thousands of colonists, including families, to North America. English colonial policy promoted domestic industry, foreign trade, fisheries, and shipping by establishing colonial settlements in the New World and exploiting its resources through commercial companies, such as the Hudson Bay Company and the South Sea Company. The growing urge to colonize was due to a number of factors, which included international rivalry and the propagation of religion-a desire to convert the indigenous inhabitants of America to Christianity. There were also increasing numbers of religious and political dissenters who were seeking refuge, and individuals looking for adventure and new opportunities, and who wanted to own land. The main impulse behind colonization, however, was to make profit in the New World. Consequently, numerous companies invested in the colonies until 1631, when they invested their money in other enterprises. European countries engaged in the system of mercantilism. This meant state control and intervention, and the regulation of economic activities in the colonies. The aim was to accumulate wealth for the European powers at the colonies`expense. The colonies supplied food for themselves (auto supply) and their role was to produce raw materials and food for the metropolis, and to provide a market for it. Industrial activities were forbidden in the colonies in order to make them dependable on the exports of the metropolis. The degree of colonial control exerted depended on the nation and on the period. In the initial settlements, English control over the colonies was minimal. With all her involvement with European nations in wars of conquest, little energy of time was avaiable to dictate the colonies´ economic options. However, as the colonies gre and became more prosperous, the British realized that the economic control by implementing regulatory policies, thereby changing the balance of the relationship. The first colonies in North America were situated along the eastern coast. The first European settlement was established in St. Augustine, Florida, by Spaniards, under Pedro Menéndez, in 1565. In the sixteenth-century, Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh English aristocrats, were involved in the early English colonisation and were given a patent. In 1595, Sir Walter Raleigh was responsible for the establishment of the first English colony in America. Raleigh dispatched Sir Richard Grenville, with seven ships and a large number of people, to form a colony in Virginia. Ralph Lane was to serve as their governor. Grenville left 107 men at Roanoke Island to form a colony. The colony suffered from lack of supplies. Later, in 1606 patents were granted to the London and Plymouth Companies of Virginia. The crown provided no money, but granted the jurisdiction, since all the land was under its sovereignty. In 1609, a charter was issued to the Virginia Company, substituting indirect for direct control and provinding for a definite and expensive grant of land. This new policy led to the creation of the Council for New England in 1620. Direct control reappeared in 1624, when the political powers of the Virginia Company, were withdrawn and Virgina became the first of the royal colonies under a system of government that included a governor appointed by the king and a colonial assembly. In 1629, however, the corporate colony of Massachusetts Bay was grated a charter that permitted the transfer of the company to the New World. In 1632, the first propietary colony of Maryland was established with the granting of wide powers to the Baltimore family. Thus three types of colonial government emerged: royal, corporate and propietary. The king directed colonial policy until the outbreak of the first English civil war, when the Long Parliament assumed control, acting mainly through a special commision or council provided for by the Ordinance of 1643. This ordinance gave its president, the earl of Warwick, the title of governor in chief and Lord High Admiral of all the English colonies in America. Between 1645 and 1651, the Parliament enforced regulations to control colonial commerce and restrict colonial trade to the British, thereby favouring its shipping and manufacturers. Following on from this, from 1651 onwards, English instituted the Navigation Acts, which were a series of laws of trade and navigation restricting the use of foreign shipping for trade between England and its colonies. The instigation of these restricitons was a factor in the Anglo- Dutch Wars. Later, they were one of several sources of resentment against Great Britain in the American colonies. All trade between the colonists and the British was to be conducted either on English vessels or on colonial-built vessels. If the colonists intended to trade with any other nations, all goods had first to be shipped to England, giving her an opportunity to handle them and collect revenue from taxation. In addition, there were certain products that could be traded only with Britain, such as tobacco, sugar and cotton. As time went on, the list of specified goods grew continually decreasing the kinds of merchandise that the colonists could sell to other nations. As Britain was too far away to control the colonists directly, representative governments were established in the colonies. The English king appointed colonial governors who had to rule in cooperation with an elected assembly. Voting was restricted to white males who owned lands. The growing importance of the colonies led to various experiments in their supervision, such as the Laud Commission appointed by Charles I. These experiments ended in 1675 with the transference of this function to the Lords of Trade, a committee of the Privy Council, which continued to function to the Lords of Trade, a committee of the Privy Council, which continued to function until 1696, when William III established the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, a body that survived until after the American Revolution. England encouraged the colonists to specialize in the production of raw materials. English factories converted raw goods into products, which were then shipped back to the colonies. This provided the British with a profitable market, free from competition. In 1763, after the Seven Years War, the British started to enforce their mercantilist policies, which led to hostility between the English and their colonies. In colonial America, land was plentiful and labour was scarce. Most American colonists worked on small farms. By 1770, there were urban centres. Philadelphia was the largest city, followed by New York, Boston and Charleston. In the southern colonies, there was the system of slavery and black people worked on large plantations. Indentured servants were the main source of labour in the colonies. These were poor farmers who came from England and worked for a fixed period of time, from three to seven years, in exchange for their transportation, food, clothing, lodging, etc. Unlike slaves, an indentured servant was required to work only for a limited term, which has specified in a signed contract. The British tried to enslave the Indians but were unsuccessful. The first Negro slaves arrived in Virginia in 1619. By 1733, there were 13 colonies along the Atlantic coast, from New Hampshire in the North to Georgia in the South. The Seven Years' War, also called the French and Indian War, which lasted from 1754 until 1763, was a conflict that had enormous repercussions for Great Britain. In spite of her victory over France, in 1763, a royal proclamation denied the English the right to establish settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains, in order to avoud conflict with the American Indians. This was enforced by stationing troops along the frontier to ensure that the two rival groups were separated. Maintaining order in America was a significant challenge for Britain. Moreover, with Britain's acquisition of Canada from France, the prospects of peaceful relations with the Native tribes were not good. In consequence, the British decided to keep a standing army in America. The war also left Great Britain with a considerable national debt. Even though it had defeated France and its allies, victory had come at great cost. The American colonists were evading trade and navigation regulations and had been trading with the French during the Seven Year's War, so the British decided it was necessary to tighten their control and began to reform the system. The colonists, however, were creating a prosperous economy based on agriculture and trade, and no longer needed British protection. The new policies instigated in 1763 by the British after the war eventually drove the colonies towards their separation. These policies continued until 1776 with the Declaration of Independence. The policies continued until 1776 with the Declaration of Independence. The policies were aimed not only at alleviating the debt incurred during the French and Indian War, but also at exerting their sovereignty over the rebellious American colonies. Tensions between Britain and the colonies started when they began to charge taxes and punish strugglers. Colonial policy in the eighteenth century tried to reduce the corporate and propietary colonies to royal colonies, which largely succeeded. In addition, the policy increased restrictions on colonial enterprise by means of laws such as the Wool Act of 1699, the Whine Pine Acts, the Hat Act of 1732, the Sugar Acts of 1733 and 1764, and the Iron Act of 1750 There were clear differences in the English colonies, which became “British” with the union of England and Scotland in 1707, because they were founded for different purposes, but there were also a number of common features. For instance, in every colony, political jurisdiction and issues fell within one of the three levels of government: the king and Parliament, the Colonial governement, or the local government. There were three types of British colony in North America. − Plantation colonies: they produced sugar, tobacco, rice and indigo − Virginia − North Carolina − South Carolina − Georgia − Middle colonies: they produced wheat and timber − Maryland − Delaware − New Jersey − Pennsylvania − New York − New England colonies: The economy was based on trade in rum and slaves and on shipbuildging: − Connecticut − Massachusetts − Rhode Island − New Hampshire The first permanent settlement in North America was the English colony of Jamestown, in 1607, in what is now Virginia, John Smith and the London company had come to stay. The Pilgrims followed in 1620 and set up a colony at Plymouth, in what is now Massachusetts. The British Crown reached agreements with the colonies and gave them charters. All charters had a similar structure marking the extension of the territory and guaranteeing the rights of their citizens of the colonies as the British citizens in the metropolis and fully citizens. There were different colonies, in 1775, of the thirteen colonies, there were 8 royal colonies, 3 propietorship and 2 self-government colonies. Author The author is a collective one, consisting not only of the members who sign the Mayflower Compact, but of all the members of the Vessel. John Alden John Alden appears to have originated from an Alden family residing in Harwich, Essex, England, that was related by marriage to the Mayflower's master Christopher Jones. He was about 21 years old when he was hired to be the cooper, or barrel-maker, for the Mayflower's voyage to America. He was given the option to stay in America, or return to England; he decided to stay. At Plymouth, he quickly rose up from his common seaman status to a prominent member of the Colony. About 1622 or 1623, he married Priscilla, the orphaned daughter of William and Alice Mullins. They had their first child, Elizabeth, around 1624, and would have nine more children over the next twenty years. John Alden was one of the earliest freemen in the Colony, and was elected an assistant to the governor and Plymouth Court as early as 1631, and was regularly re- elected throughout the 1630s. He also became involved in administering the trading activities of the Colony on the Kennebec River, and in 1634 witnessed a trading dispute escalate into a double- killing, as Moses Talbot of Plymouth Colony was shot at point-blank range by trespasser John Hocking, who was then shot and killed when other Plymouth men returned fire. John Alden was held in custody by the neighboring Massachusetts Bay Colony for a few days while the two colonies debated who had jurisdiction to investigate the murders. Myles Standish eventually came to the Bay Colony to provide Plymouth's answer in the matter. Alden, and several other families, including the Standish family, founded the town of Duxbury in the 1630s and took up residence there. Alden served as Duxbury's deputy to the Plymouth Court throughout the 1640s, and served on several committees, including the Committee on Kennebec Trade, and sat on several Councils of War. He also served as colony treasurer. In the 1650s, he build the house at left, in Duxbury, which still stands today. By the 1660s, Alden's frequent public service, combined with his large family of wife and ten children, began to cause his estate to languish, so the Plymouth Court provided him a number of land grants and cash grants to better provide for his family. Throughout the 1670s, Alden began distributing his land holdings to his surviving sons. He died in 1687 at the age of 89, one of the last surviving Mayflower passengers. John Carver Very little is known about John Carver, even though he was one of the more prominent members of the Pilgrims' church in Leiden. John Carver and Mary de Lannoy (from L'Escluse, near Lille, France) appear in Leiden records in February 1609, the same month that John Robinson and the rest of the Pilgrims sought permission from the Leiden magistrates for permission to take up residence. Perhaps John Carver was one of the original members of the Scrooby congregation; or perhaps he is an Englishman who had already taken up residence there, he having married a French Walloon. Mayflower passenger Francis Cooke had done something similar, having married to Hester le Mahieu, a French Walloon, and had taken up residence in Leiden more than six years before the Pilgrims had arrived to settle there. They buried a child a few months later, in July 1609. Mary died sometime thereafter, perhaps even during the childbirth. Carver would marry sometime, perhaps arount 1616, to Katherine (White) Legatt, the daughter of Alexander White of Sturton-le-Steeple, Nottinghamshire. Katherine's sister Bridget White married the Pilgrims' pastor John Robinson. They buried a child in Leiden in November 1617. John Carver is not known to have had any surviving children. However, Thomas Hutchinson's 1767 history of New England does mention that one Robert Carver of Marshfield was a grandson: but on what grounds the author makes this claim is unknown and no records to support this statement have ever been located. When the Pilgrims made the decision to begin moving their church to somewhere in America, they sent John Carver and Robert Cushman as their representatives to England to negotiate with the Virginia company and organize the business. Carver came on the Mayflower, where he acted as governor on the ship for the voyage. After arrival, he was elected governor of the Colony, and remained in that capacity until his untimely death from an apparent sun stroke in April 1621. His wife Katherine died a few weeks later of a "broken heart." Richard Gardinar Nothing much is known about Mayflower passenger Richard Gardinar. There was a Richard Gardinar baptized on 12 February 1582 at Harwich, Essex, England to John Gardinar and Lucy Russell. Lucy Russell was the step-aunt of the Mayflower's captain, Christopher Jones. William Bradford recorded in 1651 that Richard Gardinar "became a seaman", which would be consistent with this theory. Richard Gardinar is mentioned in a letter written by Emmanual Altham in May 1624: "And he hath sent me word that he will provide me a sufficient man for master, notwithstanding Richard Gardinar hath earnestly requested it, claiming it as his due by place, but some say not by sufficiency. I will say no more concerning him because I know you shall understand it by others." This is the last conclusive mention of Mayflower passenger Richard Gardinar. At some point he does succeed in becoming a seaman, leaves Plymouth, and dies at sea or in England. Bradford, writing in 1651, indicates he was dead. Ellen More Ellen More, and her three siblings Richard, Jasper, and Mary, were baptized in Shipton, Shropshire, England. Their mother was Katherine More, who at the time was married to her cousin Samuel More in a pre-arranged marriage that was not working out well. The father of the More children was either her husband Samuel More, or it was Jacob Blakeway with whom she was having an extramarital affair. When the extramarital affair was discovered, a divorce proceeding ensured. Katherine lost the custody battle for her children, so Samuel shipped the children off to America. Richard (age 6) and Mary More (age 4) were put to the William Brewster household; Jasper (age 7) was placed in the John Carver family; and Ellen (age 8) was placed in Edward Winslow's family. All the More children, except for Richard, died the first winter at Plymouth. Edward Tilley Edward Tilley was born in 1588 in Henlow, Bedford, England, the son of Robert and Elizabeth Tilley. He married Agnes Cooper on 20 June 1614 in Henlow. Agnes was the aunt of Mayflower passengers Henry Samson and Humility Cooper. Edward Tilley's brother John and his wife Joan also came on the Mayflower. No children were recorded to Edward and Ann Tilley. They both died the first winter at Plymouth. Isaac Allerton Isaac Allerton was about 34 years old when he came to Plymouth on the Mayflower in 1620. He had been a long-time member of the Pilgrims' church in Leiden, and was recorded as having been a tailor from London. He married his first wife, Marry Norris, in Leiden, in 1611, and there had children Bartholomew, Remember and Mary, all of whom came on the Mayflower with him. He and Mary buried a child, not yet named, at St. Peters on 5 February 1620. Isaac Allerton had a sister Sarah in Leiden, who married to Mayflower passenger Degory Priest. Mayflower passenger John Allerton, also a Leiden resident, most likely was a relative as well, although the exact relation has not been discovered. Isaac Allerton was one of the more active and prominent members of early Plymouth. He was elected as Governor Bradford's assistant in 1621, and continued as an assistant into the 1630s. In 1627, he was sent to negotiate the Plymouth Colony's buyout of the Merchant Adventurers, the investors who had originally funded (and had hoped to profit from) the Colony. The Colony was about £2500 in debt; a small group of Plymouth's residents, including Bradford, Brewster, Standish, Fuller, and Allerton, sought to assume the debt themselves in return for the rights to profit from the company. Allerton was sent to England to negotiate further, and would return to England on several more occasions. Unfortunately for the others, Allerton began to use his "free" trips to England to engage in some private gains, purchasing goods and selling them in the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth. He also used his capacity as Plymouth's designated negotiator to engage the Colony in a number of unapproved money-making schemes: he went so far as to purchase ships (which he partially used for his own private trading), and to attempt to negotiate grants and patents for trade-- all at great cost to the company and none of it approved by the others back at Plymouth. When his trading schemes failed, the Company found itself in far greater debt than it ever started out with. When Allerton's wife Fear died at Plymouth about 1634, and with the general ire of the Colony against him, he had little reason to stay. He moved to the New Haven Colony, and by 1644 had remarried to his third wife, Joanna Swinnerton. Isaac Allerton remained an active trader, and did regular business with the Dutch at New Netherland in modern-day New York. Records of his trading can be found in numerous other colonies as well, including Virginia and Barbados. Katherine (White) Carver Katherine White was the daughter of Alexander White of Sturton-le-Steeple, Nottinghamshire, England. She was born probably in the 1570s. In 1599, Alexander White mentions his daughter Legatt in his will, and mentions their daughter Mary who is stated to have been under the age of 10. Nothing more is known of Mr. Legatt, or of their daughter Mary. In 1604, Katherine's sister Bridget married the Pilgrims' soon-to-be pastor, John Robinson; and in 1605 sister Frances married to Francis Jessop. The White, Jessop, and Robinson families were among those who moved to Leiden, Holland; there in 1611 sister Jane married another Leiden church member, Randall Thickens. At some point (whether before or after the move to Holland is unknown), Katherine's husband died and she remarried, perhaps around 1616, to John Carver. They buried a child in November 1617 in Leiden. Both Katherine and John Carver came on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620. John became governor for a time, until his death in April 1621 of an apparent sun stroke while working in the fields. His wife Katherine died a few weeks later of what William Bradford described as a broken heart. John Goodman John Goodman is a very difficult individual to trace. William Bradford, in his 1651 passenger list with his "Increasings and Decreasings", says John Goodman was one of those who "died soon after their arrival in the general sickness that befel", in other words during the first winter at Plymouth. However, John Goodman appears in the 1623 Division of Land, with no indication he is deceased. Either Bradford is mistaken, and John Goodman survived a few years beyond the first winter; or John Goodman is listed in the Division because there is a surviving heir at Plymouth. In any case, Goodman is not listed in the 1627 Division of Cattle, so was undoubtedly dead by this time. A marriage record in Leiden, Holland, indicates the marriage of a John "Codmoer", widower of Mary Backus, marrying Sarah Hooper. The marriage was witnessed by Samuel Fuller, so this John "Codmoer" was undoubtedly a member of the Pilgrims' congregation. Henry Martyn Dexter in 1905 suggested in his England and Holland of the Pilgrims that this man was John Goodman: the Dutch records, after all, mangled most English names. Subsequent researchers have suggested this is too much of a stretch. Is this John Goodman of the Mayflower? Maybe, maybe not. To further complicate matters, there is an oft-published hoax, which claims John Goodman was really John Dunham in disguise--i.e. a pseudonym. John Dunham, however, is well known in the records: he was from Clophill and Henlow, Bedfordshire, and was still living in Leiden after the Mayflower had left for America. He came to Plymouth between 1628 and 1631. He is most obviously not the same person as John Goodman of the Mayflower. Peter Brown and John Goodman seem to have been associated with one another in early Plymouth, as their names are frequently entwined in the Plymouth records. On 12 January 1621, Peter Browne and John Goodman had been cutting thatch for house roofing all morning. They ate some meat and went for a short walk to refresh themselves, when their two dogs (an English mastiff and a English spaniel) spied a great deer and gave chance. Peter and John followed and quickly got lost. They wandered around the entire afternoon in the rain and snow, and spent the night in a tree (and pacing back and forth under it) fearing that they had heard lions roaring in the woods. The next day they made their way up a hill, spotted the Bay, reoriented themselves, and made it back home to an extremely worried Colony that had already sent out two exploring parties in an attempt to find them. Goodman's feet were so frozen with frostbite, he was put out of commission for quite awhile. When he was finally able to walk again, he took his spaniel out for a walk, and found himself being followed by a wolf. After a long stare-down, he used a fence post to scare off the wolf. Jasper More Jasper More, and her three siblings Richard, Ellen, and Mary, were baptized in Shipton, Shropshire, England. Their mother was Katherine More, who at the time was married to her cousin Samuel More in a pre-arranged marriage that was not working out well. The father of the More children was either her husband Samuel More, or it was Jacob Blakeway with whom she was having an extramarital affair. When the extramarital affair was discovered, a divorce proceeding ensured. Katherine lost the custody battle for her children, so Samuel shipped the children off to America. Richard (age 6) and Mary More (age 4) were put to the William Brewster household; Jasper (age 7) was placed in the John Carver family; and Ellen (age 8) was placed in Edward Winslow's family. All the More children, except for Richard, died the first winter at Plymouth. Ann (Cooper) Tilley Agnes Cooper was born in 1585 in Henlow, Bedford, England, the daughter of Edmund and Mary (Wyne) Cooper. She married Edward Tilley on 20 June 1614 in Henlow. Agnes' sister Martha married James Samson, and they were the parents of Mayflower passenger Henry Samson. Agnes' brother Robert was the father of Mayflower passenger Humility Cooper. Agnes Cooper's ancestry has been successfully traced back as far as Wido de Reinbudcourt, the Domesday Lord of Chipping Warden and Burton, Northampton, England, who lived during the 10th century; but no royal lineages have yet been noted for any of her lines Mary (Norris) Allerton Mary Norris was probably about 30 years old when she came to Plymouth on the Mayflower in 1620, estimated from the known age of her husband, and on her known marriage date. She married Isaac Allerton in Leiden, Holland in 1611, one of the first marriages amongst the Pilgrims after they had fled to Holland from England. Her marriage record indicates she was from Newbury, perhaps Newbury, Berkshire, England. She had children Bartholomew, Remember and Mary in Leiden, all of whom came on the Mayflower with her. She and Isaac buried a child, not yet named, at St. Peters, Leiden on 5 February 1620, and she gave birth to a stillborn son ten months later, on board the Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor, on 22 December 1620. Mary died on 25 February 1621, during the height of the first winter when half the Mayflower passengers and crew died. Her husband Isaac, and her three children Bartholomew, Remember, and Mary, all survived, however. Isaac would later remarry to Fear Brewster, daughter of Plymouth's Elder William Brewster. James Chilton James Chilton was born about 1556, probably at Canterbury, Kent, England, the son of Lyonell Chilton and his second wife (whose name has not been found). James married about 1585 or 1586, and had his first child baptized at St. Paul's, Canterbury, Kent, England on 15 January 1586/7. The name of his wife is not found in any records. The long-published claim that she was Susanna Furner was disposed of by Michael Paulick's research published in 1999. James Chilton and wife had seven children born in Canterbury, Kent, before moving about 1600 to Sandwich, Kent, where he had his last three children baptized. In 1609, his wife (unfortunately called simply "___ Chilton wife of James Chilton," was charged by the Archdeaconry Court with attending the secret burial of a child (they opposed the "popish" burial ceremonies of the Church of England). It was presumably not long before the family left for Holland. In 1619, James Chilton (aged 63) and his oldest daughter Isabella were caught in the middle of an anti-Arminian riot in Leiden, and he was hit in the head with a stone, requiring the services of the town surgeon Jacob Hey. James, his wife, and his youngest daughter Mary came on the Mayflower in 1620. James, at the age of 64, was the oldest person to have made the Mayflower's voyage. James died on 8 December 1620 onboard the Mayflower, which was then anchored off Provincetown Harbor--one of six passengers to die in the month of December. His wife also died sometime the first winter, but daughter Mary survived. William Holbeck Nothing much is known about Mayflower passenger William Holbeck. He came as a servant to the William White family, so was under 25. As he did not sign the Mayflower Compact, he almost certainly was under 21. He died sometime the first winter. There are only a few baptism records known for William Holbecks between 1600-1620, so perhaps he is one of them:  19 March 1600, Fillongley, Warwick (son of John)  24 April 1603, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire (son of John)  12 October 1606, Shustoke, Warwick  7 October 1610, Spofforth, York (son of Richard) Richard More Richard More had one of the most bizarre and interesting lives of any of the Mayflower passengers. He was baptized in 1614 in Shipton, Shropshire, England, to Katherine More. Researchers have traced Katherine More's ancestry back to royalty, making Richard More and his siblings the only Mayflower passengers to have a documented royal ancestry. His father was either Katherine's husband Samuel More, or it was Jacob Blakeway, with whom she was having an extramarital affair. When the affair was discovered, Samuel questions whether the children were his (since they seemed to look more like Blakeway). Divorce proceedings were begun, and Samuel More would eventually receive custody of the children. He paid to have his children shipped off to America with some "honest and religious people", where they could avoid the "great blots and blemishes" that would fall on them if they remained in England. Richard More and sister Mary ended up in the household of Elder William Brewster; older sister Ellen went to the Edward Winslow family, and older brother Jasper went to the John Carver family. Richard's three siblings all died the first winter: Jasper died even before the Pilgrims were finished exploring Cape Cod. Richard More was still living with the Brewsters in 1627, and married Christian Hunter in 1636 in Plymouth, and moved very shortly thereafter to Salem. Richard More became a seaman and ship captain, and made trips to England, Nova Scotia, West Indies, Manhattan, and Virginia. In February and March 1642/3, he joined the church at Salem and had two children baptized there; all the rest of his children would be baptized there as well, through his last child Christian, baptized in 1652. His wife Christian died on 18 March 1676, at the age of 60. Richard More then married to Mrs. Jane Crumpton; she died in October 1686 at Salem, aged 55. In 1688, the Salem Church recorded: "Old Captain More having been for many years under suspicion and common fame of lasciviousness, and some degree at least of inconstancy ... but for want of proof we could go no further. He was at last left to himself so far as that he was convicted before justices of peace by three witnesses of gross unchastity with another man's wife and was censured by them." Richard More died sometime between 1693 and 1696 at Salem, living just long enough to have witnessed the Salem Witchcraft paranoia of 1692. John Tilley John Tilley was born in 1571 in Henlow, Bedford, England, and married the widowed Joan (Hurst) Rogers on 20 September 1596 in Henlow. He, his wife Joan, and his youngest daughter Elizabeth all came on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620. John and his wife both died the first winter at Plymouth, orphaning the 13-year old Elizabeth Tilley in the New World. Elizabeth would later marry to Mayflower passenger John Howland. Bartholomew Allerton Bartholomew Allerton was born around 1612 or 1613 in Leiden, Holland, to parents Isaac and Mary (Norris) Allerton. He, his parents, and his sisters Remember and Mary came to Plymouth on the Mayflower in 1620. At some point, Bartholomew returned to England and took up residence in Norfolk and later Bramfield, Suffolk. A 1657 chancery suit, a couple of letters in the British Library, and his 1658/9 will are the known records of his life in England. Nobody has successfully documented descent from Bartholomew Allerton, but he probably does have some descendants living in England, if information about his children could be further traced. Mrs. Chilton Almost nothing is known about James Chilton's wife. Mrs. Chilton's name has not even been discovered. It has been widely suggested for many years she may have been Susanna Furner, but this was fairly conclusively disproven by the research of Michael Paulick published in 1999. In May 1609 in Sandwich, Kent, "_[blank]_ the wife of James Chilton" was one of several individuals accused of attending the secret burial of a child of Andrew Sharpe. Shortly thereafter the family apparently left for Holland and took up residence with the Pilgrims' church in Leiden. She, her husband James, and her youngest daughter Mary came on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620. Her husband was one of the first people to die after arrival, on December 8. She died sometime later the first winter, but her orphaned thirteen year-old daughter Mary survived. John Hooke John Hooke was born about 1607, probably in Norwich, Norfolk, England. Jeremy D. Bangs discovered an apprenticeship record in Leiden, Holland, dated 7 January 1619/20, showing that John Hooke was then twelve years old, and that his birth parents were John and Alice (Thompson) Hooke. His father John had died, Alice had remarried, and they apprenticed young John to Isaac Allerton for the period of 12 years. Isaac brought him on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620, where he died sometime the first winter. I located John and Alice (Thompson) Hooke's marriage in the parish registers of St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, Norfolk, England, their marriage having occurred there on 9 August 1605. Mary More Mary More, and her three siblings Richard, Jasper, and Ellen, were baptized in Shipton, Shropshire, England. Their mother was Katherine More, who at the time was married to her cousin Samuel More in a pre-arranged marriage that was not working out well. The father of the More children was either her husband Samuel More, or it was Jacob Blakeway with whom she was having an extramarital affair. When the extramarital affair was discovered, a divorce proceeding ensured. Katherine lost the custody battle for her children, so Samuel shipped the children off to America. Richard (age 6) and Mary More (age 4) were put to the William Brewster household; Jasper (age 7) was placed in the John Carver family; and Ellen (age 8) was placed in Edward Winslow's family. All the More children, except for Richard, died the first winter at Plymouth. Joan (Hurst) Tilley Joan Hurst was born in 1567/8 in Henlow, Bedford, England, the daughter of William and Rose Hurst. She married first to Thomas Rogers in 1593 (not related to the Mayflower passenger Thomas Rogers). With her husband Thomas, she had a daughter Joan, baptized on 26 May 1594 in Henlow. When Thomas died, around 1594 or thereabouts, she remarried to John Tilly in 1596. John and Joan (Hurst)(Rogers) Tilley came on the Mayflower in 1620, bringing with them daughter Elizabeth. Joan, along with her husband, died the first winter at Plymouth, orphaning their 13-year old daughter Elizabeth in the New World. Elizabeth would later marry to Mayflower passenger John Howland. Remember Allerton Remember Allerton was born around 1614 or 1615 in Leiden, Holland, to parents Isaac and Mary (Norris) Allerton. She, her parents, and her siblings Bartholomew and Mary came to Plymouth on the Mayflower in 1620. Sometime before May 1635, she married Moses Maverick, who had come to Massachusetts about 1630, perhaps on the ship Mary and John. They took up residence in Marblehead, and later moved to Salem about 1640. She died sometime after the birth of her last child, Remember, and husband Moses remarried a few years later to widowed Eunice (Cole) Roberts, and had an additional four children (Mary, Moses, Aaron, and Sarah). Mary Chilton Mary Chilton was born in 1607 in Sandwich, Kent, England, and was the daughter of James Chilton and his wife (whose name has not been discovered). When Mary was just two years old, excommunication proceedings began against her mother, who had attended the secret burial of a child of Andrew Sharpe. The child was buried in secret because they opposed the "popish" burial ceremonies required by the Church of England. Mary and family then came to Leiden, Holland, and joined with the Pilgrims' church there. In 1619, when she was twelve, her father and oldest sister were caught in an anti-Arminian riot and her father was hit in the head with a stone--an injury for which he would have to seek out a surgeon. In 1620, at the age of 13, Mary came with her parents on the Mayflower. Her father was one of the first who died after the ship had anchored off Provincetown Harbor. He died on December 8. Mary is traditionally given the honor of being the first female to step ashore at Plymouth Rock, but there is no historical documentation for this tradition. Her mother also died sometime later the first winter, orphaning her in the New World. Which family it was that raised her has not been determined, but in 1623, at the age of 16, Mary received her share in the Division of Land, and her property was apparently located between that of Myles Standish and John Alden, and was not too far from Edward and John Winslow. Edward Winslow's brother John had come to Plymouth on the ship Fortune in 1621. Sometime between 1623 and 1627, John Winslow married Mary Chilton, and in the 1627 Division of Cattle, where they received a share in the "lesser" black cow that had come in the ship Anne in 1623, along with two female goats. As they had not yet had any children by the Division of Cattle, it is likely their marriage was in 1626 or 1627. Their first child John was born about 1627, and nine more children would follow. The family resided in Plymouth for many years, but eventually ended up in Boston, where her husband John died in 1674. Mary made out her will in 1676 and died about 1679. Stephen Hopkins Stephen Hopkins was from Hampshire, England. He married his first wife, Mary, and in the parish of Hursley, Hampshire; he and wife Mary had their children Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles all baptized there. It has long been claimed that the Hopkins family was from Wortley, Gloucester, but this was disproven in 1998. For more information on the true English origins of Stephen Hopkins, see the "Published Research" section at the bottom of this page. Stephen Hopkins went with the ship Sea Venture on a voyage to Jamestown, Virginia in 1609 as a minister's clerk, but the ship wrecked in the "Isle of Devils" in the Bermudas. Stranded on an island for ten months, the passengers and crew survived on turtles, birds, and wild pigs. Six months into the castaway, Stephen Hopkins and several others organized a mutiny against the current governor. The mutiny was discovered and Stephen was sentenced to death. However, he pleaded with sorrow and tears. "So penitent he was, and made so much moan, alleging the ruin of his wife and children in this his trespass, as it wrought in the hearts of all the better sorts of the company". He managed to get his sentence commuted. Eventually the castaways built a small ship and sailed themselves to Jamestown. How long Stephen remained in Jamestown is not known. However, while he was gone, his wife Mary died. She was buried in Hursley on 9 May 1613, and left behind a probate estate which mentions her children Elizabeth, Constance and Giles. Stephen was back in England by 1617, when he married Elizabeth Fisher, but apparently had every intention of bringing his family back to Virginia. Their first child, Damaris, was born about 1618. In 1620, Stephen Hopkins brought his wife, and children Constance, Giles, and Damaris on the Mayflower (child Elizabeth apparently had died). Stephen was a fairly active member of the Pilgrims shortly after arrival, perhaps a result of his being one of the few individuals who had been to Virginia previously. He was a part of all the early exploring missions, and was used almost as an "expert" on Native Americans for the first few contacts. While out exploring, Stephen recognized and identified an Indian deer trap. And when Samoset walked into Plymouth and welcomed the English, he was housed in Stephen Hopkins' house for the night. Stephen was also sent on several of the ambassadorial missions to meet with the various Indian groups in the region. Stephen was an assistant to the governor through 1636, and volunteered for the Pequot War of 1637 but was never called to serve. By the late 1630s, however, Stephen began to occasionally run afoul of the Plymouth authorities, as he apparently opened up a shop and served alcohol. In 1636 he got into a fight with John Tisdale and seriously wounded him. In 1637, he was fined for allowing drinking and shuffleboard playing on Sunday. Early the next year he was fined for allowing people to drink excessively in his house: guest William Reynolds was fined, but the others were acquitted. In 1638 he was twice fined for selling beer at twice the actual value, and in 1639 he was fined for selling a looking glass for twice what it would cost if bought in the Bay Colony. Also in 1638, Stephen Hopkins' maidservant got pregnant from Arthur Peach, who was subsequently executed for murdering an Indian. The Plymouth Court ruled he was financially responsible for her and her child for the next two years (the amount remaining on her term of service). Stephen, in contempt of court, threw Dorothy out of his household and refused to provide for her, so the court committed him to custody. John Holmes stepped in and purchased Dorothy's remaining two years of service from him: agreeing to support her and child. Stephen died in 1644, and made out a will, asking to be buried near his wife, and naming his surviving children. William Mullins William Mullins was born about 1572, apparently to John and Joan (Bridger) Mullins of Dorking, Surrey, England. He married a woman named Alice, but her maiden name has not been identified. Longstanding claims that her maiden name is Atwood, or Poretiers, are without basis. William brought his wife Alice and children Priscilla and Joseph on the Mayflower; he also brought over 250 shoes and 13 pairs of boots, his profession being a shoe and boot dealer. He died on 21 February 1620/1. His original will has survived, written down by John Carver the day of Mullins' death. In it he mentions his wife Alice, children Priscilla and Joseph, and his children back in Dorking, William Mullins and Sarah Blunden. He also mentions a Goodman Woods, and a Master Williamson, who have not been identified. It was witnessed by the Mayflower's captain Christopher Jones, the Mayflower's surgeon Giles Heale, and Plymouth's governor John Carver. Elizabeth Tilley Elizabeth Tilley was born in 1607 in Henlow, Bedfordshire, the daughter of John and Joan (Hurst)(Rogers) Tilley. She came with her parents on the Mayflower in 1620. Both her parents died the first winter at Plymouth, leaving her orphaned at the age of 13 in the New World. She married to Mayflower passenger John Howland around 1625 at Plymouth. Mary Allerton Mary Allerton was born about 1616 in Leiden, Holland, to parents Isaac and Mary (Norris) Allerton. She came to Plymouth on the Mayflower in 1620, at about the age of four. Around 1636, she married Thomas Cushman. Thomas had come to Plymouth at the age of 13 on the ship Fortune in 1621 with father Robert Cushman, a prominent member of the Pilgrims' congregation in Leiden. Thomas and Mary had a surprisingly prosperous family: seven of their eight children survived to adulthood, got married, and provided at least 50 grandchildren. Thomas and Mary both lived to very old age, having never moved from Plymouth. Thomas died in December 1691, nearly reaching 85 years in age. Mary, who gave birth to and raised eight children, lived to the age of 83. Prior to her death in November 1699, she was the last surviving Mayflower passenger. Richard Clarke Richard Clarke is one of the Mayflower passengers for whom almost nothing is known. His name is not known to have occurred in the records of Leiden, so he was probably one of the passengers who joined the voyage from England. The only record of his existence is William Bradford's naming him as a passenger, and saying simply that he died the first winter and left no descendants at Plymouth. The Clarke surname is far too common to do any serious research, so there is little hope of ever discovering or learning more about this passenger. Elizabeth (Fisher) Hopkins Not much is known about Mayflower passenger Elizabeth (Fisher) Hopkins. She married Stephen Hopkins on 19 February 1617/8 at St. Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel, and had a daughter Damaris born somewhere in England around 1619. They had their second child, Oceanus, onboard the Mayflower as it was traveling to America. Elizabeth was one of only four women who survived to the "first" Thanksgiving. There is a baptism of an Elizabeth Fisher on 3 March 1582 at St. Mary, Whitechapel, that very well could be the Mayflower passenger, although a first marriage at the age of 35 is somewhat unusual. Unfortunately, the name of the father is not included in the baptism record. Stephen and Elizabeth had five more children in America. She died sometime between 1638 and 1644 in Plymouth. Mrs. Alice Mullins Very little is known about Mrs. Alice Mullins. She is named in the will of William Mullins, which he had written for him on the day of his death, 21 February 1620/1. A number of sources claim her name was Alice Atwood, or Alice Poretiers, but these claims have no basis. Thomas Tinker, wife, and son Thomas Thinker, Wife and Son Nothing much is known about the Tinker family. William Bradford simply wrote "Thomas Tinker and his wife and son all died in the first sickness," so there is not much for researchers to go on. However, Thomas Tinker is mentioned once in Leiden records, when he was granted citizenship in Leiden on 6 January 1617, guaranteed by fellow church members Abraham Gray and John Keble. He was called a wood sawyer in the citizenship record. Charles Edward Banks in his English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers notes there was a Thomas Tinker, carpenter, from Neatishead, Norfolk, who married Jane White on 25 June 1609 in Thurne, Norfolk. This seems like a reasonable theory, and more research would be worthwhile. John Allerton Almost nothing is known about Mayflower passenger John Allerton. He was apparently married and living in Leiden, Holland, where he buried a child on 21 May 1616 at St. Peters. His resided in the same neighborhood as Mayflower passenger Isaac Allerton, so they were almost certainly related: perhaps a brother. Isaac Allerton also had a sister, Sarah, who lived in Leiden. William Bradford, writing about 1650 in his Of Plymouth Plantation, states that John Allerton intended to return home to Leiden to help others make the voyage over--after he had spent a year helping to build the colony. However, his death the first winter prevented those plans from being fulfilled. Francis Cooke Francis Cooke was born about 1583. His origins have not been discovered, but it is probable he was born in England, perhaps from the Canterbury or Norwich areas. He married Hester le Mahieu on 20 July 1603 in Leiden, Holland; she was a French Walloon whose parents had initially fled to Canterbury, England; she left for Leiden sometime before 1603. Francis Cooke and Hester le Mahieu's marriage occurred in Leiden, Holland six years before the Pilgrim church made its move there, so he was living there long before their arrival and must have met up with and joined them afterwards. His wife Hester was a French Walloon. What brought Francis to Holland in the first place is unknown: religious persecution of Protestants in England did not really begin until after King James took power in 1604. In 1606, the Cookes left Leiden and went to Norwich, Norfolk for a time (for what reason is not known), but returned to have their first son, John, baptized at the French church in Leiden, sometime between January and March, 1607. In Holland, Cooke took up the profession of a woolcomber. Francis, and his oldest son John, came on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620. He left behind his wife Hester and his other children Jane, Jacob, Elizabeth and Hester. After the Colony was founded and better established, he sent for his wife and children, and they came to Plymouth in 1623 on the ship Anne. Francis lived out his life in Plymouth. Although he kept a fairly low profile, he was on a number of minor committees such as the committee to lay out the highways, and received some minor appointments by the Court to survey or lay out land. He was a juror on a number of occasions, and was on the coroner's jury that examined the body of Martha Bishop, the 4-year old daughter who was murdered by her mother Alice. He received some modest land grants at various times throughout his life. He lived to be about 80 years old, dying in 1663; his wife Hester survived him by at least three years and perhaps longer. Constance Hopkins Constance Hopkins was baptized on 11 May 1606 in Hursley, Hampshire, England, to parents Stephen Hopkins and his first wife Mary. It should be noted that the long-standing Constance Dudley myth was disproven in 1998: the Hopkins family of the Mayflower was not from Wortley, Gloucester as had been previously speculated and published. Constance came with her father Stephen, step-mother Elizabeth, brother Giles, and step- sister Damaris on the Mayflower in 1620, at the age of 14. Constance's future husband, Nicholas Snow, arrived on the ship Anne in 1623. Nicholas and Constance Snow were married shortly before the 1627 Division of Cattle, and lived in Plymouth for a time. Around 1645, the family moved to Eastham. William Bradford, writing in 1651, stated that Constance Hopkins had 12 children "all of them living". Only 9 can be documented with existing records. Constance, wife of Daniel Doane, is quite probably one of the three "missing" children, but unfortunately there is no conclusive proof. Priscilla Mullins Priscilla Mullins was born probably in Dorking, Surrey, England, to William and Alice Mullins. She, her parents, and her brother Joseph all came on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620. Her entire family, herself excepted, died the first winter. She was shortly thereafter, in 1622 or 1623, married to John Alden, the Mayflower's cooper, who had decided to remain at Plymouth rather than return to England with the ship. John and Priscilla lived in Plymouth until the late 1630s, when they helped found the neighboring town of Duxbury. John and Priscilla would go on to have ten or eleven children, and have an enormous number of descendants, including poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, and Vice President Dan Quayle. William Trevore William Trevore was hired by the Pilgrims to be a laborer for a year, and likely was to have also been a seaman on their ship, the Speedwell, which was eventually left behind and not taken. Trevore had been with Myles Standish on a voyage to the Massachusetts Bay not too long after they had arrived on the Mayflower, and there Standish named one of the isles near the current town of Dorchester the "Isle Trevore"; the island later became known as Thompson's Island. Trevore spend out his time at Plymouth and returned to England, on the Fortune in 1621. The Fortune was captured by French pirates and the ship, crew and passengers held at the Ile d'Yeu for some time before being allowed to continue home, totally plundered. In 1623, Robert Cushman in a letter to Plymouth, sent on the next ship, stating that "William Trevore hath lavishly told [Thomas Weston] but what he knew or imagined of Capawack, Mohegan and the Narragansetts." Trevore became the master of the ship William, and made several trips delivering passengers to America during the 1630s. In 1650, he filed a couple depositions regarding Thompson's Island. Nothing further about his life, or family, has been discovered. John Billington The Billington family may have originated from around Cowbit and Spaulding, in Lincolnshire, England, where Francis Longland named young Francis Billington son of John Billington an heir. In 1650, a survey indicated that Francis Billington was then in New England. However, research has thus far failed to turn up any other records of the family's residence there. The Billington family was Plymouth Colony's troublemakers. Just after arrival, young Francis Billington shot off his father's musket in the Mayflower's cabin, showering sparks around open barrels of gunpowder, nearly causing a catastrophe. A few months later in March 1621, father John was brought before the company for "contempt of the Captain's lawful command with opprobrious speeches", and was sentenced to have his neck and heels tied together: "but upon humbling himself and craving pardon, and it being the first offence, he is forgiven." Son John wandered off in May 1621, and was brought by Nauset Indians to Cape Cod, where he was later retrieved. In 1624, Billington was implicated in the Oldham-Lyford scandal (a failed revolt against the Plymouth church), but played ignorant and was never officially punished for involvement. In 1625, Governor Bradford wrote a letter to Robert Cushman saying "Billington still rails against you, ... he is a knave, and so will live and die." In 1630, Billington shot and killed John Newcomen, they having been common enemies of one another for some time. Billington was tried by jury and hanged in September 1630 for the murder. In 1636, wife Eleanor (sometimes Helen) was sentenced to sit in the stocks and be whipped for slandering John Doane. Eleanor would later remarry to Gregory Armstrong in 1638. John Cooke John Cooke was born in late 1606 or early 1607, and was baptized at the French Walloon church in Leiden, Holland between January and March, 1607. John spent his early years in Leiden, Holland, and came with his father on the Mayflower in 1620 at the age of about 13 or 14. John was then raised in Plymouth; his mother and sisters came over on the ship Anne in 1623, along with his future wife Sarah Warren. He would marry Sarah, the daughter of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren, in 1634 at Plymouth. They would go on to have five children all born in Plymouth over the next twenty years. John would become a deacon in the Plymouth Church, and in 1636, Samuel Eaton (who was still breast-feeding when he came on the Mayflower) was apprenticed to him. At some point, during the late 1640s, John Cooke "fell into the error of Anabaptistry", and was cast out of the Church. The Plymouth Church records state that "This John Cooke although a shallow man became a cause of trouble and dissention in our Church and gave just occasion of their casting him out; so that Solomon's words proved true in him that one sinner destroyeth much good." John Cooke removed from Plymouth and took up residence in Dartmouth, where he died in 1695. His wife Sarah was still alive in 1696, called "a very ancient woman"; her exact death date was not recorded but it probably was not long after.

