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Pilgrim Profiles
SMD(E) Elder Marilyn Griffith has been posting a series of profiles of our ancestors on our facebook page. We think they are too good to leave them there, so here they are, with the date on which they first appeared.
1 ALDEN, MULLINS & STANDISH (26 Sept 2024)
John Alden, Miles Standish and Priscilla Mullins were all Mayflower passengers with descendants. Maybe you claim one or more of them as your ancestors? Priscilla Mullins is known to literary history as the unrequited love of newly widowed Captain Miles Standish, the colony's military advisor, in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1858 poem “The Courtship of Miles Standish”. According to the poem, Standish asked his good friend John Alden to propose to Priscilla on his behalf, only to have Priscilla ask, "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?" Priscilla Mullins was the only single woman of marriageable age in the colony at that time. Longfellow was a direct descendant of John and Priscilla, and based his poem on a romanticized version of a family tradition although, until recently, there was little independent historical evidence for the account. The basic story was apparently handed down in the Alden family and published by John and Priscilla's great-great-grandson Rev. Timothy Alden in 1814. Pictured in the gallery is a scene from Longfellow's The Courtship of Miles Standish, showing Standish looking upon Alden and Mullins during the bridal procession (1).
2 ISAAC ALLERTON (5 October 2024)
Do you claim ancestry through the 5 members of Issac Allerton’s family, who were Mayflower passengers? Issac and his first wife, Mary (Norris) Allerton, and their three children all sailed on the Mayflower. Their children on the Mayflower included: Bartholomew (about age 7) Remember (about age 5) and Mary (about 3 ) His wife Mary was expecting a child when they departed England, but unfortunately that child was born stillborn on 22 December, 1620. Mary herself died during that first winter (25 February 1621). It’s hard to imagine the hardship this woman endured being pregnant and with three young children along on the voyage. Issac was one of the first five signers of the Mayflower Compact. He went on to serve as assistant to governor William Bradford for several years. Issac Allerton was the colony’s agent who made numerous trips to London in order to acquire supplies and negotiate agreements. Eventually, Issac fell out of favour with the colony for mingling personal and colony finances, which caused him to be removed from his duties in the colony. In 1626, Issac married his second wife, Fear Brewster, daughter of colony elder, William Brewster. Together they had 2 children, Sarah and Issac Allerton. Fear died around 1633. Issac Allerton remarried a third time (1641-1645) to Joanna Swinnerton, who was likely a widow. Issac died in New Haven, CT in 1658-59 where an inventory of his estate is mentioned in the court records. Issac was mentioned numerous times in the early records, including by William Bradford in “Of Plymouth Plantation”.
3 JOHN BILLINGTON (1 November 2024)
John Billington (1580-1630), his wife, Elinor, and sons John, Jr. (16 years old) and Francis (14 years old) travelled on the Mayflower to the New World in 1620. The Billingtons identified with the strangers or those wanting to pursue their fortunes (they were not religious separatists). The Billington family had hoped to join the colony in Jamestown, Virginia, but the ship had drifted “off course” and north to what is now Massachusetts. The “strangers”, included John Billington, didn’t want to live under the rules of the religious “separatists”. Billington was thought to be amongst those who were discontented and making speeches suggesting mutiny when they first landed in Cape Cod. The Pilgrims quickly drafted the Mayflower compact agreement to establish law and order amongst all the passengers and John Billington’s signature is included. In March 1621, John Billington senior was found to be in contempt of Myles Standish’s lawful command with several speeches. He had refused military duty. He was bound with his feet and hands tied together as punishment for disobeying the captain’s order. In 1630 John Billington was tried by a jury and hanged for the murder of John Newcome. Nathaniel Mourton, Plymouth colony secretary from 1645 to 1685, indicated that Billington saw Newcomen robbing his traps. This would be the first murder in the colony. John senior’s burial place is unknown. “This as it was the first execution amongst them,” Bradford related, “so was it a matter of great sadness unto them.”
