Hampshire County, Brimfield
Coy, Jonth - 1 m 16+, 1 m -16, 1 f
Coy, Willis - 1 m 16+, 1 m -16, 1 f
Hampshire County, Northfield
Brooks, Alpheus 4 m 16+, 2 m -16, 6 f
Coy, Stephen 2 m 16+, 3 m -16, 2 f
Coy, Lem'l. 1 m 16+, 2 f
Middlesex County, Medford
Brooks, Thos. Esqr. 3 m 16+, 3 m -16, 2 f, 2 others
Brooks, Thos. Jr. 1 m 16+, 1 m -16, 3 f
Brooks, Ruth 2 f
Brooks, Abigail 2 m 16+, 1 m -16, 5 f, 2 others
Brooks, Caleb 3 m 16+, 1 m -16, 5 f
Brooks, John Esqr. 1 m 16+, 2 m -16, 4 f, 1 other
Worcester County, Western Town
Brooks, John 1 m 16+, 4 m -16, 4 f
Accelerated Indexing Systems. Massachusetts 1800 Census, Bountiful, MA: Accelerated Indexing Systems, 1973.
Hampshire County
Benjamin Brooks family
2 males -10
2 males 10-16
1 female 16-26
Caleb Brooks family
3 males -10
3 males 10-16
1 male 45+ - Caleb
1 female 16-26
1 female 26-45
David Brooks
1 male -10
1 male 10-16
1 male 26-45
2 females -10
1 female 10-16
1 female 26-45
Middlesex County
Abel Brooks family
1 male 10-16
1 male 16-26 - Abel
1 female -10
1 female 26-45
Amos Brooks
1 male 16-26
1 male 26-45 - Amos
2 females -101 female 16-26
1 female 26-45
Aaron Brooks
1 male 16-26
1 male 26-45
1 male 45+ - Aaron
1 female 16-26
1 female 45+
Asa Brooks
2 males -10
2 males 16-26
1 males 45+1 female -101 female 10-16
1 female 16-26
1 female 26-45
Caleb Brooks family
1 male 16-26
2 males 45+ Caleb and ?
2 females 16-261 female 26-45
2 females 45+
Caleb Brooks 2nd
1 male 26-45 - Caleb
1 female -10
1 female 16-26
Caleb Brooks 3rd
1 male 26-45 Caleb
Daniel Brooks family
1 male 10-16
1 male 45+
1 female 16-16
1 female 45+
Eleazer Brooks family
1 male 10-16
1 male 16-26
1 male 45+2 females 16-26
2 females 45+
Avalon Project. William Bradford, &c. Surrender of the Patent of Plymouth Colony to the Freeman, March 2d, 1640, New Haven, CT: Yale University, 2008
Banks, Charles. The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1976.
The ancestry of Governor Bradford has always been associated with Austerfield, Yorkshire, where he was baptized, but investigation shows that the earliest home of the family was Bentley-cum-Arksey, five miles from Austerfield (just north of Doncaster), in the same county, where they were settled as early as 1450, in the reign of henry the Sixth and probably for many generations before. The Governor's line did not go to Austerfield until about forty years before his birth.
Robert Bradfourth of Bentley, born about 1450, appears to be the first of this line of record, taxed there in 1522, and dying the next year left three sons, of whom Peter is the next in succession, born about 1475, who was also taxed in 1522, and died twenty years later. His will dated 17 January, 1542, mentions seven sons and there were two daughters besides, of whom Robert, born about 1500, is the direct ancestor of the Governor. He owned lands in Bentley, Arksey; Tickhill, Stansell, Wilsyke and Wadworth, adjoining parishes, which he bequeathed by will, dated 28 November, 1552, proved 5 October 1553, to his nine children, by two wives. He lived at Wellingly, parish of Tickhill, and as this hitherto unidentified name reappears at Plymouth, it was undoubtedly bestowed by the Governor in memory of a family residence, familiar to him in his boyhood. His father dying when he was scarcely a year old, and his mother remarrrying when he was only three, it is probable that he was brought up with relatives in Wellingly. William Bradford, the eldest son of Robert, was the first of the Bradfords to remove to Austerfield, about 1557, probably becoming a tenant of the manor, but it was not until 1576 that he bought a freehold estate there of Anthony Morton, Esquire (Feet of Fines, Yorks, 19 Eliz. Trinity). He was twice married, and by first wife (name unknown), had four children, among whom was William, born about 1560, father of the Governor. The elder William died in 1595, surviving his son William four years.
William Bradford, the father of the Governor, married 21 July, 1584, Alice Hanson, daughter of John and Margaret (Gresham) Hanson of Austerfield, of a family which appeared in Austerfield the middle of the 17th century. She was baptized 8 December, 1562, and the issue of the marriage was Margaret, b. and d. 1585; Alice bapt. 1587, and William bapt. 19 march, 1589/90, the Pilgrim Governor. His father died and was buried 15 July 1591, and his mother married Robert Briggs, 23 February, 1593, and thus by death of his grandfather and father, and remarriage of his mother in the space of four years he was left almost bereft of his natural guardians. It is certain that he inherited from his grandfather a house and about ten acres of land in Bentley and the presumption that he may have gone there to live with relatives, or was brought up by them seems to be supported by his bringing the name of Wellingly to Plymouth rather than Austerfield. As far as known no resident of the latter parish can be associated with the Leyden company, while Bentley, Tickhill, Arksey and Doncaster show evidence of such connection, being adjoining parishes.
The compiler found in the Public Record Office, London, the original Fine, dated 1611, by which Bradford sold his inheritance in Bentley, consisting of a house, cottage, garden, orchard and nine and a half acres of land, and to complete this legal transaction he must have gone back to England from Leyden. He makes no mention of this in his History, nor of his removal to London, the year before the sailing of the Mayflower, as related in Chapter IV, ante pp. 11-16.
In the parish of Bentley-cum-Arksey there lived another Bradford family who were armigerous [entitled heraldic arms] but there is no known connection between the two. The other family originated in Wakefield, co. Yorks, and their armorial bearings are shown in the contemporary publications. It is possible that the two families had a common ancestor many generations back of the Governor's line. It is well known that his first wife, Dorothy May, belonged to an armigerous family of that name in Cambridgeshire, but as far as known the Bradfords of Bentley and Austerfield were only well-to-do yeoman stock.
William Button - He was a youth, servant of Samuel Fuller. He died at sea when near the coast of New England and offers no special interest to the genealogist.
Davis states that he was son of Robert Button and baptized at Austerfield 12 February 1598 (Original Narratives of Early American History, p. 94).
Richard Warren came from London and was called a "merchant" of that city (Mourt). Extensive research in every available source of information - registers, chancery and probate in the London courts, proved fruitless in an attempt to identify him. As he died before 1628 it is probable that he was considerably past middle life at the date of emigration.
A careful analysis of the reading of Bradford's statement about Richard Warren in the section devoted to "Decreasings and Increasings" justifies the compiler's belief that Mrs. Elizabeth Warren, who came over in the Anne in 1623, was his second wife. After stating that "his wife came over to him" he adds the significant statement "by whom he had two sons before (he) dyed." After stating the "increase" he adds: "but he had five daughters more come over with his wife" which can only be accurately read as his children and not hers. His separation of the sons, who were the specific issue of the wife Elizabeth, from the daughters who came over with the wife completes the picture of family relationships. As she survived him for nearly half a century, dying in 1673, it is almost conclusive confirmation of this theory. An estimation of the probably dates of birth of the five daughters based on the known facts, gives the following result: Mary, born 1606; Elizabeth, 1608; Anne, 1612; Sarah 1614, and Abigail, 1616.
Richard Warren, a London haberdasher, was licensed to marry Elizabeth Evans of St. Mildred Poultry, 1 January 1592/3, at St. Leonard's Shoreditch, and a Richard Warren married Marjorie Jordan, 1 September, 1606, at St. Martin's in the Field. Either one of these might be the Mayflower Pilgrim.
St. Leonard Shoreditch parish adjoins that of St. Boltoph without Aldgate and St. Mary whitechapel, from both of which came Pilgrims, and Nicholas Snow has been identified as of St. Leonards (q.v.). It is in the heart of the Pilgrim area in London. The records of the Honorable Artillery Company of London, 1612, contain the admission of a Richard Warren as a member that year but no further information is available as to his identity.
Mrs. Alice Southworth was the widow of Edward Southworth, daughter of Alexander Carpenter and sister of Julian Carpenter the wife of George Morton (q.v.). She was betrothed to Edward Southworth, say-weaver of Leyden, 7 May, 1613, by whom she had two sons, Constant, born 1615, and Thomas, 1617, who accompanied her on the voyage. She married Governor Bradford about a month after arrival, on 14 August 1623. The Southworths and Gov. Bradford had lived in Heneage House, Duke's Place, London, for about a year prior to the sailing of the Mayflower. It is probable that the Southworth family came from the vicinity of Fenton, co. Notts, near Sturton-le-Steeple, the home of Rev. John Robinson (P.R.O. Exchequer, Dep. 43-44 Elizabeth Michaelmas No. 3).
Southworth families lived in various parishes in that section of England before the Pilgrim exodus. (See Mitchell).
Thomas Tilden was probably originally from Tenterden, co. Kent, where he was baptized 1 May 1693, and young brother of Nathaniel Tilden who emigrated in 1635 to Scituate. Thomas had three shares in the 1627 division but he probably returned to England as there is no further record of his residence in Plymouth.
A third brother, Joseph, was a Citizen and Girdler of London who became one of the Merchant Adventurers that financed the voyage of the Mayflower. He died in 1642. Thomas, the emigrant, probably lived in London also and may be the Thomas Tilden of Stepney, silk weaver, who married there in 1620, perhaps a second wife. He formerly lived at Wye, co. Kent, but nothing further is known of him after his return.
The following wives of passengers who had arrived in the previous ships came in these two vessels, Anne and Little James.
- Mrs. Elizabeth Warren
The following women came as passengers in the same two ships and married shortly after arrival:
- Mrs. Alice Southworth (widow) married Gov. William Bradford.
- Mary Warren married Robert Bartlett
- Elizabeth Warren married Richard Church
- Anne Warren married Thomas Little - our grandparents
- Sarah Warren married John Cook
- Abigail Warren married Anthony Snow
Barnstable County History, defunct website printed 12/10/2000.