Giles Hopkins Giles Hopkins was baptized on 30 January 1607/8 in Hursley, Hampshire, England, to parents Stephen Hopkins and his first wife Mary. It should be noted that the long-standing Constance Dudley myth was disproven in 1998: the Hopkins family of the Mayflower was not from Wortley, Gloucester as had been previously speculated and published. Giles came with his father Stephen, step-mother Elizabeth, sister Constance, and step-sister Damaris on the Mayflower in 1620, at the age of 12. He volunteered for service in the 1637 Pequot War but was not called. He married Catherine Wheldon in 1639 at Plymouth; the family moved shortly thereafter to Yarmouth, living there for about five years before moving on to settle at Eastham, where he died sometime between 1688 and 1690. Joseph Mullins Nothing is known about Joseph Mullins, other than his name, and the fact he came on the Mayflower with his father William, mother Alice, and sister Priscilla. He died sometime the first winter, but it was sometime after 21 February 1620/1 when he is mentioned in his father's will. John Turner, and two sons Nothing much is known about John Turner and his family. He came on the Mayflower with his two sons, and died the first winter. John Turner was a merchant living in Leiden, where on 27 September 1610 he was granted citizenship in Leiden by sponsors Peter Boey and William Lisle. On 11 June 1620, Robert Cushman wrote a letter to the Leiden congregation in which he stated "I received your letter yesterday, by John Turner . . . " and later wrote "You shall hear distinctly by John Turner, who I think shall come hence on Tuesday night." There are, unfortunately, hundreds of John Turners living in England at this time, and a conclusive identification seems unlikely. He had a daughter named Elizabeth who came to New England and married, perhaps in Salem, but who she married or where they lived has not been discovered. Eleanor Billington The Billington family may have originated from around Cowbit and Spaulding, in Lincolnshire, England. Eleanor came to Plymouth on the Mayflower in 1620 with husband John, and children John and Francis. Eleanor was one of only five adult women to survive the first winter, and one of only four who was still alive to partake in the famous 1621 Thanksgiving. Her family is remembered as rather ill-behaved, however. Just after arrival, young Francis Billington shot off his father's musket in the Mayflower's cabin, showering sparks around open barrels of gunpowder, nearly causing a catastrophe. A few months later in March 1621, husband John was brought before the company for "contempt of the Captain's lawful command with opprobrious speeches", and was sentenced to have his neck and heels tied together: "but upon humbling himself and craving pardon, and it being the first offence, he is forgiven." Son John wandered off in May 1621, and was brought by Nauset Indians to Cape Cod, where he was later retrieved. In 1624, husband John Billington was implicated in the Oldham-Lyford scandal (a failed revolt against the Plymouth church), but he played ignorant and was never officially punished for involvement. In 1630, Eleanor's husband shot and killed John Newcomen, and he was hanged for the murder in September 1630. Eleanor herself was not exempt from ill-behavior, as she was sentenced to sit in the stocks and be whipped for slandering John Doane in 1636. Two years later Eleanor remarried, to Gregory Armstrong, but had no additional children. Humility Cooper Humility Cooper came on the Mayflower in 1620, in the custody of her aunt and uncle Edward and Ann (Cooper) Tilley. She was little more than a year old at the time. When Edward and Ann died the first winter, Humility was sent back to England. Humility was baptized as an adult, at the age of 19, on 17 March 1638/9, at Holy Trinity, London, England, and died sometime before 1651. She is not believed that she ever married or had children. Damaris Hopkins Damaris Hopkins was born in England to parents Stephen and Elizabeth (Fisher) Hopkins, and came on the Mayflower at about the age of one years old. It is unknown exactly when she died, but Stephen and Elizabeth had another daughter named Damaris sometime before the 1627 Division of Cattle, so she was undoubtedly deceased by that time. Degory Priest Degory Priest deposed that he was 40 years old in a document signed in Leiden in April 1619; this would place his birth at about 1579 in England. On 4 November 1611, he was married to Sarah (Allerton) Vincent, the widow of John Vincent, and the sister of Mayflower passenger Isaac Allerton; Isaac Allerton was married to his wife Mary Norris on the same date. It has been suggested that Degory Priest of the Mayflower may have been the Degorius Prust, baptized 11 August 1582 in Hartland, Devon, England, the son of Peter Prust. However, given that the baptism appears to be about 3 years too late, and the fact that none of the Leiden Separatists are known to have come from Devonshire, I doubt this baptism belongs to the Mayflower passenger. Degory Priest was one of the earliest to have arrived in Leiden, so it is more reasonable to suspect he is from the Nottinghamshire/Yorkshire region, the Sandwich/Canterbury region, the London/Middlesex region, or the Norfolk region: all of the early Separatists in Leiden appear to have come from one of these centers. Degory and wife Sarah had two children, Mary and Sarah. Degory came alone on the Mayflower, planning to bring wife and children later after the colony was better established. His death the first winter ended those plans. His wife remarried to Godbert Godbertson in Leiden, and they had a son Samuel together. Godbert, his wife Sarah, their son Samuel, and his step-children Mary and Sarah Priest all came on the ship Anne to Plymouth in 1623. Richard Warren Richard Warren's English origins and ancestry have been the subject of much speculation, and countless different ancestries have been published for him, without a shred of evidence to support them. Luckily in December 2002, Edward Davies discovered the missing piece of the puzzle. Researchers had long known of the marriage of Richard Warren to Elizabeth Walker on 14 April 1610 at Great Amwell, Hertford. Since we know the Mayflower passenger had a wife named Elizabeth, and a first child born about 1610, this was a promising record. But no children were found for this couple in the parish registers, and no further evidence beyond the names and timing, until the will of Augustine Walker was discovered. In the will of Augustine Walker, dated April 1613, he mentions "my daughter Elizabeth Warren wife of Richard Warren", and "her three children Mary, Ann and Sarah." We know that the Mayflower passenger's first three children were named Mary, Ann, and Sarah (in that birth order). Very little is known about Richard Warren's life in America. He came alone on the Mayflower in 1620, leaving behind his wife and five daughters. They came to him on the ship Anne in 1623, and Richard and Elizabeth subsequently had sons Nathaniel and Joseph at Plymouth. He received his acres in the Division of Land in 1623, and his family shared in the 1627 Division of Cattle. But he died a year later in 1628, the only record of his death being found in Nathaniel Morton's 1669 book New England's Memorial, in which he writes: "This year [1628] died Mr. Richard Warren, who was an useful instrument and during his life bare a deep share in the difficulties and troubles of the first settlement of the Plantation of New Plymouth." All of Richard Warren's children survived to adulthood, married, and had large families: making Richard Warren one of the most common Mayflower passengers to be descended from. Richard Warren's descendants include such notables as Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Alan B. Shepard, Jr. the first American in space and the fifth person to walk on the moon. John Billington The Billington family may have originated from around Cowbit and Spaulding, in Lincolnshire, England, where Francis Longland named young Francis Billington son of John Billington an heir. In 1650, a survey indicated that Francis Billington was then in New England. However, research has thus far failed to turn up any other records of the family's residence there. The Billington family was Plymouth Colony's troublemakers. Just after arrival, young Francis Billington shot off his father's musket in the Mayflower's cabin, showering sparks around open barrels of gunpowder, nearly causing a catastrophe. A few months later in March 1621, father John was brought before the company for "contempt of the Captain's lawful command with opprobrious speeches", and was sentenced to have his neck and heels tied together: "but upon humbling himself and craving pardon, and it being the first offence, he is forgiven." Son John wandered off in May 1621, and was brought by Nauset Indians to Cape Cod, where he was later retrieved. In 1624, Billington was implicated in the Oldham-Lyford scandal (a failed revolt against the Plymouth church), but played ignorant and was never officially punished for involvement. In 1625, Governor Bradford wrote a letter to Robert Cushman saying "Billington still rails against you, ... he is a knave, and so will live and die." In 1630, Billington shot and killed John Newcomen, they having been common enemies of one another for some time. Billington was tried by jury and hanged in September 1630 for the murder. In 1636, wife Eleanor (sometimes Helen) was sentenced to sit in the stocks and be whipped for slandering John Doane. Eleanor would later remarry to Gregory Armstrong in 1638. John Crackston Very little is known about Mayflower passenger John Crackston. He resided in Leiden, Holland, and it was there on 16 June 1616 that he witnessed the betrothal of Zechariah Barrow to Joan Barrow. On 19 May 1617, he witnessed the betrothal of Henry Collet to Alice Howarth. And on 12 December 1618, his daughter Anna married Thomas Smith. The marriage record indicates Anna was from Colchester, Essex, England, so presumably the Crackston family was from there. Robert S. Wakefield found a John Crackston listed in the lay subsidy roll of 1523, in the Parish of St. James, Colchester, so this might be one of John's ancestors. A Margaret, daughter of William Crackston, was baptized on 6 April 1569 at St. Botolph, Colchester. No other Crackston records in Colchester have been noted. The only John Crackston marriage listed in the IGI is one John Crackston who married Catherine Bates on 9 May 1594 at Stratford St. Mary, Suffolk. Colchester, Essex is just six miles south of Stratford St. Mary, Suffolk. The record seems very promising because of the extreme rarity of the name John Crackston, the proximity to Colchester, and the timing (daughter Anna was married in 1618, meaning she was likely born in the mid or late 1590s). I have found no other apparent Crackston records at Stratford St. Mary, Suffolk. Catherine Bates would seem to be the daughter of Thomas and Agnes Bates, baptized on 5 October 1567 at Stratford St. Mary. John Crackston came on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620 with his son John. John Crackston (the father) died the first winter, and son John survived until shortly after 1627 when he lost himself in the woods, became frozen, developed a fever, and died. Oceanus Hopkins Oceanus Hopkins was born while the Mayflower was sailing to America, sometime between September 6 and November 9, 1620. Oceanus did not survive long, however, and had apparently died by 1623. Solomon Prower Solomon Prower was the son of Mayflower passenger Mary (Prower) Martin, and step-son of Christopher Martin. He did not sign the Mayflower Compact, indicating he was then under 21; but he was born sometime before his mother married Christopher Martin, so we can thus place his birth somewhere between 1600 and 1606. In 1619, Solomon found himself in the Archdeaconry Court of Chelmsford, where he refused to answer questions posed to him "unless it be out of some catechism", and for snidely answering the ritual question "who gave him his name". Solomon came on the Mayflower as a teenager, but died the first winter just a few days after the Pilgrims had begun exploring the region around Plymouth in their quest to find a place to situate their township. William White William White is a difficult individual to research, and much as been mispublished about him. There is a marriage record in Leiden, Holland, which records the marriage of a William White to Anna Fuller on 27 January 1612; the marriage was witnessed by Sarah Priest and Anna's brother Samuel Fuller. For many years this was thought to have been the Mayflower passenger, Susanna and Anna being reasonable variants of the same name. This has been a heavily-debated issue: was this the marriage of the Mayflower passenger, or not? There are at least two William White's living in Leiden during the appropriate time period, one was a woolcomber, and one was a tobacco merchant. The William White who married Anna Fuller was called a woolcomber in the 1612 marriage record, which was witnessed by Sarah Priest. On 10 April 1621, well after the Mayflower had departed, William White woolcomber was a party to the antenumptual agreement of Samuel Lee in Leiden. Thus, William White, woolcomber, could not have been the Mayflower passenger. And since Sarah Priest had witnessed the will of William White in 1612, wouldn't it be reasonable to assume it was the same William White who witnessed her own marriage to Godbert Godbertson in Leiden in October 1621? The Mayflower passenger was also not the tobacco merchant, who appears in numerous Leiden records throughout the 1620s. So there was either a third William White in Leiden, or else the William White of the Mayflower may have joined onto the Mayflower's voyage from England. In any case, William and his wife Susanna came on the Mayflower in 1620 with son Resolved; Susanna gave birth to son Peregrine while the Mayflower was still anchored off the top of Cape Cod waiting for the Pilgrims to discover a place to build their colony. William died the first winter, on the same day as three other passengers, including William Mullins. His wife Susanna remarried to Edward Winslow a few months later, being the first marriage to occur at Plymouth. Francis Billington The Billington family may have originated from around Cowbit and Spaulding, in Lincolnshire, England. Francis Longland named young children Francis Billington son of John, and Francis Newton son of Robert, as heirs. In 1650, a survey of lands indicated that Francis was "about 40" and living in New England. Francis' himself stated in a 1674 deposition that he was 68 years old, so he was about 14 years old when he made the voyage on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620 with his parents John and Eleanor, and older brother John. Francis was clearly an active and troublesome youth. He nearly caused a disaster onboard the Mayflower shortly after arrival, when he shot off his father's musket inside the Mayflower's cabin and sent sparks raining down near an open barrel of gunpowder. After he got to shore, he climbed up a tree and spotted a "great sea," which turned out to be a lake that even today is still known as "Billington's Sea". He and one of the Mayflower's crewmembers went to explore the sea, but became alarmed when they saw some abandoned Indian houses (they were alone with only a single gun). Francis' father was hanged for murder in September 1630, and his brother John had died not to long before. In July 1634, Francis married Christian Eaton, the widow of Mayflower passenger Francis Eaton who had died the previous year autumn. Christian brought three of her own children, and one step-child from her deceased husband's previous marriage, all under the age of 14. With Francis Billington, she had nine more children. They raised their family at Plymouth, and moved in their later years to Middleboro, where they both died in 1684. John Crackston John Crackston (II) was the son of John Crackston. He was born perhaps around 1600- 1610, and his family took up residence in Leiden, Holland. His sister Anna married Thomas Smith in 1618 in Leiden. He came with his father John on the Mayflower in 1620. Since he did not sign the Mayflower Compact, we can assume he was still a minor, but since he had a sister who married in 1618 he probably was in his teens. His father died sometime the first winter, but he survived and lived in Plymouth for about seven or eight years more. He was included in the Isaac Allerton family in the 1627 Division of Cattle, and perhaps was serving Allerton as an apprentice. He died sometime that winter after getting himself lost in the woods and nearly froze to death: he died shortly thereafter of a fever brought about by his ordeal. John Howland John Howland was born about 1599, probably in Fenstanton, Huntington. He came on the Mayflower in 1620 as a manservant for Governor John Carver. During the Mayflower's voyage, Howland fell overboard during a storm, and was almost lost at sea--but luckily for his millions of descendants living today (including Presidents George Bush and George W. Bush, and Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt) he managed to grab ahold of the topsail halyards, giving the crew enough time to rescue him with a boathook. It has been traditionally reported that John Howland was born about 1592, based on his reported age at death in the Plymouth Church Records. However, ages at death were often overstated, and that is clearly the case here. John Howland came as a servant for John Carver, which means he was under 25 years old at the time (i.e. he was born after 1595). William Bradford, in the falling-overboard incident, refers to Howland as a "lusty young man", a term that would not likely have applied to a 28-year old given that Bradford himself was only 30--Bradford did call 21- year old John Alden a "young man" though. Howland's wife Elizabeth was born in 1607: a 32-year old marrying a 17-year old is an unlikely circumstance. Howland's last child was born in 1649: a 57-year old Howland would be an unlikely father. All these taken together demonstrate that Howland's age was likely overstated by at least 5 years. Since he signed the Mayflower Compact, we can assume he was probably about 21 in 1620, so the best estimate for his birth would be about 1599. John Howland had several brothers who also came to New England, namely Henry Howland (an ancestor to both Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford) and Arthur Howland (an ancestor to Winston Churchill). John Rigsdale Nothing much is known about Mayflower passenger John Rigsdale, other than the fact he came on the Mayflower with his wife Alice. Both he and Alice died the first winter. It is quite possible that John and Alice Rigsdale of the Mayflower are the John Rigsdale and Alice Gallard who were married on 17 November 1577 at St. Mary, Weston, Lincolnshire. If true, this would make John and Alice the oldest Mayflower passengers. There are a couple other Rigsdale families in England, however: the one at Bagley, Yorkshire and the one at Westbury On Severn, Gloucester, might also be worth investigating. Mrs. Susanna White Susanna White's origins, and maiden name, are unknown. The claim she was Susanna Tilley has been disproven, and the William White who married Anna Fuller in Leiden is now generally believed to not have been the Mayflower passenger. That particular William White witnessed an antenumptual agreement of Samuel Lee in Leiden in April 1621, and witnessed the marriage of Sarah Priest in October 1621, and so couldn't have been the Mayflower passenger. So, Mrs. Susanna White's identity and English origins remain unknown. Susanna came on the Mayflower with husband William, and son Resolved. She was pregnant, and gave birth to son Peregrine while the Mayflower was still anchored off the tip of Cape Cod. Her husband William died the first winter, and she remarried a few months later to fellow Mayflower passenger Edward Winslow. Their marriage in May 1621 was the first marriage at Plymouth. Susanna was one of only four adult women to have survived to see the "First Thanksgiving" at Plymouth that autumn. Susanna died sometime after 1654, when she is mentioned in her husband's will. William Bradford William Bradford was born in 1590 in the small farming community of Austerfield, Yorkshire. His father William died when young Bradford was just one year old. He lived with his grandfather William, until his grandfather died when he was six. His mother Alice then died when he was seven. Orphaned both from parents and grandparents, he and older sister Alice were raised by their uncle Robert Bradford. William was a sickly boy, and by the age of 12 had taken to reading the Bible, and as he began to come of age he became acquainted with the ministry of Richard Clyfton and John Smith, around which the Separatist churches of the region would eventually form about 1606. His family was not supportive of his moves, and by 1607 the Church of England were applying pressure to extinguish these religious sects. Bradford, at the age of 18, joined with the group of Separatists that fled from England in fear of persecution, arriving in Amsterdam in 1608. A year later he migrated with the rest of the church to the town of Leiden, Holland, where they remained for eleven years. Bradford returned to Amsterdam temporarily in 1613, to marry his 16- year old bride, Dorothy May. In Leiden, Bradford took up the trade of a silk weaver to make ends meet, and also was able to recover some of the estate in England that he had been left by his father, to support himself and his new wife in Leiden. They had a son, John, born about 1615-1617. By 1620, when a segment of the church had decided to set off for America on the Mayflower, Bradford (now 30 years old) sold off his house in Leiden, and he and his wife Dorothy joined; however, they left young son John behind, presumably so he would not have to endure the hardships of colony-building. While the Mayflower was anchored off Provincetown Harbor at the tip of Cape Cod, and while many of the Pilgrim men were out exploring and looking for a place to settle, Dorothy Bradford accidentally fell overboard, and drowned. John Carver was elected governor of Plymouth, and remained governor until his death a year later in April 1621. Bradford was then elected governor, and was re-elected nearly every year thereafter. In 1623, he married to the widowed Alice (Carpenter) Southworth, and had a marriage feast very reminiscent of the "First" Thanksgiving, with Massasoit and a large number of Indians joining, and bringing turkeys and deer. Bradford was the head of the government of Plymouth, oversaw the courts, the colony's finances, corresponded with investors and neighbors, formulated policy with regards to foreigners, Indians, and law, and so had a very active role in the running of the entire Colony. With his second wife, he had three more children, all of which survived to adulthood and married. Beginning in 1630, he started writing a history of the Plymouth Colony, which is now published under the title Of Plymouth Plantation. A number of his letters, poems, conferences, and other writings have survived. William Bradford was generally sick all winter of 1656-1657; on May 8, Bradford predicted to his friends and family that he would die, and he did the next day, 9 May 1657, at the age of 68. Edward Doty Edward Doty's English origins have not yet been discovered. Some sources claim he was baptized on 14 May 1598 in either Dudlick, Shropshire or "Thurburton Hills", Suffolk. I have investigated these in English records, and found both to be complete hoaxes. However, there is a real Edward Doty baptized on 3 November 1600 at East Halton, Lincolnshire, England, son of Thomas Doty. The Doty families of East Halton are regularly using the names Thomas, Edward, and John: the first three names Mayflower passenger Edward Doty assigned to his first three children. Even if this particular Edward Doty is not the Mayflower passenger himself, I strongly suspect the true Mayflower passenger will be found amongst this general Lincolnshire Doty family. Edward Doty came on the Mayflower in 1620 as a servant to Stephen Hopkins and was apparently still a servant in 1623 when the Division of Land was held, indicating he was under the age of 25 during that time. He signed the Mayflower Compact in November 1620, so he was likely over 21 at the time. This narrows his likely birth date to around 1597-1599. Edward Doty married twice, according to William Bradford. However, nothing is known of his first wife. His second wife, Faith Clarke, came on the ship Francis in April 1634 with father Thurston Clarke, and they were married the following January in Plymouth. Edward Doty appears to have been somewhat of a troublemaker throughout his life at Plymouth. In June 1621, he engaged in a sword and dagger duel with fellow Hopkins servant Edward Leister; both were wounded before being separated, and were punished by having their head and feet tied together for an hour (it was supposed to have been for a whole day, but they were let go early because of their apparent suffering). Edward Doty made regular appearances in Plymouth Colony Court, as can be seen by the table below summarizing some of his court records: 1632/3 Sued by Joseph Rogers, failed to pay a contract with six pigs, as had been agreed. Rogers won. 1632/3 Sued by William Bennet for dealing fraudulently in a trade of bacon for beaver skins. Bennet won. 1633 Sued by William Bennet for slander. Doty fined 50 shillings. 1633/4 Sued by his apprentice John Smith to be freed from his 10-year contract. Court agreed, and required Doty to give him double payment in apparel for having given so little to his apprentice. 1633/4 Fined 6 shillings 8 pence for "breaking the peace", and awarded Josias Cooke 3 shillings 4 pence because Doty caused him to bleed during their fight. 1634 Doty sued Francis Sprague over a debt: Doty won 6 shillings 6 pence, plus a peck of malt. 1636 Edward Doty and Joseph Beedle sue and counter-sue for "matters beign raw and imperfect" and were sent to an arbitrator. 1637/8 Fined 10 shillings for breaking the peace, by assaulting George Clarke. 1641 Sued George Allen. Reason and outcome unrecorded. 1641/2 Sued Thurston Clarke. Doty awarded 12 bushels and 1 peck of Indian corn, and 12 shillings money or an additional 4 bushes of corn, plus 11 shillings for charges. John Jenny then entered an attachment to receive 31 shillings 6 pence from Clarke before it was paid to Doty, of which the court ordered him to then pay Doty five and a half bushels of Indian corn and 3 pence to settle the account. 1641/2 Court orders Edward Doty to keep his two cows and a steer fenced in during the summer, or pay Thomas Symons for all damage caused by his cows in Symons' cornfield. 1641/2 Sued George Clark. Doty awarded four bushels of Indian corn. 1643 Doty ordered to pay five bushels of Indian corn to John Groome, for Manessah Kempton's use. 1647 Samuel Cutbert sued Edward Doty for taking wood from his land. Doty ordered to pay 7 shillings damages plus court fees. 1650 Edward Gray and Samuel Cutbert sue Edward Doty for damage done by his cows to their corn. Doty ordered to pay 1 bushel of Indian corn to each. John Langmore Nothing much is known about Mayflower passenger John Langmore. He came as a servant to the Christopher Martin family, so was under 25. As he did not sign the Mayflower Compact, he almost certainly was under 21. He died sometime the first winter. There appears to be only one significant Langmore (Longmire) family in England, with closely-related branches in Alveley and Claverly, Shropshire and Upper Arley, Worcestershire. Perhaps one of these baptisms is that of the Mayflower passenger:  19 August 1604, Upper Arley, Worcester (son of George)  13 October 1605, Claverly, Shropshire (son of Thomas) Alice Rigsdale Nothing much is known about Mayflower passenger Alice Rigsdale, other than the fact she came on the Mayflower with her husband John Rigsdale. Both she and John died the first winter. It is quite possible that John and Alice Rigsdale of the Mayflower are the John Rigsdale and Alice Gallard who were married on 17 November 1577 at St. Mary, Weston, Lincolnshire. If true, this would make John and Alice the oldest Mayflower passengers. There are a couple other Rigsdale families in England, however: the one at Bagley, Yorkshire, and the one at Westbury On Severn, Gloucester, might also be worth investigating. Resolved White Resolved White came on the Mayflower at about the age of five, with parents William and Susanna. He was raised by step-father Edward Winslow following the death of his father William and remarriage of his mother in 1621. They moved to Marshfield in the 1630s, and later moved to Scituate where he married Judith Vassall, the daughter of William and Ann (King) Vassall. Resolved White's stepfather Edward Winslow wrote a pamphlet in 1647 entitled New England's Salamander Discovered, where the notorious and slanderous "salamander" was apparently William Vassall the father of his daughter-in-law. Resolved White moved his family back to Marshfield in the early 1660s, and Judith died and was buried there on 3 April 1670. He then remarried to the widowed Abigail Lord in 1674 in Salem, was a soldier in King Philip's War of 1676, and became a freeman in Salem in 1680 before moving back to Marshfield a couple years later. He died sometime not too long after 1687, presumably in Marshfield. Dorothy (May) Bradford Dorothy Bradford was born in Wisbeech, Cambridge, England, about 1597, the apparent daughter of Henry May. At the age of 16, she married the 23-year old William Bradford on 10 December 1613, in Amsterdam, and returned with her husband to take up residence in Leiden, Holland. They had a son, John, who was born in Leiden sometime around 1617 or 1618. When William and Dorothy decided to make the voyage to America in 1620 on the Mayflower, they left behind their son John in Leiden, presumably with the intention to send for him as soon as the colony was built and more stable and suitable for a young child. The Mayflower anchored off Provincetown Harbor on November 11, and the Pilgrims sent out several expeditions of men to explore the region to seek out the best place to build their Colony. While William Bradford was away on one of these explorations, on 7 December 1620, Dorothy accidentally fell off the Mayflower into the freezing waters of Provincetown Harbor, and drowned. Her son John came to America later, married Martha Bourne, took up residence in Duxbury and later moved to Norwich, Connecticut where he died about 1676, having had no children. Francis Eaton Francis Eaton was baptized in 1596 in Bristol, Gloucester, England, the son of John and Dorothy (Smith) Eaton. Nearly all of Francis Eaton's siblings died in 1603/1604, apparently due to a sickness that had spread throughout the household. He and brother Samuel did survive; Francis would name his first son Samuel. Francis took up the profession of a house carpenter. He married his first wife, Sarah, probably around 1619, and they had their first child Samuel about 1620. Francis, Sarah, and "sucking" child Samuel came on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620. Sarah died the first winter at Plymouth, and Francis then remarried to Dorothy, the maidservant of John Carver, sometime before 1623. John Carver had died in April 1621, and his wife Katherine died a few weeks later, so perhaps the marriage occurred not long thereafter. In the 1623 Division of Land at Plymouth, Francis Eaton received four shares: one for himself, one for his deceased first wife Sarah, one for Samuel, and one for his current wife Dorothy, all of whom came on the Mayflower. Dorothy died sometime shortly thereafter: no children are known to have been born from their marriage. Francis then married, about 1626, to Christiana Penn, and they had three children together: Rachel, Benjamin, and a child that was called "an ideote" that was still living in 1651, but whose name has not survived. Francis Eaton himself died in 1633, apparently suffering the same fate as his siblings in childhood, dying of a disease that spread through Plymouth that autumn. Francis Eaton's estate included one cow and a calf, two hogs, fifty bushels of corn, a black suit, a white hat and a black hat, boots, saws, hammers, an adze, square, augers, a chisel, boards, fishing lead, and some kitchen items. William Latham William Latham came on the Mayflower in 1620 as an 11-year old servant/apprentice to the John Carver family. His origins in England have not been determined, but there is a William Latham baptized on 4 February 1608/9 in Eccleston by Chorley, Lancashire, England, son of Hugh and Eline Latham that would be the right age. Eccleston by Chorley is the area Myles Standish came from. After the death of John Carver in April 1621, William Latham appears to have finished out his term of service with William Bradford. He was still in the Bradford household in the May 1627 Division of Cattle. Latham was taxed 9 shillings in both 1633 and 1634. In July 1633, Myles Standish was appointed to mow the land owned by William Latham and Edward Bumpass. In July 1635, William Latham witnessed the deed of Edward Bumpass selling his land to John Washborn. In 1636, Myles Standish was granted the use of land neighboring that owned by Washborn and Latham, provided he mow it but leave enough for Washborn's one cow. In 1638, William Latham had a couple of brushes with the Plymouth Court. On June 5, he was fined 40 shillings for the "entertaining of John Phillips into his house contrary to the act of the Court" and for "lavish and slanderous speeches." Jonathan Brewster was a witness against him. By September, Latham had only paid half the fine. On December 4, 1638, Latham still owed 11 shillings, and was ordered not to depart Plymouth Colony without first obtaining a license. The debt was paid 6 January 1639. And on July 6, 1638, William Reynolds sold half of his share in the black cow to John Phillips, and John Phillips then sold William Latham all his crop of Indian corn. On 26 December 1639, William Latham sold his house and property in Duxbury, and apparently moved to Marblehead, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1641, he deposed he was about 32- years old, and testified in a lawsuit between John Moses and Thomas Keyser. About 1643, he moved to Marshfield, where he is found on the 1643 list of men able to bear arms. On 24 February 1643/4, a warrant was issued against William Latham's wife Mary for adultery. Governor Edward Winslow of the Plymouth Colony wrote "Whereas divers and sundry complaints have come in to me from Weymouth sent and delivered by godly and credible persons against Mary the wife of William Latham late of Marblehead but now at Marshfield for adultery committed upon the body of the said Mary by one James Brittain of Weymouth. And having apprehended the said Mary and examined her, have sent her with the examination according to my duty to that Government where the fact was committed." On 28 October 1645, William Latham and Roger Cooke sued John and Ann Baker for 20£, for Ann's accidental burning of their house. The jury could not reach a verdict, but John Baker agreed to pay 20 shillings for damages. The accidental burning of Latham's house is the last record of him in Plymouth Colony. He apparently returned to England and then shortly thereafter made a trip to the Bahamas, where he and the group he was traveling with all died of starvation. Thomas Rogers Thomas Rogers was born in Watford, Northampton, England, the son of William and Eleanor Rogers. He married Alice Cosford in 1597. All his children were baptized and/or buried in Watford. He brought his wife and family to Leiden, Holland, where he became a citizen of Leiden on 25 June 1618, where he is called a camlet merchant. On 1 April 1620, he sold his house on Barbarasteeg for 300 guilders, apparently in preparation for his voyage on the Mayflower. He came on the Mayflower with eldest son Joseph, leaving behind in Leiden his son John, daughters Elizabeth and Margaret, and wife Alice. Thomas Rogers died the first winter at Plymouth, leaving behind his 18-year old son Joseph. His wife and children that were left behind in Leiden are found in the 1622 poll tax of Leiden, and were termed "poor people" and "without means". Children Elizabeth and Margaret apparently came to New England later, but where they lived or who they married with remain unknown. Son John came to Plymouth about 1630, and there married Anna Churchman, on 16 April 1639. Roger Wilder Roger Wilder came on the Mayflower as a servant in the John Carver family. The fact he did not sign the Mayflower Compact indicates he was under 21 years old at the time. The only Roger Wilder baptism found in the I.G.I. between 1570 and 1620 is one Roger Wilder baptized 28 December 1595 at Rotherwick, Hampshire, England. This individual is too old to have been the Mayflower passenger, but this might be the region to start looking for the Mayflower passenger's origins. William Brewster William Brewster was born about 1566, the son of William Brewster. He was educated in both Greek and Latin and spent some time at Cambridge University, although he never completed a full degree. He went into the service of William Davison, then Secretary of State, while his father back home maintained a position as the postmaster of Scrooby, Nottinghamshire. Under Davison, Brewster first traveled to the Netherlands. After Davison's departure as Secretary of State, Brewster worked himself into his father's postmaster duties and maintained Scrooby Manor. Brewster was instrumental in establishing the small Separatist church with Richard Clyfton, and they often held their meetings in the Manor house. Brewster and the others were eventually found and forced out, and fleeing prosecution and persecution they headed to Amsterdam in 1608, and moving to Leiden, Holland in 1609. Brewster became the church's Elder, responsible for seeing that the congregation's members carried themselves properly, both helping and admonishing them when necessary. In Leiden, Brewster working with Thomas Brewer became working a printing press and publishing religious books and pamphlets which were then illegally conveyed into England. Brewster also employed himself teaching University of Leiden students English. By 1618, the English authorities were onto him and his printing press, and had the Dutch authorities in pursuit of him. Thomas Brewer was arrested and held in the University of Leiden's prison, but Brewster managed to evade the authorities and went into hiding for a couple years. When the Leiden church congregation decided to send the first wave to set up and establish a colony that everyone could eventually move to, their pastor John Robinson decided to remain behind in Leiden with the majority of the congregation, intending to come later. The smaller group that went on the Mayflower desired the next highest ranking church official, Elder Brewster, go with them; so he agreed. He brought his wife Mary and two youngest children, Love and Wrestling, on the Mayflower with him. Brewster continued his work as Church Elder throughout his life at Plymouth Colony. His wife Mary died in 1627, and he never remarried. He lived to be nearly 80 years old, dying in 1644. Shortly after he died, William Bradford wrote a short but concise biography of Brewster, just a couple pages, in his history Of Plymouth Plantation. Mrs. Sarah Eaton Nothing has yet been discovered about Mrs. Sarah Eaton's English origins. She married, probably around 1617-1619 to Francis Eaton, who was baptized in 1596 in Bristol, Gloucester, England. Presumably she was from the Bristol area, but no marriage records for the couple have been found there. Sarah and Francis had their first child Samuel about 1620. Francis, Sarah, and "sucking" child Samuel came on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620. Sarah died sometime the first winter at Plymouth. Edward Leister Edward Leister (or Litster) came on the Mayflower as a servant to Stephen Hopkins, along with Edward Doty. The two would engage themselves in a duel in June 1621, wounding each other before their fight was broken up. They were sentenced to have their head and feet tied together for a full day, but were released after an hour, because of their apparent suffering, and the pleas of their master Stephen Hopkins. Edward Leister and Edward Doty were apparently the last two individuals to sign the Mayflower Compact, and some have suggested that meant they were probably somewhat involved in the "mutinous speeches." Leister was still in Plymouth in 1623, apparently still a servant, but as soon as his contract was up he left Plymouth for Virginia, perhaps as early as 1624. He died in Virginia sometime prior to 1651, but no records of his life or activities in Jamestown have been noted--so he may well have died fairly soon after his arrival there. Joseph Rogers Joseph Rogers was born in 1602/3 in Watford, Northampton, England. He and his family came to Leiden, Holland, where they are first recorded in 1618. By 1620, the family had sold its house, and Joseph came with father Thomas on the Mayflower to Plymouth. His mother Alice, brother John, and sisters Elizabeth and Margaret remained behind in Leiden. Joseph was about 17 years old when he made the voyage on the Mayflower with his father. His father Thomas died sometime the first winter at Plymouth. Joseph appears to have resided in the Bradford household for around ten years. He married about 1632, and his first child Sarah was born on 6 August 1633. He moved from Plymouth to Duxbury around 1638, and lived there for a number of years, before moving to Eastham around 1646, and resided in Sandwich for a few years around 1650 before returning to Eastham. He died in Eastham in January 1677/8; in his will he names his wife Hannah, the only record found that names his wife. Thomas Williams Thomas Williams and his sister Elizabeth are found amongst the Leiden church congregation. On 11 March 1616, Thomas Williams was a witness to his sister Elizabeth's marriage to Roger Wilson; Elizabeth is recorded in the record as having been from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. The parish registers of Great Yarmouth show the baptism of Elizabeth Williams, daughter of John and Judith (Short) Williams, on 9 January 1591/2. Older brother Thomas was baptized on 12 August 1582. They had a brother John as well, and there is a John Williams in Leiden, but there is not enough evidence to make a conclusive connection. Thomas Williams came on the Mayflower by himself, and died the first winter. There is no record of any wife or children in either Great Yarmouth or Leiden. Mrs. Mary Brewster Samuel Eaton was born probably in early 1620. He came on the Mayflower with his parents Francis and Sarah, and was referred to as a "sucking child". His mother died shortly after arrival, during the first winter at Plymouth. His father died in 1633, when he was just about 13 years old. A few years later at the age of 16 (in 1636), he was apprenticed to John Cooke for the period of 7 years. John Cooke had come on the Mayflower in 1620, as a 13-year old boy. Around 1646 or sometime shortly before, he had married a woman named Elizabeth and was residing in Duxbury. Surprisingly little is known about this family: the identity of his wife Elizabeth has not been established; and they had two children, both of whose names are unknown. Elizabeth died at some time unknown, but obviously sometime before his 10 January 1660/1 marriage to Martha Billington. Martha was the daughter of Francis Billington, who had come on the Mayflower as a 14-year old boy. Together they had four children, Sarah, Samuel, Mercy, and Bethiah. Sometime during the 1660s, he moved his family from Duxbury to Middleboro. Samuel's probate estate inventory was taken on 29 October 1684 at Middleboro. His wife Martha survived him, and died sometime after 1704, probably in Connecticut. Samuel Eaton Samuel Eaton was born probably in early 1620. He came on the Mayflower with his parents Francis and Sarah, and was referred to as a "sucking child". His mother died shortly after arrival, during the first winter at Plymouth. His father died in 1633, when he was just about 13 years old. A few years later at the age of 16 (in 1636), he was apprenticed to John Cooke for the period of 7 years. John Cooke had come on the Mayflower in 1620, as a 13-year old boy.

