The Mayflower and Her Log Part 14

Her will also suggests her age.

Francis Cooke's age in 1620 is fixed by his known age at his death ("about 81") in 1663. He was from the north of England, and long a member of Robinson's congregation, both in England and in Holland(?).

John Cooke, son of Francis, is known to have been about ten years old when he sailed with his father for America, as his parents did not marry before 1609. He was undoubtedly born at Leyden. He was long supposed to have been the last male survivor of the original pa.s.sengers (dying at Dartmouth in 1695.)

James Chilton's antecedents and his age are quite unknown. He must have been at least fifty, as he had a married daughter in Leyden, according to Bradford. He died among the first, and there is nothing of record to inform us concerning him, except Bradford's meagre mention. He may have lived at Leyden.

Mrs. Chilton's given name is declared by one writer to have been Susanna, but it is not clearly proven. Whence she came, her ancestry, and her age, are alike unknown.

Mary Chilton was but a young girl in 1620. She married, before 1627, John Winslow, and was probably not then over twenty, nor over fourteen when she came with her parents in the MAY-FLOWER.

Thomas Rogers appears, from the fact that he had a son, a lad well-grown, to have been thirty or more in 1620. His birthplace, antecedents, and history are unknown, but he appears to have been "of the Leyden congregation." His wife and children came later.

Joseph Rogers was only a "lad" aboard the MAY-FLOWER, but he left a considerable posterity. Nothing is surely known of him, except that he was Thomas's son.

Degory Priest had the distinction of being "freeman" of Leyden, having been admitted such, November 16, 1615. He was by occupation a "hatter," a man of some means, who left a wife and at least two children in Holland when he embarked for America. His known age at death gives his age at sailing but a few months previous. At his marriage in Leyden, October 4, 1611, he was called "of London." He was about thirty-two when he married. His wife (a widow Vincent) was a sister of Isaac Allerton, who also was married at the same time that he was. Goodwin ("Pilgrim Republic," p. 183) also gives his age as "forty-one." His widow remarried and came over later.

Dexter ("Mourt's Relation," p. 69, note) states, quoting from Leyden MS. records, that "Degory Priest in April, 1619, calling himself a 'hatter,' deposes that he 'is forty years of age.'" He must, therefore, have been about forty-one when he sailed on the MAY-FLOWER, and forty-two years old at his death.

John Rigdale and his wife Alice afford no data. They both died early, and there is no record concerning either of them beyond the fact that they were pa.s.sengers.

Edward Fuller and his wife have left us little record of themselves save that they were of Leyden, that he is reputed a brother of Dr. Samuel Fuller (for whom they seem to have named the boy they brought over with them,--leaving apparently another son, Matthew, behind), and that both died the first winter. He must have been at least twenty-five, judging from the fact that he was married and had two children, and was perhaps somewhat older (though traditionally represented as younger) than his brother. Neither his occupation nor antecedents are surely known.

Samuel Fuller--the son of Edward Fuller and his wife--is called by Bradford "a young child." He must have been some five or six years of age, as he married in 1635, fifteen years later, and would presumably have been of age, or nearly so.

Thomas Tinker's name, the mention of his "wife" and "son," the tradition that they were "of the Leyden congregation" (which is not sure), the certainty that they were MAY-FLOWER pa.s.sengers,--on Brad ford's list,--and that all died early, are all we know of the Tinker family.

John Turner and his two sons we know little about. He seems to have been a widower, as no mention is found of his wife, though this is not certain. He was of the Leyden congregation, and evidently a man of some standing with the leaders, as he was made their messenger to Carver and Cushman in London, in June, 1620, and was apparently accustomed to travel. He appears to have had business of his own in England at the time, and was apparently a man of sober age. As he had three children,--a daughter who came later to New England, and two sons, as stated by Bradford,--it is probable that he was thirty or over. He and both his sons died in the spring of 1621.

Francis Eaton was of Leyden, a carpenter, and, having a wife and child, was probably a young man about twenty five, perhaps a little younger. He married three times.

Mrs. Sarah Eaton, wife of Francis, was evidently a young woman, with an infant, at the date of embarkation. Nothing more is known of her, except that she died the spring following the arrival at Plymouth.