Why Create a County?
"Government administration had grown considerably since the days when Governor Bradford had Isaac Allerton as his only Assistant. In 1685 the administrative officers for the colony as a whole consisted of one governor, one deputy governor, six Assistants, twenty-eight deputies from seventeen towns (most towns had two), twenty-three constables from seventeen towns, twenty-seven grand jury members from eighteen jurisdictions (the eighteenth being Manamoit, later called Chatham), thirty-eight highway surveyors in seventeen towns, fifty-seven selectmen in seventeen towns, six associate magistrates, three each for Plymouth county and Bristol county (Barnstable county is not shown to have any at this time), six additional members of the Council of War, two from each county, and three majors, one for the military forces of each county." Plymouth Colony - Its History and People 1620-1691 by Eugene Aubrey Stratton, p. 127, Ancestry Publishing, Salt Lake City, UT, 1986.
Barnstable - The County, Town or Village?
Town of Barnstable - founded by Rev. Lothrop and his group after they left Scituate (pronounce Skit'-u-et). ("First mentioned 5 Mar 1638/9," p. 63 ibid;) ("September 3, 1639 is the precise birthdate given to Barnstable, which really represents just the best guess of when a band of hardy colonists officially took advantage of Plymouth County laws passed in March, 1638 authorizing towns to send deputies to the General Court." The [Yarmouth] Register, p. 22, 7 Sep. 1989).
Farmer, John. A Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New-England, Lancaster, MA: Carter, Andrews & Co., 1829.
Hansen, Ann. The English Origins of the "Mary & John" Passengers, Columbus, OH: The Sign of the Cock, 1985.
John Gallop was member of a family that had been in Dorset since at least 1465, but they had originally come "out of the North" apparently when John Gallop married Alicia, daughter and heir of William Temple of Dorset. John Gallop, the emigrant, born about 1590, was the son of John Gallop and his wife, (--?--) Crab. He was living in Mosterton, Dorset, in 1623 and presumably at the time he left for . . .
John and William Rockwell were sons of John and Honor Newton Rocwell who were married July 19, 1585, at Fitzhead, near Taunton, Somerset. The younger John Rockwell was born in 1588, and married Wilmet, daughter of Christopher Cade, in 1619. He never attained the degree of prominence in colonial life that his brother, William, did who was baptized at Fitzhead, February 6, 1691. Their parents lived for a time in Dorchester, Dorset, and there William Rockwell and Susannah Capen (born in 1602) were married April 14, 1624. Their two children, Joanna and John, went with them to New England. William Rockwell was a deacon of the church in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and was admitted a freeman with the first group October 19, 1630. In 1637, he received a grant of land in Windsor, Connecticut, and three year later he died. In 1645, his widow became the second wife of Matthew Grant who had also emigrated in the Mary and John.
John Mason was born in England about 1600, and is said to have been a relative of the New Hampshire patentee of the same name. He had seen service in the Low Countries during the Thirty Years War, and soon was made Captain of the Dorchester militia. As such, he was employed in laying out the fortifications at the Castle in 1634. The following year, he joined the emigration to Windsor, Connecticut, having served in that year as a deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts. in 1637, the frontier was inflamed by the Pequot War and Mason was put in command of the troops of the Connecticut Valley. On May 26, at the Battle of the Mystic River, he succeeded in nearly annihilating the tribe in this first of a long series of Indian uprisings. As a result of his experiences, Mason was requested by the General Court to prepare a "Brief History of the Pequot War." This was included by Increase Mather in his "Relation of Trouble by the Indians," published in 1677. In 1647, he moved to Saybrook, and in 1660 became one of the founders of Norwich where his remaining twelve years were spent. There he died on January 30, 1672. His first wife, Isabel, surname unknown, died before March 16, 1638, leaving a daughter, and in July of the following year, he married Anne Peck, born in 1619, the daughter of Robert Peck, leaving seven children by her.
Horrigan, John. "What Caused New England's 'Dark Day'?, New England Ancestors, Spring 2008.
1780 Dark Day May 19 was a day ever to be remember'd for its great uncommon darkness. Which began about ten oClock in the morning and by 11 oClock people left their work it being so dark as not to be able to see without a candle. Continued to grow dark until 2 oClock PM when people all burned candles in their houses and wandered about the streets in the greatest consternation. Some asighning [sic] one cause and some another and in general never expecting to see the sun again. Thinking it to be the last day. But at 2 oClock it began to go off gradually but that day did not become so light as common. Also the following night was the darkest as was supposed ever known (Egyptian darkness excepted) for it was impossible to see the heavens. ~ the records of Joshua Felton of Roxbury, Massachusetts.
A singular event occurred on Friday, May 19, 1780 - a day almost immediately known as New England's Dark Day. While the day dawned clear, overcast skies soon moved in and clouds darkened. Residents observed lightning, thunder, and a little rain. Then the clouds thinned and turned the color of copper. "A few minutes later a heavy black cloud spread over the entire sky except a narrow rim at the horizon, and it was as dark as it usually is at nine o'clock on a summer evening."
Samuel Williams, a Harvard professor of mathematics and philosophy, published a paper on the "Very Uncommon Darkness" in 1785. He reported the darkness extended across New England, in the east to Falmouth [Portland, Maine], in the west to the farthest parts of Connecticut and Albany, southward along the seacoasts and in the north as far as established settlements extended. He wrote that the darkness lasted fourteen hours in Boston, "Candles were lighted up in the houses; the birds having sung their evening songs, disappeared, and became silent; the fowls retired to roost; the cocks were crowing all around as at break of day; objects could not be distinguished but at a very little distance; and everything bore the appearance and gloom of night."
Members of Connecticut's legislature, in session in Hartford on May 19, believed the strange darkness meant that Judgment Day was upon them. . . .
Connecticut's Norwich Packet quoted the Newport Mercury of May 20, which speculated on possible causes: "The timid view is ominous; whilst the more steady and judicious attribute it to some natural cause. We are most inclined to think it proceeded not from the intervening of any of the planets between the sun, but from the particular state of the atmosphere, occasioned by the uncommon lowness of the clouds and the vaporous particles being in a certain disposition. . . .
The Boston Journal reported that at Ipswich people: ". . . perceived a strong sooty smell, some of the company were confident a chimney in the neighborhood must be burning, others conjectured the smell was more like that of burnt leaves. . . . Upon examining the [rain]water I found a light scum over it, which rubbing between my thumb and finger, I found to be nothing but the black ashes of burnt leaves, the water gave the same strong sooty smell which we had observed in the air; and confirmed me in my opinion, that the smell was occasioned by the smoke, or very small particles of burnt leaves . . ."
Even the full moon was not seen that night . . .
The cause was not a lunar eclipse or solar eclipse. Nor was it caused by a planetary transit between the earth and sun. It was not a dust storm. It was very unlikely that the Dark Day was caused by a volcanic eruption.
Was the Dark Day begun by a large forest fire? Perhaps. A western wildfire would likely not have yielded a thick black, lingering smoke pall that maintained its composition as it drifted eastward. More likely a western wildfire would have brought wisps of smoke over parts of New England, perhaps producing a noticeable haze and glorious sunsets. But an eastern wildfire is a distinct possibility, bolstered by the widespread reports of smoke and soot on May 19.
A general method of land clearing consisted of cutting trees halfway through during the winter, then the outer most trees were cut to fall into others creating a "domino effect." Downed trees could pile up as high as twenty feet. In the spring these trees would be burned. In spring 1780 these slash-and-burn fires raged out of control in major conflagrations in New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and parts of southern Canada.
Johnson, Caleb. The Mayflower's Voyage, defunct website, 1998
Departure: The Mayflower left Plymouth, England on September 6, 1620
Arrival: The Mayflower crew sighted land off Cape Cod on November 9, 1620 and first landfall was made November 11, 1620
Distance & Time: The voyage from Plymouth, England to Plymouth Harbor is about 2,750 miles, and took the Mayflower 66 days.
Number of Passengers: The Mayflower left England with 102 passengers, including three pregnant women, and a crew of unknown number. While the Mayflower was at sea, Elizabeth Hopkins gave birth to a son which she named Oceanus. After the Mayflower had arrived and was anchored in Provincetown Harbor off the tip of Cape Cod, Susanna White gave birth to a son, which she named Peregrine (which means "one who has made a journey"). The Mayflower then sailed across the bay and anchored in Plymouth Harbor. There, Mary Allerton gave birth to a stillborn son. One passenger died while the Mayflower was at sea -- a youth named William Butten, a servant-apprentice to Dr. Samuel Fuller. The death occurred just three days before land was sighted. One Mayflower crew member also died at sea, but his name is not known.
Contemporary Accounts of the Voyage: There is only one primary source account in existence that describes events that occurred while the Mayflower was at sea. It was written by William Bradford, in his History Of Plymouth Plantation. His account of the voyage, in his entirety, follows:
September 6. These troubles being blown over, and now all being compact together in one ship, they put to sea again with a prosperous wind, which continued divers days together, which was some encouragement unto them; yet according to the usual manner many were afflicted with sea sickness. And I may not omit here a special work of God's providence. There was a proud and very profane young man, one of the sea-men, of a lusty, able body, which made him the more haughty; he would always be condemning the poor people in their sickness, and cursing them daily with grievous execrations, and did not let to tell them, that he hoped to help to cast half of them overboard before they came to their journey's end and to make merry with what they had; and if he were by any gently reproved, he would curse and swear most bitterly. But 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; and it was an astonishment to all his fellows, for they noted it to be the just hand of God upon him.