Around 1646 or sometime shortly before, he had married a woman named Elizabeth and was residing in Duxbury. Surprisingly little is known about this family: the identity of his wife Elizabeth has not been established; and they had two children, both of whose names are unknown. Elizabeth died at some time unknown, but obviously sometime before his 10 January 1660/1 marriage to Martha Billington. Martha was the daughter of Francis Billington, who had come on the Mayflower as a 14-year old boy. Together they had four children, Sarah, Samuel, Mercy, and Bethiah. Sometime during the 1660s, he moved his family from Duxbury to Middleboro. Samuel's probate estate inventory was taken on 29 October 1684 at Middleboro. His wife Martha survived him, and died sometime after 1704, probably in Connecticut. Edmund Margesson Very little is known about Mayflower passenger Edmund Margesson. He came on the Mayflower in 1620, and signed the Mayflower Compact (indicating he was likely over 21 years old). He came on his own, he was not a servant. An Edmund Margetson baptized on 23 November 1586 in Swannington, Norfolk, son of Robert Margetson, seems to be the best candidate to have been the Mayflower passenger. Henry Samson Henry Samson was born in Henlow, Bedford, England, and came on the Mayflower at the age of about 17 with his uncle and aunt, Edward and Ann (Cooper) Tilley. He married Ann Plummer in 1635/6 at Plymouth, became a freeman in Plymouth around that time, and volunteered for service in the Pequot War of 1637, but Plymouth's company was not called into service. By 1643 he had moved to Duxbury, where he became constable in 1661, and tax collector for 1667 and 1668. He was on a large number of juries and grand juries, and was appointed a surveyor on a couple of occasions. His wife died sometime between 1668 and 1684; he died in 1684 at Duxbury. Edward Winslow Edward Winslow was born in Droitwich, Worcester in 1595. He was traveling in the Low Countries, and subsequently became acquainted with the Pilgrims' church in Leiden. He was married in Leiden in 1618 to Elizabeth Barker, and was called a printer of London at the time. It is quite possible he was assisting William Brewster and Thomas Brewer in their publishing of religious books that were illegal in England. Edward Winslow and wife Elizabeth came on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620. Elizabeth died the first winter, and Edward remarried to the widowed Mrs. Susanna White, on 12 May 1621--the first marriage in the Plymouth Colony. Winslow quickly became one of the more prominent men in the colony. He was on many of the early explorations of Cape Cod, and led a number of expeditions to meet and trade with the Indians. He wrote several first-hand accounts of these early years, including portions of A Relation or Journal of the Proceedings of the Plantation Settled at Plymouth (London, 1622) and the entirety of Good News from New England (London, 1624). Edward Winslow became involved in defending the Plymouth and later Massachusetts Bay Colonies from their opponents and adversaries in England, and made several trips back and forth between England and Massachusetts, including trips in 1623/4, 1630, and 1635; on one occasion he was arrested and thrown into the Fleet Prison in London by his adversaries, on grounds that he had performed marriage ceremonies without being ordained (the Pilgrims viewed marriage as an event to be handled by the civil magistrates, not by the Church). Winslow returned to England shortly after the English Civil War, and published a couple of pamphlets in defense of the New England colonies, including Hypocrisy Unmasked (1646) and New England's Salamander Discovered (1647). He also wrote the introduction to the Glorious Progress of the Gospel Amongst the Indians in New England (1649). In Plymouth, he held a number of political offices, as was routinely elected an assistant to Governor William Bradford; Winslow himself was elected governor of Plymouth on three occasions: 1632/3, 1635/6, and 1644. After Winslow returned to England, he was on several Parliamentary committees; he died in 1655 at sea between Hispaniola and Jamaica, while serving as a commissioner for Oliver Cromwell on a military expedition to retake the island of Hispaniola. Love Brewster Love Brewster was born in Leiden, Holland, to parents William and Mary Brewster. His father William was the Elder of the congregation, and in Leiden was a teacher of English and also published books on religion and theology (most of which were illegally sent into England). At the age of about 9, he came with his father and mother on the Mayflower to Plymouth. He married Sarah Collier in Plymouth on 15 May 1634. Sarah was the daughter of William Collier, one of the investors, or Merchant Adventurers, an initial shareholder in the Plymouth Plantation. Love became a freeman (able to vote and hold land) in the Plymouth Colony on 2 March 1635/6, and was a volunteer to fight in the Pequot War of 1637, but Plymouth Colony's volunteers were not needed. He raised his family in the town of Duxbury, volunteered for the militia under Captain Myles Standish, and lived out his life in the town. His wife Sarah survived him for about thirty more years, dying on 26 April 1691. Thomas English Practically nothing is known of Mayflower passenger Thomas English, beyond his name, and the fact he died sometime during the first winter at Plymouth. It has been widely assumed that he is the Thomas England who witnessed the Leiden betrothal of Jacob McConkey to Bletgen Peters on 31 May 1613. If true, this indicates he was in Leiden early-on, and thus may have come from one of the main areas for early Pilgrim residents in Leiden: Scrooby and vicinity, Sandwich/Canterbury vicinity, or Norwich vicinity. Christopher Martin Christopher Martin was born probably around 1580, probably in the vicinity of Great Burstead, Billericay, which is where he married the widowed Mrs. Mary Prower on 26 February 1606/7; she brought into the family her son from her previous marriage, Solomon Prower. Christopher and Mary had a child together, Nathaniel Martin, baptized on 26 February 1609/10 in Billericay. No other children are recorded to the couple. On Easter in 1612, Christopher Martin got into some trouble with the ecclesiastical authorities for refusing to kneel at communion--an indication that he had a bit of Puritan in him. In 1617, Chistopher Martin invested £25 in Ralph Hamor's company traveling to Virginia. He and step-son Solomon then had another run-in, this time with the Archdeaconry Court at Chelmsford in 1619, for refusing to follow Catholic ritual. In May 1620, he purchased four shares of the Virginia Company from Captain George Percey, with the apparent intention of going to Virginia. He shortly thereafter became involved in the Pilgrims attempt to procure passage to Virginia, and was placed in charge of purchasing the provisions for the Mayflower. For the voyage, he was elected governor of the Speedwell. Christopher Martin's governing abilities were heavily criticized by the passengers, however. Passenger and assistant Robert Cushman wrote: Mr. Martin . . . so insulteth over our poor people, with such scorn and contempt, as if they were not good enough to wipe his shoes. It would break your heart to see his dealing, and the mourning of our people; they complain to me, and alas! I can do nothing for them. If I speak to him, he flies in my face as mutinous, and saith no complaints shall be heard or received but by himself, and saith they are froward and waspish, discontented people, and I do ill to hear them. There are others that would lose all they have put in, or make satisfaction for what they have had, that they might depart; but he will not hear them, nor suffer them to go ashore, lest they should run away. The sailors are so offended at his ignorant boldness in meddling and controlling in things he knows not what belongs to, as that some threaten to mischief him . . . Christopher Martin, his wife Mary, and his step-son all died the first winter at Plymouth. George Soule George Soule's origins in England have not been discovered. The most promising record found to date is the baptism of a George Soule on 9 February 1595 at Tingrith, Bedford, son of William. Other Soule families using the name George can also be found in Sudbury, Suffolk, and Flitwick, Bedford. George Soule came on the Mayflower as a servant to the Edward Winslow family, indicating he was under 25 years old at the time; however, he did sign the Mayflower Compact, suggesting he was over 21. This puts his birth year at around 1595-1599. This matches well with his apparent marriage date of around 1625 at Plymouth: by the May 1627 Division of Cattle, he was married to Mary, and they had had one son, Zachariah. George Soule and family moved to Duxbury very early on, and he was a deputy to the Plymouth Court for a number of years beginning in 1642. He had volunteered for the Pequot War of 1637, but Plymouth's troops were not needed. He was on various committees, juries, and survey teams, during his life in Duxbury. In 1646, for example, he was appointed to the committee to deal with Duxbury's problem of the disorderly smoking of tobacco. George Soule made out his will on 11 August 1677, and added a codicil to it on 20 September 1677. The codicil is quite interesting as it gives a little insight into a family squabble between son John and daughter Patience: "If my son John Soule above-named or his heirs or assigns or any of them shall at any time disturb my daughter Patience or her heirs or assigns or any of them in peaceable possession or enjoyment of the lands I have given her at Nemasket alias Middleboro and recover the same from her or her heirs or assigns or any of them; that then my gift to my son John Soule shall be void; and that then my will is my daughter Patience shall have all my lands at Duxbury and she shall be my sole executrix of this my last will and testament and enter into my housing lands and meadows at Duxbury." Elizabeth (Barker) Winslow Elizabeth Barker married Edward Winslow in Leiden on 16 May 1618, and came with him on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620. In their marriage banns, Elizabeth is called a spinster from "Chatsum in England", which some have taken to mean Chattisham, Suffolk; but Chatham, Kent should not be overlooked either. The marriage banns were witnessed by Janie Hazel, a cousin or neice, and Mary Allerton, also a witness for the bride. Elizabeth died late the first winter at Plymouth, on 24 March 1621. Wrestling Brewster Wrestling Brewster was born in Leiden, Holland, to parents William and Mary Brewster. His father William was the Elder of the congregation, and in Leiden was a teacher of English and also published books on religion and theology (most of which were illegally sent into England). At the age of about 6, he came with his father and mother on the Mayflower to Plymouth. He was alive during the 1627 Division of Cattle at Plymouth, where he is listed in the household of his father William. He is not mentioned again in any other record, and at William Brewster's death in 1644 he is not listed in the will or estate inventory, so he must have died at some time in the interim. Moses Fletcher Moses Fletcher was born probably in Canterbury, Kent, England. In Sandwich, Kent, he married Mary Evans on 30 October 1589. This suggests he was born around 1565, making him one of the oldest Mayflower passengers, along with James Chilton who was also from Canterbury/Sandwich. He and wife Mary had ten children baptized and/or buried at St. Peters in Sandwich, Kent. Moses Fletcher, along with James Chilton's wife, were accused of having attended the burial of a child performed outside of the Church of England, and so excommunication proceedings were commenced. Shortly thereafter he and others from the Sandwich congregation removed to Leiden and took up residence with the Pilgrims. In Leiden, following the death of his wife Mary, he remarried to the widow Sarah Denby in 1613. Moses Fletcher came alone on the Mayflower in 1620; perhaps his wife had died by that time. His children were nearing adulthood, and some had even married into Dutch families by the time of his departure (and some would marry a few years thereafter). He died sometime the first winter at Plymouth. None of his children are known to have come to America--his children remained in Holland, and so his descendants today are Dutch. Mary (Prower) Martin Mary (Prower) Martin was born probably around 1580, probably in the vicinity of Great Burstead, Billericay, which is where she married Christopher Martin on 26 February 1606/7; she had previously been married to a Mr. Prower, and mothered a son by him, Solomon Prower. Mary and Christopher also had a child together, Nathaniel Martin, baptized on 26 February 1609/10 in Billericay. No other children are recorded to the couple. Mary came on the Mayflower with her husband Christopher and son Solomon Prower. They all died the first winter. Myles Standish Myles Standish's birthplace is the subject of great debate. Those who believe he was from Lancashire point to the following evidence: Nathaniel Morton, writing in his 1669 book New England's Memorial, states that Standish was from Lancashire; Myles Standish owned a book about the former head of the Rivington Grammar School in Lancashire; and Standish named his American residence "Duxbury," which may have been a reference to his ancestral home, Duxbury Hall, Lancashire. Those that believe he was from the Isle of Man point to the lands enumerated in his probate will that were "surreptitiously detained" from him (including lands on the Isle of Man itself); these lands all belonged at one time to Thomas Standish, of the branch of the Standish family from the Isle of Man. In September 2006, Jeremy D. Bangs supplied a very thorough and scholarly review of the evidence and controversy in "Myles Standish, Born Where?", Mayflower Quarterly 72:133-159. Myles Standish is alleged to have joined Queen Elizabeth's army and attained the rank of Lieutenant, but the documentation for this claim was lost in the 1920s without having been published or transcribed, so may be suspect. In any case, Standish was certainly a part of Queen Elizabeth's army, and was stationed for a time in Holland where he eventually met and became well acquainted with John Robinson and the Pilgrims who were living in Leiden. Standish was hired by the Pilgrims to be their military captain, to establish and coordinate the Colony's defense against both foreign (French, Spanish, Dutch) and domestic (Native American) threats. Standish led or participated in all the early exploratory missions sent out to explore Cape Cod, and was heavily involved in selecting the site where the Pilgrims would settle. He was one of the few who did not get sick at all the first winter, and is recorded as having greatly helped and cared for those who were sick. He organized the deployment of the colony's cannons and the construction of the fort at Plymouth. He led both trading expeditions and military expeditions to the various Indian groups in the region. He led the party that went in pursuit of the alleged killers of Squanto (who was later discovered to be safe). He led the revenge attacks on the Indians in the Massachusetts Bay after they were caught in a conspiracy planning to attack and destroy the Plymouth and Wessagussett colonies; several Indians were killed or executed, for which Standish received some criticism, even from his friends, for being too heavy-handed. Standish was heavily involved in numerous aspects of Plymouth Colony, from defense to keeping the law. He was on the receiving end of John Billington's verbal wrath in 1621 (Billington refused to follow the captain's orders), and was called a "silly boy" in a letter that was sent out during the Oldham-Lyford scandal of 1624, and was noted for his short stature and for his quick temper. He was sent to arrest Thomas Morton in 1628, for which he received the nickname "Captain Shrimp" from Morton. William Hubbard reported Standish's temper was like a "chimney soon fired". Despite the heavy criticism by his enemies, Standish was well respected within the Plymouth Colony, and held a number of positions of authority. He made several trips to England to bring trading goods back and to negotiate with the Merchant Adventurers who had financially sponsored the joint-stock company that funded the Pilgrims' voyage. In the mid-1630s, Standish moved his family and helped found the town of Duxbury, which may have been named after his ancestral home. Standish was an heir to a fairly sizeable estate in Lancashire, but his lands were lost during the English Civil War, and neither he nor his son Alexander were ever able to legally regain control of the estate. Myles Standish's first wife Rose came with him on the Mayflower, and died the first winter. His second wife, Barbara, arrived on the ship Anne in 1623, and they were apparently married before the year was out. Nothing is known about either of his wives: there is absolutely no indication they were his cousins, as has sometimes been claimed. Standish lived out his later years in Duxbury, dying in 1656 "after his suffering of much dolorous pain," apparently from kidney stones. Gilbert Winslow Gilbert Winslow was baptized on 29 October 1600 at St. Peters, Droitwich, Worcester, England. He and his brother Edward came on the Mayflower in 1620. He is the only known person to have signed the Mayflower Compact while under the age of 21. According to William Bradford, writing in 1651, Gilbert Winslow lived in Plymouth for "divers years", before he "returned into England and died there." Gilbert's burial and probate records were recently discovered at Ludlow, Shropshire, England. His estate was valued at just over £30, and was administered by his brother Edward. In 1663, the Plymouth Court acknowledged Gilbert Winslow, deceased, was a first-comer and his heirs could seek out and purpose a plot of land to the Court. The estate inventory of Kenelm Winslow, another brother who came later, mentions that he and his brother John were granted Gilbert Winslow's land. Since Gilbert Winslow's land went to brothers Kenelm and John, this suggests Gilbert did not have any children of his own. Richard Britteridge William Bradford lists Richard Britteridge as a passenger on the Mayflower; he was apparently an adult male that was not a servant. Richard Britteridge's death is recorded on 21 December 1620, one of the six passengers to have died during the month of December, and the first passenger to die after the Mayflower had sailed from Provincetown Harbor over to Plymouth Harbor. Nothing else is known of Richard Britteridge. The parish registers of Crowhurst, Sussex record the baptism of a Richard Brightridge on 31 December 1581, son of Anthony Brightridge. As this name is extremely uncommon, this very well could be the Mayflower passenger. An older brother, John, was baptized there on 22 February 1579. Edward Fuller Edward Fuller has been generally identified as the son of Robert and Sara (Dunkhorn) Fuller, baptized on 4 September 1575 at Redenhall, Norfolk. However, a number of genealogical scholars and Mayflower researchers, including Robert S. Wakefield, Robert Sherman, Robert Leigh Ward, Robert C. Anderson, Eugene Stratton, Leslie Mahler, and others, have all questioned the identification over the past couple of decades. The current identification is based upon circumstantial evidence only: the fact that the names Samuel, Edward, and Ann occur within the same family; and the fact the father is identified as a butcher. Thomas Morton, writing in 1637, says that Samuel Fuller was the son of a butcher. The name Matthew also occurs in this Redenhall Fuller family. The counter-evidence is primarily that the ages for the Fullers appear to be too old, when compared to their marriage dates, the ages of their spouses, and with the births of their children. The name of Edward Fuller's wife has not been discovered. In James Savage's Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England (1860-1862), Edward Fuller's wife was given as "Ann". However, there are no American or English records which give her name. I suspect James Savage may have made a simple typographical error: Mayflower passenger Edward Tilley had a wife Ann; or perhaps he was thinking of their sister Ann Fuller. None-the-less, numerous sources published after 1860 have utilized Savage's Genealogical Dictionary, and so the identification of Ann can be found in numerous other books and online resources. So, in truth, very little is known about Edward Fuller. His English origins and the name of his wife are widely disputed. What is known is that he, his wife, and his son Samuel came on the Mayflower in 1620 to Plymouth. A single Leiden judicial document mentions Edward Fuller, and proves that he, like brother Samuel Fuller, were living in Leiden. Both Edward and his wife died the first winter, but son Samuel (who would have been about 12), survived. An older brother, Matthew, had stayed behind, and came to America later. Desire Minter Desire Minter appears to have been the daughter of Plymouth church-members William and Sarah (Willet) Minter, who had come to Leiden from Norwich, Norfolk, England. William Minter had died, and the widowed Sarah (Willet) Minter married in Leiden to Roger Simmonson on 18 August 1618. Widowed again, she married Roger Eastman in 1622 in Leiden. Desire Minter came on the Mayflower with John Carver, who was apparently taking care of her. William Bradford wrote somewhat cryptically that she "returned to her friend and proved not very well and died in England." Some have speculated that John Howland, who also came as a part of the Carver household, named his first daughter after her. Mrs. Rose Standish Nothing is known about Rose Standish, aside from the fact she came on the Mayflower with husband Myles Standish, and died the first winter on 29 January 1620/1. Some sources have claimed she was a cousin of Myles, but there is no evidence whatever for this statement. Peter Browne Nothing is known about Rose Standish, aside from the fact she came on the Mayflower with husband Myles Standish, and died the first winter on 29 January 1620/1. Some sources have claimed she was a cousin of Myles, but there is no evidence whatever for this statement. Mrs. Fuller Edward Fuller has been generally identified as the son of Robert and Sara (Dunkhorn) Fuller, baptized on 4 September 1575 at Redenhall, Norfolk. However, a number of genealogical scholars and Mayflower researchers, including Robert S. Wakefield, Robert Sherman, Robert Leigh Ward, Robert C. Anderson, Eugene Stratton, Leslie Mahler, and others, have all questioned the identification over the past couple of decades. The current identification is based upon circumstantial evidence only: the fact that the names Samuel, Edward, and Ann occur within the same family; and the fact the father is identified as a butcher. Thomas Morton, writing in 1637, says that Samuel Fuller was the son of a butcher. The name Matthew also occurs in this Redenhall Fuller family. The counter-evidence is primarily that the ages for the Fullers appear to be too old, when compared to their marriage dates, the ages of their spouses, and with the births of their children. The name of Edward Fuller's wife has not been discovered. In James Savage's Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England (1860-1862), Edward Fuller's wife was given as "Ann". However, there are no American or English records which give her name. I suspect James Savage may have made a simple typographical error: Mayflower passenger Edward Tilley had a wife Ann; or perhaps he was thinking of their sister Ann Fuller. None-the-less, numerous sources published after 1860 have utilized Savage's Genealogical Dictionary, and so the identification of Ann can be found in numerous other books and online resources. So, in truth, very little is known about Edward Fuller. His English origins and the name of his wife are widely disputed. What is known is that he, his wife, and his son Samuel came on the Mayflower in 1620 to Plymouth. A single Leiden judicial document mentions Edward Fuller, and proves that he, like brother Samuel Fuller, were living in Leiden. Both Edward and his wife died the first winter, but son Samuel (who would have been about 12), survived. An older brother, Matthew, had stayed behind, and came to America later. Elias Story Elias Story came on the Mayflower in the care of Edward Winslow. He was apparently under 21 years old in 1620, as he did not sign the Mayflower Compact. He died sometime the first winter at Plymouth. Nothing else is known about him. “Mr. Ely" Mr. Ely's existence on the Mayflower and in early Plymouth is known only by one statement, written by William Bradford in 1651: "There were also other two seamen hired to stay a year here in the country, William Trevor, and one Ely. But when their time was out they both returned." William Button William Button, called "a youth" by William Bradford, was a servant for Samuel Fuller. He was the only passenger to die during the Mayflower's voyage across the Atlantic Ocean: he died just three days before land was sighted. William Button's English origins are unknown. There were a couple of William Button's baptized in William Bradford's home parish of Austerfield, York, but those baptisms are for individuals who would have been in their 20s and 30s, too old to be called a "youth." There is also a William Button, son of John, baptized on 13 March 1605 in Worksop, Nottingham, which is where some of the original Separatists were from: so this would be a far better candidate for the Mayflower passenger. Samuel Fuller Samuel Fuller came on the Mayflower at the age of 12, with his father Edward Fuller. (He should not be confused with Doctor Samuel Fuller, his uncle, who also came on the Mayflower). Samuel's parents both died the first winter at Plymouth. Samuel was apparently raised by his uncle, and became a freeman of Plymouth in 1634. He married in Scituate the next year to Jane Tothrop, the daughter of Rev. John Lothrop and his first wife Hannah Howes. He and wife Jane would raise their family initially at Scituate, before moving sometime shortly before 1641 to Barnstable. He would live out the next forty years of his life in Barnstable. His probate records of 1683-1684 indicate that his wife predeceased him. He also bequeathed an Indian named Joel to his son John. Edward Thompson Edward Thompson came on the Mayflower in the care of the William White family. He was under 21 at the time, as he did not sign the Mayflower Compact. He was the first Mayflower passenger to die after the ship anchored off the tip of Cape Cod, as the first expeditions were being sent out to explore the Cape. Dorothy, Carver's maidservant Identifying Mayflower passenger Dorothy was a very difficult academic exercise, that required careful analysis of the records. Francis Eaton received four acres under the Mayflower heading in the 1623 Division of Land: one for himself, one for his wife Sarah, and one for his son Samuel. But what about the fourth acre? William Bradford recorded in John Carver's family that Carver had brought a maidservant, but does not name her. Bradford later writes "His maid servant married, and dyed a year or two after here in this place". Her name, and her husband were not mentioned. Carver's maidservant was the only female passenger who could have possibly married Francis Eaton, and it was her acre that explains why Francis Eaton had four acres in the 1623 Division of Land. Charles Edward Banks discovered a document in England, dated 1626, that mentions Francis Eaton, carpenter, and his wife Dorothy, in New England. In 1997, Neil. D. Thompson, FASG, was able to document that the Francis Eaton mentioned in this document was the same Francis Eaton who came on the Mayflower. Since Francis' first wife was named Sarah, and his third wife was named Christian, we can therefore determine that Carver's maidservant, who heretofore has been without a name, was actually named Dorothy. Robert Carter Robert Carter came on the Mayflower as a servant (apprentice) to William Mullins, a shoemaker. Nothing else is known of Robert, except that in William Mullins' will of 21 February 1620/1, he requests that John Carver and "Master Williamson" (perhaps a pseudonym for William Brewster) look after him because he "hath not so approved himself as I would he should have done." There are a few Robert Carters of approximately the right age (I'm guessing 13-18 years old) to be found in the parish registers in the county of Surrey, where William Mullins was from, so perhaps one of these may be the Mayflower passenger. Unfortunately the name is quite common. Samuel Fuller Samuel Fuller has been generally identified as the son of Robert Fuller, baptized on 20 January 1580 at Redenhall, Norfolk. However, a number of genealogical scholars and Mayflower researchers, including Robert S. Wakefield, Robert Sherman, Robert Leigh Ward, Robert C. Anderson, Eugene Stratton, Leslie Mahler, and others, have all questioned the identification over the past couple of decades. The current identification is based upon circumstantial evidence only: the fact that the names Samuel, Edward, and Ann occur within the same family; and the fact the father is identified as a butcher. Thomas Morton, writing in 1637, says that Samuel Fuller was the son of a butcher. The name Matthew also occurs in this Redenhall Fuller family. The counter- evidence is primarily that the ages for the Fullers appear to be too old, when compared to their marriage dates, the ages of their spouses, and with the births of their children. Samuel Fuller's 1613 Leiden marriage record indicates he had been formerly married to Alice Glascock; nothing is known of his first wife beyond her name. Most Alice Glascock's are found in Essex, which would support a Fuller origin in this region. His second wife, Agnes Carpenter, was the daughter of Alexander Carpenter, and was baptized at Wrington, Somerset on 16 December 1593. His third wife, Bridget Lee, was accompanied by her mother Josephine Lee at her marriage, and also had a brother Samuel living in Leiden. Samuel Fuller came on the Mayflower in 1620, leaving behind his wife Bridget. She would come later, on the ship Anne in 1623. He was the Colony's doctor, and was a church deacon. His wife Bridget may have been the church's deaconess. Samuel Fuller spent time helping the sick at Neumkeag (now Salem), in 1629. He himself became sick in the autumn of 1633, and died, as did a number of other Plymouth residents.