4 WILLIAM BRADFORD (15 November 2024)
William Bradford’s book, History of Plymouth Plantation (1606-1646), remains the most authoritative account of the Pilgrims and the early years in Plymouth Colony. Parts of Bradford’s journal is also included in pilgrim Edward Winslow’s creation, Mourt’s Relation (1622). William Bradford (born 1590) was a separatist who sailed from England to Amsterdam, Netherlands, when he was 18 years old. He had no family with him and he was taken in by the Brewster family who he had known since attending church in Scrooby, England. William married his first wife Dorothy when she was 16 years old, (1613) in Leiden. They left their five-year-old son behind when they sailed to the new world (intending him to come to Plymouth later).The son was later reunited with his father in New England. Dorothy fell overboard and drowned while the Mayflower was still docked in Cape Cod and William was on an exploring expedition in the area. Dorothy was one of five persons to die in the very early days after the initial landing. About half the passengers would eventually succumb to death that first winter of 1620-1621. William’s second wife Alice (born Carpenter) Southworth was part of the separatist group in Leiden, Netherlands. After the death of her first husband Edward Southworth, she sailed to the newly formed colony at Plymouth on the Anne (1623) with her two children. She married William Bradford as his second wife in August that same year in Plymouth. William was a driving force in the colony. He was a signatory of the Mayflower Compact and was appointed governor following the death of the colony’s first governor, John Carver. William would go on to serve as governor for nearly 30 years, with brief interruptions between 1621 and 1657. Alice and William had three children. William died the age of 67 in 1657 and is buried at burial hill in Plymouth. Alice survived him and died in 1670 and is buried near her husband William’s marker stone on Burial Hill. See the gallery for Bradford's portrait and grave (4)
5 WILLIAM BREWSTER (25th October 2024)
Separatist William Brewster (1566/67 – 10 April 1644) journeyed on the Mayflower with his wife, Mary and their sons, Love (b. 1607 and died 1650/51) and Wrestling (b. 1611 and died after 1627 and before1657. He never married). William and Mary Brewster left three children behind in Holland in 1620 (intending they would join them to join them later). Brewster's son Jonathan (1593-1649) was the first surviving child of the couple. He joined the family in November 1621, arriving at Plymouth sailing on the ship, the Fortune. Daughters Patience (1600-1634) and Fear (1606 and died before 1634) arrived in July 1623 aboard the Anne. Fear Brewster married Mayflower passenger Isaac Allentown and together they had 2 children. William became senior elder and the leader of Plymouth Colony, by virtue of his education and stature with those immigrating from the Netherlands. He attending Peterhouse college, Cambridge (without obtaining a degree) and was the only University educated person amongst the Mayflower passengers. He had formerly lived with his family in Scrooby (Nottinghamshire, England ) He was skilled as a printer and had a clandestine activity of printing material against the Anglican Church which got his printing partner Thomas Brewer arrested. Brewster, however, escaped and—in the same year, with Robert Cushman—obtained in London on behalf of his associates a land patent from the Virginia Company to form a new colony north of Jamestown. The Mayflower upon landing discovered the prevailing winds had blown them off course and they chose to settle in Plymouth, Massachusetts and not Virginia (where they had a land grant). At first the separatists and the so-called strangers who had come to Plymouth as merchant venturers were at odds about whether they were bound by the Virginia land grant. The merchants argued that all should be free to pursue their own interests. But before they left their docking at Cape Cod the entire group were eventually convinced that they needed some form of government which gave them rights and responsibilities in the colony. The Mayflower Compact was the written form of this agreement. William Brewster was a signatory. The only university-trained member of the Plymouth community, he was the real leader of the church. As its senior elder, he dominated the formulation of its doctrines, worship, and practices. He was not a magistrate, but, by virtue of his close association with the governor, William Bradford, he played a major role in civil as well as religious affairs. See gallery for Brewster's portrait and grave (5)
6 PETER BROWNE (29 November 2024)
Peter Brown (c. 1594-1633) was a bachelor and « adventurer », which meant that he travelled to the New World aboard the Mayflower to seek his fortune, rather than to escape religious persecution. When Pilgrims and other settlers set out on the ship for America in 1620, they intended to lay anchor in northern Virginia, but they found themselves far to the north in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Knowing that life without laws could prove catastrophic, colonist leaders created the Mayflower Compact to ensure a functioning social structure would prevail. Peter Brown was one of 41 signers of the Mayflower Compact. Peter Brown’s family and William Mullins family had been neighbours and friends from Dorking, Surrey, England. The William Mullins family were also among those seeking their fortune in the New World aboard the Mayflower Unfortunately, the nearly all of the Mullins family died shortly after arrival in Massachusetts. On 12 January, 1621 Peter Brown and John Goodman were together with others cutting thatch for roofing, when they got lost in the forest. This caused about 10-12 armed men to search for them, in fear they were captured by the native Americans. The two found their way back after the search party had given up hope of finding them alive. They were suffering from hunger and frostbite. Peter Browne married twice, first to Martha, the widow of Mr. Ford, both passengers in 1621 on the ship Fortune with the husband dying before arrival. She was married to Peter Browne in 1626 and they had two daughters before her death in 1630. His second wife was Mary (maiden name and parentage unknown), married about 1630 or 1631. They parented two children. In addition, Peter was step-father of the children of Martha Ford: John Ford, born about 1617 and Martha Ford, born about 1619. Peter died in 1633 . Brown and his first wife, Martha, are buried at Burial Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Pictured in the gallery is a house built subsequently on a lot on Leyden Hill in Plymouth, where Peter Brown built his home (6).
7 JAMES CHILTON (15 December 2024)
James Chilton (1556 -1620), a Leiden separatist and Mayflower passenger, was probably born in Canterbury, Kent in England. He married in 1586. His wife’s name isn’t known. James was a tailor by profession. Together they had 10 children, although only 3 survived to adulthood, including Mary, age 12-13, who is the only child they brought with them on the Mayflower. James Chilton, died while the Mayflower was anchored at Provincetown on Cape Cod. He was a signatory to the Mayflower compact one month before he died. There are three memorial plaques in Provincetown that name those who died at sea on the voyage that include Chilton’s name (since he never made it to Plymouth). His wife died during the first winter, leaving Mary Chilton, age 13, and her surviving siblings back in Europe, orphans. James Chilton’s daughters, Mary and Isabella are the only children known to have descendants. Isabella arrived in Plymouth in 1629-30, according to Governor Bradford with the rest of the Leiden congregation. Tradition says that daughter, Mary Chilton was the first to step out onto the land at Plymouth (but questions have been raised as to whether the rock under the memorial monument in Plymouth was actually the rock where Mary disembarked) (picture 7 in gallery).