After they had enjoyed fair winds and weather for a season, they were encountered many times with cross winds, and met with many fierce storms, with which the ship was shroudly shaken, and her upper works made very leaky; and one of the main beams in the mid ships was bowed and cracked, which put them in some fear that the ship could not be able to perform the voyage. So some of the chief of the company, perceiving the mariners to fear the sufficiency of the ship, as appeared by their mutterings, they entered into serious consultation with the master and other officers of the ship, to consider in time of the danger; and rather to return then to cast themselves into a desperate and inevitable peril. And truly there was a great distraction and difference of opinion among the mariners themselves; fain would they do what could be done for their wages sake, (being now half the seas over,) and on the other hand they were loath to hazard their lives too desperately. But in examining of all opinions, the master and others affirmed they knew the ship to be strong and firm under water; and for the buckling of the main beam, there was a great iron screw the passengers brought out of Holland [printing press], which would raise the beam into his place; the which being done, the carpenter and master affirmed that with a post put under it, set firm in the lower deck, and other-ways bound, he should make it sufficient. And as for the decks and upper works they would caulk them as well as they could, and though with the working of the ship they would not long keep staunch, yet there would otherwise be not great danger, if they did not overpress her with sails. So they committed themselves to the will of God, and resolved to proceed. In sundry of these storms the winds were so fierce, and the seas so high, as they could not bear a knot of sail, but were forced to hull, for divers days together. And in one of them, as they thus lay at hull, in a mighty storm, a lusty young man (called John Howland) coming upon some occasion above the gratings, was, with a seele of the ship thrown into the sea; but it pleased God that he caught hold of the topsail halyards, which hung overboard, and ran out at length; yet he held his hold (though he was sundry fathoms under water) till he was hauled up by the same rope to the brim of the water, and then with a boat hook and other means got into the ship again, and his life saved; and though he was something ill with it, yet he lived many years after, and became a profitable member both in church and commonwealth. In all this voyage their died but one of the passengers, which was William Butten, a youth, a servant to Samuel Fuller, when they drew near the coast. But to omit other things, (that I may be brief), after long beating at sea they fell with that land which is called Cape Cod; the which being made and certainly known to be it, they were not a little joyful. After some deliberation had amongst themselves and with the master of the ship, they tacked about and resolved to stand for the southward (the wind and weather being fair) to find some place about Hudson's River for their habitation. But after they had sailed that course about half a day, they fell amongst dangerous shoals and roaring breakers, and they were so far entangled therewith as they conceived themselves in great danger; and the wind shrinking upon them withal, they resolved to bear up again for the Cape, and thought themselves happy to get out of those dangers before night overtook them, as by God's providence they did. And the next day they got into the Cape-harbor where they rid in safety. A word or two by the way of this cape; it was thus first named by Captain Gosnold and his company, Anno. 1602 and after by Captain Smith was called Cape James; but it retains the former name amongst seamen. Also that point which first showed these dangerous shoals unto them, they called Point Care, and Tucker's Terror; but the French and Dutch to this day call it Malabar, by reason of those perilous shoals, and the losses they have suffered there. Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element. And no marvel if they were thus joyful, seeing wise Seneca was so affected with sailing a few miles on the coast of his own Italy; as he affirmed, that he had rather remain twenty years on his way by land, then pass by sea to any place in a short time; so tedious and dreadful was the same unto him.
Only one other contemporary account of the Mayflower's voyage exists, and though it was not written by a Mayflower passenger, it was written in 1624 by Captain John Smith (the same one rescued by Pocahontas) based on second hand information he had heard, or read in letters sent back to England. What Smith wrote follows (the spelling has not been modernized in this passage):
Upon these inducements some few well disposed Gentlemen and Merchants of London and other places provided two ships, the one of 160 Tunnes [the Mayflower] the other of 70 [the Speedwell]; they left the coast of England the 23 of August, with about 120 persons: but the next day the lesser ship sprung a leake, that forced their return to Plimmoth [England]; where discharging her and 20 passengers, with the great ship and a hundred persons besides sailers, they set saile againe the sixt of September, and the ninth of November fell with Cape James [Cape Cod]; but being pestered nine weeks in this leaking unwholesome ship, lying wet in their cabbins, most of them grew very weake, and weary of the sea.
Kuhns, Maude. The "Mary and John": A Story of the Founding of Dorchester, Massachusetts, 1630, Rutland, VT: Tuttle Publishing Co., Inc., 1943.
The principle authority for the voyage is Roger Clap, who was one of the party, and who wrote his oft-quoted Memoirs.
On the twentieth of March, 1630, a group of men and women, on hundred and forty in number, set sail from Plymouth, England, in the good ship, the Mary and John. The company had been selected and assembled largely through the efforts of the Reverend John White, of Dorchester, England; with whom they spent the day before sailing, "fasting, preaching, and praying." These people had come from the western counties of England, mostly from Devonshire, Dorsetshire and Somerset. They had chosen two ministers to accompany them; "men who were interested in the idea of bringing the Indians to the knowledge of the gospel."
So we came, writes Roger Clapp in his Memoirs, by the good Hand of the Lord, through the deep comfortably; having preaching or expounding of the word of God every day for ten weeks together by our ministers [Rev. John Maverick & Rev. John Warham]. When we came to Natasket, Capt. Squeb, who was Captain of that great ship of four hundred tons, put us on shore and our goods on Nantasket Point, and left us to shift for ourselves in a forelorn place in this wilderness.
It had been their original intent to land in the Charles River, but a dispute with Captain Squeb, the commander of the Vessel, caused the whole company, on May 30, 1630, to be put ashore at Nantasket. The Mary and John was the first of the Fleet of 1630 to arrive in the bay. At that time there could not have been pilots, or charts of the channel, and it does not seem unreasonable that the captain refused to undertake the passage, but Roger Clap has sent Captain Squeb down to posterity as a merciless man.
According to tradition they landed upon the south side of Dorchester Neck, or South Boston, in Old Harbor. Ten of the men, under the command of Captain Southcote, found a small boat, and went up the river to Charlestown Neck, where they found an old planter, probably Thomas Walfourd, who fed them "a dinner of fish without bread." Later they continued their journey up the Charles River, as far as what is now Watertown, returning several days later to the company who had found pasture for their cattle at Mattapan. The settlement was later called Dorchester, in honor of the Reverend John White, of Dorchester, England.
Roger Clap tells of the hardships that followed. They had little food, and were forced to live on clams and fish. The men built small boats and the Indians came later with baskets of corn. "The place was a wilderness," writes Roger Clap. "Fish was a good help to me and to others. Bread was so scarce that I thought the very crusts from my father's table would have been sweet; and when I could have meal and salt and water boiled together, I asked, 'who could ask for better?'."
Here they lived for five or six years. But the life at Dorchester was not entirely congenial to the lovers of liberty of the Mary and John. The group of settlements around Massachusetts Bay was dominated by clergymen and officials of aristocratic tendencies. Their Governor, John Winthrop, had little sympathy with the common people. "The best part (of the people)," he declared, "is always the least, and of that best part, the wiser is always the lesser." And the Reverence John Cotton put it more bluntly when he said, "Never did God ordain democracy for the government of the church or the people."
These principles were repugnant to the people of the Mary and John who had come to America to escape such restraint. They had no wish to interfere with the methods of worship of others, and they did not wish others to interfere with them. Too, they were land-hungry, after centuries of vassalage to the lords of the manors, leading hopeless lives without chance of independence. Perhaps they were influenced also, by the fact that a great smallpox epidemic had raged among the Indians, killing off so many that they were not the menace that they had been at first. The settlers turned their attention toward the fertile meadows of the Connecticut Valley.
A group under Roger Ludlow set out and reached the Plymouth Trading house that had been erected by William Holmes near the junction of the Connecticut and the Farmington Rivers, early in the summer of 1635. A little later, sixty men, women and children, with their "Cows, heifers and swine," came overland from Dorchester. The winter was severe and the food scarce, and many returned to Massachusetts, but in the spring they came back to Connecticut with their friends, and by April, 1636, most of the members of the Dorchester Church were settled near the Farmington River, along the brow of the hill that overlooks the "Great Meadow." This in spite of the fact that the Plymouth people disputed their claim to the land. They built rude shelters, dug out of the rising ground along the edge of the river bank. The rear end and the two sides were simply the earth itself, with a front and a roof of beams. The town was later named Windsor.
In the following year, 1637, danger from the Pequot Indians forced them to abandon their dugouts and to come together around the area known as the Palisado Green. Their new homes were at once enclosed with a strong palisado.
In 1639 they began the construction of their first real meeting house. It stood in the center of the palisado, and was topped with a cupola and platform, where the sexton beat a drum to summon the people to attend services or public meetings. About the same time there was built and presented to the pastor, the Reverend John Warham, a corn mill, which is supposed to have been the first grist mill built in Connecticut. For many years it served all the settlements in the river valley, as far south as Middletown.
The Passenger List of the Mary & John
- John Gallop
- John Gallop Jr. - doubtful
- Humphrey Gallop
- Anne Gallop w/o Humphrey - doubtful
- Matthew Grant
- Priscilla Grant
- Mathew Grant son
- Priscilla Grant daughter
- William Lovell
- John Mason
- Thomas Moore
- John Moore
- Thomas Richards
- Welthian Richards
- John Richards son
- Thomas Richards son
- Mary Richards daughter
- Alice Richards daughter
- Anna Richards daughter
- William Rockwell
- Susannah Rockwell
- Joanna Rockwell
- John Rockwell
- Israel Stoughton
- Elizabeth Stoughton
- Hannah Stoughton
- Thomas Stoughton
- Thomas Stoughton
John Drake came from Winscombe, co. Devon. His wife Elizabeth, who came to New England with him, died at the home of her son, Jacob, Oct. 7, 1681. He died Aug. 1659 in a cart accident.
Their son John, b. in England; d. 1689; md. Nov. 30, 1648, Hannah d/o John Moore, d. Feb. 16, 1686.
Generation IIIJohn, Sept. 14, 1649-July 7, 1689 md. Mar. 20, 1671 Mary Jan. 11, 1651-Aug. 7, 1693 d/o Robert & Mary (Rockwell) Watson.
Job, June 15, 1651-Apr. 19, 1733, md. Mar. 20, 1671 Elizabeth b. Sept. 21, 1651 d/o Benedictus & Jane (Newton) Alvord.
Hannah Aug. 8, 1653-Aug. 4, 1694 md. Nov. 9, 1671, John Higley, d. 1714
Enoch, Dec. 8, 1655-Aug. 21, 1698 md. Nov. 11, 1680 Sarah Sept. 5, 1655-1731 d/o John Porter. She md. 2) Josiah Barber in 1701
Ruth Dec. 1, 1657-Nov. 13, 1731 md. Jan. 25, 1676 as 2nd wife Samuel Barber who died in 1709.
Simon Oct. 28, 1659-Dec. 21, 1711; md. Dec. 15, 1687, Hannah, d/o Simon & Mary (Buel) Mills. She md. 2) Daniel Loomis in 1715.