Purpose The main Purpose of the text is to obtain a quality of life and also an own justice. This means that that people will enacte a constitute a set of free laws for all of them. They renounce to their own liberty, in order to stablish a new liberty, but taking into account that they also belong to the English crown. It will stablish the foundations of the Declaration of Independence, because it sets them as free men, and start to think themselves as a “Colony” and for the Good of the Colony, they will make whatever possible. Addressee The receivers of the text are themselves, but, to give a more complex sense, to the community of the colony, who is who's going to receive the laws, for which everyman/woman has rejected to their own freedom in just after a common benefit. Textual Analysis The Mayflower Compact is a written agreement composed by a consensus of the new Settlers arriving at New Plymouth in November of 1620. They had traveled across the ocean on the ship Mayflower which was anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The Mayflower Compact was drawn up with fair and equal laws, for the general good of the settlement and with the will of the majority. The Mayflower’s passengers knew that the New World’s earlier settlers failed due to a lack of government. They hashed out the content and eventually composed the Compact for the sake of their own survival. All 41 of the adult male members on the Mayflower signed the Compact. Being the first written laws for the new land, the Compact determined authority within the settlement and was the observed as such until 1691. This established that the colony (mostly persecuted Separatists), was to be free of English law. It was devised to set up a government from within themselves and was written by those to be governed. The original document is said to have been lost, but the writings of William Bradford’s journal Of Plymouth Plantation and in Edward Winslow’s Mourt’s Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth are in agreement and accepted as accurate The Mayflower Compact is a written agreement composed by a consensus of the new Settlers arriving at New Plymouth in November of 1620. They had traveled across the ocean on the ship Mayflower which was anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The Mayflower Compact was drawn up with fair and equal laws, for the general good of the settlement and with the will of the majority. The Mayflower’s passengers knew that the New World’s earlier settlers failed due to a lack of government. They hashed out the content and eventually composed the Compact for the sake of their own survival. All 41 of the adult male members on the Mayflower signed the Compact. Being the first written laws for the new land, the Compact determined authority within the settlement and was the observed as such until 1691. This established that the colony (mostly persecuted Separatists), was to be free of English law. It was devised to set up a government from within themselves and was written by those to be governed. The original document is said to have been lost, but the writings of William Bradford’s journal Of Plymouth Plantation and in Edward Winslow’s Mourt’s Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth are in agreement and accepted as accurate One of the first lists of the Mayflower Compact’s signers was provided by William Bradford’s nephew, Nathaniel Morton. The names are published in his 1669 New England’s Memorial. They are also posted by the Avalon Project of Yale University. Some of the more familiar names includes are those such as: John Carver, William Bradford, Edward Winslow, William Brewster, Isaac Allerton, Myles Standish, and John Alden. When creating the Mayflower Compact, the signers believed that covenants were not only to be honored between God and man, but also between each other. They had always honored covenants as part of their righteous integrity and agreed to be bound by this same principle with the Compact. John Adams and many historians have referred to the Mayflower Compact as the foundation of the U.S. Constitution written more than 150 later. America was indeed begun by men who honored God and set their founding principles by the words of the Bible. They lived their lives with honesty, reliability, and fairness toward establishing this country “for the sake of its survival.” A great many of America’s Founding Fathers have been quoted in regard to living by Biblical values. Edmund Burke (1729-1794), outstanding orator, author, and leader in Great Britain, defended the colonies in Parliament. "There is but one law for all, namely, that law which governs all law, the law of our Creator." Patrick Henry (1736-1799), five-time Governor of Virginia, whose "Give me liberty or give me death" speech has made him immortal, said: "It cannot be emphasized too strongly, nor too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. . . ." Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third U.S. President, chosen to write the Declaration of Independence, said: "I have little doubt that the whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our Creator, and, I hope, to the pure doctrines of Jesus also." He proclaimed that it was the God of the Bible who founded America in his 1805 inaugural address: "I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old, from their native land ownship. The Mayflower The Mayflower Before the Pilgrims About 1607 or 1608, Christopher Jones and several business partners purchased the Mayflower. Their first voyage in the ship was to Trondheim, Norway, in 1609, to bring back lumber, tar, and fish. The Mayflower got caught in a very bad winter storm on the way home from Norway, and the captain ordered his crew to throw some of the lumber overboard to lighten the ship. They barely survived the storm, which lasted several weeks and blew them several hundred miles off-course. After that, Christopher Jones must not have wanted to sail the Mayflower into the cold North Sea, because he never went there again. Instead, for the next ten years, he took the ship to La Rochelle and Bordeaux, France, and Malaga, Spain, often several times a year. He would return to England with a ship loaded with as much as 200 tons of French wines, Cognac, and occasionally some vinegar. In May, 1620, after returning to London from Bordeaux, France, the Pilgrims made contact with Christopher Jones, and they hired him to transport them to America. Master Christopher Jones Christopher Jones was born about 1570. His father was a seaman, and a master (captain) of several sailing ships. When Christopher Jones grew up, he too became a ship owner and master. He lived in the town of Harwich, in the house pictured at left, until he was about 40 years old. Then he moved to Rotherhithe, a city very near London and on the river Thames. The first ship he sailed was called the Josian, named after his wife. He sold the ship Josian about 1608, and with three other business investors he purchased the Mayflower. He used the Mayflower primarily to transport English goods to France, and return to England with French wines. He had nine children, but unfortunately almost all of them died when they were young, and only a few survived to become adults. In 1620, when he was fifty years old, Christopher Jones and the Mayflower were hired to carry the Pilgrims and their cargo to Northern Virginia. Christopher Jones and the Mayflower stayed with the Pilgrims in America through the winter. Half of the Mayflower's crew died the first winter. The Mayflower left Plymouth in April after the winter was over, and arrived back in England in May 1621. Christopher Jones took the Mayflower on another trading run to France later that year, but died shortly thereafter, in March 1622. He was buried at St. Mary's Cathedral in Rotherhithe, Surrey, England. The Mayflower's Crew Besides the passengers and their cargo, the Mayflower also had a crew of about 30 men, each with different duties and jobs. Unfortunately, only the names of a few of the crew were ever recorded. Ship's Master (the captain) Christopher Jones. The Master's job is to direct the course of the ship, and to command all the sailors and crew. Christopher Jones was about 50 years old at the time of the Mayflower's voyage to America in 1620, and he was also a quarter-owner of the ship along with three other men. Pilots and Master's Mates John Clarke and Robert Coppin. The Master's Mates were second-in-command underneath the captain; and the pilot's duty was to take charge of the ship when approaching land and guide the ship to a safe place to anchor. Both John Clarke and Robert Coppin had been to Virginia and New England on previous voyages. John Clarke had even been captured by the Spanish in Virginia, and held as a prisoner in Havana, Cuba and Madrid, Spain for more than five years before being released. Cooper John Alden. The cooper's duty was to build, repair, and maintain the ship's barrels. The barrels were very important, because they held the food and drink that the passengers and crew needed to survive. John Alden was about twenty-one years old, and was a distant relative of Christopher Jones. Ship Surgeon Giles Heale. The ship's surgeon was exempted from all duties, except caring for the sick and injured crewmembers. Giles Heale had just recently completed his apprenticeship in London as a Barber- Surgeon, and this voyage may have been his first "real world" job. Other Crewmembers. The Master Gunner was responsible for the maintenance and readiness of the ship's guns and cannons. The ship's carpenter was responsible for fixing any of the wooden and metal fixtures, stopping leaks, and maintaining the good condition of his tools. The boatswain was responsible for the sails and rigging, and for setting out the anchor. The four quartermasters were responsible for the cargo hold and the provisions, and for fishing. The cook was responsible for cooking and providing the daily meals. The swabber was the person in charge of keeping the ship decks and maps clean. And there were the ordinary sailors, whose job was to perform many of the laborious tasks, such as hoisting sails, managing day-to-day sailing chores, and steering the ship while at sea. Cross-sections of the Ship