8 FRANCIS COOKE (29 December 2024)
Francis Cooke’s birthplace and parents’ names are unknown. His heritage is believed to be English. He was a wool comber by trade before sailing on the Mayflower. He was likely born about 1583. Notably, Francis and Hester (Mahieu) Cooke had lived in Leiden as early as 1603, about 5-6 years before the Separatist congregation fled there from England. He married Hester Mahieu in Leiden (Netherlands) after an engagement in 1603. Hester was born in Canterbury, Kent, England. Together they had 7 children, 6 surviving infancy. Hester was from a Waloon congregation which originated in the French speaking part of Belgium. The Waloon congregation had immigrated to Leiden from Canterbury, England, where there was an established Waloon community . In 1606, Francis and Hester, his wife, left Leyden to live at Norwich, England where they joined a French Waloon church. However, as soon as 1607 (only a year later) were back in Leyden as members of the French Walloon church there. In 1609, John Robinson and others from the separatist congregation arrived in Leiden. It was probably in Leiden where the Cooke family became acquainted with members of John Robinson’s separatist congregation. Their two congregations shared many of the same religious beliefs. Francis and only one of his children, John (born in 1607 and therefore about 13 years old) journeyed in1620 on the Speedwell to England. The Speedwell had intended to accompany the Mayflower to the New World, but soon became unseaworthy. Francis left his wife and their remaining children in Leiden with a plan they would join them later. Hester, his wife, and the rest of their children were able to come to Plymouth the following year on the ship Anne. When the Speedwell was determined to be unfit for the voyage, Francis and his son, John, were able join the passengers on the remaining ship, the Mayflower. John was a freeman and his profession in Plymouth was listed as a husbandman (which is an English word formerly used for farmer) Cooke was a signer of the Mayflower compact while the Mayflower was docked in Provincetown. Governor William Bradford wrote in “Of Plymouth Plantation” the following words concerning Francis Cooke : "Francis Cooke is still living, a very old man, and hath seen his children's children have children. After his wife came over with other of his children; he hath three still living by her, all married and have five children, so their increase is eight. And his son John which came over with him is married, and hath four children living." Francis Cooke lived to be about 80 years old, dying 7 April 1663, Plymouth. His wife Hester survived him by at least three years and perhaps longer. Unfortunately. his burial site is not known. He remained in Plymouth until his death.
9 EDWARD DOTY (17 January 2025)
Edward Doty born in England approximately 1599 was a servant of another Mayflower passenger, Stephen Hopkins. The Mayflower Compact, which established rights and responsibilities of all the members of the colony was signed by Edward Doty beside the signatures of 40 other male passengers. In Plymouth Colony records, Doty's name was also spelled variously as Doten (Mayflower Compact), Dotey (1626 Purchasers and 1643 bear arms lists), Dolton (1627 Division of the Cattle), and Dowty (1633/34 tax lists). His occupation was recorded as a “farmer.” In 1626, Edward Doty was one of twenty-seven Purchasers involved with the colony joint-stock company which afterwards was turned over to the control of senior colony members. That group was called the "Undertakers". The post-1632 records of the Plymouth Court, which has no existing records prior to that year, has twenty-three cases over the 20 years between January 1632 and October 1651 that involve Edward Doty. The records include suits/countersuits, and charges such as fraud, slander, fighting, assault, debt, trespass, theft, etc. But, although Doty appeared before the court numerous times, he was never punished for criminal activities beyond small fines. Despite the fact that he was charged with fighting and was sued by many persons for fraudulent trading and goods sales, almost all were civil cases and were not of a criminal nature. Other than his duel in 1621 with another servant of Stephen Hopkins, Edward Leister, he never received any physical punishment that was commonly given for crimes such as theft, serious assault and adultery. He was quite fortunate in this regard as typical punishments at that time included whipping, branding, banishment and the stocks. Doty married twice. His first wife may have died young and she is not believed to have born Doty any children. He married his second wife, Faith Clarke, in 1635. She had come over to Plymouth on the ship Francis in 1634 . Some of Doty’s court cases involved his father-in-law, Thurston Clarke, and may have been domestic disputes. William Bradford, who served many times as governor of the colony, wrote that Edward Doty and his wife Faith had seven children. But we know that Doty and his wife Faith had 2 children thereafter. He became a prosperous landowner, after becoming a freeman. It is known that he did own land in central Plymouth where the Mayflower Society House now stands. His will and other documents were signed with a “mark”, as he never learned to write. Doty died on August 23, 1655, in Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony. In Burial Hill Cemetery there is a memorial stone for him. See gallery for memorial (9).