Matthew Grant was born in England, Oct. 27, 1601, and died in Windsor, Conn., Dec. 16, 1681. He was made a freeman at Dorchester, Mass., May 18, 1631. He was a carpenter by trade, and was the first, and for many years, the principal surveyor of his section. He held the office of Deacon of the First Church for a number of years; was town clerk from 1652 until 1677; was selectman for several years and held other important offices. In 1654 he compiled a "Book of Records of Town Ways in Windsor." He was also the compiler of the "Old Church Records," which has furnished the basis for the history of most of the families of ancient Windsor.
He married first, Nov. 16, 1625, Priscilla Grey, 1602-April 27, 1644; married second, May 29, 1645, Susanna (Capen) Rockwell, April 5, 1602-Nov. 14, 1666, widow of William Rockwell, and daughter of Bernard Capen.
Children:Priscilla b. Sept. 14, 1626; m. 1647 Michael HumphreyMathew d. 1639Samuel Nov. 12, 1631-Sept. 10, 1718 m. May 27, 1658 Mary b. 1638 d/o John & Anna (White) PorterTahan Feb. 3, 1633-May 30, 1693 m. Jan. 22, 1662/3 Hannah b. 1640 d/o Nicholas PalmerJohn Sept. 30, 1642-1684 m. Mary, d. 1720 d/o Josiah Hull
William Hannum was born about 1600 in co. Dorset, England, and died in Northampton, June 1, 1677. He married about 1635, Honor Capen, born co. Dorset about 1615, died Westfield, Mass., in 1680. She was the daughter of Bernard & Joan (Purchase) Capen. William Hannum received a grant of land in Dorchester, and one child was born there; they moved to Windsor, Conn., and later, about 1654, went on to Northampton.
John Mason was born in England in 1600. Prince calls him a relative of the New Hampshire patentee. He was among the first settlers of Dorchester, and commanded the Dorchester Bnad, 1633; Israel Stoughton, ensign. Mason had served with Fairfax abroad before he came to America, and was invited to return to England and join him in the parliamentary service. He was employed in laying out the works at the Castle, and also in fortifying Rock Hill, in 1634. That year he received a grant of land, and lived near Fox Point. In 1635 he was Deputy, and he was among the first emigrants to Windsor. The war with the Pequot Indians commenced the year after the settlement at Windsor, and Mason was called to command the river troops; the battle of May 26, 1637, at the fort on Mystic River, fought under his command, nearly annihilated that warlike tribe. John Mason was the author of a history of the Pequot War, and writes of one episode, as follows:
Lieutenant Seeley endeavored to enter (the fort), but being somewhat combred, stepped back and pulled out the Bushes and so entered, and with him about sixteen men. We had formerly concluded to destroy them by the sword and save the plunder.
Whereupon Captain Mason, seeing no Indians, entered a Wigwam, where he was beset with many Indians, waiting all opportunities to lay hands on him, but could not prevail. At length William Hayden, espying the Breach in the Wigwam, supposing some English might be there, entered; but in his entrance fell over a dead Indian; but speedily recovered himself, the Indians soon fled, other crept under their beds.
A sword is now preserved in the collection of the Historical Society at Hartford, which is said to have been carried by William Hayden on this occasion. The tradition is that in the midst of the fight an Indian having drawn "an arrow to its head," pointing at John Mason, William Hayden cut the bowstring and thus saved John Mason's life.
John Mason moved to Saybrook in 1647, and to Norwich in 1659, where he died January 30, 1672. His first wife's name was Isabel; she died in 1637. he married in 1639 Anne, 1619-1672, the daughter of Robert Peck.
Children: 1st wife:Isabel md. June 17, 1658 John Bissell
Children: 2nd wife:Priscilla, b. 1641 md. 1664 Rev. John FitchSamuel b. 1644, resided StoningtonJohn b. 1646; a captain, was wounded in the Swamp Fight in King Philip's War, Dec. 19, 1675, and is supposed to have died from the wound, leaving a widow, Abigail and two children, John and Ann.Rachel b. 1648Anne, b. 1650Daniel b. 1652, d. in Stonington in 1736 md. Rebecca HobartElizabeth b. 1654.
Robert Peck in his will names "the children of Anne Mason, my daughter, wife of Captain John Mason."
Thomas Moore and John Moore, his son, were passengers on the Mary and John. They both witnessed the will of John Russell of Dorchester August 26, 1633, but no other record of Thomas Moore is found in Dorchester. Savage calls John Moore the brother of Thomas, but other records have him as the son. Hannah Moore has also been called the daughter of Thomas Moore, but Savage calls both Hannah and Elizabeth "older daughters" of John, probably daughters by a first wife. Thomas Moore removed to Windsor about 1635, being one of the founders of that town. He remained there until his death in 1645.
John Moore, son of Thomas, appears on the Dorchester records as late as 1638. He married June 16, 1639, Abigail, whose surname is not known. John Moore was a deacon of the church, and Deputy from Windsor to the Connecticut General Court in 1643. His will, which mentions one son and four daughters, was dated Sept. 14, 1677. His death is given in the town records as Sept. 18, 1677.
Children: 1st wife:Hannah d. Feb. 16, 1686; m. Nov. 30, 1648, John DrakeElizabeth 1638-July 23, 1728 m. Nov. 24, 1653, Nathaniel Loomis, 1626-1688.
The Loomis children:
- Elizabeth b. Aug. 7, 1655
- Nathaniel, Mar. 20, 1657-Sept. 29, 1733 m. Dec. 23, 1680 Elizabeth Ellsworth, Nov. 11, 1657-1743
- Abigail Mar. 27, 1659-Feb. 9, 1700 m. Nov. 22, 1677 Josiah Barber b. Feb. 15, 1653.
- Josiah Feb. 17, 1660-Oct. 20, 1735 m. Oct. 23, 1683 Mary Rockwell Jan. 18, 1662-Apr. 2, 1738
- Jonathan Mar. 30, 1664-Oct. 23, 1707 m. Dec. 27, 1688 wife died July 17, 1699
- David Jan. 11, 1667-Jan. 9, 1752 m. Dec. 8, 1692 Lydia Marsh
- Hezekiah Feb. 21, 1668-1758 m. Apr. 30, 1690, Mary Porter Nov. 20, 1672-Aug. 12, 1752
- Moses, May 15, 1671-Apr. 15, 1754; m. Apr. 27, 1694, Joanna Gibbs, b. Mar. 26, 1671
- Mindwll b. July 20, 1673, m. Oct. 1, 1696 Jonathan Brown b. Mar. 30, 1670
- Ebenezer Mar. 22, 1676-Oct. 2, 1709 m. Apr. 15, 1697, Jemima Whitcomb d. Dec. 10, 1712
- Mary b. Jan. 5, 1680 m. May 6, 1708 Joseph Barber
- Rebecca b. Dec. 10, 1682 m. Dec. 14, 1713 Josiah Rockwell
John Moore's Children by 2nd wife:Abigail b. Feb. 14, 1640 m. Oct. 11, 1644 Thomas Bissell 1635-1689Mindwell b. July 10, 1643 m. Sept. 25, 1662 Nathaniel BissellJohn Dec. 5, 1645-June 21, 1718 m. 1) Sept. 21, 1664, Hannah Goffe, d. Apr. 4, 1697 m. 2) Dec. 17, 1701 Martha Farnsworth m. 3) before Sept. 30, 1715, Mary. He d. 1718
Alice Richards, d. Dec. 12, 1671 m. William Bradford, b. June 7, 1624, d. Feb. 20, 1703
Children:
- John Feb. 20, 1653-Dec. 8, 1736 m. Feb. 5, 1674, Mercy Warren
- William Mar. 11, 1655-1687 m. Rebecca Bartlett
- Thomas 1657-1731 m. Anne Raymond 1664-1705
- Alice m. Mar. 27, 1680 Rev. William Adams m 2) Major James Fitch
- Hannah m. Nov. 28, 1682 Joshua Ripley
- Mercy m. Sept. 16, 1680 Samuel Steel
- Samuel 1668-1714 m. Hannah Rogers
- Melatiah m. John Steel
- Mary m. William Hunt
- Sarah m. Kenelm Baker
William Rockwell was baptized at Fitzhead, Somerset, February 6, 1591. He was the son of John and Honor (Newton) Rockwell who married at Fitzhead July 19, 1585. Besides William they had three other sons, Richard, John and Roger; and one daughter, Joane. John Rockwell senior died 1636.
John Rockwell, brother of William born 1588 married 1619 Wilmet daughter of Christopher Cade and was the father of John Rockwell 3rd, 1610-1676 who married Elizabeth d/o Jonas Weed.
William Rockwell married April 14, 1624 Susannah Capen, at Dorchester, England, born 1602, the daughter of Bernard Capen, 1562-1638. He came to New England on the Mary and John, with his wife Susannah and their two children, Joanna and John. He died in 1640, and in 1645 Susannah married Mathew Grant. She died Nov. 14, 1666.
As one of the Deacons of the Dorchester Church, William Rockwell signed the land grants and town records, together with William Gaylord, Rev. Maverick and Re. Warham. He was a freeman in the first group, application Oct. 19, 1630. He stayed in Dorchester until after 1636 and received a land grant in Windsor in 1637.
Children:Joanna b. Apr. 25, 1625 m. Nov. 15, 1642 Jeffrey Baker, who died July 7, 1655.John July 18, 1627-Sept. 13, 1673 m. May 6, 1651 (1) Sarah Ensign d. 1659 dau. of James Ensign; (2) Aug. 18, 1662 Deliverance, b. 1640, dau. of Richard Haynes. Deliverance m. (2) Robert Warren/Warner.Mary probably died youngSamuel Mar. 28, 1631-1711 m. Apr. 7, 1660, Mary Norton dau. of Thomas NortonRuth b. 1634 m. Oct. 7, 1652 md. Christopher HuntingtonJoseph b. 1635 d. y.Sarah July 24, 1638-1683 m. Mar. 22, 1658 Walter Gaylord.