Forecastle: Where the crew's meals were cooked, and where the crew's food and supplies were kept. Poop House: Nothing to do with a bathroom, the poop house was the living quarters for the ship's master (Christopher Jones) and some of the higher ranking crew, perhaps master's mates John Clarke and Robert Coppin. Cabin: The general sleeping quarters for the Mayflower's twenty or thirty other crewmembers. The crew slept in shifts. Steerage Room: This is where the pilot steered the Mayflower. Steering was done by a stick called a whip-staff that was moved back and forth to move the tiller, which in turn moves the rudder. Gun Room: This is where the powder, shot, and other supplies were stored for the ship's guns and cannons. Gun Deck: The gun deck is where the cannon were located. On merchant ships, this deck was used to hold additional cargo. In the Mayflower's case, the gun deck is where the passengers lived on the voyage to America. Capstan and Windlass: Large apparatus which were used to lift and lower heavy cargo between the decks. Cargo Hold: This is where the Pilgrims would have stored their cargo of food, tools, and supplies during the voyage. The Gun Deck, sometimes referred to by the Pilgrims as "betwixt the decks" or the "tween deck," is where the Pilgrims lived for most of the voyage. They occasionally ventured to the upper deck, especially during calmer weather when they would be less likely to get in the way of the seamen and there was less danger of being swept overboard. The gun deck had about four gun ports on either side of the ship for cannon. Even though the Mayflower was a merchant ship, it needed to be able to defend itself from pirates, and needed to be prepared for the possibility of conscription (when England was at war, the King or Queen could turn merchant ships into military vessels.) The height of the gun deck was around five and a half feet. The Gun Deck Floor Plan

During the voyage, the 102 Mayflower passengers lived primarily on the gun deck, or the 'tween deck. The length of the deck from stem to stern was about 80 feet, of which about 12 feet at the back belonged to the gun room and was probably off-limits to the passengers. The width at the widest part was about 24 feet. Various hatches provided access to the cargo hold below. The windlass and capstan, both used to haul heavy items by rope between the decks, also took up floor- space, as did the main mast in the middle, and the sprit sail mast in the front. Many of the families built themselves small little "cabins," simple wooden dividers nailed together, to provide a small amount of privacy. Others, especially the young single men, just took up any old spot--many found shelter within a shallop, a 30-foot sailing vessel that the Pilgrims brought with them, and which they had dismantled and stowed on the gun deck. The two month voyage, with many young men living inside of it, caused considerable damage to the shallop, and cost the Pilgrims several weeks of time to fix after they arrived. The Mayflower after the Pilgrims The Mayflower stayed with the Pilgrims in America the first winter, and departed home for England in April, arriving back home in May 1621. Master Christopher Jones, the ship's captain, died the next year, in March 1622. Christopher Jones owned a fourth of the ship, and when he died the ownership of his share passed to his widow, Josian. Josian, with the other three owners, stopped using the ship, and by May 1624 it had fallen into ruins. It was appraised at that time to a value of just over £128, and because of its very poor condition it was almost certainly broken up and sold off as scrap. Shortly before the 300th anniversary of the Mayflower's voyage (1920), a historian by the name of J. Rendell Harris published a book, The Finding of the Mayflower, in which he claimed to have rediscovered the Mayflower, as a barn in Jordans, England. However, his evidence was extremely speculative, much of it based on oral tradition that he himself may have initiated and encouraged; and the possible family connections between the barn owners and the Mayflower's owners has not stood the test of subsequent research. The barn likely is the remains of a 17th century ship, but there is no evidence it is actually the Mayflower. The Pilgrims List of the all the Passengers, with ages, occupations, and their origins in England When the Mayflower departed Plymouth, England, she was carrying 102 passengers, including three pregnant women. During the voyage, one baby was born, Oceanus Hopkins, making a total of 103 passengers. Three days before land was sighted, one passenger, William Button, died, so that the Mayflower arrived with 102 passengers. Below is a complete list of all the Mayflower passengers, along with a brief summary of their ages, occupations, and English origins. More information about each individual passenger can be found in the Passengers section of this website.John Alden. Cooper (barrel-maker) from Harwich, co. Essex, England. About 21-years old.  Isaac Allerton. Tailor and merchant, about 34-years old, probably from co. Suffolk, England.  Mrs. Mary (Norris) Allerton, from Newbury, co. Berkshire, England.  Bartholomew Allerton, about 7-years old.  Remember Allerton, about 5-years old.  Mary Allerton, about 3-years old.  John Allerton. Seaman. Perhaps a brother to Isaac.  John Billington. From near Spaulding, co. Lincolnshire, England, about 40-years old.  Mrs. Elinor Billington  John Billington (II), about 16-years old.  Francis Billington, about 14-years old.  William Bradford. Husbandman, fustian-weaver during his time in Holland. Later governor of Plymouth. From Austerfield, co. Yorkshire, England, about 30-years old.  Mrs. Dorothy (May) Bradford. About 23-years old, from Wisbeech, co. Cambridgeshire, England.  William Brewster. Postmaster of Scrooby. Personal secretary to William Davison, Secretary of State under Queen Elizabeth. Publisher and printing press owner. Plymouth Church Elder. From Scrooby, co. Nottinghamshire, England, about 54-years old.  Mrs. Mary Brewster. About 51-years old, probably also from co. Nottinghamshire, England.  Love Brewster. About 9-years old.  Wrestling Brewster. About 6-years old.  Richard Britteridge. Unknown origins, perhaps from Crowhurst, co. Sussex, England, aged 39.  Peter Browne. From Dorking, co. Surrey, England, 25-years old, and probably a weaver.  William Button. Called "a youth", he was a servant to doctor Samuel Fuller. He was the only passenger to die on the Mayflower's voyage.  Robert Carter. A teenage boy, probably from Dorking, co. Surrey, England, he came as an apprentice to shoemaker William Mullins.  John Carver. Church deacon and Plymouth's first governor. His age and English origins remain unknown, though he was likely in his 40s.  Mrs. Katherine (White) Carver. She was from Sturton-le-Steeple, co. Nottinghamshire, England, and was probably in her 40s.  James Chilton. About 64 years old, from Canterbury, co. Kent, England, a tailor who later moved to Sandwich, co. Kent. He was likely the oldest Mayflower passenger.  Mrs. Chilton. She was probably also from Canterbury, co. Kent, England, and was likely in her early 60s.  Mary Chilton. From Sandwich, co. Kent, England, 13-years old.  Richard Clarke. An adult.  Francis Cooke. About 37-years old, perhaps from around Norwich, co. Norfolk, England.  John Cooke. About 13-years old.  Humility Cooper. About 1-year old. She came in the custody of her aunt and uncle, Edward and Ann Tilley.  John Crackston. About 45-years old, from Colchester, co. Essex, and Stratford St. Mary, co. Suffolk.  John Crackston. Under 21 years old, from Colchester, co. Essex and Stratford St. Mary, co. Suffolk.  Edward Doty. About 21-years old, perhaps from co. Lincolnshire, England, he came as a servant to Stephen Hopkins.  Francis Eaton. House carpenter from Bristol, co. Gloucester, England, 24-years old.  Mrs. Sarah Eaton. She was likely also from Bristol, probably in her very early 20s.  Samuel Eaton. Under 1-year old, he was still breastfeeding during the Mayflower's voyage.  Thomas English. An adult, and a seaman.  Moses Fletcher. A smith, about 55-years old, from Sandwich, co. Kent, England.  Edward Fuller. From Redenhall, co. Norfolk, England, the son of a butcher, about 45-years old.  Mrs. Fuller, probably in her 40s.  Samuel Fuller, about 12-years old.  Samuel Fuller. From Redenhall, co. Norfolk, England, younger brother of Edward Fuller, about 40-years old. A say-weaver in Leiden; Plymouth's doctor and a church deacon.  Richard Gardinar. Seaman, perhaps a 38-year old from Harwich, co. Essex, England.  John Goodman. An adult.  William Holbeck. A servant to William White, under the age of 21. Perhaps from co. Warwickshire, England.  John Hooke. 13-year old servant to Isaac Allerton, originally from Norwich, co. Norfolk, England.  Stephen Hopkins. From Hursley, co. Hampshire, England, about 42-years old. Minister's clerk and shopkeeper.  Mrs. Elizabeth (Fisher) Hopkins. Probably in her late 30s or very early 40s.  Constance Hopkins. 14-years old.  Giles Hopkins. 12-years old.  Damaris Hopkins. About 1 year old.  Oceanus Hopkins. Born on the voyage, while the Mayflower was at sea headed for America.  John Howland. From Fenstanton, co. Huntingtonshire, England. Servant to John Carver, about 21-years old.  John Langmore. A servant to Christopher Martin, who was under the age of 21.  William Latham. An 11-year old servant to John Carver, and later of William Bradford.  Edward Leister. A servant to Stephen Hopkins, he was between 21-25 years old.  Edward Margesson. An adult, perhaps a 34-year old from Swinnington, co. Norfolk, England.  Christopher Martin. From Great Burstead, co. Essex, England, a merchant, about 40-years old.  Mrs. Mary (Prower) Martin, probably in her late 30s.  Solomon Prower, an older teenager, from Great Burstead., co. Essex, England.  Desire Minter. A young girl, perhaps in her early teens, servant to John Carver, from Norwich, co. Norfolk, England.  Ellen More. 8-year old, apprenticed out to Edward Winslow. From Shipton, co. Shropshire, England.  Jasper More. 7-year old, apprenticed out to John Carver. From Shipton, co. Shropshire, England.  Richard More. 6-year old, apprenticed out to William Brewster. From Shipton, co. Shropshire, England.  Mary More. 4-year old, apprenticed out to William Brewster. From Shipton, co. Shropshire, England.  William Mullins. Shoemaker from Dorking, co. Surrey, England, about 48-years old.  Mrs. Alice Mullins, probably also from Dorking, co. Surrey, England, probably in her late 40s.  Priscilla Mullins, about 18-years old.  Joseph Mullins, about 14-years old.  Degory Priest. About 41-years old, a hat-maker.  John Rigsdale. An adult. Perhaps from Weston, co. Lincolnshire.  Mrs. Alice Rigsdale. An adult. Perhaps from Weston, co. Lincolnshire.  Thomas Rogers. From Watford, co. Northampton, England, about 48-years old.  Joseph Rogers. 17-year old from Watford, co. Northampton.  Henry Samson. From Henlow, co. Bedfordshire, England, 16-years old. Came with aunt and uncle, Edward and Ann Tilley.  George Soule. Servant to Edward Winslow, between 21-25 years old.  Myles Standish. Soldier (rank of lieutenant) and militia captain from co. Lancashire, England, about 33-36 years old.  Mrs. Rose Standish. Presumably in her early 30s, perhaps also from co. Lancashire, England.  Elias Story. Servant to Edward Winslow, under the age of 21.  Edward Thompson. An adult.  Edward Tilley. From Henlow, co. Bedfordshire, England, 32-years old.  Mrs. Ann (Cooper) Tilley. From Henlow, co. Bedfordshire, England, 35-years old.  John Tilley. From Henlow, co. Bedfordshire, England, 49-years old.  Mrs. Joan (Hurst) Tilley. From Henlow, co. Bedfordshire, England, 52-years old.  Elizabeth Tilley. 13-years old, from Henlow, co. Bedfordshire, England.  Thomas Tinker. Wood sawyer, perhaps from Thurne, co. Norfolk, England.  Mrs. Tinker.  son Tinker. Name unknown.  William Trevore. Adult seaman hired to stay at Plymouth for a year.  Richard Warren. From Great Amwell, co. Hertfordshire, England, about 35-years old.  William White. Adult.  Mrs. Susanna White. Adult. She was pregnant, and gave birth to a son Peregrine shortly after the Mayflower's arrival.  Resolved White. About 5-years old.  Roger Wilder. A servant to John Carver, who was under 21-years old.  Thomas Williams. 38-year old from Great Yarmouth, co. Norfolk, England.  Edward Winslow. 25-year old from Droitwich, co. Worcestershire, England. Son of a salter, became a printer, and later was occasionally governor of Plymouth.  Mrs. Elizabeth (Barker) Winslow, probably in her early 20s, from probably Chattisham, co. Suffolk, or Chatham, co. Kent.  Gilbert Winslow. 20-year old brother of Edward Winslow from Droitwich, co. Gloucester, England.  "one Ely", a seaman hired to stay a year at Plymouth. His first name is not found in historical records.  Dorothy. A maidservant to John Carver, her surname is not known. She was an older teenager. Portraits of the Passengers Surprisingly, of the 103 Mayflower passengers, only two are known to have had portraits made. The first, and best authenticated, is the portrait of Edward Winslow. The artist who painted the portrait is unknown, but the painting was done in London in 1651. The original is currently in the possession of the Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Edward Winslow came on the Mayflower at the age of 25, and was elected governor of Plymouth on several occasions, including 1633, 1636, and 1644. Edward Winslow returned to England on colony business on several occasions as well, and in 1646 he returned to England permanently, where he took various positions in the government of Oliver Cromwell, following the English Civil War. In 1651, he sat for the portrait, when he would have been 56-years old. Three years later, he went as commissioner to the West Indies on an expedition to capture the island of Hispaniola. He died at sea of a sudden fever, and was buried at sea between Hispaniola and Jamaica.

The other known portrait belongs to Myles Standish. Standish was the militia captain at Plymouth, responsible for the colony's security and defense. When he came on the Mayflower, he was in his mid-30s. The portrait was "discovered" in a picture shop in Boston in 1877, so its authenticity has been debated. The portrait was dated 1625, and was labeled "M. Standish," age 38. The portrait's current owner or location is unknown--what exists are two late 19th century portraits that were based off the original. From the two line drawings, noted portrait and maritime artist Mike Haywood, at my request, painted a full-color portrait of Myles Standish. Women on the Mayflower Governor William Bradford reported that the Pilgrims were worried that the "weak bodies of women" would not be able to withstand the rigors of a trans-Atlantic voyage and the construction of a colony. Prior to the Mayflower, very few English women had made the voyage across the ocean. Sir Walter Raleigh's Roanoke colony arrived in Virginia in 1587, and amongst those 120 colonists there were 17 women: a baby girl, Virginia Dare, was born after arrival. When re-supply ships came from England, they could not relocate the people. The colony had mysteriously disappeared, and was never seen again. The Jamestown Colony was founded in 1607, but relatively few women had yet made the voyage and taken up residence there. The Pilgrim husband, as head of the household, had an important and difficult decision to make. Building a colony would be hard on a woman's weaker body. It might be safer and more healthy to leave her behind, and have her come later once the houses were built, and the general safety and successfulness of the colony were better established. But that could be several years. Could he live several years without his wife? How strong was his wife anyway, could she really handle it? Was it right to put your wife's life in danger in this manner? Francis Cooke, Thomas Rogers, Samuel Fuller and Richard Warren felt it was better if their wives Hester, Alice, Bridget and Elizabeth stayed behind, and came over later. Degory Priest also left behind his wife Sarah, despite the fact Sarah's brother Isaac Allerton came on the Mayflower with his pregnant wife and three young children. But most husbands, 18 in total, decided their wives should come with them. Was it the right decision? As the Mayflower left England for America, there were 18 adult women onboard. Three of them, Elizabeth Hopkins, Susanna White, and Mary Allerton, were actually in their last trimester of a pregnancy. All the adult women on the Mayflower were married, there were no single women-- although there were a few teenage girls nearing marriageable age. While no women would die during the Mayflower's voyage, life after arrival proved extremely difficult. In fact, 78% of the women would die the first winter, a far higher percentage than for men or children. Dorothy Bradford was the first woman to die, and the only woman who died in the month of December. While many of the men, including her husband, were out exploring on Cape Cod, she accidentally fell off the Mayflower into the bitter cold waters of Provincetown Harbor. Most of the women's death dates were not recorded, but we do know that Rose Standish died on January 29, Mary Allerton died on February 25, and Elizabeth Winslow died on March 24. Most of the women died in February and March. The extremely high mortality rate among women is probably explainable by the fact the men were out in the fresh air, felling trees, building structures and drinking fresh New England water; while the women were confined to the damp and crowded quarters offered by the Mayflower, where disease would have spread much more quickly. The two-month voyage was long enough; the women, however, remained living on the ship for an additional four months while the men built storehouses and living quarters onshore. Many of the sick were no doubt cared for onboard the ship by the women, increasing their exposure to colds and pneumonias. William Mullins died on February 21, apparently onboard the Mayflower since his will was witnessed by the ship's captain and ship's surgeon. His wife Alice and son Joseph had not yet died, but it wasn't too long before they did, orphaning their teenage daughter Priscilla in the New World. Only five women survived the first winter. One of the five survivors, Mrs. Katherine Carver, died in May of a "broken heart," her husband John having died of sunstroke a month earlier. Weak bodies or not, by the time of the famous "Thanksgiving," there were only four women left to care for the Colony's fifty men and children. The four women were Eleanor Billington, Elizabeth Hopkins, Mary Brewster, and Susanna Winslow. Susanna Winslow was the widow of William White who died the first winter; she remarried to Edward Winslow, whose wife Elizabeth had also died the first winter. Incidentally, all the wives who had been left behind were still living. Four of them came on the ship Anne in 1623, had additional children, and raised their families at Plymouth. Girls on the Mayflower Most of the Pilgrims felt that the bodies of girls were too weak to make the voyage on the Mayflower, and felt that girls were not strong enough to survive the hardships of building a colony. Because of this, most parents decided to leave the girls behind in England or Holland, and would send for them later once everything was built and more comfortable. Elder William Brewster brought his sons Love and Wrestling, but left behind his daughters Patience and Fear. Thomas Rogers brought his son Joseph, but left behind his daughters Elizabeth and Margaret. Francis Cooke brought his son John, but left behind his daughters Jane and Hester. Richard Warren had five daughters, Mary, Ann, Sarah, Elizabeth and Abigail, ranging in ages from 2-10 years old, but he left them all behind. And Degory Priest also left behind his daughters Mary and Sarah. Despite the general belief that girls were weaker, 11 girls, ranging in ages from 1 through 17, did make the voyage on the Mayflower with their families. And perhaps more surprisingly, young girls proved to have the strongest bodies of all: the first winter, 75% of the women died, 50% of the men died, 36% of the boys died, but only two girls (18%) died. The youngest girl on the Mayflower was Humility Cooper, just about 1 year old. She was apparently orphaned, and so came on the Mayflower in the custody of her aunt and uncle, Edward and Ann (Cooper) Tilley. Her cousin, 16-year old Henry Samson, rounded out the family. Edward Tilley's brother John also brought his wife Joan, and their daughter, 13-year old Elizabeth Tilley. Elizabeth Tilley may have had a strong friendship with another girl, Desire Minter. Desire's father William had died in Leiden, and so she was put in the custody of John Carver, who brought her to America with him. Elizabeth would eventually name her first daughter Desire, presumably in honor of her friend. Mayflower passenger Stephen Hopkins was the only passenger to have been to America before. Having made the voyage to Jamestown, he knew better what to expect. He had no problem bringing his entire family, including the girls. His eldest daughter was named Constanta, or Constance. She was 14-years old. Stephen's 2-year old daughter Damaris also came. His wife Elizabeth was pregnant, and gave birth during the voyage to a baby boy they named Oceanus. The Allerton family also decided to bring all their daughters. Isaac and wife Mary Allerton brought their daughters Remember and Mary: Remember was about 6 years old, and Mary was about 4 years old. James Chilton, the oldest passenger on the Mayflower at age 64, brought his wife and 13-year old Mary Chilton, with him, leaving his adult children behind in England and Holland. Two other girls were on the Mayflower under more sad circumstances. Ellen More, age 8, and Mary More, age 4, were on the Mayflower because their father did not want them any more: they were apparently children from his wife Katherine, and her lover Jacob Blakeway. After "father" Samuel More discovered they were not truly his children, he and wife Katherine filed for divorce. Even though he claimed not to be the father, he nevertheless won custody of the children, and had them sent off to America with the "honest and religious" men, claiming they would have a better life outside of England where they would not suffer the social disgrace of being bastards (not born to a married couple). Perhaps it should not be surprising, then, to discover that the abandoned Ellen and Mary were the only two girls to die the first winter. The oldest girl on the Mayflower was Priscilla Mullins, who was about 17-years old. She came on the Mayflower with her father William Mullins, a shoe and boot dealer, her mother Alice, and her brother Joseph. Her entire family, except for herself, died the first winter. No girls died during the Mayflower's voyage, but one boy (William Button) did. After arrival in November 1620, the girls lived on the Mayflower while the men went out exploring for a place to settle. The Mayflower sailed across to Plymouth in late December, and the men started to build the colony. The women and girls remained living on the Mayflower for much of the time while the Colony was being constructed in January, February, and March. The Mayflower departed back for England on April 5, after the terrible first winter was over. The first winter had left most of the girls orphaned. Elizabeth Tilley's parents John and Joan were dead, and her aunt and uncle Edward and Ann Tilley were dead as well. Mary Chilton's father and mother both died. The Allerton girls lost their mother. And Desire Minter lost her adopted family of John and Katherine Carver just a couple weeks after the Mayflower departed. Only the Hopkins family survived the first winter unscathed. Humility Cooper and Desire Minter both would eventually return to England. Damaris Hopkins died sometime before 1627. All the other girls survived to adulthood, married, had families of their own, and have numerous descendants living today. Priscilla Mullins counts among her descendants such people as President John Adams; Marilyn Monroe; Vice President Dan Quayle; poets Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and William Cullem Bryant; and War of the Worlds director Orson Welles. Elizabeth Tilley counts among her descendants such notables as Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and George W. Bush, actor Humphrey Bogart, Mormon church founder Joseph Smith, and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. The Voyage Route and Maps of the Voyage