10 FRANCIS EATON (15 February 2025)
Francis Eaton sailed on the Mayflower with his wife, Sarah, and infant son, Samuel, who was still nursing. He had married Sarah in 1618/19 in England. Francis’ wife, Sarah, died the first winter (1620/1621) during the general sickness that followed exposure to the cold without adequate shelter and food. Francis was not seeking freedom from religious persecution. Instead, he was seeking his own family’s fortune in the new world, being part of the group commonly referred to as “the strangers”. Francis was a carpenter by trade and, was one of the few Mayflower passengers who actually had skill necessary for survival of the colony. He helped the colonists build desperately needed shelter. Francis was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact in Provincetown 11 November 1620. The photograph in the gallery (10) features St. Thomas Parish in Bristol, England where Francis Eaton was baptized 12 September 1596. Francis’s second wife, Dorothy, had also been a passenger on the Mayflower as a servant of the Carver family. Dorothy perished around 1626. By 1627, Francis had married his third wife, Christian Penn, who arrived in Plymouth in 1623 on the Anne. Together they had 3 children. Francis died at Plymouth in November 1633 of another sickness that spread through the colony. In 1636, when he was 16 years old, Samuel (the son that had sailed on the Mayflower), indentured himself to John Cooke for seven years in return for a promise of 3 suits of clothes, 12 bushels of Indian corn and 1 heifer. Samuel had moved to nearby Duxbury by 1646.
11 MOSES FLETCHER (7 February 2025)
Moses Fletcher (1564 – 1620/1) was called “Moyses Fletcher” in records written by Pilgrim governor, William Bradford. Moses was a Leiden Separatist who came to America on the historic 1620 voyage of the Pilgrim ship Mayflower. At age 25, Moses had married Mary Evans in Sandwich, Kent, England in 1589. Together they had 10 children. His second marriage in 1613, was to Sarah, who was a widow of William Denny. Moses was then 49 years old. There were no children from this second union. Moses Fletcher was one of ten men who sailed on the Mayflower alone (without any family accompanying them). All ten of these men died in the general sickness that befell half the passengers of the Mayflower during that fateful “first winter” in Plymouth. Moses is buried on Cole’s Hill Burial Ground, in Plymouth in an unmarked grave. Before his death, Moses was a signatory of the Mayflower governing agreement, known as the Mayflower Compact. It is unknown why Moses’ second wife Sarah and his children from his first marriage remained in Holland, when he departed on the Mayflower. None of Fletcher's descendants are known to have come to colonial New England. Dr. Jeremy D. Bangs, of the Leiden Pilgrim Documents Centre in the Netherlands, believed he had evidence of such descendants living in Holland today. Sadly, Dr. Bangs passed away recently, in 2023. The General Society of Mayflower Descendants lists only FOURTEEN members claiming descent from Moses Fletcher and his wife Mary. All of the lines are through his daughter Priscilla.
12 EDWARD FULLER (7 March 2025)
Edward Fuller was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact, but he died shortly after going ashore. Robert and Sara (Dunkhorn) Fuller who were the parents of Edward Fuller and his brother, Samuel, are known to have resided at Redenhall, Norfolk, England in 1575. Edward sailed with his wife and young son Samuel, who was about 12 years old. Edward’s adult brother, Samuel Fuller, who was a self-taught doctor of medicine, was also a passenger on the Mayflower. Because the adult brother Samuel, and Edward’s 12-year-old son both sailed on the Mayflower, and both were named Samuel, it can be confusing to follow their story. After the deaths of Edward Fuller and his wife, their son Samuel, who was orphaned at age twelve, was taken into the household of his uncle, Dr. Samuel Fuller. The young Samuel became a freeman in 1634. Edward Fuller and his wife died, according to colony governor, William Bradford, during the sickness that befell the colonists that first winter because of cold and hunger. They were buried in the Coles Hill Burial Ground in Plymouth, possibly in unmarked graves. They are memorialised on the Pilgrim Memorial Tomb on Coles Hill, as “Edward Fuller and his wife”. It is through descent from Edward’s son Samuel, also a Mayflower passenger as a young boy, that people can claim descent from Edward Fuller. For many years, it was thought they also had a son named Matthew, but in 2022 extensive yDNA testing conclusively proved that this cannot be true. In 2023 the Mayflower Society officially stopped accepting lines of descent through Matthew.