Children of Samuel & Mary (Norton) Rockwell:Mary Jan. 18,1 662-Apr. 2, 1738; m. Oct. 23, 1683 Josiah LoomisAbigail b. 1664, d. y.Samuel Oct. 19, 1667-May 13, 1725 m. jan. 10, 1694 Elizabeth GaylordJoseph May 22, 1670-June 26, 1733 m. 1694 Elizabeth DrakeJohn May 31, 1673-Sept. 30, 1741 m. 1700 Anne SkinnerAbigail Apr. 11, 1676-Oct. 12, 1741 m. Nov. 9, 1704 John SmithJosiah Mar. 15, 1678-Nov. 13, 1742 m. Dec. 14, 1713 Rebecca Loomis
The Laws of the Pilgrims: A Facsimile Edition of The Book of the General Laws of the Inhabitants of the Jurisdiction of New - Plimouth, 1672 & 1685, Plymouth, MA: Michael Glazier, Inc., 1977
Chap. 1 - The General Fundamentals
1. Wee the Associates of New Plimouth, comeing hither as Free-born Subjects of the State of England, endowed with all and singular; the Priviledges belonging to such being Assembled; Do in Act, Ordain and Constitue; That no Act, Imposition, Law or Ordinance, be made or imposed upon us, at present or to come; but such as shall be made or imposed by consent of the Body of Freemen or Associates, or their Representatives legally Assembled: which is according to the free Liberties of the State of England.
2. And for the well-governing this Corporation; It is also Resolved and Ordered, That there be a Free Election Annually, of Governour, and Assistants by the Vote of the Freemen of this Corporation; and that none shall presume to impose themselves or any other upon us, but such as are so chose, according to the priviledge granted us by Charter.
3. That Justice and Right be equally and impartially Administered unto all, not sold, denied or causelesly deferred unto any.
4. It is also Enacted, that no person in this Government shall be endamaged in respect of Life, Limb, Liberty, Good name or Estate, under colour of Law, or countenance of Authority, but by virtue or equity of some express Law of the General Court of this Colony, the known Law of God, or the good and equitable Laws of our Nation suitable for us, being brought to Answer by due process thereof.
5. That all Trials, whether Capital, Criminal, or between Man and Man, be tried by Jury of twelve good and lawful Men, according to the commendable custome of England; except the party or parties concerned, do refer it to the Bench, or some express Law doth refer it to their Judgement and Tryal, or the Tryal of some other Court where Jury is not; in which case the party agrieved, may appeal, and shall have Tryal by a Jury.
And it shall be in the liberty of both Plaintiffe and Defendant or any Delinquent, that is to be tryed by a Jury, to chalenge any of the Jurors, and if the chalenge be found just and reasonable by the Bench, it shall be allowed him, and others without just exception shall be impannelled in their room: And if it be in case of Life and Death, the Prisoner shall have liberty to except against six or eight of the Jury, without giving any reason for his exception.
6. That no Man be Sentenced to Death without Testimonies of two witnesses at least, or that which is equivalent thereunto, and that two or three Witnesses being of competent Age, Understanding and of good Reputation, Testifying to the case in question, shall be accounted and accepted as full Testimony in any case, though they did not together see or hear, and so Witness to the same individual Act, in reference to circumstances of time and place; Provided the Bench and Jury be satisfied with such Testimony.
7. And It is provided, as the supposed Priviledge of our Charter, that all persons of the age of twenty one years, of right Understanding and Memory, whether Excommunicated, Condemned or other, having any Estate properly theirs to dispose, shall have full power and liberty to make their reasonable Wills and Testaments, and other lawful Alienations of their Lands and Estates; Be it only here excepted, that such as are Sentenced for Treason against the Kings Majesty, the State of England, or the Commonweal; shall forfeit to the King or Colony their personal Estate, their Lands being still at their disposal.
8. That whereas the great and known end of the first comers, in the year of our Lord, 1620, leaving their dear Native Country, and all that was dear to them there; transporting themselves over the vast Ocean into this remote waste Wilderness, and therein willingly conflicting Dangers, Losses, Hardships and Distresses sore and not a few; WAS, that without offence, they under the protection of their Native Prince, together with the enlargements of his Majesties Dominions, might with the liberty of a good conscience, enjoy the pure Scriptural Worship of God, without the mixture of Human Inventions and Impositions: And that there children after them might walk in the Holy wayes of the Lord; And for which end they obtained leave from King James of happy Memory and his Honourable Council, with further Graunts from his Gracious Majesty Charles the first and his Honourable Council, by Letters Patents, for sundry Tracts of Land, with many Priviledges therein contained for their better incouragement to proceed on in so Pious a Work, which may especially tend to the propagation of Religion, &c. as by Letters Patents more at large appeareth, and with further assurance also of the continuance of our Liberties and Priviledges, both Civil and Religious, under the Royal Hand and Seal of our Sovereign Lord King Charles the Second: And whereas by the good Hand of our God upon us, many others since the first comers are for the same pious end come unto us, and sundry others rise up amongst us, desirous with all good conscience to walk in the Faith and order of the Gospel; whereby there are many churches gathered amongst us walking according thereunto.
And whereas (by the Grace of God) we have now had near about fifty Years Experience, of the good consistency of these churches, with Civil Peace and Order, and also with spiritual Edification, together with the welfare and tranquility of this Government;
It is therefore for the Honour of God and the propagation of Religion, and the continued welfare of this Colony Ordered by this Court and the Authority thereof, That the said Churches already gathered, or that shall hereafter be orderly gathered, may and shall from time to time by this Government be protected and encouraged, in their peaceable and orderly walking, and the Faithful, Able, Orthodox, Teaching Ministry thereof, duely encouraged and provided for; together with such other Orthodox able Dispensers of the Gospel, which shall or may be defect of Church Order.
9. And finally, it is Ordered and Declared by this Court and the Authority thereof, That all these foregoing Orders and Constitutions, and so Fundamentally essential to the just Rights, Liberties, Common good and special end of this Colony, as that they shall and ought to be inviolable preserved.
Library of Congress. American Treasures of the Library of Congress: The "General Fundamentals" of the Plymouth Colony, website, 2001.
Orcutt, William. Good Old Dorchester: A Narrative History of the Town, Cambridge, MA: John Wilson & Son, 1893.
Plimoth Plantation. The 1627 Pilgrim Village, defunct website, 2000
Plimoth Plantation's Pilgrim Village brings to life the Plymouth of 1627. This year was selected because it is well-documented and represents the village just before the colonists began to disperse beyond the first settlement. The March 22 Cattle Division (the first step in the agreed-upon division of property among the colonists) gives us a census of the settlement, and the thorough description of by Isaack DeRasieres of New Amsterdam after his visit in October provides many welcome details about early Plymouth. Seven years after the arrival of the Mayflower, "The Streete" rises westward from Plymouth Harbor to the Fort/Meetinghouse on the hill. It replicates the original site of the Plymouth settlement, which is today Leyden Street in downtown Plymouth. Most of the houses are located on either side of this street. Crossing near the center of the Street is the "Highway" which runs north and south to the cornfields. In today's 1627 Pilgrim Village, the houses on the north side of the Street (from the east end) represent the homes of the Palmer (previously Soule), Annable, Fuller, Howland, Hopkins, Bradford, Alden and Standish families. On the south side are storehouses, the common house, and the Browne, Brewster, Billington, Allerton, Cooke and Winslow houses. There were originally additional households (as is evident from the Cattle Division and Isaack DeRasieres' mention of about 50 families) that are not represented in the exhibit, as the location of many of the households is unknown. Community structures such as the cow house, hay house and outdoor oven are found throughout the village.
The Fort/Meetinghouse dominates the hillside on which the village is located. It is a timber-framed blockhouse, with a ground floor meeting area and an upper gundeck overlooking the surrounding landscape. Enclosing both the Fort/Meetinghouse and the village is a palisade, a defensive barrier made of split or riven logs with bulwarks and gates at the corners. The colony built these defenses in 1622 upon news of the massacre of colonists in Virginia. The fortification was intended to protect the town from assault by the Indian nations or England's French and Spanish enemies. Fortunately, attack never came, and the Fort/Meetinghouse was used as a meeting place for religious services and as a courthouse for the colony's legislative and judicial affairs.
Gazing eastward from the Fort/Meetinghouse visitors are struck by the dramatic vista, in which the earthy tones of the village are set off against the deep blue of Cape Cod Bay. The double row of thatched and clapboarded houses reflect the vernacular building tradition of rural England and the colonists' varied backgrounds. They range in type from hovels - simple A-frame temporary dwellings - to more substantial structures an early visitor to Plymouth Colony described as "very fair and pleasant."
Each house contains painstakingly accurate reproductions of the furniture, tools, and cooking equipment representing the material possessions listed in Plymouth probate inventories. They are not just for display, but are used by the museum staff to re-create the daily life of the colony. The activities of the settlement, all appropriate to the changing seasons, are carried out in the correct seventeenth-century manner. The 1627 Plantation was above all a farming community, and the working day for today's "villagers" is largely taken up by agricultural or foodways tasks. However, life in Plymouth Colony was not all work and no play. Special times such as births, weddings, militia musters and successful harvests gathered the community for socializing, feasting and even games.
Clothed in period fashions and speaking in the accents of their character's place of origin, museum staff - "interpreters" - take on the identities of the original inhabitants of the colony. Together, these "first person" roles replicate the social and cultural life of a real human community. The housewife's primary daily responsibility was feeding and caring for her household. The primary occupation of Plymouth men was farming, although many had training in trades such as coopering or blacksmithing which became part-time occupations. The village shelters seventeenth-century breeds of cattle, goats, sheep, swine and poultry, many of which are quite rare today. Outside the palisade are fields which produce the crops that were the Pilgrims' major source of food. Adjacent to each house are kitchen gardens for both food and medicine.
Plimoth Plantation. The Bradford House, defunct website, ca. 2000.
William Bradford, governor of the colony, is one of the English Separtists (religious non-conformists) who went to Leiden, Holland, in 1608. He emigrated to new England on the Mayflower in 1620 and succeeded John Carver as governor in the summer of 1621. He lives here with his second wife, Alice.
Just beyond the Bradford house, at the cross street, is a redoubt, a defensive structure with four swivel guns mounted at the corners. In the event of an insurrection, or attackers breaching the palisade, the guns or "murtherers" would have been used to clear the streets. Closed to the public.