The Mayflower was hired in London, and sailed from London to Southampton in July 1620 to begin loading food and supplies for the voyage--much of which was purchased at Southampton. The Pilgrims were mostly still living in the city of Leiden, in the Netherlands. They hired a ship called the Speedwell to take them from Delfthaven, the Netherlands, to Southampton, England, to meet up with the Mayflower. The two ships planned to sail together to Northern Virginia. The Speedwell departed Delfthaven on July 22, and arrived at Southampton, where they found the Mayflower waiting for them. The Speedwell had been leaking on her voyage from the Netherlands to England, though, so they spent the next week patching her up. On August 5, the two ships finally set sail for America. But the Speedwell began leaking again, so they pulled into the town of Dartmouth for repairs, arriving there about August 12. The Speedwell was patched up again, and the two ships again set sail for America, about August 21. After the two ships had sailed about 300 miles out to see, the Speedwell again began to leak. Frustrated with the enormous amount of time lost, and their inability to fix the Speedwell so that it could be sea-worthy, they returned to Plymouth, England, and made the decision to leave the Speedwell behind. The Mayflower would go to America alone. The cargo on the Speedwell was transferred over to the Mayflower; some of the passengers were so tired and disappointed with all the problems, that they quit and went home. Others crammed themselves onto the now very crowded Mayflower. Finally, on September 6, the Mayflower departed from Plymouth, England, and headed for America. By the time the Pilgrims had left England, they had already been living onboard the ships for nearly a month and a half. The voyage itself across the Atlantic Ocean took 66 days, from their departure on September 6, until Cape Cod was sighted on November 9, 1620. The first half of the voyage went fairly smoothly, the only major problem was sea-sickness. But by October, they began encountering a number of Atlantic storms that made the voyage treacherous. Several times, the wind was so strong they had to just drift where the weather took them, it was not safe to use the ship's sails. The Pilgrims intended to land in Northern Virginia, which at the time included the region as far north as the Hudson River in the modern State of New York. The Hudson River, in fact, was their originally intended destination. They had received good reports on this region while in the Netherlands. All things considered, the Mayflower was almost right on target, missing the Hudson River by just a few degrees. As the Mayflower approached land, the crew spotted Cape Cod just as the sun rose on November 9. The Pilgrims decided to head south, to the mouth of the Hudson River in New York, where they intended to make their plantation. However, as the Mayflower headed south, it encountered some very rough seas, and nearly shipwrecked. The Pilgrims then decided, rather than risk another attempt to go south, they would just stay and explore Cape Cod. They turned back north, rounded the tip, and anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor. The Pilgrims would spend the next month and a half exploring Cape Cod, trying to decide where they would build their plantation. On December 25, 1620, they had finally decided upon Plymouth, and began construction of their first buildings. What happened on the Voyage The Mayflower left Plymouth, England on September 6, 1620, and anchored off the tip of Cape Cod on November 11. During those two months crossing the Atlantic Ocean to America, many things happened on the Mayflower. The first half of the voyage was actually fairly smooth. The wind and weather were good for sailing, and they made good progress. Aside from sea-sickness, the health of the passengers was generally very good. One of the sailors, however, continually laughed and scoffed at the passengers, "cursing them daily" and saying that he hoped to throw their dead bodies overboard and take their belongings for himself. But it turned out that this sailor would be the first to get sick and die: Passenger William Bradford wrote "it pleased God before they came half seas over, to smite this young man with a grievous disease, of which he died in a desperate manner, and so was himself the first that was thrown overboard. Thus his curses light on his own head, ... for they noted it to be the just hand of God upon him." Of the 102 passengers onboard the ship, three of them were pregnant women. One of the women, Mrs. Elizabeth Hopkins, gave birth during the voyage. Stephen and Elizabeth Hopkins named their newborn son Oceanus. The other two women would give birth shortly after arrival. After they had sailed more than half way to America, the Mayflower began to encounter a number of bad storms, which began to make the ship very leaky, causing many of the passengers below deck to be continually cold and damp. During one of the storms, a main beam in the middle of the ship cracked, causing some of the passengers and crew to wonder if the ship was strong enough to make all the way to America. But Master Christopher Jones felt his ship was strong, and so they fixed the main beam with a large screw, caulked the leaky decks as best they could, and continued on. During another storm, a twenty-five year old man named John Howland came up on deck, but the ship suddenly rolled and he lost his balance and fell into the cold Atlantic ocean. Luckily, he managed to grab a hold of a rope that was hanging down from one of the topsails, and held on as he sunk many feet below the surface of the water. The Mayflower's crew hauled him back up to the surface with the rope, and then grabbed him with a boathook. Wet and cold and cramped in their small quarters, some of the passengers began to develop coughs and colds. As the Mayflower finally began to approach America, one of the passengers, a young boy named William Butten, a servant to the passengers' doctor Samuel Fuller, died. William Butten died on November 6, just three days before land was sighted. Things the Pilgrims Brought The Pilgrims did not leave behind a list of the things that they brought with them, so we do not know exactly what they brought. They were short of money, and so had very little with them but the necessities of life. In August 1620, a letter written by some of the Mayflower passengers as they lie in Southampton, England, wrote "we are forced to sell away £60 worth of our provisions, ... scarce having any butter, no oil, not a sole to mend a shoe nor every man a sword by his side, wanting many muskets, much armor, etc." We do know from written accounts that they had some Holland cheese, some dried beef, salt pork, biscuit (hard tack), wheat, peas, oil, and butter. The only known animals brought on the Mayflower were two dogs, a mastiff and an English spaniel, primarily for hunting, though it is possible they brought some chickens or pigs. The first goats, cattle, and oxen did not begin arriving at Plymouth until several years later, and horses were not to be seen for several more years. Some passengers brought a good number of books, a few expectant mothers brought cradles. While there may have been a few wooden chests, most other furniture was built after arrival from local materials. Captain John Smith (famous for his exploits at Jamestown, Virginia, and for having his life saved by Pocahontas) wrote a pamphlet in which he made recommendations on what Virginia settlers should bring with them. It is very likely the Mayflower passengers brought with them approximately the same things. John Smith recommended these items: Clothing (for a man): Monmouth Cap (knit cap, see image at right) 3 falling bands (flat, usually white laced collar) 3 shirts, 1 waistcoat 1 canvas suit, 1 cloth suit, 1 frieze suit 3 pairs of Irish stockings 4 pairs of shoes 1 pair of garters (ribbons used to tie up the Irish stockings just below the knee) Bedding and extra fabric: 1 pair of canvas sheets About 26 feet of canvas to make a bed and bolster for two About 18 feet of canvas to make a bed for the sea voyage 1 rug 12 sewing needles Food (for one man, intended to last one year): Beer (the primary drink for everyone, water was often considered unsafe) About 2 barrels of wheat (a barrel held 36 gallons) About 1/2 barrel of peas, and 1/2 barrel of oats 2 gallons of vinegar 1 gallon aqua-vitae (a strong liquor made from distilling beer or wine) 1 gallon salad oil Bacon Cheese Sugar, Spice and Fruit Weapons and Hunting: Complete (but light) body armor Long-barreled musket (Captain Smith recommends 5 feet 6 inches long) 1 sword and belt 1 bandolier (a leather belt that was worn from the right shoulder across the breast and under the left arm, to support the musket). 20 pounds of gunpowder 60 pounds of shot Work Tools: 5 broad and 5 narrow hoes 2 broad axes, 2 pickaxes, and 5 felling axes 4 hand saws and 2 whipsaws (with sharpening file) 2 hammers, 3 shovels, 2 spades 2 augers, 6 chisels, 1 percer, 1 gimlet (all tools used for boring/drilling/chiseling wood) 2 hatchets 1 frow (a sharp tool used to split wood for fence posts) 1 grindstone nails "of all sorts" Cooking: 1 iron pot 1 kettle 1 large frying pan 1 grid iron 2 skillets 1 spit (to rotate cooking food over a fire) Platters, dishes, and spoons (made of wood) Land Ho! On the early morning of November 9, 1620, the Mayflower's crew spotted land. It was the first land they had seen in more than two months, and signified to the Pilgrims that they were near the end of their long voyage. What a relief, and what excitement it must have been! The crew determined that the land they were seeing was Cape Cod, somewhat to the north of the Hudson River in New York where the Pilgrims intended to plant their colony. So the Mayflower turned south to head for New York (back then it was called "Northern Virginia"). But on the way, the Mayflower encountered some very treacherous seas, and nearly shipwrecked. The passengers and crew were so shaken up by the near disaster, that they decided to head back to Cape Cod, instead of trying to make another attempt to head south. They entered Cape Cod in the early morning of November 11, and anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor, waiting for sunrise. After the sun was up and the tide was high, they sent shore a small group of men to collect juniper wood--the living quarters on the Mayflower had no doubt become very rancid and smelly, and one of the Pilgrims highest priorities was to collect some juniper wood to burn onboard the ship, to make everything smell just a little bit better. Over the next month and a half, the Pilgrims would send out multiple exploring parties, seeking out a suitable place to build their colony. Life in Plymouth Houses The Pilgrims started constructing their living houses and storehouses in late December 1620, but only managed to get a couple built before and during the first winter; and they were hindered further by occasional fires, usually caused by a spark or ember from the fire making it onto the roof, which was constructed of dried thatch. On 28 December 1620, the Pilgrims assigned out house- plots to the 19 family groups--each family was responsible for building their own house, as well as supplying labor to build community storehouses, a defensive fort, and sheds. They were assigned land plots that were 50 feet deep. The width of the lot was about 8 feet multiplied by the number of members in the family--so a family of six would have received a plot of land approximately 50 feet by 50 feet. But without the time, good weather, and enough manpower to quickly build a house, many of the Pilgrims continued to live onboard the Mayflower throughout the winter. In December 1621, Mayflower passenger Edward Winslow wrote a letter in which he said "we have built seven dwelling-houses, and four for the use of the plantation." In 1622, the Pilgrims built a fence around the colony for their better defense--the perimeter was nearly half a mile, and the fence was about 8 to 9 feet high. In late 1623, Emmanual Altham wrote a letter from Plymouth to his brother back in England, and reported that there were about twenty houses, but only about five of them were "very fair and pleasant". By that time, several additional ships carrying passengers, including the Fortune in 1621, and the Anne in 1623, had arrived. The Fortune brought mostly young, undisciplined men, who the company hoped would contribute labor. The Anne brought many of the wives and children to the colony--many of the men had left behind their wives and children in England until the colony was better established. In 1624, Captain John Smith recorded that Plymouth had about 32 houses, "whereof 7 were burnt the last winter." In 1628, Plymouth was visited by the Dutchman named Isaac de Rasieres, and he wrote a more detailed description of what he saw: "New Plymouth lies on the slope of a hill stretching east towards the sea-coast, with a broad street about a cannon shot of 800 feet long, leading down the hill; with a crossing in the middle, ... The houses are constructed of clapboards, with gardens also enclosed behind and at the sides with clapboards, so that their houses and courtyards are arranged in very good order, with a stockade against sudden attack; and at the ends of the streets there are three wooden gates. ... Upon the hill they have a large square house, with a flat roof, built of thick sawn planks stayed with oak beams, upon the top of which they have six cannon." The earliest houses in Plymouth had thatched roofs, but because they were more likely to catch on fire, the colony eventually passed a law that required new homes be built with plank instead. Most houses had dirt floors, not wooden floors, and each had a prominent fire and chimney area, since this was the only source of heat as well as the only way to cook. Each house would have had its own garden, where vegetables and herbs could be grown. Each family was also assigned a field plot just outside of town, where they could grow corn, beans, peas, wheat, and other crops that required more space to grow, as well as to raise larger livestock. Fort and Militia At the west end of the street, on the highest point overlooking the town and the bay, the Pilgrims built a two-story fort, from which they could defend the town. The Pilgrims feared that the French or Spanish might attempt to attack or pirate the colonists, and they also feared that unfriendly Indians could mount an attack on the colony. The Pilgrims had brought with them several different varieties of cannons, which they hauled up to the second story of the fort and mounted in a way that could command the whole harbor. The largest was a minion cannon, which was brass, weighed about 1200 pounds, and could shoot a 3.5 pound cannonball nearly a mile. They also had a saker cannon of about 800 pounds, and two base cannons that were much smaller, perhaps about 200 pounds and which shot a 3 to 5 ounce ball. Various other gun ports in the fort could be opened and closed for the smaller cannon to be moved and pointed in any direction necessary. Observation windows provided a clear view of the town, the harbor, and the nearby woods. By 1627, Plymouth's fort had six cannon, plus four small ones positioned near the governor's house at Plymouth's main intersection. The fort served not only for defense, however. It was also the Pilgrims meetinghouse, where church services, town meetings, and court sessions were held. Captain Myles Standish was the Pilgrim's military leader, responsible for organizing the militia and defending the colony. He had been a lieutenant in Queen Elizabeth's army and was stationed in the Netherlands, where he made friends with the Pilgrims and their pastor, John Robinson. He is remembered as having been unusually short, with ruddy-red hair, very faithful and loyal, yet with a quick temper that often made his face turn red, earning him the nickname "Captain Shrimp" by some of those who did not like him. He was routinely elected and re-elected to the position of militia captain throughout the first few decades of the colony. He was responsible for training the men in the use of their armor, guns, and cannon; he established and appointed the watch shifts, and organized and trained the men for various forms of attacks that could be made against the colony. Luckily for Captain Standish, there were never any direct attacks on Plymouth itself, though the town occasionally sent him and some of his militia to help other neighboring English colonists with their disputes with the Indians, and they occasionally used the militia to arrest trespassers or others that were violating the terms of their trading contracts, or otherwise causing problems. Animals and livestock The Pilgrims did not bring any large livestock animals with them on the Mayflower. In fact, the only animals known with certainty to have come on the Mayflower were two dogs, an English mastiff and an English spaniel, who are mentioned on a couple of occasions in the Pilgrims' journals. Although not specifically mentioned, it seems likely that they had with them some chickens, because chicken broth was given by Mayflower passenger Edward Winslow to the Wampanoag sachem Massasoit when he was sick in early 1622; and it is also likely they brought some pigs, and perhaps even a few goats. In 1623, Emmanual Altham visited Plymouth and reported there were six goats, fifty pigs, and many chickens. The first cattle arrived at Plymouth on the ship Anne in 1623, and more arrived on the ship Jacob in 1624. Onboard the Anne in 1623 were three cows, nicknamed the "Great Black Cow", the "Lesser Black Cow", and the "Great White-Backed Cow". By 1627, both the "Lesser Black Cow" and the "Great White-backed Cow" had calves. Onboard the Jacob in 1624 were four black heifers (a heifer is a young female cow that has not yet had a calf.) The four black heifers were nicknamed "Least", "Raghorn", "Blind", and "Smooth-Horned". There was also a "Red Cow" that belonged to the poor of the colony, which had a red female calf around 1625, and a male calf in 1627. By May 1627, there were 16 head of cattle and at least 22 goats living in Plymouth. Sheep are almost never mentioned in any Pilgrim writings, but in January 1628 the Plymouth Court recorded that Myles Standish purchased from Abraham Pierce two shares of the "Red Cow" in exchange for two lambs. And probate estate inventories for three Mayflower passengers made in 1633 (Samuel Fuller, Francis Eaton, and Peter Browne) show that all three men owned several rams, sheep, and lambs. The first horses and oxen did not begin arriving until the 1630s, most being brought to the Massachusetts Bay Colony to the north. Families The Husband In the Pilgrim household, the father was the head of the household. He was expected to maintain his authority over his wife, children, and servants. The husband was expected to love his wife with the same passion and strength as Christ loved His Church. William Gouge, in his Of Domestical Duties (a book published in 1611, and owned by William and Alice Bradford) recommends that a husband be kind and accepting of the things his wife does, provide her means of spiritual edification, be courteous, protect her from danger, don't require her to do activities unbecoming of her place, and yield to her "humble" desires whenever possible. Gouge, along with several other Puritan authors, including John Dod and the Pilgrims' pastor John Robinson, argue that beating a wife for discipline was not appropriate or productive (although not illegal, nor outright condemned). To deal with difficult wives that do not properly submit to their husband's authority, they recommended other disciplinary measures, such as depriving her of liberty, and not permitting her to engage in the activities she desires. The Wife The wife was first and foremost required a "reverend subjection," to be fully submissive to her husband. She was to obey her husband's lawful commandments, as if they came from Christ himself. She was to be mild, obedient, and courteous. She was to dress and behave modestly, and to speak with meekness. The wife, however, was second-in-command in the household, and commanded the children and servants. Although the husband had final authority in all matters, he was expected to give his wife the latitude and authority to run, organize and manage the household. The wife was required to have the husband's consent before she dispose of any jointly-owned property; however she was entitled to do what she wanted with her personal belongings which she had prior to marriage, and with any gifts she received from friends or neighbors which were intended for her use. The wife was required to dwell with her husband wherever he should choose to establish himself. If a husband needed to take residence in a place not fitting for his wife, then she must live where he placed her, and come to him as soon as he required. A married woman in Plymouth Colony would typically have a child every two or three years throughout her child- bearing years; families with 8 or 10 children were not uncommon. During the early years of childhood, the mother was expected to be the primary teacher, role model and governor of the children; later in life the father was expected to take on a greater role, instructing them in work ethic, religion, morals, and values. The Children Children were expected to both love and fear their parents, to be obedient in all things, to be submissive equally to mother and father, and to speak in a restrained and proper manner. Pilgrim parents did not "spare the rod," and corporal punishment was considered necessary for the proper upbringing of children. Children were expected to have the full consent of parents before taking up any occupation, and parental consent was required for marriage. Children were expected to help with the household chores. When a parent or parents died, the children were expected to see to a proper burial, work to pay off any of their parents' debts, and to protect their parents' honor from defamation after their decease. Cooking and Food During the Mayflower's voyage, the Pilgrims main diet would have consisted primarily of hard biscuit, salt pork, dried meats including cow tongue, various pickled foods, oatmeal and other cereal grains, and fish. The primary beverage for everyone, including children, was beer. Wine may also have been drunk, as was aqua-vitae--a more potent alcohol. The occasional juice from a lemon was also taken, to prevent scurvy. The Pilgrims believed (and rightly so) that water was often contaminated and made people sick. The brewing and fermenting processes killed most of the parasites that caused these diseases. Once the Pilgrims had settled themselves in Plymouth, they slowly began to learn about other food sources. The bay was full of fish, although the Pilgrims had poorly equipped themselves for fishing. There were clams, mussels, and other shellfish that could be gathered, and the bay was also full of lobster. Waterfowl such as ducks and geese were hunted, as were wild turkeys and other birds, and even the occasional deer. The Pilgrims had also brought seeds with them, to plant English vegetable and herb gardens, as well as larger crops such as barley, peas, and wheat. And while exploring Cape Cod, they managed to "borrow" large baskets full of Indian corn they had found buried in the ground on a hill they named Corn Hill. After they made contact with their Wampanoag neighbors, through the assistance of "Squanto" (Tisquantum), the Pilgrims learned the Indian techniques for planting and growing corn (which involved manuring the ground with shad caught in Town Brooke), and learned how to catch eel in the muddy riverbeds. Each house had a prominent fire pit and chimney, where the cooking was normally done by the women and girls. Several "recipe books" from the period exist, that provide some interesting insights into cooking at the time. Perhaps the most famous of these is Gervase Markham's The English Housewife, first published in 1615. A recipe for cooking a young turkey or chicken reads: "If you will boil chickens, young turkeys, peahens, or any house fowl daintily, you shall, after you have trimmed them, drawn them, trussed them, and washed them, fill their bellies as full of parsley as they can hold; then boil them with salt and water only till they be enough: then take a dish and put into it verjuice [the juice of sour crab-apples] and butter, and salt, and when the butter is melted, take the parsley out of the chicken's bellies, and mince it very small, and put it to the verjuice and butter, and stir it well together; then lay in the chickens, and trim the dish with sippets [fried or toasted slices of bread], and so serve it forth."

For roasting venison [deer], the another recipe says:

"[A]fter you have washed it, and cleansed all the blood from it, you shall stick it with cloves all over on the outside; and if it be lean you shall lard it either with mutton lard, or pork lard, but mutton is the best: then spit it [put it on a spit that can be hand-rotated over the fire] and roast it by a soaking fire [a slow-roasting fire], then take vinegar, bread crumbs, and some of the gravy which comes from the venison, and boil them well in a dish; then season it with sugar, cinnamon, ginger and salt, and serve the venison forth upon the sauce when it is roasted enough."

For sauce for a turkey, another recipe says:

"Take fair water, and set it over the fire, then slice good store of onions and put into it, and also pepper and salt, and good store of the gravy that comes from the turkey, and boil them very well together: then put to it a few fine crumbs of grated bread to thicken it; a very little sugar and some vinegar, and so serve it up with the turkey: or otherwise, take grated white bread and boil it in white wine till it be thick as a galantine [a sauce made from blood], and in the boiling put in good store of sugar and cinnamon, and then with a little turnsole [a plant used to as red food coloring] make it of a high murrey color, and so serve it in saucers with the turkey in the manner of a galantine." Religion and Church The Pilgrims strongly believed that the Church of England, and the Catholic Church, had strayed beyond Christ's teachings, and established religious rituals, and church hierarchies, that went against the teachings of the Bible. This belief put them at odds with church officials, who in the early years of King James I, tried to have them arrested and thrown in jail for refusing to attend church services and participate in Anglican church rituals. For this reason, many of the Pilgrims fled to Leiden, Holland, where there was religious freedom. However, the Pilgrims had difficulty adjusting to the more permissive Dutch culture, and had difficulty supporting themselves because their usual way of supporting themselves (farming) was not possible in the Netherlands, where there is little farmland and the economy where the economy was primarily based on shipping and trade. In Leiden, the Pilgrims church grew, as additional people fled England. The church pastor was John Robinson. Their church was created around the model of the New Testament, so they had a Church Elder (William Brewster), some deacons, and a deaconess. They strictly honored the Sabbath, by not performing any labor on Sunday. They studied the writings of earlier Protestants and Separatists, such as Martin Luther and John Calvin, and they even established a printing press to illegally distribute new Separatist and Puritan books in England. The Pilgrim church had a number of religious differences with the Church of England and the Catholic Church. Here were some of the main points and differences: Predestination. The Pilgrims believed that before the foundation of the world, God predestined to make the world, man, and all things. He also predestined, at that time, who would be saved, and who would be damned. Only those God elected would receive God's grace, and would have faith. There was nothing an individual could do during their life that would cause them to be saved (or damned), since God had already decided who was going to be saved before the creation of the world. However, God would not have chosen blatant sinners to be his elect; and therefore those who were godly were likely to be the ones God had elected to be saved. Sacraments and Popery. To the Pilgrims, there were only two sacraments: baptism and the Lord's Supper. The other sacraments of the Church of England and Roman Catholic church (Confession, Penance, Confirmation, Ordination, Marriage, Confession, Last Rites) were inventions of man, had no scriptural basis, and were therefore superstitions--even to the point of being heretical. The Pilgrims opposed mass, and considered marriage a civil affair to be handled by the State (not a religious sacrament). Icons and religious symbols such as crosses, statues, stain-glass windows, fancy architecture, and other worldly manifestations of religion were rejected as a form of idolatry. They also rejected the Catholic and Anglican Book of Common Prayer, believing that prayer should be spontaneous and not scripted. Church Hierarchy. The legitimacy of the Pope, the Saints, and the church hierarchy were rejected, as was the veneration of relics. The church of the Pilgrims was organized around five officers: pastor, teacher, elder, deacon, and deaconess (sometimes called the "church widow"). However, none of the five offices was considered essential to the church. The Pastor was an ordained minister whose responsibility was to see to the religious life of the congregation. John Robinson was the pastor of the Pilgrims, but was never able to get to America before his death in 1625. The Teacher was also an ordained minister who was responsible for the instruction of the congregation. The Pilgrims apparently never had anyone to fill that position. The Elder was a lay-person responsible for church government, and he was also the church's eyes and ears, assisting the Pastor and Teacher in admonishing the congregation. William Brewster was the Elder for the Plymouth church. The Deacons collected offerings, and attended to the needs of the poor and elderly. John Carver and Samuel Fuller both were deacons during their life. The Deaconess attended the sick and poor, and often played the role of midwife for the congregation. The Deaconess of the early Plymouth church is not named, but may have been Bridget Fuller. The Church Building. The church building itself had no significance to the Pilgrims, and was kept intentionally drab and plain, with no religious depictions, crosses, windows, fancy architecture, or icons, to avoid the sin of idolatry. At Plymouth, the Pilgrim's church was the bottom floor of the town's fort--the top floor held six cannons and a watchtower to defend the colony. The church room was also the town's meetinghouse, where court sessions and town meetings took place. Isaac de Rasieres, who visited Plymouth in 1627, reported how the Pilgrim's began their church on Sunday: "They assemble by beat of drum, each with his musket or firelock, in front of the captain's door; they have their cloaks on, and place themselves in order, three abreast, and are led by a sergeant without beat of drum. Behind comes the governor, in a long robe; beside him on the right hand, comes the preacher with his cloak on, and on the left hand, the captain with his side-arms and cloak on, and with a small cane in his hand; and so they march in good order, and each sets his arms down near him." During the early years of Plymouth, failing to bring your gun to church was an offense for which you could be fined 12 pence. Infant Baptism. The Pilgrims believed baptism was the sacrament which wiped away Original Sin, and was a covenant with Christ and his chosen people (as circumcision had been to God and the Israelites), and therefore children should be baptized as infants. This was in opposition to the Anabaptists, who believed that baptism was essentially an initiation ceremony into the church-hood of believers, and therefore could only be administered to believing adults who understood the meaning of the ceremony. The Pilgrims, on the other hand, believed that "baptism now, as circumcision of old, is the seal of the covenant of God," and they felt that groups like the Anabaptists who did not baptize their infants were depriving Christ's flock of all its young lambs. They further believed that at least one parent must be of the faith for the child to be baptized into the church. Holy Days and Religious Holidays. The Pilgrims faithfully observed the Sabbath, and did not work on Sunday. Even when the Pilgrims were exploring Cape Cod, they stopped everything and stayed in camp on Sunday to keep the Sabbath. The Pilgrims did not celebrate Christmas and Easter. They believed that these holidays were invented by man to memorialize Jesus, and are not prescribed by the Bible or celebrated by the early Christian churches, and therefore cannot be considered Holy days. "It seems too much for any mortal man to appoint, or make an anniversary memorial" for Christ, taught the Pilgrims' pastor John Robinson. Marriage. The Pilgrims considered marriage a civil affair, not to be handled by the church ministers, but instead by civil magistrates. Marriage was a contract, mutually agreed upon by a man and a woman. Marriage was created by God for the benefit of man's natural and spiritual life. Marriages were considered important for two main reasons: procreation of children to increase Christ's flock; and to avoid the sin of adultery. Pastor John Robinson taught that the important characteristics to find in a spouse are (1) godliness, and (2) similarity--in age, beliefs, estate, disposition, inclinations, and affections. In the marriage, "the wife is specially required a reverend subjection in all lawful things to her husband," and the husband is "to give honor to the wife," as the Lord requires "the love of the husband to his wife must be like Christ's to his church." The Pilgrims refused to include religious symbolism in a marriage ceremony, including the exchange of wedding rings, which they considered a "relic of popery ... and that it is a diabolical circle for the Devil to dance in." The Pilgrims used the Geneva edition of the Bible, first published in English in 1560. The footnotes of the Geneva Bible were written by early Calvinists and Protestants, and so interpreted scriptures in a way more palatable to the Pilgrims than the later King James Bible (first published in 1611) whose translation and footnotes were written by the Anglican church hierarchy. The Pilgrims only sang psalms in church, they did not believe in singing anything but Biblical texts. Henry Ainsworth, of an English separatist church in Amsterdam, wrote the psalm book used by the Pilgrims, because they believed it more accurately translated the Biblical Psalms into verse than other psalm books. For religious texts, the Pilgrims read a lot. Elder William Brewster had hundreds of books on religious topics. The two most popular books in early Plymouth were John Dod's Exposition Upon the Ten Commandments, and their own pastor John Robinson's book Observations Divine and Moral Clothing The Pilgrims are often depicted in "popular culture" as wearing only black and white clothing, with large golden buckles on their shoes and hats and long white collars. This stereotypical Pilgrim, however, is not historically accurate. The Pilgrims, in fact, wore a wide variety of colors. This is known because when a person died, an inventory was made of their estate for the purpose of probate: and often the color of various clothing items were mentioned. For example, long-time church member, Mary Ring, died in Plymouth in 1633, and her estate included a "mingled-color" waistcoat, two violet waistcoats, three blue aprons, a red petticoat, a violet petticoat, blue stockings, and white stockings. In addition, she owned gray cloth, blue cloth and red cloth, ready to make additional clothing. Plymouth's Church Elder William Brewster, who died in 1644, owned green drawers, a red cap, a violet coat, and a blue suit. And Governor William Bradford, when he died in 1657, owned a green gown, violet cloak, and a red waistcoat. Women's clothing A woman's undergarment was a long off-white short-sleeved, linen shirt, called a shift, which somewhat resembled a modern-day woman's nightshirt except that it was ribbon-tied at the collar and cuffs and fastened in the front. One or more ankle-length, waist-fastened petticoats were worn. The dress, or gown, consisted of two parts, a bodice and a skirt--sometimes the sleeves were a separate part as well, being tied to the bodice. The bodice or the skirt could be the same or different colors, and were made of wool. The bodice buttoned all the way down the front. The skirt was ankle-length and gathered at the waist. A long-sleeve fitted waistcoat was often worn over the top, and an apron was worn if the woman was doing any kind of work. Women occasionally wore lace collar and cuffs, and a cloak. Women's hair was always worn pulled tightly back, and gathered under a coif or hat. Men's clothing For the upper body, men usually wore a long, short-sleeved, off-white linen shirt, with collar. On top of that he wore a doublet, which was relatively close-fitting, with long sleeves, broad padded shoulders, and buttoned down the front with tabs at waist. A cloak was often draped over the shoulders. A lace collar and cuffs were worn, as was a felt or knit cap. Older or more revered men often wore over the top of everything a full-length wool gown. For the lower body, breeches or drawers were usually worn. These were front-buttoning, rather baggy pants which extended to the knee level. Stockings were knee-length, often made of wool; they were held up with tied ribbons referred to as garters. Shoes were either low cut leather shoes, or higher-cut leather boots. Children's clothing Until about the age of eight, children--both boys and girls--wore gowns. These gowns were similar to a woman's dress, with a full-length skirt, high neckline, and long sleeves, but were laced up and fastened in the back. Older boys simply wore smaller versions of men's clothing, and older girls wore smaller versions of women's clothing.

The Wampanoag Archaeological History The English and other early Europeans to arrive in America frequently speculated on the origins of the Native Americans. In 1637, Thomas Morton, an attorney from England who had spent many years in America on several different occasions, wrote: "it hath been the opinion of some men, which shall be nameless, that the Natives of New England may proceed from the race of the Tartars, and come from Tartaria [the wilds of Asia] into those parts over the frozen sea." Morton thought this an absurd idea because there would be no food or firewood to sustain life. More probable, he believed, was that the Indians descended from the scattered Trojans, who dispersed after the Trojan War. Other Englishmen speculated the Indians must be descended from one of the lost tribes of Israel. Archaeologists today, based on both archaeological and genetic research, believe that the Native Americans arrived in America around 12,000 years ago, in one or several waves of immigration, with the main wave coming across the land bridge in the Bering Strait during the most recent ice age. Recent genetic research has shown that Native Americans are descended from the Mongoloid peoples of central Asia and Siberia, although a few in Central and South America appear to have genetic ties with the Polynesian islands of southeast Asia. The Wampanog and other Algonquian peoples first began settling in New England about 9,000 to 12,000 years ago, where they were primarily a nomadic hunting and gathering culture. By about 1000 AD, the early signs of agriculture begin to appear, in particular the corn crop, which became an important staple, as did beans and squash. First Encounters with Europeans In 1525, Giovanni da Verrazano, an Italian sailing under the French flag, explored much of the coastline from Virginia through New England. He was one of the earliest European explorers that stopped along the coastline of the Wampanoag people at Narragansett Bay, where he met the Wampanoag people. Verrazzano records that the Wampanoag came aboard the ship fearlessly, including two "kings" of forty and twenty years of age. Verrazzano noted that the Wampanoag were "very charitable towards their neighbors". Very few voyages were made to the region for the next three-quarters of a century, but beginning in the very early 1600s, European voyages to New England picked up greatly. In 1605, English sea captain George Weymouth traveled along Cape Cod, where he captured five Indians to take back with him to England. Frenchman Samuel de Champlain made a map of Plymouth Harbor in 1613 (picture at left). The river seen at the top is Town Brooke at Plymouth, and several Indian villages and cornfields can be seen. A group of Indians in a canoe and along the shore can also be seen. A year later, Captain John Smith traveled into Cape Cod, and made his own map of New England. When John Smith left, one of the sea captains remaining behind was Captain Thomas Hunt, who decided to take 24 Indians back to Spain to sell as slaves. He lured them aboard his ship pretending to trade for beaver skins, and then captured them onboard. They were bound and sailed to Spain, where he managed to sell a few before some local Spanish friars took custody of the remaining Indians. One of those who was captured was Tisquantum ("Squanto"), would would be returned to New England in 1618 with another English captain, Thomas Dermer, before making acquaintance with the Pilgrims in 1620. Massasoit, Tisquantum, and Hobomok Tisquantum Tisquantum, nicknamed "Squanto" by the English, was a native of Patuxet, living at present- day Plymouth; the Patuxet belonged to the Wampanoag confederation of tribes. Nothing is really known about Squanto's early life. His history picks up in 1614, when Captain John Smith and some of other ships under his command arrive to map Cape Cod and vicinity. John Smith is perhaps better known for having been rescued by Pocahontas at the Jamestown Colony several years earlier. After Smith completed his exploration and mapping of the harbors, he departed, leaving behind an associate, Captain Thomas Hunt, to trade with the Indians. John Smith had hopes of founding a plantation in New England, and so wanted to engage the Indians in trade. Thomas Hunt, however, had other plans. Offering to trade beaver, Hunt lured 24 Nauset and Patuxet Indians onboard his ship and took them captive. John Smith would later write that Master Hunt "most dishonestly, and inhumanely, for their kind usage of me and all our men, carried them with him to Malaga, and there for a little private gain sold those silly salvages for rials of eight". Sir Ferdinando Gorges, head of the Council for New England, remembered it similarly: "one Hunt (a worthless fellow of our nation) set out by certain merchants for love of gain; who (not content with the commodity he had by the fish, and peaceable trade he found among the savages) after he had made his dispatch, and was ready to set sail, (more savage-like than they) seized upon the poor innocent creatures, that in confidence of his honesty had put themselves into his hands." Hunt stored the Indians below the hatches, and sailed them to the Straits of Gibraltar, and on to the city of Malaga, Spain, where he sold as many of them as he could. But when some local Friars in Malaga discovered that they had been brought from America, they took custody of the remaining Indians, and instructed them in the Christian faith. As Sir Ferdinando Gorges states, the Friars "so disappointed this unworthy fellow of the hopes of gain he conceived to make by this new and devilish project." The Nauset and Patuxet tribes were outraged by the kidnappings, and became extremely hostile. English and French ships visiting Plymouth and Cape Cod were no longer welcomed with profitable beaver trade, as an unwitting French captain and crew would discover in 1617, when their ship was burned and almost everyone killed (a few were enslaved) by the Nauset. But outrage against Europeans would soon become a low priority amongst the Nauset and Patuxet. In 1618 and 1619, a devastating plague, described variously in historical sources as either tuberculosis or smallpox (and perhaps a combination of both), wiped out the entire village at Patuxet, and many surrounding areas were heavily hit. One Patuxet did survive, however: Tisquantum. He had somehow found himself passage from Malaga, Spain into England, where he began living with John Slaney in Cornhill, London, and began picking up the English language. John Slaney was the treasurer of the Newfoundland Company which had managed to place a colony at Cupper's Cove (Cupids), Newfoundland in 1610; he employed Tisquantum, presumably as an interpreter and as an expert on North American natural resources. He was sent to Newfoundland, and worked there with Captain John Mason, governor of the Newfoundland Colony. While in Newfoundland, Tisquantum encountered a ship's captain by the name of Thomas Dermer, who had worked with Captain John Smith, perhaps even on the 1614 mapping expedition in which Squanto had been originally taken. Dermer was employed by the New England Company, headed by Sir Ferdinando Gorges; they still had hopes to profit from beaver trade with the Indians of Massachusetts: but this would not be possible as long as hostilities remained. Thomas Dermer recognized that Tisquantum, who had now been living with Englishmen for a number of years, could act as an interpreter and peacemaker between the English and the still-enraged Indians of Patuxet and Nauset. He sent a letter off to Sir Ferdinando Gorges expressing the good use Tisquantum could be put to, and Gorges had them come back to England to discuss their plans. In 1619, Captain Dermer and Tisquantum set off for New England, to attempt to make peace and re-establish trade with the Indians, and to map out the natural resources that could be exploited by the Company. But upon arriving, they discovered Tisquantum's town, all the Patuxet, were dead from the plague. Squanto did make contact with Massasoit, and his brother Quadequina, the heads of the Wampanoag Confederation, and in the absence of his own people he took up residence with them. Their plan to make peace foiled by the fact Tisquantum's tribe had been wiped out, Dermer continued on to see if he could make peace with the Nauset. He was attacked and taken captive. Tisquantum, hearing about the incident, came to Dermer's rescue and negotiated his release. Dermer would continue on south without Tisquantum, where he was attacked again at Martha's Vineyards: he would die of the wounds after reaching Jamestown, Virginia. Tisquantum's return home in 1619 was just in time for the Mayflower Pilgrims, who pulled into Provincetown Harbor in November 1620. The Pilgrims sent out their own exploration parties, and during their third expedition they were attacked in camp early one morning by the Nauset. Shots were fired and arrows flew heavily, but in the end nobody was injured and the Nauset fled back into the woods. The Pilgrims continued their expedition around Cape Cod, eventually ending up in the abandoned Patuxet territory, where they decided to settle (the area had been named Plymouth by John Smith on his 1614 mapping expedition). The Pilgrims lived out of the Mayflower, and ferried back and forth to land to build their storehouses and living houses: they labored all through the winter months of December, January, February, and didn't start moving entirely to shore until March. And during that entire time, they saw almost no signs of any Indians, aside from a few fires burning in the far distance. On March 16, they got a surprise: an Indian named Samoset walked right into the Colony and welcomed them in broken English. Samoset was from an Indian group in Maine, and had picked up a few English words from the fisherman that came into the harbors there. He informed them there was an Indian, Tisquantum, who had been to England and could speak better English than he could. Tisquantum made his first appearance on March 22, at which time he brought Massasoit and Quadequina. The Pilgrims used the opportunity to negotiate a peace treaty and to establish trading relations. Tisquantum would soon become an integral member of the Plymouth Colony, translating and negotiating between Plymouth's governors (John Carver, and later William Bradford) and tribal leaders including Massasoit. Peace was made with the Nauset, with whom they had their initial conflict on Cape Cod, and peace was negotiated with a number of other Indian leaders within the Wampanoag Confederation. Tisquantum was a guide, taking the Pilgrim ambassadors to various locations, and helping them establish trading relations. He also taught the Pilgrims how to better utilize the natural resources: how to catch eels, and how to plant corn using fish caught from the town brook as fertilizer. But Squanto's new-found power soon began to corrupt him. He realized that the Indians had a significant fear of the English, especially their guns and technology. He leveraged this fear for his own private benefit, exacting tributes to put in a good word for someone, or by threatening to have the English release the plague against them. Squanto even went so far as trying to trick the Pilgrims into a show of military action, by claiming certain Indian groups were in conspiracy together to fight the English: but he went too far, and his treachery was discovered by both the Pilgrims and the Indians. When Massasoit learned that Squanto was abusing his power and deceiving for personal gain, he ordered the Pilgrims to turn over Squanto for punishment (death). The Pilgrims were obligated to do so, by the peace treaty they had signed: but at the same time they realized that the survival of their Colony depended on communication with the Indians. But Massasoit had called their hand, and William Bradford was minutes away from turning Squanto over for execution, when a ship came onto the horizon. Not knowing whether it was friend or foe, and even suspecting that perhaps the Indians were in conspiracy with the French, Bradford refused to turn over Squanto until the identity of the ship was discovered. The ship turned out to be the Fortune, and for Squanto it was very good fortune it arrived. The new settlers, the shortage of food, and the oncoming winter distracted from other events. Then as spring came, new settlers showed up to found another colony just to the north, at Wessagussett: and they had all kinds of problems with the Indians that required Squanto's interpreting skills. Massasoit, though clearly disappointed and frustrated, didn't bother asking for Squanto's life again. But Squanto's life was not to last long anyway. On one trip to trade for some corn seed for the subsequent growing season, he went with Governor Bradford south on the ocean- side of Cape Cod, and they pulled into Manamoyick Bay because of dangerous weather conditions. There, in November 1622, Squanto's nose began to bleed. He told Governor Bradford it was a sign among the Indians of death. He asked Bradford to pray for him so that he could go to the Englishman's God in Heaven when he died, and asked Bradford to give various things as gifts to his English friends back at Plymouth. Within a few days, he was dead. Massasoit Massasoit was the leader of the Wampanoag when the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth in 1620. Though he is not mentioned by name in any English accounts prior to 1621, he and his brother Quadequina are undoubtedly the "two Kings, attended with a guard of fiftie armed men" that met Captain Thomas Dermer at Pokanoket in May 1619, when he was returning Tisquantum ("Squanto") to his homeland. On March 22, 1620/1, Massasoit decided to pay his first visit to the Plymouth Plantation at the invitation of Tisquantum, who had first visited with the Pilgrims shortly before. In an almost identical scenario as that of Thomas Dermer a year earlier, he and his brother along with 60 armed men came and stood at the top of the hill overlooking the Colony. Edward Winslow was sent to him with some knives and a copper jewel chain as gifts--and Massasoit was told that the Pilgrims only desired peace and trading. Massasoit was told that King James of England saluted him with love and peace, and accepted him as a friend and ally. Massasoit liked what he heard; the English would make powerful allies against his enemies in the region. The Pilgrims wanted a peace treaty, and so he willingly undertook the negotiations. At the peace negotiation, he was met at the river by Captain Myles Standish and Elder William Brewster. They saluted one another and he was taken to William Bradford's house for the negotiations with Governor John Carver. Massasoit was given some liquor, fresh meat, and some biscuits. Massasoit and the Pilgrims agreed to a treaty which said that none of Massasoit's men would harm the Pilgrims--and if they did, he would send them to the Pilgrims for punishment. And if anyone did unjust war against Massasoit, the Pilgrims would come to his aid. They also agreed that when trading, the Indians would not bring their bows and arrows, and the Pilgrims would not bring their guns. Mayflower passenger Edward Winslow described Massasoit as follows: In his person he is a very lusty man, in his best years, an able body, grave of countenance, and spare of speech. In his attire little or nothing differing from the rest of his followers, only in a great chain of white bone beads about his neck, and at it behind his neck hangs a little bag of tobacco, which he drank and gave us to drink; his face was painted with a sad red like murry, and oiled both head and face, that he looked greasily. All his followers likewise, were in their faces, in part or in whole painted, some black, some red, some yellow, and some white, some with crosses, and other antic works; some had skins on them, and some naked, all strong, tall, all men of appearance . . . [he] had in his bosom hanging in a string, a great long knife; he marveled much at our trumpet, and some of his men would sound it as well as they could. In September 1623, Emmanuel Altham described Massasoit in a letter: And now to speak somewhat of Massasoit's stature. He is as proper a man as ever was seen in this country, and very courageous. He is very subtle for a savage, and he goes like the rest of his men, all naked but only a black wolf skin he wears upon his shoulder. And about the breadth of a span he wears beads about his middle. After meeting in the Pilgrim village, Massasoit then invited a Pilgrim delegation to meet him at their place. Myles Standish and Isaac Allerton volunteered for the adventure. Massasoit gave to them ground nuts and tobacco as gifts when they arrived, and Standish and Allerton presented him with a kettle of peas. A second trip to Pokanoket, where Massasoit lived, was made by the Pilgrims, so that they could learn more about their neighbors and to make some additions to their treaty. This time, Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins were chosen to make the trip. Massasoit came out to see them when they arrived at the end of their several-days journey. They reaffirmed their peace with one another, and Massasoit agreed to tell his Indians to stop making random visits to Plymouth looking for food and entertainment; and he also agreed to send a messenger to contact the Indians of which the Pilgrims took corn from upon their first arrival--since they had thus far not been able to repay them. In March 1623, Massasoit became extremely ill, and when word came to Plymouth, Edward Winslow made a trip to Pokanoket to visit him, guided by Hobomok. When they arrived in Nemasket, they were informed that Massasoit had already died. They proceeded to Corbitant's house, and there sent a messenger to Pokanoket who returned saying Massasoit was not dead yet, so they continued on. They found Massasoit in his house, full of many visitors. Massasoit was now blind, but could still understand--when they told him the English had come to visit him, he asked "Keen Winslow?" which means "Are you Winslow?" Then he said, "Matta neen wonckanet namen, Winslow!", which means "O Winslow, I shall never see you again." Winslow gave him a little bit of medicine, and scraped out the inside of his mouth which had swollen up preventing him from eating or drinking anything. Then he gave Massasoit some water and more medicine. In about half an hour, Massasoit had regained his eye sight and was getting better. Winslow made a chicken broth soup for Massasoit, and within a couple days Massasoit had his appetite back, and eventually recovered. Massasoit then revealed to the Pilgrims a conspiracy plot by the Massachusetts Indians to attack them and the Wessagusett Colony, and the Pilgrims led by Myles Standish, with the help of some of Massasoit's men, defeated the plot before it could materialize. By 1632, Massasoit is almost always referred to by the name of Ousemequin (sometimes spelled Woosamequen). Massasoit lived a long life, and remained a close friend and ally of the Plymouth Colony until his death around 1656. This son Mooanam, later called Wamsutta (and by the English known by the nickname "Alexander") became leader of the Wampanoag, and was succeeded in turn by his son Metacom (known to the English by the nickname "Phillip"). Hobomok After the Pilgrims made peace with Massasoit, another Wampanoag named Hobomok, who could speak some English, came to live just outside of the walls of Plymouth, on neighboring Watson Hill. William Bradford described Hobomok as follows: And there was another Indian called Hobomok, a proper lusty man, and a man of account for his valor and parts amongst the Indians, and continued very faithfully and constant to the English till he died. Emmanuel Althem in 1623 wrote: Only without our pales dwells one Hobomok, his wives and his household (above ten persons), who is our friend and interpreter, and one whom we have found faithful and trusty. In a pamphlet entitled New England's First Fruits, published in London in 1643 (of unknown authorship), Hobomok's affections toward Christianity are described: As he increased in knowledge, so in affection, and also in his practice, reforming and conforming himself accordingly; and though he was much tempted by incitement, scoffs and scorns, from the Indians, yet could he never be gotten from the English, nor from seeking after their God, but died amongst them, leaving some good hopes, in their hearts, that his soul went to rest. Hobomok assisted Myles Standish for the most part, whereas Tisquantum assisted William Bradford. Both were used as translators, but Hobomok generally gets much less credit for his work, despite the fact that unlike Tisquantum, he never betrays the Pilgrims. Hobomok also served the Plymouth Colony for a much longer time period than did Tisquantum, who died in November 1622. In April 1622 the Pilgrims decide to revisit the Massachusetts Indians. But Tisquantum said the Massachusetts had made a secret alliance with the Narragansett and are now enemies preparing to sack Plymouth once the Pilgrims left it unguarded. Tisquantum claimed that Massasoit was secretly plotting against them with Corbitant and the Massachusetts. It was Hobomok that stood up for Massasoit's honesty, and Hobomok soon exposed Tisquantum, who was gaining personal power and prestige among the Indians by threatening to turn the Pilgrims against them. Hobomok's wife was sent on a spying mission to determine whether or not Massasoit was still faithful, or whether he was plotting against the Pilgrims as Tisquantum claimed. She found Massasoit still faithful and friendly to the Pilgrims. After Tisquantum's death, Hobomok became the primary translator and guide for the Pilgrims, and did his job faithfully. He guided and translated for the Pilgrims on their trips to visit Massasoit, and to the Massachusetts and Nauset among others. Hobomok died sometime before 1643. Food and Housing The Wampanoag and other New England Indians built sturdy, comfortable house known as a wigwam. Thomas Morton, writing in 1637, describes them: They gather poles in the woods and put the great end of them in the ground, placing them in form of a circle or circumference; and bending the tops of them in form of an arch, they bind them together with the bark of walnut trees, which is wonderous tough, so that they make the same round on the top for the smoke of their fire to ascend and pass through. These they cover with mats, some made of reeds and some of long flags, or sedge, finely sowed together with needles made of the splinter bones of a crane's leg, and with threads made of their Indian hemp, which there groweth naturally. Leaving several places for doors, which are covered with mats which may be rolled up and let down again at their pleasures, they make use of the several doors according as the wind fits. ... Their lodging is made in three places of the house about the fire: they lie upon planks commonly about a foot or 18 inches above the ground, raised upon rails that are borne up upon forks. They lay mats under them, and coats of deerskin, otters, beavers, raccoons and of bears' hides, all which they have dressed and converted into good leather with the hair on for their coverings. And in this manner they lie as warm as they desire. ... [T]hey are willing that anyone shall eat with them. Nay, if anyone shall come into their houses, and there fall asleep, when they see him disposed to lie down they will spread a mat for him, of their own accord, and lay a roll of skins for a bolster, and let him lie. If he sleep until their meat be dished up, they will set a wooden bowl of meat by him that sleepeth, and wake him, saying Cattup keen Mechkin, that is, "if you be hungry, there is meat for you", ... such is their humanity. Roger Williams, writing in 1643, recorded some observations about the New England Indian foods:  Sautaash are these ("hurtle-berries") currants, dried by the natives, and so preserved all the year, which they beat to powder, and mingle it with their parched meal, and make a delicate dish which they call sautauthig; which is as sweet to them as plum or spice cake to the English.  They also make great use of their strawberries, having such abundance of them, making strawberry [corn]bread, and having no other food for many days.  Ewachim-neash (corn); Scannemeneash (seed corn); Wompiscannemeneash (white-seed corn). There be divers sorts of corn, and of the colors. The women set or plant, weed, and hill, and gather and barn all the corn, and fruits of the field: yet sometimes the man himself (either out of love to his wife, or care for his children, or being an old man) will help the woman which (by the custom of the country) they are not bound to. The Indian women to this day (notwithstanding our hoes) do use their natural hoes of shells and wood.  Askutasquash, their vine apples, which the English from them call squashes, about the bigness of apples of several colors, a sweet, light, wholesome, refreshing.  Kaukont tuock - crow. These birds, although they do the corn also some hurt, yet scarce will one native amongst a hundred will kill them because they have a tradition, that the crow brought them at first an Indian grain of corn in one ear, and an Indian or French bean in another, from the Great God Kautantowwit's field in the Southwest, from whence they hold came all their corn and beans. Language The Wampanoag, and many of the other native peoples in New England, spoke a language belonging to the Algonquian language family. The language of the Wampanoag is most closely related to those spoken by the Mohican and Pequot; the neighboring Narragansett spoke a dialect of the same language. The English language has borrowed many Algonquian words, including moose, chipmunk, raccoon, opossum, skunk, squash, succotash, moccasin, tomahawk, powwow, squaw, and wigwam.