13 SAMUEL FULLER (19 February 2025)
Samuel Fuller sailed on the Mayflower with his brother, Edward Fuller, and his brother’s wife (name unknown) and his brother’s son, Samuel. He was also accompanied by a young indentured servant, William Butten who died before the Mayflower made landfall on 6 November, 1620. The wooden cradle shown in the photo was probably made in Duxbury, MA and was handed down in the Samuel Fuller family before finally finding its place in the Pilgrim Hall Museum. Samuel Fuller was a self-taught physician and as such, was an invaluable member of the burgeoning colony. Samuel was baptized in Redenhall, Norfolk, England on the 20 January 1580. He died between 30 July and 28 October, 1633 of a general sickness that swept through the colony in the years 1633/34. Samuel Fuller was a separatist wishing to escape religious persecution. He was also a signer of the Mayflower compact. His brother, Edward, who also sailed with him on the Mayflower was what has been called a “stranger” because he was sailing in order to increase his and his family’s fortune. Edward and his family will be the subject of a separate publication, since they both had descendants. Samuel Fuller married his first wife, Alice Glascock (place and date unknown). In 1613, Samuel married his second wife, Agnes (or Anna) Carpenter in Leiden. They had one offspring who was buried as a child in 1615. In 1617, he married a third time in Leiden. This wife’s name was Bridget Lee. Bridget came to Plymouth in 1623 aboard the Anne with a child born between 1618 and 1620. Nothing is known of what became of this child. A second child, Mercy, was born to Samuel and Bridget at Plymouth, after 22 May 1627. She died after 1650, leaving no further record. Samuel and Bridget had a third child circa 1629, a son (also named Samuel) who himself married and produced offspring. It is through this son that descent from the adult Samuel that sailed on the Mayflower is recorded with the Mayflower Society.
14 STEPHEN HOPKINS (2 March 2025)
Stephen Hopkins (1581-1644), Mayflower passenger, is known to have first travelled to Jamestown, Virginia in 1609. Jamestown was an English colony that preceded the Mayflower voyage. Prior to 1609, Hopkins worked for the Virginia Company, a group of London entrepreneurs. He left on board the Sea Venture in 1609 for Jamestown, Virginia, but was shipwrecked in Bermuda in a storm. Stranded on an island for ten months, the passengers and crew survived on turtles, birds, and wild pigs. The castaways rebuilt two new boats and reached Jamestown in 1610. William Shakespeare’s character, Stephano, in his play “The Tempest” has been linked to the story of Stephen’s Hopkins shipwreck in Bermuda. Shakespeare was a contemporary of Stephen Hopkins. The winter of 1609/ 1610, Jamestown, suffered severe loss with only 60 of 500 colonists surviving this period, which is now known as “the starving time.” Historians have never determined exactly why so many perished, although disease, famine (spurred by the worst drought in 800 years, as climate records indicate), and Indian attacks took their toll. On June 7, 1610, Jamestown’s residents abandoned the colony, but as they left they met Lord De la Warr, who insisted they return and rebuild the town. How long Hopkins remained in Jamestown is not known. He was back in England by 1616 and found that his first wife Mary, whom he had married in 1604, had died. She was buried in Hursley, England, on 9 May 1613, and left behind a probate estate which mentions her children Elizabeth, Constance and Giles. Hopkins married Elizabeth Fisher, his second wife, on 19 February 1617/8 at St. Mary Matfelon, Whitechapel, Middlesex, England. In 1620, Stephen Hopkins sailed on the Mayflower with his wife, Elizabeth and their son Demaris. Elizabeth also gave birth to a son, Oceanus on board the Mayflower. They also were accompanied by two of Stephen’s children from the union with his first wife, Constance and Giles. A third child from the first marriage, Elizabeth, had apparently died before the Mayflower voyage. CHILDREN (by Elizabeth): Damaris (died young), Oceanus, Caleb, Deborah, Damaris, Ruth, and Elizabeth. Two indentured servants, Edward Doty and Edward Leister, accompanied the Hopkins family. Stephen Hopkins was a signer of the Mayflower Compact, signed at Provincetown, 11 November 1620. He was not fleeing religious persecution, but rather was seeking fortune for himself and his family in the new world. He was assistant governor to the colony in Plymouth until 1936. The hat pictured in the gallery (14) from the Pilgrim Hall Museum is believed to have belonged to Constance Hopkins, who was born to Stephen’s marriage to his first wife and was a passenger on the Mayflower with her full brother, Giles and her half siblings. Also pictured (14) in is All Saints Church in Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England, where Stephen Hopkins (1581 – 1644) of the Mayflower was baptized on 30 April 1581. The church still welcomes visitors today.