William Bradford was baptised in Austerfield, Yorkshire on March 19, 1589/90. With other members of the Scrooby Separatist congregation he emigrated to the Netherlands in 1609, living for a year in Amsterdam and then moving to Leiden. In Amsterdam in 1613 he married his first wife, Dorothy May. They both sailed aboard the Mayflower, leaving their son, John, behind. Dorothy drowned in Cape Cod harbor on December 7, 1620. In August, 1623, he married Alice (carpenter) Southworth, widow of Edward Southworth. He had four children and died in Plymouth May 9, 1657, having served as Plymouth Colony's governor for many years.
Alice (Carpenter) (Southworth) Bradford was originally from Wrington, Somerset. Her father and some of his children emigrated to Leiden where she married Edward Southworth in 1613. She had two sons by Edward and three children by William, and died in 1670.
Roberts, Gary. Genealogical Thoughts by Gary Boyd Roberts #24 - How Best to Use the Services of NEHGS
Roberts, Gary. Genealogical Thoughts by Gary Boyd Roberts #46 - Recent Advances in Mayflower Research
Shurtleff, Nathaniel. "The Passengers of the May Flower in 1620," The NEHGS Register, Vol. I, Boston, MA: Samuel Drake, 1847.
As early as the year 1602, several religious people residing near the joining borders of Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire, together with their pious ministers, being greivously oppressed by courts and canons, resolved to shake off the yoke of antichristian bondage, and as the Lord's free people, to form themselves by covenant into a church-state, to walk in all his ways according to their best knowledge and endeavors, cost them whatever it might.
In the year 1606, by reason of the distance of their habitations, these people were obliged to assemble in two places and become two distinct churches; over one of which Mr. John Smith was established pastor, and among the others were Mr. Richard Clifton and Mr. John Robinson, two very excellent and worthy preachers.
In the fall of 1607, Mr. Clifton and many of his church, being extremely harassed, removed themselves and families to Holland, where, in the spring of 1608, they were followed by Mr. Robinson and the rest. They settled first at Amsterdam, where they remained a year; but finding that Mr. Smith's church, which was there before them, had fallen into contention with others, they, valuing peace and spiritual comfort above other riches, removed with Mr. Robinson, their pastor, to Leyden, Mr. Clifton remaining in Amsterdam, where he soon died.
Soon after their arrival in Leyden, they chose Mr. William Brewster to assist the pastor, as Elder of the Church. In their new place of abode they lived in love and harmony with each other, and on friendly terms of intercourse with their neighbors, till they removed to America.
By the year 1610, many had come over to them from various parts of England, and they had increased and become a great congregation.
In 1617, Mr. Robinson and his church began to think of emigrating to America; and as a preparatory step, sent Mr. Robert Cushman and Mr. John Carver from Leyden over to England, to treat with the Virginia Company, and also to see if the King would grant them the liberty of conscience there, which was refused them in the land of their birth. Although the agents were not able to obtain from the King their suit for liberty in religion under the broad seal, as was desired, nevertheless, they prevailed so far as to gain the connivance of the King that he would not molest them, provided they carried themselves peaceably. In 1618, the agents returned to Leyden, to the great discouragement of the people who sent them; who, notwithstanding, resolved, in 1619, to send again two agents to agree with the Virginia Company; and at this time they sent Mr. Cushman a second time, and with him Mr. William Bradford, who, after long attendance, obtained the patent granted by the Company to Mr. John Wincob, which was never used.
Notwithstanding all these troubles, so strong was their resolution to quit Leyden and settle in America, that they entered into an arrangement with Mr. Thomas Weston, a merchant of London, for their transportation, and sent Mr. Carver and Mr. Cushman to England, to receive the money of Mr. Weston, to assist in their transportation, and to provide for the voyage. By direction, Mr. Cushman went to London and Mr. Carver to Southampton, where they finally joined with Mr. William Martin, who had been chosen to assist them.
A vessel of sixty tons, called the Speedwell, was bought and fitted in Holland, to be used in their transportation, and was designed to be kept for use in their new country. Mr. Cushman, in June, 1620, also hired at London the renowned May Flower, a vessel of ninescore tons, and also Mr. Clarke, the pilot.
Mr. Cushman, having procured the May Flower at London, and fitted it for the voyage, proceeded in it to Southampton, where he and Captain Jones, together with the other agents, remained seven days, until the arrival of the Pilgrims who left Leyden in July, embarking from Delft Haven.
On the 5th of August, both vessels, the May Flower, Capt. Jones, and the Speedwell, Capt. Reinolds, set sail from Southampton. The small vessel proving leaky, they both put in to Dartmouth about the 13th of August, where they remained till the 21st, when they set sail again. Both vessels were obliged to return a second time on account of the leakage of the Speedwell; and this time they put back to Plymouth, where they gave up the small vessel and dismissed those who were willing to return to London, Mr. Cushman and his family returning with them.
On the 6th of September, their number then consisting of one hundred persons, they made their final start, and arrived at Cape Cod on the eleventh day of November, when they signed the famous compact, and landed at Plymouth, in America, on the eleventh day of December, Old Style, or on the twenty-first of December, New Style, in the year 1620.
The number in each family is indicated by the Arabic numeral.Those who brought their wives have this mark †Those who left them for a time in Holland or England are thus distinguished, ‡Those who died before the arrival of the Fortune on the 9th of November 1621, have an asterisk *.Those who died before the division of cattle in 1627, are in italics.The dates of those who died the first season are given as taken from Bradford's pocket-book.
John Carver, died in April, 1621 † * 8
Mrs. Carver, his wife, died in May, 1621*
Elizabeth Carver, d/o Mr. Carver, wife of John Howland
Jasper, servant of Mr. Carver, died Dec. 6, 1620*
John HowlandThree others of this family died before 1627.*
William Bradford † 2 - our grandfather >
Mrs. Dorothy Bradford, his wife, drowned Dec. 7, 1620*
Edward Winslow † 5(?)
Mrs. Elizabeth Winslow, his wife, died March 24, 1620/1*
Edward Winslow, Jr., s/o Edward
John Winslow s/o Edward
George Soule 1
William Brewster † 6
Mrs. Brewster, his wife
Love Brewster, s/o William
Wrestling Brewster s/o William
Mrs. Lucretia Brewster, w/o Jonathan, oldest son of William
William Brewster, s/o Jonathan, grandson of William
Isaac Allerton † 6
Mrs. Mary Allerton, his wife died Feb. 25, 1620-1*
Bartholomew Allerton s/o Isaac
Remember Allerton d/o Isaac
Mary Allerton d/o Isaac, w/o Elder Thomas Cushman
Sarah Allerton d/o Isaac, w/o Moses Maverick
Miles Standish † 2Mrs. Rose Standish, his wife, died Jan. 29, 1620-1*
John Alden 1
Samuel Fuller‡ 2
William Butten, his servant, died Nov. 6, 1620 *
Christopher Martin, died Jan. 8, 1620-1 †* 4
Mrs. Martin, his wife, died the first winter *
Solomon Martin, s/o Christopher died Dec. 24, 1620 *
One other of this family died the first winter *
William Mullins died Feb. 21, 1620-1 † * 5
Mrs. Mullins, his wife, died the first winter *
Priscilla Mullins, d/o William, w/o John Alden
Two others of this family died the first winter *
William White died Feb. 21, 1620-1 † * 5
Mrs. Susanna White, his wife, later w/o Governor Edward Winslow
Resolved White s/o William
William White, Jr. s/o William
Edward Thompson died Dec. 4, 1620
Richard Warren ‡ 1 - our grandfather
Stephen Hopkins † 8
Mrs. Elizabeth Hopkins, his wife
Constance Hopkins, d/o Stephen, w/o Nicholas Snow
Giles Hopkins, s/o Stephen
Caleb Hopkins s/o Stephen
Oceanus Hopkins s/o Stephen born at sea *
Edward Dotey
Edward Leister
Edward Tilley died the first winter † * 4
Mrs. Tilley, his wife, died the first winter *
Two others of this family died the first winter *
John Tilley, died the first winter † * 3
Mrs. Tilley, his wife, died the first winter *
One other of this family died the first winter *
Francis Cooke ‡ 2
John Cooke, called the younger s/o Francis
Thomas Rogers died the first winter * 2
Joseph Rogers s/o Thomas
Thomas Tinker, died the first winter † * 3
Mrs. Tinker, his wife, died the first winter *
One more of this family died the first winter *
John Ridgdale, died the first winter † * 2
Mrs. Ridgdale, his wife died the first winter *
Edward Fuller died the first winter † 3
Mrs. Fuller, his wife, died the first winter *
Samuel Fuller, called the younger, s/o Edward
John Turner, died the first winter * 3
Two others of this family died the first winter
Francis Eaton † 3
Mrs. Eaton, his wife, died before 1627
Samuel Eaton s/o Francis
James Chilton died Dec. 8, 1620 † * 3
Mrs. Chilton, his wife, died the first winter *
Mary Chilton d/o James, w/o John Winslow
John Crackston died the first winter * 2
John Crackston, Jr. s/o John
John Billington † 4
Mrs. Helen Billington, his wife
Francis Billington s/o John
John Billington Jr. s/o John
Single men:
Moses Fletcher, died the first winter * 1
John Goodman 1
Degory Priest, died Jan. 1, 1620-1 * 1
Thomas Williams, died the first winter * 1
Gilbert Winslow, brother of Edward 1
Edward Margeson, died the first winter * 1
Peter Brown 1
Richard Britterige, died Dec. 21, 1620 * 1
Richard Clarke, died the first winter * 1
Richard Gardiner 1
John Allerton, seaman, died the first winter * 1
Thomas English seaman, died the first winter * 1
Total 101
The number of deaths of the first planters that occurred from the time th e May Flower left England, to the year 1625, may be thus enumerated: -
In November 1620 - 1
In December 1620 - 6
In January 1620/1 - 8
In February 1620/1 - 17
In March 1620/1 - 13
In April 1621 - 1
In May 1621 - 1
From April 6 to November 9, 1621 - 4
From November 9, 1621 to 1625 0
Total deaths 51
Of these were
21 signers of the Mayflower Compact
13 wives of the signers
5 known members of families, viz: William Butten, Edward Thompson, Jasper, servant, Solomon Martin and Oceanus Hopkins
12 Unknown members of the following families, viz:
Carvers - 3
Martins - 1
Mullins - 2
Edward Tilleys - 2
John Tilleys - 1
Tinkers - 1
Turners - 2
Total deaths 51
In the division of the land in 1624, Henry Samson and Humilitie Cooper had land assigned them among those who came in the May Flower, and for this reason they have been generally believed to have been among the passengers of that vessel. If such is the case they can be placed in the family of Mr. Carver better than that of any other. But, as Mr. Cushman is also placed on that list, it may be reasonably inferred that others were put there for some other reasons, perhaps Samson and Cooper, who are therefore excluded in this account.
