Mayflower
1621
Seen merely as transport, the “MAY-FLOWER” as a ship did not receive much attention in the early Plymouth writings, and the only descriptions were by William Bradford on the tonnage and that the rig had topsails. Modern researchers and naval architects have filled in the gaps. MAYFLOWER was a merchant vessel of the period, built around 1609, and renderings of similar vessels are found on numerous maps and in paintings from the period. It’s estimated that MAYFLOWER was 181 tons burthen, had a deck length of just over 100 feet, beam of 25 feet, and was rigged in a three-masted configuration. From the keel to the topmost part of the hull was 40 feet. Into this ship fit 102 passengers and likely two dozen crew for the 1620 voyage, including the family below.
William & Mary Brewster
Aged 54 at the sailing, William had studied at Cambridge and was secretary to the Secretary of State under Queen Elizabeth I. He was the only university-educated passenger. His wife Mary, similar in age, was also aboard. Bradford wrote that William was “their reverend Elder….foremost in our adventure in England and in Holland and here.”
Stephen & Constance Hopkins
Aged 39 at the time of sailing, Stephen sailed with his children Constance (14) and Giles (13), by his late wife, Mary, and with his new wife, Elizabeth and their daughter, Damaris. Elizabeth gave birth to a boy, Oceanus, on the voyage. Constance was only 7 when Mary died while Stephen was still in Jamestown, Virginia after having been shipwrecked on Bermuda on the Sea Venture.
Thomas & Joseph Rogers
Aged 48 for the voyage, Joseph sailed without his wife Alice but brought his son, Joseph (17). Thomas died “in the first sickness” during the initial 1620-1621 winter in Plymouth. Joseph likely lived in the household of William Bradford after his father’s death, where he appears in the 1627 division of cattle. Joseph moved to Eastham in 1647.
Henry Samson
Not a direct ancestor, but a first cousin of Abraham Sampson (with a “p”), Henry was 16 and came with his aunt and uncle, Ann & Edward Tilley. Edward died during the first winter in Plymouth. Henry was in the household of Edward Winslow in the 1623 division of land, and with William Brewster in the 1627 division of cattle.
John Howland
Not a direct ancestor, but an uncle (brother of Henry Howland), John was 21 at the time of the voyage. Bradford, in Of Plymouth Plantation, wrote “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 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.”
Plymouth
As the first permanent colony in the New England, Plymouth saw many settle, and many pass through to other towns – both for more land and for different politics and religion. Other family that called Plymouth home, for however long, included: Patience Brewster, Mercy Prence, Thomas Prence, Nicholas Snow, Ruth Snow, Mark Snow, Gershom Cole, Margaret & Robert Hicks, Samuel Hicks, Lydia Doane, Dorcas Hicks, Kenelm Winslow, Ellen Newton, Damaris Eames, William Bradford, Alice Richards, Sarah Bradford, Thomas Chittenden, Stephen Deane, Elizabeth Ring, and Elizabeth Deane.