15 RICHARD MORE (31 January 2025)
Richard More, as a 5-6 year old boy, sailed to the New World on the Mayflower with his siblings (all under the age of 8 years old). The More children were the only passengers with known royal ancestry, with descent from King David I and King Edward I of England. The children had been baptized at Shipton Parish, Shropshire, England. Samuel More and Catherine More, the children’s parents, were cousins. They agreed to marry to preserve large property holdings, when Catherine’s branch of the More family found itself without the necessary male heir. Court records show that Samuel accused Katherine of adultery with one of his tenant farmers, Jacob Blakeway. Samuel began to suspect his children resembled Jacob and, therefore, were not his own. She didn’t deny this allegation, but rather argued to the court that she had a precontract of marriage with Jacob. The children, between the ages of four and eight, were placed by their father, Samuel More, with separatist families making the voyage as indentured servants. Richard, who was placed in the care of William Brewster, was the only one of the four children to survive the first winter of their arrival in Plymouth. In 1622, the mother of the More children, Katherine More, filed a petition to Lord Chief Justice Sir James Ley, demanding to know what had become of her children. In 1635, when Richard was 20 years old, he sailed back to England, perhaps to unravel the reasons that he and his siblings had been sent on this long perilous journey. It became common practice in the 17th century to send homeless waifs as servants of voyagers to the New World. Richard More married his first wife, Christian Hunt, at Plymouth, 20 October 1636. Richard had another wife, Elizabeth Woolno, while he was still married to his first wife. The marriage is recorded at St. Dunstan’s, Stepney, Middlesex, 23 October 1645. He was married a third time to Jane Crumpton sometime before 23 May 1678, probably at Salem. Richard became a well-known sea captain who helped to deliver to various colonies the supplies that were vital to their survival, travelling the Atlantic and West Indies trade routes and fought in various early naval sea battles. Richard More is buried in what was known as the Charter Street Burial Ground but is now the Burying Point/Charter Street Cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts. He is the only Mayflower passenger to have his gravestone still where it was originally placed sometime in the mid-1690s. Also buried nearby in the same cemetery were two of his three wives, Christian (Hunt) More and Jane (Crumpton) More. If the 1696 date of his death is correct, Richard More was the last surviving “male passenger” of the Mayflower. See gallery for burial marker (15)
16 WILLIAM MULLINS (25 January 2025)
William Mullins (1572-1621), from Dorking, England (about 21 miles south of London) sailed on the Mayflower with his wife Alice and their two children, Joseph and Priscilla and their servant, Robert Carter. Two grown children remained in England. Prior to departing on the Mayflower with his family and servant, William Mullins, in 1612, bought a house and an acre and a half of land and outbuildings between West Street and Back Lane (now Church Street). This house still exists and houses a coffee shop, making it a stopping place for tourists. The four-unit William Mullins house in Dorking, Surrey, England, consisting of four street-front shops. The house was originally built in 1590 by the Sheffield family, and purchased in 1612 by William Mullins. He lived there until 1619, a year before the Mayflower sailed. William Mullins ‘house’ is actually a terrace of four houses. It was built for rental and occupied by several businesses when William Mullins bought it in 1612. The ground level would have been open to the public and the upper levels housed living accommodation. Pictured in the gallery (16) is what is thought to be the oldest surviving buildings owned by one the passengers on the Mayflower. William was not one of the ‘Saints’, who were defined as religious separatists that rejected organised worship and who initiated the voyage. William Mullins was rather one of the ‘Strangers’ who were recruited to fund the crossing and among those who hoped to increase their fortune. William Mullins is one of 41 passengers who signed the Mayflower Compact (all male). William brought over 250 shoes and 13 pairs of boots, his profession being a shoemaker. Tragically, William, Alice and Joseph all died in the first harsh winter. Their servant, Robert Carver also perished during that time. Priscilla, a teenager, was the only surviving Mayflower passenger in the family. She was the only unmarried woman of child-bearing age in the colony in early 1621. She married John Alden, a young cooper – despite his master Myles Standish originally proposing to her. Two hundred years later she became a national heroine with the publication of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, “The Courtship of Miles Standish”. The poem has Alden proposing marriage to Priscilla on behalf of his superior, Captain Standish, whereupon she says: ‘Why don’t you speak for yourself, John?’
17 THOMAS ROGERS (2 January 2025)
Thomas Rogers (born 1572) was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact that established rights and duties of members of the colony. The Mayflower passengers had originally planned to land in northern Virginia and had contracts with the merchant adventurers (investors) who financed their voyage that would govern their duties and responsibilities. Due to violent storms, the Mayflower had been driven far to the north. Once moored in Provincetown Massachusetts, they realized they could no longer rely on the original contract with the Virginia Company. After failing to reset sail south to Virginia, the passengers, who had come seeking their own fortunes, argued they should be allowed to separate and pursue their own self-interests and there was even talk of mutiny. The “Compact Agreement” giving the colonists rights and responsibilities is considered the first “government” formed in the New World. Separatist Thomas Rogers, who like others from the Leiden congregation, was escaping religious persecution but perished from the general sickness that caused the death of approximately 50% of the Mayflower passengers that first winter (1620/21). These unfortunate souls succumbed to exposure to cold, lack of shelter, and starvation. Thomas was accompanied by his son, Joseph, who at age 17, was too young to be a signatory of the compact agreement. William Bradford (who served 30 years during various time periods as the governor of Plymouth colony) is believed to have taken young Joseph into his care when his father, Thomas Rogers, died. Thomas Rogers was born in the area of the village of Watford, in Northamptonshire, England and it is there that he married Alice Cosford October 24, 1597 and also baptized their six children between 1598 and 1613, including 2 sons that died in infancy. The family went to Leiden from England sometime after their last child, Margaret, was baptized in 1613. Thomas was a merchant of a fabric called “camlet” woven from camel hair and silk. When Thomas sailed with his son, Joseph to the new world, he left behind three of his children in the care of their mother, Alice, who died shortly after a poll was taken in Leiden on June 3, 1622. The children were reported to be living in poverty with one or more Leiden separatists after their mother’s death. Thomas Rogers’ remaining children, John, Elizabeth and Margaret eventually came to join their brother Joseph, in 1630. They were accompanied by the remaining Leiden separatists. Mayflower passenger Joseph is credited with being one of the founding fathers of nearby towns of Bridgewater and Eastham (the latter being located on Cape Cod). William Bradford's 1651 recollection of the fate of Thomas Rogers and his family: "Thomas Rogers dyed in the first sickness, but his son Joseph is still living, and is married, and hath 6 children. The rest of Thomas Rogers (children) came over, and are married, and have many children." Thomas Rogers was likely buried in an unmarked grave in Cole’s Hill Burial Ground with others who didn’t survive the first winter. The name of Thomas Rogers is memorialized on the Pilgrim Memorial Tomb on Cole's Hill.