John Goodman is marked in Bradford's manuscript as among those who died the first season. But as his name occurs among those who had garden lots in 1620, and also in the division of land in 1623, it must be inferred that he was marked by mistake, or else Mr. Prince committed an error in taking his copy for the Annals.
Three wives of the signers were left in Europe; namely Bridgett, the wife of Dr. Samuel Fuller, Hester the wife of Francis Cooke, and Elizabeth, the wife of Richard Warren. These afterwards came over in the Ann in 1623.
Five lost their wives and married again; namely William Bradford, who married widow Alice Southworth; Edward Winslow, who married widow Susanna White; Isaac Allerton, who married Fear Brewster, and afterwards, Joanna ------; Miles Standish, who married Barbara ------; and Francis Eaton, who married Christian Penn.
Others were married for the first time; namely John Howland and Elizabeth Carver; George Soule and Mary; Love Brewster and Sarah Collier; John Alden and Priscilla Mullins; Resolved White and Judith Vassal; Giles Hopkins and Catherine Wheldon; Edward Dotey and Faith Clarke; John Cooke and Sarah Warren; Samuel Eaton and Martha Billington.
Several of the Pilgrims had children born in New England, an account of whom may form another article at some future time.
Walworth, Reuben. "Mason Family," The NEHGS Register, Vol. XV, Boston, MA: Samuel Drake, 1861.
Some of the descendants of Major John Mason, the Conqueror of the Pequots.[Communicated by Hon. Reuben H. Walworth, of Saratoga Springs.]
I. Gen[eration]. Major John Mason, born in England, about 1600, was a Lieut. in the army, and served in the Netherlands under Sir Thomas Fairfax. He emigrated to America about 1630, settled in Dorchester, and represented that town in the General Court. In Oct. 1635, he removed to Windsor, Ct., in company with the the Rev. John Warham, Henry Wolcott, Esq., and others of the first settlers of that town; where he was elected an Assistant or Magistrate of the colony in 1642. In May, 1637, he commanded the successful expedition against the Pequots, near New London. He m. about 1640, Anne [Peck], and in 1647 removed his family to Saybrook. In 1660 he became one of the first settlers of Norwich; where he was Deputy Governor and Major General of the forces of the colony. He d. 30 Jan. 1672, at Norwich, where his widow d. very shortly afterwards.
Their children were:
(1) Priscilla, b. Oct. 1641, at Windsor, md. Rev. James Fitch;
(2) Samuel, b. July 1664, at W., m. 1, (--?--); 2, Elizabeth Peck;
(3) John, b. Aug. 1646, at W., m. Abigail Fitch;
(4) Rachel, b. Oct. 1648 at Saybrook, m. 12 June 1678, Charles Hill of New London, son of George Hill of Derbyshire, Eng., and d. 4 April 1679, at N.L., in giving birth to twins, who d. with her;
(5) Anne, b. June 1650, at S., m. Capt. John Brown, of Swansey;
(6) Daniel, b. April 1652, at Saybrook, m. 1, Margaret Denison, 2, (--?--), 3, Rebecca Hobart;
(7) Elizabeth b. Aug. 1654, at S., who prob. d. unm.
II Gen. 1. Priscilla Mason, m. Oct. 1664, Rev. James Fitch first minister of Norwich, b. 24 Dec. 1622, at Bocking in Eng., came to America in 1638, and was ordained as the minister of Saybrook in 1646. She was his second wife. [By his first wife Abigail Whitfield, who d. 9 Sept. 1659, at S., he had 6 children; James, b. 2 Aug. 1650, prob. m. Capt. John Mason; Elizabeth, b. 2 Jan. 1652, m. Rev. Edward Taylor; Hannah, b. 17 Sept. 1653; Samuel b. April, 1655, and Dorothy, b. April 1658, m. Nathaniel Bissell.] Rev. James Fitch d. 18 Nov. 1702 at Lebanon. His children by his last wife, Priscilla Mason, were:
(8) Daniel b. Aug. 1665, b. Aug. 1665 at Norwich. He m. and settled at New London North Parish, now Montville, and had a family of children. My information as to most of his family and descendants is very imperfect, but I have ascertained that he had at least three children;
1. Daniel, who m. Sarah (--?--), and d. in 1755 leaving a property worth from forth to fifty thousand dollars, and leaving a widow surviving him, and two sons and 7 daughters, who were living at the date of his will, in May, 1755; to wit: Samuel, Sherwood, James, Abiah, Rachel, Eleanor, Sarah, Mary, Anne and Abigail.
2. Capt. Adonijah, of Montville, who m. twice. I have not been able to ascertain his first wife's name, or all of his children by her. For his second wife he m. 22 April 1744, Anne (Hyde) Gray, dau. of Samuel Hyde and Elizabeth Caulkins of Lebanon, and wid. of Simon Gray of L. Anee Fitch, dau. of Capt. Adonijah, by his first wife, m. 1 Jan. 1750, her second cousin, Samuel Hyde (162), eldest son of Samuel Hyde and Priscilla Bradford of Lebanon. Sarah Fitch, another dau. of Capt. Adonijah, by his first wife, m. 7 April 1751, Thomas Rogers, son of Daniel Rogers of N.L. N.P., (now Montville,) and had 7 children recorded to them at N.L; Elizabeth b. 25 June, 1751; Parthenia, b. 8 Nov. 1752; Adonijah, b. 18 Nov. 1754; Sarah, b. 10 April, 1757; Andrew b. 24 July 1759; Azel b. 27 Jan. 1765; and Frederick, b. 11 April, 1767.
3. Mary b. about 1706, who m. 18 Jan. 1726, Rev. James Hillhouse, first minister of Montville, b. about 1688, at Freehall, Londonderry co., Ireland, son of John Hillhouse and Racchel his wife. He d. 15 Dec. 1740, and she had by him four children; - Esquire John, b. 18 Dec. 1726, d. 9 April, 1735; William b. 25 Aug. 1728, m. 1 Nov. 1750, Sarah Griswold, and had by her 7 sons and three daughters; James Abraham b. 12 May, 1730, grad. at Yale, 1749, and d. 1775, s.p.; and Rachel, m. 4 April 1753, Deacon Joseph Chester and d. 11 June, 1765 and had one dau.,Mary, b. 1754, d. 1765. After the death of her first husband she m. 17 Nov. 1744, Rev. John Owen of Groton, and d. 1768, at the age of 62 years. She was probably the ancestress of all who inherit Hillhouse blood in the United States.
(9) John, b. Jan. 1668, at N., m. Elizabeth Waterman
(10) Jeremiah, b. Sept. 1670, at N., m. Ruth (--?--)
(11) Jabez, b. April 1672, at N., grad. at Harvard, 1694, was a Congregational clergyman, settled as Minister at Ipswich, 1703, and at Portsmouth, N.H. about 1726, where he d. 22 Nov. 1746
(12) Anne, b. April 1675, at N., m. Joseph Bradford
(13) Nathaniel, b. Oct. 1679 at N., md. 1, Anne Abel; 2, Mindwell Tisdale
(14) Joseph b. Nov. 1681, at N., m. 1, Sarah Mason; 2, Anne Whiting
(15) Eleazer b. 14 May 1683 at N., m. his first cousin Martha Brown (26) second dau. of Capt. John Brown of Swansey and Anne Mason, (See No. 5). They settled at Lebanon where he was a Deacon of the church, and d. about 1747, s.p., and by his will left his property to his wife, who survived him.
III Gen. 12. Anne Fitch, m. 5 Oct. 1698, Joseph Bradford, only son of Major William Bradford of Plymouth, by his second wife the wid. Wiswall. They settled at Norwich, and removed to Lebanon, where she d. 17 Oct. 1715. She had three children:
(53) Anne, b. 26 July 1699, at N.
(54) Joseph, b. 9 April 1702 at N., m. Honoretta Swift
(55) Priscilla (twin) b. 9 April 1702 at N., m. Samuel Hyde
(56) and (57) Alithea and Irene, b. 6 April 1704, and d. same month
(58) Sarah b. 21 Sept. 1706(59) Hannah, b. 24 May 1709
(59) [sic] Elizabeth b. 21 Oct. 1712
(60) Alithea 2d. b. 19 Sept. 1715, m. about 1740, David Hyde, bap. 22 March, 1719 at Lebanon, fifth son of Samuel Hyde & Elizabeth Calkins of Lebanon. They settled at L. where he d. 1741. They had one child, David, bap. 11 Jan. 1751
(61) Irene 2d, twin, b. 19 Sept. 1715, m. 18 March 1736, Jonathan Janes of Lebanon.
The Mayflower Compact
Like the first patent, the Second Peirce Patent gave the Pilgrims permission to attempt a settlement. This “permission to take a chance” was good for seven years. If, at the end of seven years, the settlement were successful then a new “permanent” patent would be issued; if the settlement was NOT successful then all rights reverted back to the Council for New England. The Second Peirce Patent said that the settlement (corporately, not individually) would receive 100 acres for every person who moved to the settlement who managed to stay in the settlement for three out of the seven years, or who died in the attempt. The settlers were responsible for developing their own infrastructure and maintaining magistrates and local government; they had the authority to make laws and govern themselves (limited according to English custom and usage) and, once the seven years were up, could apply for the permanent charter specifying the colony’s actual physical boundaries. The earliest surviving state document for New England, the Second Peirce Patent is on display in Pilgrim Hall Museum. It is signed by five wealthy, influential and adventurous Englishmen: Lennox, Hamilton, Warwick, Sheffield and Gorges.