One of the first Englishmen to make note of some of the Wampanoag vocabulary was Edward Winslow, who wrote Good News from New England in 1624. Winslow records a brief conversation he had with the Wampanoag leader, Massasoit:

Keen Winsnow? [Art thou Winslow?] Ahhe. [Yes.] Matta neen wonckanet namen Winsnow? [O Winslow, I shall never see thee again.]

Winslow also made notes on a number of other words and phrases, but did not compile any kind of a dictionary. In 1630, William Wood published a small dictionary of Wampanoag words in the back of his book, New England's Prospect. A small sampling of the words he included in his dictionary follows:aunum - a dog au so hau nouc hoc - a lobster ascoscoi - green ausomma petuc quanocke - give me some bread bequoquo - the head chesco kean - you lie commouton kean - you steal conomma - a spoon cotattup - I drink to you connucke sommona - it is almost night docke taugh he necke - what is your name? hub hub hub - come come come haddo quo dunna moquonash - where did you buy that? haddogoe weage - who lives here? kawkenog wampompeage - let me see money mitchin - meat matta - no meseig - hair matchanni - very sick menota - a basket monakinne - a coat mawpaw - it snows mawnaucoi - very strong monosketenog - what is this? nancompees - a boy nickesquaw - a girl nippe - water netop - a friend nawhaw nissis - farewell nenetah ha - I will fight with you No ottut - a great journey noewamma - he laughs noeshow - a father nitka - a mother nau mau nais - my son no einshom - give me corn notchumoi - a little strong noe winyah - come in naut seam - much weary noe wammaw ause - I love you ottucke - a deer ottump - a bow ontoquos - a wolf pappouse - a child ponesanto - make a fire seaseap - a duck suckis suacke - a clam sawawampeage - very weak tantacum - beat him tahanyah - what news? tonokete naum - where do you go? tunketappin - where do you live? tonocco wam - where have you been? towwow - a sister tom maushew - a husband tauh coi - it is very cold unkesheto - will you trade? web - wife wigwam - house yeips - sit down Learning the Wampanoag and Narragansett language became important to the English who settled in Massachusetts, because they intended to convert the Indians to Christianity: and to do so they needed a solid understanding of the language. One of the first to begin studying the language more thoroughly was Roger Williams. He wrote an entire 208-page book on the Narragansett language in 1643, entitled A Key Into the Language of America, in which he grouped words into various topical classifications, such as "Saluatations", "Eating and Entertainment", "House and Family", "Seasons of the Year", "The Weather", and numerous other categories. He included not just vocabulary, but grammar and cultural information as well. Two decades later, a missionary named John Eliot translated the Bible into the native language. The completed Bible was published in 1663 at Cambridge, Massachusetts--it was the first Bible to be printed in America. Here is a brief sample from the Bible, taken from Hebrews, Chapter 11:

1. Nano, wunnamptamoonk wutahtoonkanuoo nish annoontamukish, uppahteanittamooonk nith matta naumomugish. 2. Newutche ne nashpe wunaunchemoowononeau Eldersog. Nashpe wunnamptamoonk nuttinnowohtamumun muttaohkeash kesteauunath nashpe wuttinnowaonk God, newaj nish naumukish, matta wutch kesteauouunash nith nogwokish. 3. Naihpe wunnamptamooonk Abel sephausu Godut, moocheke wanegik sephausuonk onk Kain, ne nashpe attumunukup wauwaonk, noh sampweuiseaenuoo, God wauwodtummagooongash, kah ne nashpe, nupuk, ash keketookau. History after the Pilgrims Although many English colonies had frequent problems with the Indians, the Wampanoag people maintained peaceable relations for many years. In 1637, the English fought with the Pequot in Connecticut, and in the 1640s there were continual disputes with the Narragansett. When Massasoit died about 1656, leadership of the Wampanoag went to his son Mooanam, later called Wamsutta, and nicknamed by the English "Alexander". When Wamsutta died unexpectedly in 1662 after returning from a visit to Plymouth, suspicions were aroused: many Wampanoag felt he had been poisoned. Leadership of the Wampanoag then fell to Wamsutta's son Metacomet, nicknamed "Philip" by the English. Although Philip tried to maintain peaceful relations with Plymouth, the continued encroachment of English power over his people soon reached the breaking point. In January 1674, the Plymouth Colony arrested three Wampanoag, Tobias, Wampapaquan, and Mattashanamo, for the murder of a Christianized and English-educated Wampanoag John Sassamon, "by laying violent hands on him and striking him, or twisting his necke, untill hee was dead." Tobias, one of the accused murderers, served Philip in what was essentially a "Secretary of State" role. The Wampanoag viewed the killing of an Indian by other Indians was an internal Wampanoag matter outside of English jurisdiction. Plymouth felt that because John Sassamon had been Christianized, they had jurisdiction in the matter. The Plymouth Colony realized the trial could be very explosive, but felt that justice needed to be served. To make the trial "fair", they appointed six Indians to the regular jury of Englishmen hearing the case. All six of the Indians voted for guilty, as did the English jurors. Tobias and Mattashanamo were hanged on 8 June 1675, and Wampapaquan was reprieved for an unspecified reason but was shot to death within a month. Unrest among the Wampanoag against the Plymouth Colony quickly spread after the hangings, as they felt their own authority usurped when Englishmen put Wampanoag on trial for killing other Wampanoag. Metacomet ("Philip") began to collect and arm members of his band, and began to talk with allies around the region about expelling the English from America once and for all. On June 18 and 19, a few of Metacomet's band raided the house of Job Winslow, and on June 20 and 23 they burned a few houses south of Swansea. When a small group was setting fire to a house in Swansea, an Englishman caught three Indians running away and instructed his boy to shoot them; he hit one of them in the back He was not killed instantly, but fled and died later that day. A group of Indians returned to the fort and informed them that the shot Indian had died, and asked why he had been shot in the back while fleeing. The boy who had shot him replied callously "it was no matter." Several other English around tried to convince the Indians it was not a callous shooting, but the damage had already been done. The Indians returned the next day and killed the boy, his father, and five others. A conflicting account also says the boy's mother was raped and scalped, but this appears not to be the case as she appears in later town records still alive. King Philip's War of 1675-1676 is what followed in the aftermath. Massachusetts Bay Colony came quickly to the aid of Plymouth after they failed at a diplomatic solution with Metacomet. Metacomet quickly destroyed the town of Dartmouth, forced the evacuation of Middleboro , and then his group fled to central Massachusetts where they continued to raid, attack, and burn villages while gaining additional allies. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was worried the Narragansett might ally themselves with "King Philip", so they made a military offensive (a preemptive strike) against them--which only had the effect of pushing the Narragansett into the very alliance they were trying to prevent in the first place. The Mohegans and a small band of Niantics led by Ninigret sided with the English in the war, but most other Native American groups in the region allied themselves (in name, if not in action) with Metacomet. The Plymouth colonists reacted strongly, and in August 1675 it was declared that 112 captured Indians would be sold into servitude, setting a precedent for later prisoners of war. Most would get sold to sea captains who in turn sold them in the West Indies to serve on sugar plantations. In December, the English organized their troops and on December 19 engaged in a battle known as the Great Swamp Fight, in which many Narragansett were killed and their supply chain blocked. Indian raids did not stop, however, and in fact started coming closer to major towns, including an attack on the town of Scituate. Three miles south of Plymouth, one Indian raid killed Mrs. William Clarke. The Plymouth Court managed to catch and execute the perpetrators of the attack after their identities were revealed by an Indian woman. The English were losing the war, however. The men were constantly occupied trying to protect their towns from the raids that they did not have time to farm their fields. Many did not want to leave their families to join the volunteer army, because that would leave the wife and children unprotected. Because not enough signed up for the volunteer armies, some had to be pressed into service. Many refused to serve, and were fined £8. On March 26, 1676, the Plymouth Company (about sixty-five volunteers) and several Indian guides under command of Michael Pierce encountered a band of Narragansett numbering nearly 1,000 on the Pawtucket river, and were routed (only a few survived to make it back to Plymouth). By April, the Plymouth Colony was at its lowest point. It tried but failed to organize another company of 300 men--many soldiers pressed into service refused to show up. However, their fortunes in war were slowly beginning to change. The Indians who had been waging war on the English were also finding themselves in need of food and supplies. Their allies were never fully unified, and the various groups were often fighting for different aims and goals. As planting and harvest seasons approached, many of Metacomet's allies pulled out to concentrate more fully on producing much needed food supplies. The English were also beginning to better understand the unfamiliar war tactics used by the Indians, and slowly learning how to counter and defend themselves. The English also had Native American groups as allies, and in desperation became more willing to rely on help from these groups. Plymouth's new Captain, Benjamin Church, had long been friends with many of the Native Americans prior to the war, and in many instances he was able to quickly convert Indians over to his side. In a highly unusual tactic in the history of warfare, Captain Church managed to turn many of his prisoners of war into additional troops willing to fight for him (the Indians who changed sides and fought faithfully would be considered allies, and would not be sold into slavery like the other prisoners--a useful incentive). Captain Church succeeded in persuading many Native American groups to give up their alliance with Metacomet's group. Many of the Native American groups which wanted Plymouth's favor (so they would not be sold into slavery as prisoners of war) offered to fight on Plymouth's side until the war was ended. By August 1676 the only significant group of Native Americans still at war was the small group led by "King Philip" himself. And that group spent most of its time simply fleeing from the pursuing Captain Church. Hiding out on Mount Hope, a deserter from Metacomet's group alerted Captain Church to his whereabouts. Captain Church surrounded the camp so that Metacomet had nowhere to flee. Metacomet was forced out, and ran towards two of Church's troops, one an Englishman (possibly Caleb Cooke) and the other an Indian. According to Captain Chruch's written account, the Englishman fired and missed, and the Indian fired and killed Metacomet. A few days later, Annawon, one of Metacom's chief men, was also captured, and the war was over. On 22 July 1676, the Council of War ordered the magistrates to put the children of the prisoners of war into servitude (i.e. slavery until age 25, when the person was freed). Volunteer soldiers who captured Indians were allowed to sell half of them as slaves for their own profit. No Indian male over age 14 was allowed to remain in the Plymouth Colony (to prevent further revolts), but instead had to be sold into slavery to outsiders only. A very small number of prisoners (such as Annawon) were tried and executed. Soldiers who had faithfully volunteered were rewarded with large land grants. Indian lands belonging to those captured groups were taken over, including what is now Mount Hope and Bristol. The war cost Plymouth a large amount of money. Colony taxes from 1675 to 1676 went up 2700%. Donations from as far away as Ireland came in to help the Plymouth Colony restore buildings and towns that had been burned. The war also cost the Plymouth Colony well over 100 lives. For the Native Americans, the war cost hundreds of lives and most of their land. Today, there are about 5000 Wampanoag living primarily in Massachusetts. Exploring Cape Cod November 11-14: First Steps Ashore; gather wood; briefly explore tip of Cape Cod The Mayflower came to anchor in what is now Provincetown Harbor, on the morning of November 11. It was still early morning, so they waited for the sun to rise, and for the tide to come in, before they sent anybody ashore to see what was there. From the ship, they could see the numerous trees, oaks, pines, and juniper. They were in great need of wood, as they had run out of wood to use for cooking and heating fires. Juniper was especially desired, because when it burns, the fragrance helps clean and perfume the air. Some of the passengers were somewhat unhappy with the decision to stay at Cape Cod, instead of continuing south to their original destination in Northern Virginia. The Pilgrims did not even have England's permission to settle in this area. They decided they needed to create a document, now called the "Mayflower Compact", that would give them the temporary right to establish and maintain a government until official permission could be sought back in England. All of the adult men signed the "Mayflower Compact". Later that day, when the tide was right, the Pilgrims sent out the Mayflower's longboat with sixteen well-armed men to see what the land was like, and to return with juniper that they could burn back on the ship. Climbing to the top of some small hills, the Pilgrim explorers saw the ocean on the other side: they found Cape Cod was a small neck of land. They found plenty of pine and juniper trees for wood, and noted that the hills were somewhat sandy. They returned to the Mayflower later that day with the wood they had gathered. The next day, November 12, was a Sunday, so they stayed on the ship and worshipped God together: the Pilgrims felt it was important to honor the Sabbath, and so did not work or explore on any Sunday. On Monday, November 13, the Pilgrims organized a much larger expedition to come ashore. Some of the men hauled the shallop ashore, to begin fixing it. The shallop was a 30-foot single-sail boat that the Pilgrims were going to use to explore, and eventually to trade with the Indians along the coast. The shallop had been taken apart and stored onboard the ship, and now had to be taken to shore and re-assembled. It was badly damaged during the voyage as well, because some of the passengers slept in it during the two month voyage. Most everyone got to come ashore at this time. Even the women got to come ashore, although they spent most of the day doing a much-needed laundry. Back onboard the ship the next day, November 14, the Pilgrims discussed what to do next. Their shallop was nowhere near ready to be used for exploring the Cape, the carpenter had a lot of work to do on it. But many of the men were eager to begin looking for a place to settle and build their colony. So it was decided that they would send out an exploration party of sixteen men to go on foot and explore a nearby river they had seen as they had sailed into the harbor. November 15-17: Explore from tip of Cape Cod to the Pamet River; Corn Hill Myles Standish, William Bradford, Stephen Hopkins and Edward Tilley, along with twelve others, set out on the first significant exploration on November 15. They had only been walking a mile, when they saw ahead of them about six men and a dog coming their way. At first they thought it was some of the Mayflower's crew, but soon realized it was Indians. The Indians ran into the forest, and the Pilgrims followed after, hoping to chase them down and perhaps make contact. They followed the footprints and trail through the forest, until night fell and they stopped to make camp for the night. The next day they continued on, trying to follow the Indians' trails, but ended up just wandering through hills and valleys full of thick underbrush. They could not locate any Indians, or even their houses or fields. As mid-day came, they became very tired, hungry and thirsty. They hadn't thought of bringing any significant supply of food or water: in fact all the sixteen men had were a few swigs of aqua-vitae and some biscuit and Holland cheese. They searched for a long time for some fresh water. When they finally found a freshwater spring, they sat down and "drunk our first New England water with as much delight as ever we drunk drink in all our lives." Walking on, they found another pond, and then some abandoned corn fields that had been worked by the Indians. On the side of a hill, the Pilgrim explorers found an old kettle from a European ship, some old planks, and a mound of sand where something had been recently buried. They dug it up, and found it to be a basket with 36 ears of Indian corn, "some yellow, and some red, and others mixed with blue." The Indians stored their corn seed in large baskets buried in the ground, to be used for the next season's planting. The Pilgrims realized they had no way of getting any native seed for the next year, so they took what they found, justifying the theft by saying they were just borrowing: they would pay back the owner of the corn as soon as they could determine who the owner was. They called the place "Corn Hill." They continued on just a little further and quickly looked over the Pamet River, before returning to the freshwater pond for the night. It rained heavily that night The next morning, they planned to return to the Mayflower, but got lost for a time on the hike out of the woods. While they were wandering around trying to find the path, they came across an Indian snare with acorns spread around the ground, meant to catch deer. Unaware of what everyone was looking at, William Bradford came up and stepped right on the trap, snaring his leg and causing a good laugh for everyone. The Pilgrims themselves managed to kill a few partridges for food, but weren't able to kill any of the deer that they saw. Finally they returned to within view of the Mayflower, shot off their guns, and the longboat came to bring them back onboard to the other passengers eager to hear about their adventures ashore. November 27-30: Further exploration of Corn Hill and the Pamet River region After the Pilgrims returned from their explorations on November 15-17, they reported what they had found, and discussed what to do next. The weather turned very cold and stormy, making trips to and from the shore very difficult. They decided to wait until the shallop was completed before they sent out another exploration. Finally, more than ten days later, the shallop was ready to go. Twenty-four Pilgrims and ten of the Mayflower's crew were appointed to go on the expedition. The Mayflower's master, Christopher Jones, showed an interest in participating, so he was appointed to lead the expedition. Their goal was to further explore the Pamet River, which they had only very briefly looked at on their previous trip to Corn Hill. The shallop and the longboat both set off from the Mayflower, but almost immediately the stormy weather and winds forced them to head for the nearest shore. After struggling much of the day, the longboat made it ashore, but the shallop and those aboard were forced to spend the night anchored in the harbor. Those on the land hiked about seven miles south towards the Pamet River; the shallop would meet up with them the next day. It was windy, and snowed all night long. About mid-day the next day, everyone went aboard the shallop and sailed further to the Pamet River, which they nicknamed Cold Harbor. With six inches of snow now on the ground, they marched up the Pamet River several miles, through hills and valleys. The evening falling and most tired from hiking through the snow, they made camp under a few pine trees and spent the night. Luckily, they managed to kill three geese and six ducks, giving everyone plenty to eat. In the morning, they decided this wasn't the best ground: too hilly, and a bad harbor for ships. So they returned to the mouth of the Pamet river, intending to return to Corn Hill to see if they could dig up some more seed for planting. Finding an Indian canoe at the bank of the Pamet River, they shot some geese and took the canoe to retrieve them. Then they used the canoe to carry themselves across the river towards Corn Hill. They dug up the rest of the corn they had found buried, and began digging into other mounds. In one, they found some oil. In another, they found more corn and some beans. As the weather began turning bad, Master Christopher Jones decided he should be back on the Mayflower, so he returned to the ship with five others from the exploration party who were becoming sick or who were too weak to continue on. The remaining eighteen men stayed the night on Corn Hill, and the next morning they set out to look for some Indians to meet with. They followed tracks and paths they found, but after six miles of marching they had found nothing. Then they encountered a large mound, bigger than the others they had dug up previously. Uncovering it, they first encountered a mat, then a bow and arrows, then another mat, some bowls and trays and other trinkets, and then some red powder-- under which they found the bones and skull of a man with "fine yellow hair still on it, and some of the flesh unconsumed." With it were a sailor's cassock. Inside a smaller bundle, they found the remains of a small child. They wondered who it could be. They didn't think it could be an Indian, because the hair was blond--perhaps it was one of the French sailors that had been killed there in 1617 by the Nauset. But then what about the baby? They moved on, and dug into several more mounds they encountered, "but found no more corn, nor anything else but graves." While they were looking at the grave, two sailors returned to the group to report they had found an Indian house. They looked around and seeing nobody, entered the house. It looked like it had been lived in recently, because their dishes, household items, and hunting remains were still there. "Some of the best things we took away with us," they recorded, "intending to have brought some beads, and other things to have left in the houses, in sign of peace," but unfortunately the tide was receding and they had to make a hasty getaway--so they never left behind the "sign of peace." They returned to the Mayflower, and discussed their findings with everyone. There was some controversy about what to do: should they settle at the Pamet River, or continue looking for a better place? The season was getting late, the weather getting worse, and the supplies were running short. The Pamet River was defensible, but not particularly good for anything but small boats. In the end, it was decided to send out one more expedition, to round the Cape and explore the mainland, where they hoped to find a bigger, more navigable river upon which they could build their colony. December 6-12: First encounter Beach: Clark's Island; Plymouth Bay After a week of debates and poor weather, it was finally decided to send out one last exploration, to circle the entire bay of Cape Cod, to see if there could be found any better place. Corn Hill was a good, defensible spot, but the Pilgrims were concerned about the availability of fresh water, the highness of the hill with which they would need to haul water, and the shallowness of the river mouth, which would only allow for small boats. The men appointed to the third and final exploration were Myles Standish, John Carver, William Bradford, Edward Winslow, John Tilley, Edward Tilley, John Howland, Richard Warren, Stephen Hopkins, Edward Doty, John Allerton, and Thomas English. From the Mayflower's crew came John Clarke, Robert Coppin, the master gunner, and three sailors. Organizing everybody together took nearly the whole day, but finally towards the late afternoon the expedition got on its way. They immediately found themselves struggling to make any headway against the freezing winds. One of the men recorded "it was very cold, for the water froze on our clothes, and made them many times like coats of iron." They sailed along the coast looking for rivers and bays, until they came across what is now Wellfleet Harbor. Evening was drawing near, so they made landfall near modern-day Eastham. As they arrived, they saw a number of Indians cleaning a large black fish on the shoreline. When the Indians saw the Pilgrims coming in, they ran off. The sun was quickly setting, so they gathered firewood, set out their guards, and set up camp for the night. In the distance, they guessed about five miles, they could see the smoke from the Indians' fires. And no doubt the Indians could see the smoke of their fire too. In the morning, the explorers split up into two groups, one to explore the area by the shallop, and the others to explore by land. They found it to be only a bay, with no significant rivers of any kind. Those on the land followed some Indian footprints along the sands, and then went into the woods where they passed some ponds, some old cornfields, and another graveyard. They then encountered about five abandoned Indian houses that did not appear to have been lived in recently. As night drew closer, they rejoined the men who were out in the shallop, gathered firewood, fixed a small supper (they had eaten nothing all day), and made their barricade for the night. About midnight, one of the sentinels, or watchmen, woke everyone up, "Arm! Arm!" Everyone awoke to hear "a great and hideous cry". They shot off their muskets a few times into the air, and the noise stopped. They all wondered what it could be? Some of the Mayflower's sailors said they had heard such noises in Newfoundland, and that they were from wolves or foxes. At about five in the morning, they began to wake up and prepare their breakfast and pack for the day's voyage onward, when all of a sudden "we heard a great and strange cry, which we knew to be the same voices," and one of the men came running back to camp yelling "They are men, Indians! Indians!" and immediately thereafter "their arrows came flying amongst us". Several of the Pilgrims fired their muskets into the darkness. One of the Indians was standing behind a nearby tree, and the Pilgrims shot at him three times before he finally took off and yelled for the others to follow. It was over almost as quickly as it began. Arrows and gunshots were exchanged. Yet surprisingly nobody on either side was injured. The Pilgrims nicknamed the place "The First Encounter". The Pilgrims left shortly after the skirmish, continuing on around the Cape, looking for any kind of decent river or harbor around which they could locate their little colony. After about two hours, it began to snow and rain, and the seas began to get very rough. The rudder hinges then broke, so they had to steer the shallop with oars. As night approached, they finally saw Plymouth Harbor, and struggled against the wind and seas to get the little shallop headed in the right direction. Just as they were about to get in, a stiff wind picked up, and broke their mast into three pieces. Luckily, the tide was with them, and they were able to slip into the harbor by oars and paddling alone. The sun had set, and darkness was quickly falling, so they beached themselves on a sandy island, which they named Clark's Island, in honor of John Clark, the Mayflower's Mate who miraculously piloted the beaten and battered shallop into the island before night had totally fallen upon them. Saturday morning, December 10, they tired and beaten men explored the island, thinking it might be a good place to build their town; and in the meantime some of them patched up their shallop. The next day, Sunday, they honored the Sabbath and did not work; so they stayed on the island all day Sunday as well. On Monday, with calmer weather, they explored the harbor, and they liked what they saw. The harbor was big and deep enough for ships to anchor safely. And there were small brooks, nice hills, and cleared land. They returned to the Mayflower, still anchored off the tip of Cape Cod, and brought everyone the good news: they found a good place to build their plantation! December 20-25: Decide to settle Plymouth; begin building first house When the explorers returned to the Mayflower with the good news they had found a harbor they liked, one passenger wrote it "did much comfort their hearts." The Mayflower lifted anchor and sailed towards Plymouth, to bring everyone there. Unfortunately the wind did not allow them to make it in. The next day, December 16, they were able to sail into Plymouth Harbor. Now everyone could see the harbor, which one passenger remembered as being "compassed with a goodly land, and in the bay 2 fine islands uninhabited, wherein are nothing but wood, oaks, pines, walnut, beech, sassafras, vines, and other trees which we know not." December 17 was a Sunday, so they did not work. On Monday, December 18, they sent another group of men out with Master Christopher Jones and several sailors, and they walked along and examined about 7-8 miles of coastline, looking for the best place to build the colony. They did not see or meet with any Indians, but did see some old, long-abandoned cornfields. They had hoped to find a large river, but only found about five streams. That evening, they returned aboard the Mayflower. The next day, another party went to explore: this time, half went by land, and half coasted the shoreline in the shallop. The group on land found a nice stream, and followed it up into the woods about three miles. Then they explored the island again. At night, they again returned to the Mayflower, and had a long discussion and debate about where to settle. Some liked the area with the long stream that they had followed up for nearly three miles. It had lots of surrounding woods, so they would have an easier time to build houses and gather fuel for their fires. Others, though, worried the woods could be full of "savages", and that clearing the land for planting corn would be a lot more labor-intensive. Also, the place seemed to be far from any good fishing spot, from which they hoped to get some profit. Others liked Clark's Island, because it could be very easily defended, and was closer to larger Cape Cod bay, providing quicker and easier access both to ships and the fishing grounds. But Clark's Island, others argued, had a limited supply of trees, a rockier ground that might not be as good for growing crops, and had no supply of fresh water except for a few stagnant ponds. On December 20, the Pilgrims more carefully viewed the two places, intending to make a final decision that evening. As one passenger remembered, "After our landing and viewing of the places, so well as we could we came to a conclusion, by most voices, to set on the mainland, on the first place, on a high ground, where there is a great deal of land cleared, and hath been planted with corn three or four years ago, and there is a very sweet brook running under the hillside, and many delicate springs of as good water as can be drunk, and where we may harbor our shallops and boats exceeding well. ... our greatest labor will be fetching of our wood, which is half a quarter of an English mile." They decided upon a spot that had been named "Plimouth" on a 1614 map (see part of the map at right) made by Captain John Smith (more famous for his adventures with Pocahontas at the Jamestown Colony in Virginia). December 21 and 22 were so stormy, the Pilgrims could do nothing but wait onboard the Mayflower. Finally, the storm broke, and on December 23, they managed to get ashore and began chopping and hauling timber for the houses they were going to build. December 24 was Sunday, so they did not work. Christmas Day, December 25, they returned to work "so no man rested all that day," cutting down the trees, sawing, and preparing them for building. The Pilgrims did not celebrate Christmas: that was a Catholic ritual that was never mentioned in the Bible and was not celebrated by the early Christian churches they were attempting to emulate. But not everyone was 100% "Pilgrim" when it came to rejecting Christmas. The Mayflower's master, Christopher Jones, decided that since it was Christmas, he would share some of his extra beer with the passengers, who had already run out of their own and were just drinking water. Over the next few weeks they cleared the hill, allotted and staked out where each families house would be, gathered thatch for roofing, and began building their houses and a 20ft x 20ft storehouse. Their work was continually hampered by poor weather, making it a very difficult time. William Bradford and others got extremely sick, and on January 12, Peter Brown and John Goodman got lost in the forest and spent a freezing night there before they could find their way home, frostbitten and tired. On January 20, they finished a shed to store their goods, and through the month of February they continued to build their houses. It was not until the end of March that everyone was living ashore--some, especially women and children, had been living onboard a ship (either the Speedwell or the Mayflower) since they first left Holland back in July ... eight months ago.