18 HENRY SAMSON (21 December 2024)
Henry Samson (1603 to 1684) at the tender age of 16, accompanied Edward Tilley and Ann (Cooper) Tilley on the Mayflower voyage to the New World in 1620. Ann Tilley was his aunt (his mother’s sister). Ann Tilley also had Henry’s one year old cousin, Humility Cooper on the voyage. It is unknown why the children were under the guardianship of Edward and Ann Tilley, because Henry’s parents and siblings remained in Henlow, Bedfordshire (where Henry had been baptized). A possible explanation was that Henry had been an apprentice of Edward Tilley, who was a weaver by profession. Edward and Ann Tilley died the first winter (1620/21) after the Mayflower arrived in Plymouth. Henry Samson and Humilty Cooper were then given to others to raise, but their identity isn’t known. 1626 Henry Samson was a member of the Purchasers, which were a Plymouth Colony investment group in company with former members of the "Merchant Adventurers" London organization. In that agreement, he was listed as "Henry Sampson”. Henry Samson married Ann Plummer on February 6, 1635/6 in Plymouth and together they had 9 children. Henry became a freeman at some time before March 7, 1636. He volunteered to serve in the Pequot war of 1637. Starting in the 1640s, Samson began many years of public-service duties, including serving on a great number of juries and serving as tax collector and constable. He was also appointed several times as surveyor. Henry was predeceased by his wife Ann. He died at Duxbury in 1684, having reached the age of 81 years. Both were buried in Cole’s Hill Burial Ground in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
19 GEORGE SOULE (9 December 2024)
George Soule (Sol, Sowle) born 1601 and died between 1678 and 1679 was a passenger on the Mayflower as a servant to Edward Winslow. He was, therefore, thought to be 19 years old when he arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts aboard the Mayflower. Edward Winslow’s wife died during the first winter after arrival in Plymouth. Soule was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact along with three other young men below the age of 21. Research in 2017 has identified the parents of George Soule through a high quality Y-DNA match of Soule with families in Scotland and Australia. Following up on research published by Louise Walsh Throop in 2009, the DNA study pointed to Soule's parents as Jan Sol and his wife Mayken Labis, who are identified by their marriage as Protestant refugees in London, England, in 1586 and by the baptisms of their children before 1600 in Haarlem, Holland. In 1623, the Division of Land at Plymouth provided one acre for George Soule between the property of "Frances" Cooke and "Mr. Isaak" Allerton. About 1626, George Soule married a woman by the name of Mary who arrived on the ship Anne in 1623. It is known that the only Mary in Plymouth who was then unmarried was Mary Bucket (Buckett). They parented 9 children together. In 1626 George Soule was one of twenty-seven Purchasers involved with the colony joint-stock company which afterwards was turned over to the control of senior colony members. That group was called Undertakers, and were made up initially of such Pilgrim leaders as Bradford, Standish and Allerton. They were later joined by other leaders Winslow, Brewster, Howland, Alden, Prence and others from London who were former Merchant Adventurers. On the agreement, dated 26 October 1626, his name appears as "Georg Soule." George Soule became a freeman sometime before 1633. Per Plymouth records, Soule's life with his family appears to have been lived quietly in a Puritan home—obtaining some land holdings through the years in several towns, which he would later provide for his large family. Soule was never involved in any criminal or civil court dispute and did participate in a number of public service situations, one being his volunteering to fight in the Pequot War in 1637, which was over before the Plymouth company could get organised. Shown in the photo (19) in the gallery is George Soule’s grave in Duxbury, Massachusetts.