The Peirce Patent
This Indenture made the First Day of June 1621 And in the yeeres of the raigne of our sovaigne Lord James by the grace of god King of England Scotland, Fraunce and Ireland defender of the faith &c That is to say of England Fraunce and Ireland the Nyntenth and of Scotland the fowre and fiftith / Betwene the President and Counsell of New England of the one p'tie And John Peirce Citizen and Clothworker of London and his Associats of the other p'tie Witnesseth that whereas the said John Peirce and his Associats have already transported and undertaken to transporte at their cost and chardges themselves and dyvers p'sons into New England and there to erect and build a Towne and settle dyvers Inhabitants for the advancem't of the gen'all plantacon of that Country of new England Now the sayde President and Counsell in consideracon thereof and for the futherance of the said plantacon and incoragem't of the said Undertakers have agreed to graunt assigne allot and appoynt to the said John Peirce and his associats and ev'y of them this and their heires and assignes one hundred acres of grownd for ev'y p'son so to be transported besides dyvers other pryviledges Liberties and comodyties hereafter menconed / And to that intent they have graunted allotted assigned and confirmed / And by theis p'nts doe graunt allot as signe and confirme unto the said John Peirce and his Associats his and their heires & assignes and the heires & assignes of ev'y of them sev'ally & respectyvelie one hundred sev'all acres of grownd in New England for ev'y p'son so transported or to be transported (Yf the said John Peirce or his Associats contynue there three whole yeeres either at one or sev'all tymes or dye in the meane season after he or they are shipped with intent there to inhabit The same Land to be taken & chosen by them their deputies or assignes in any place or places wheresoe'vr not already inhabited by any English and where no English p'son or p'sons are already placed or settled or have by order of the said President and Councell made choyce of, nor within Tenne myles of the same (unles it be on the opposite syde of some great or Navigable Ryver to the former p'ticuler plantacon, together with the one half of the Ryver or Ryvers, that is to say to the middest thereof as shall adioyne to such lands as they shall make choyce of together with all such Liberties pryviledges pffitts & comodyties as the said Land and Ryvers which they shall make dyties as the said Land and Ryvers which they shall make choyce of shall yeild together with free libtie to fishe in and upon the Coast of New England and in all havens ports and creekes Thereunto belonging and that no p'son or p'sons whatsoev' shall take any benefitt or libtie of or to any of the grownds or the one half of the Ryvers aforesaid (excepting the free use of highwayes by land and Navigable Ryvers, but that the said undertakers & planters their heires & assignes shall have the sole right and use of the said grownds and the one half of the said Ryvers with all their ---- & app'tennes / And forasmuch as the said John Peirce and his associats intenda nd have undertaken to build Churches, Schooles, Hospitalls Towne howses, Bridges and such like workes of Charytie As also for the maynteyning of Magistrats and other inferior Officers / In regard whereof and to the end that said John Peirce and his Associats his & their heires & assignes may have wherewithall to beare & support such like chargs / There the said President & Councell aforesaid do graunt unto the said Undertakers their heires & assignes Fifteene hundred acres of Land moreover and above the aforesaid proporcon of one hundred the p'son for ev'y undertaker & Planter to be ymployed upon such publiq uses as the said Undertakers & Planters shall thinck fitt / And they do further graunt unto the said John Peirce and his Associats their heires & assignes, that for ev'y p'son that they or any of them shall transport at their owne prop costs & chargs into New England either unto the Lands hereby graunted or adioyninge to them within Seaven Yeeres after the feast of St. John Baptist next coming Yf the said p'son transported contynue there three whole yeeres either at one or sev'all tymes or dye in the meane season after he is shipped with intent there to inhabit that the said p'son or p'sons that shall so at his or their owne chargs transport any other shall have graunted and allowed to him & them and his & their heires respectyvelie for ev'y p'son so transported or dyeing after he is shipped one hundred acres of Land, and also that ev'y p'son or p'sons who by contract & agream't to be had & made with the said Undertake's shall at his & their owne charge transport himi & themselves or any other and setle and plant themselves in New England within the Seaven Yeeres for three yeeres space as aforesaid or dye in the meane tyme shall have graunted & allowed unto ev'y p'son so transporting or transported and their heires & assignes respectyvely the like number of one hundred acres of Land as aforesaid the same to be by him & them or their heires & assignes chosen in any entyre place together and adioyning to the aforesaid Lands and not straglingly not before the tyme of such choyce made possessed or inhabited by any English Company or within tenne myles of the same (except it be on the opposite side of some great Navigable Ryver as aforesaid Feilding and paying unto the said President and Counsell for ev'y hundred acres so obteyned and possessed by the said John Peirce and his said Associats and by those said other p'sons and their heires & assignes who by Contract as aforesaid shall at their owne chargs transport themselves or others the Yerely rent of Two shillings at the feast of St. Michaell Tharchaungell to the hand of the Rentgatherer of the said President & Counsell and their successors forev'r / the first paym't to begyn after the 'xpiracon of the first seaven Yeeres next after the date hereof And further it shabe lawfull to and for the said John Peirce and his Associats and such as contract with them as aforesaid their Tenn'ts & s'ervants upon dislike of or in the Country to returne for England or elsewhere with all their goods & chattells at their will & pleasure without lett or disturbance of any paying all debts that justly shalbe demanded And likewise it shalbe lawfull and is graunted to and for the said John Peirce and his Associats & Planters their heires & assignes their Tenn'nts & s'ervants and such as they or any of them shall contract with as aforesaid and send and ymploy for the said plantacon to goe & returne trade traffiq inport or transport their goods & m'chaundize at their will & pleasure into England or elsewhere paying onely such dueties to the Kings ma'tie his heires & successors as the President and Counsell of New England doe pay without any other taxes Imposiceons burthens or restrants whatsoev'r upon them to be ymposed (the rent hereby res'ved being onely excepted) And it shalbe lawfull for the Undertake's & Planters, their heires & successo's freely to truck trade & traffiq with the Salvages in New England or neighboring thereabouts at their wills & pleasures without lett or disturbaunce / As also to have libtie to hunt hauke fish or fowle in any place or places not now or hereafter by the English inhabited / And the said President & Counsell do coven'nt & promyse to and with the said John Peirce and his Assocats and others contracted w'th as aforesaid his and their heiress & assignes / That upon lawfull s'rvey to be had & made at the charge of the said Undertakers & Planters and lawfull informacon geven of the bownds meets and quantytie of Lands so as aforesaid to be by them chosen & possessed they the said President & Counsell upon s'rrender of this p'nte graunt & Indenture and upon reasonable request to be made by the said Undertakers & Planters their heires & assignes within seaven Yeeres now next coming, shall and will by their Deede Indented and under their Com'on seale graunt infeoffe & confirme all and ev'y the said lands so sett out and bounded as aforesaid to the said John Peirce and his Associats and such as contract with them their heires & assignes in as large & beneficiall manner as the same are in theis p'nts graunted or intended to be graunted to all intents & purposes with all and ev'y p'ticuler pryviledge & freedome res'vacon & condicon with all dependances herein specyfied & graunted / And shall also at any tyme within the said terme of Seaven Yeeres upon request unto the said President & Counsell made, graunt unto them the said John Peirce and his Associats Undertakers & Planters their heires & assignes, Letters & Graunts of Incorporacon by some usuall & fitt name & tytle with Liberty to them and their successors from tyme to tyme to make orders Lawes Ordynaunces & Constitucons for the rule of governement ordering & dyrecting of all p'sons to be transported & settled upon the lands hereby graunted, intended to be graunted or hereafter to be granted and of the said Lands & proffitts thereby arrysing / And in the meane tyme untill such graunt made, Yt shalbe lawfull for the said John Peirce his Associats Undertakers & Planters their heires & assignes by consent of the greater p't of them / To establish such Lawes & ordynaunces as are for their better governem, and the same by such Officer or Officers as they shall by most voyces elect & choose to put in execucon / And lastly the said President and Counsell do graunt and agree to and with the said John Peirce and his Associats and others contracted with and ymployed as aforesaid their heires & assignes / That when they have planted the Lands hereby to them assigned & Appoynted, That then it shabe lawfull for them with the pryvitie & allowaunce of the President & Counsell as aforesaid to make choyce of to enter into and to have an addition of fiftie acres more for ev'y p'son transported into New England with like res'vacons condicons & pryviledges as are above graunted to be had and chosen in such place or places where no English shalbe then setled or inhabiting or have made choyce of and the same entered into a booke of Acts at the tyme of such choyce so to be made or within tenne Myles of the same (excepting on the opposite side of some great Navigable Ryver as aforesaid / And that it shall and may be lawfull for the said John Peirce and his Associats their heires and assignes from tyme to tyme and at all tymes hereafter for their sev'all defence & Savetie to encounter expulse repell & resist by force of Armes aswell by Sea as by Land and by all wayes and meanes whatsoev' all such p'son & p'sons as without the especiall lycense of the said President or Counsell and their successors or the greater p't of them shall attempt to inhabit within the sev'all p'sincts & lymytts of their said Plantacon / Or shall enterpryse or attempt at any tyme hereafter distruccon, Invation, detryment or annoyaunce to the said Plantacon / And the said John Peirce and his associats and their heires & assignes do coven'nt & promyse to & with the said President & Counsell and their successors / That they the said John Peirce and his Associats from tyme to tyme during the said Sevaven Yeeres shall make a true Certificat to the said President & Counsell & their successors from the chief Officers of the places respectyvely of ev'y p'son transported & landed in New England or shipped as aforesaid to be entered by the Secretary of the said President & Counsell into a Register book for that purpose to be kept And the said John Peirce and his Associats Jointly and sev'ally for them their heires & assignes do coven'nt promyse & graunt to and with the said President & Counsell and their successors That the p'sons transported to this their p'ticuler Plantacon shall apply themselves & their Labors in a large & competent mann'r to the planting setting making & procuring of good & staple comodyties in & upon the said Land hereby graunted unto them as Corne & silkgrasse hemp flaxe pitch & tarre sopeashes and potashes Yron Clapbord and other the like materialls / In witnes whereof the said President & Counsell have to the one pt of this p'nte Indenture sett their seales . . .
The provisions of the Pierce Patent were met by the Pilgrims when their settlement survived for seven years. The Pilgrims, therefore, applied for a new charter from the Council for New England in 1628. The Patent, granted in 1629, is known as the "Warwick/Bradford Patent" because it was signed by the Earl of Warwick and granted in the name of William Bradford, his “heirs and associates.” This patent is also on display at Pilgrim Hall Museum.
The Warwick Patent
13 / 23 January 1629/30 Granted to William Bradford and his Associates
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