20 JOHN TILLEY (22 November 2024)
John Tilley, his wife Joan, and their daughter Elizabeth were passengers on the Mayflower. Although the Tilleys had 5 children, they only took their youngest daughter with them on the Mayflower. John’s brother Edward, with his wife Ann/Agnes were also passengers. Edward and Ann Tilley had no known children, but oddly were the caretakers of two children, Humility Cooper and Henry Samson, who were the niece and nephew of Ann, and had apparently been given over to the Tilleys in Leiden. The children survived in the care of other families after Edward and Ann Tilley died. Elizabeth (age 13) was the sole survivor that first winter (1620/21) amongst all the Tilleys . She was taken in by the John Carver family. Her 4 older siblings’ (who remained in Europe) fortunes are unknown. Before their early death, John Tilley and Edward Tilley signed the Mayflower Compact . They both also went on several expeditions around Cape Cod with Miles Standish and others, searching for a place to build a colony. They would have been part of the first encounter with the Native Americans. It was during this ‘first encounter’ that the pilgrims realized their muskets were slow to reload and were no match for the bows and arrows of the Indians. John and wife Joan, as well as Edward and his wife Ann are buried in Cole’s Hill Burial Ground, Plymouth in unmarked graves (like so many others who didn’t survive the harsh first winter of 1620/21) - see picture 20 in gallery. Elizabeth went on to marry John Howland , who himself had sailed on the Mayflower as a man servant to John Carver. They parented 10 children. Many people can trace their descent to John and Joan Tilley (through their daughter Elizabeth).
21 RICHARD WARREN (19 October 2024)
Richard Warren travelled alone on the Mayflower, having left his wife Elizabeth (née Walker ) and five daughters behind, intending that they would join him later (after the colony in the New World was established) Very little information is known about his time in the Plymouth colony. It is known that he signed the Mayflower Compact and helped search Cape Cod for a suitable place to settle the colony. Richard Warren is also known to have been in the group which first encountered the native Indian population. They quickly discovered that the slow loading muskets they were carrying were an unsuitable match for the Indian’s bow and arrows. Also, Richard was not one of the separatists on the Mayflower. He came to the new world as one of those referred to as ‘strangers’ which was a title given to those freemen who didn’t journey for religious reasons. He was a merchant. The passengers also included indentured servants. His wife, Elizabeth, and their daughters arrived in Plymouth on the ship named Anne in 1623. Richard survived the great sickness of 1620/1621, dying eight years later. He and Elizabeth had a total of 7 children together, including 2 sons born in Plymouth colony. Elizabeth died 46 years after her husband at age 90, having never remarried. Richard Warren and his wife had a total of 56 grandchildren. Richard Warren is commonly the Mayflower passenger to be included in applications for the GSMD, due to his having so many descendants. His 7 children all survived to adulthood, having families of their own. Pictured in the gallery (21) is the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist, Great Amwell, Hertfordshire, England. Mayflower pilgrim Richard Warren and Elizabeth (Walker) were married here April 14, 1610.
22 WILLIAM AND SUSANNA WHITE (4 November 2024)
Tradition holds that Susanna and William White brought this cradle in this photo from Holland. Peregrine (“traveller” or “Pilgrim”) was born in Provincetown while Susanna was still onboard the Mayflower, November 1620. The cradle is pictured (22) in the pilgrim hall museum. William White (25 January 1586/7[1] – 21 February 1621) was a passenger on the Mayflower. Accompanied by his wife Susanna, 5-year-old son, Resolved, and two servants, and joined by a newborn son, Peregrine, during the voyage. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact and perished only a couple of months after the ships arrival in the New World. By the Spring of 1621, 52 of the 102 persons who originally had arrived on the Mayflower at Cape Cod would be dead. In May 1621, Susanna White became the first Plymouth colony bride, by marrying Edward Winslow, a fellow Mayflower passenger (whose wife had perished on 24 March 1621). At least five children were born to Edward Winslow and his wife Susanna.
23 EDWARD WINSLOW (11 October 2024)
Edward Winslow (1595 -1655) was a separatist who sailed to Plymouth, Massachusetts on the Mayflower with his first wife, Elizabeth (Barker) Winslow. Unfortunately, she died the first winter March 24, 1621. During that first winter about half the colony perished from hunger and harsh conditions. In February 1621, another Mayflower passenger William White perished, leaving a widow, Susanna Jackson White. Susanna had made the journey on the Mayflower with an approximately 5-year-old son, Resolved, and she was also pregnant. She gave birth to a second son, Peregrine, while the ship was still anchored at Cape Cod (making Peregrine the first child born in the Plymouth colony of New England). Edward Winslow’s marriage on May 12, 1621 to widowed Susanna White would be the first marriage in the newly formed Plymouth Colony. Are you descended from this couple? They had 5 children, including a child who died very young. Many of the pilgrims were farmers. Winslow had been educated in an Anglican cathedral school where the students spoke Greek and Latin and he may have attended university in Cambridge. He was a printer by trade. Edward Winslow’s diplomacy was an important part of the colonies survival. He was governor of the colony three times. He formed a meaningful relationship with Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoag tribe on whose land the pilgrims had settled. The pilgrims received crucial help from the Indians on how to survive in the new land. Winslow also wrote several first-hand accounts of these early years , published in London in 1622 and 1624. He also made repeated trips between Massachusetts and England including 1623/34, 1630 and 1634 to defend Plymouth and later Massachusetts Bay Colony against their adversaries. On one occasion he was thrown into prison in England for having performed a marriage ceremony without being ordained. He won favour with Oliver Cromwell, who in 1655 sent him on an expedition to establish new colonies in the West Indies. Unfortunately, Winslow took ill and died at sea during the voyage. See gallery for Winslow's portrait (23)