Samuel Eaton, the son of Francis and his wife, Sarah, Bradford calls "a sucking child:" He lived to marry.

Gilbert Window was the third younger brother of Governor Edward Winslow, and is reputed to have been a carpenter. He was born on Wednesday, October 26, 1600, at Droitwitch, in Worcester, England. ("Winslow Memorial," vol. i. p. 23.) He apparently did not remain long in the colony, as he does not appear in either the "land division" of 1623 or the "cattle division" of 1627; and hence was probably not then in the "settlement," though land was later allowed his heirs, he having been an "original" voyager of the Plymouth colony. He was but twenty years and fifteen days old when he signed the Compact, but probably was--from his brother's prominence and his nearness to his majority--counted as eligible. Bradford states that he returned to England after "divers years" in New England, and died there. It has been suggested that he went very early to some of the other "plantations."

John Alden was of Southampton, England, was hired as "a cooper," was twenty-one years old in 1620, as determined by the year of his birth, 1599 ("Alden Memorial," p. 1), and became the most prominent and useful of any of the English contingent of the MAY FLOWER company. Longfellow's delightful poem, "The Courtship of Miles Standish," has given him and his bride, Priscilla Mullens, world-wide celebrity, though it is to be feared that its historical accuracy would hardly stand criticism. Why young Alden should have been "hired for a cooper at Southampton," with liberty to "go or stay" in the colony, as Bradford says he was (clearly indicating that he went to perform some specific work and return, if he liked, with the ship), has mystified many. The matter is clear, however, when it is known, as Griffis shows, that part of a Parliamentary Act of 1543 reads: "Whosoever shall carry Beer beyond Sea, shall find Sureties to the Customers (?) of that Port, to bring in Clapboard [staves] meet [sufficient] to make so much Vessel [barrel or "kilderkin"] as he shall carry forth." As a considerable quant.i.ty of beer was part of the MAY-FLOWER'S lading, and her consignors stood bound to make good in quant.i.ty the stave-stock she carried away, it was essential, in going to a wild country where it could not be bought, but must be "got out" from the growing timber, to take along a "cooper and cleaver" for that purpose. Moreover, the great demand for beer-barrel stock made "clapboard" good and profitable return lading. It const.i.tuted a large part of the FORTUNE'S return freight (doubtless "gotten out" by Alden), as it would have undoubtedly of the MAY-FLOWER'S, had the hardship of the colony's condition permitted.

Peter Browne we know little concerning. That he was a man of early middle age is inferable from the fact that he married the widow Martha Ford, who came in the FORTUNE in 1621. As she then was the mother of three children, it is improbable that she would have married a very young man. He appears, from certain collateral evidence, to have been a mechanic of some kind, but it is not clear what his handicraft was or whence he came.

John Billington (Bradford sometimes spells it Billinton) and his family, Bradford tells us, "were from London." They were evidently an ill-conditioned lot, and unfit for the company of the planters, and Bradford says, "I know not by what friend shuffled into their Company." As he had a wife and two children, the elder of whom must have been about sixteen years old, he was apparently over thirty-five years of age. There is a tradition that he was a countryman bred, which certain facts seem to confirm. (See land allotments for data as to age of boys, 1632.) He was the only one of the original colonists to suffer the "death penalty" for crime.

Mrs. Ellen (or "Elen") Billington, as Bradford spells the name, was evidently of comporting age to her husband's, perhaps a little younger. Their two sons, John and Francis, were lively urchins who frequently made matters interesting for the colonists, afloat and ash.o.r.e. The family was radically bad throughout, but they have had not a few worthy descendants. Mrs. Billington married Gregory Armstrong, and their antenuptial agreement is the first of record known in America.

John Billington, Jr., is always first named of his father's two sons, and hence the impression prevails that he was the elder, and Bradford so designates him. The affidavit of Francis Billington (Plymouth County, Ma.s.s., Deeds, vol. i. p. 81), dated 1674, in which he declares himself sixty-eight years old, would indicate that he was born in 1606, and hence must have been about fourteen years of age when he came on the MAY-FLOWER to New Plymouth. If John, his brother, was older than he, he must have been born about 1604, and so was about sixteen when, he came to New England. The indications are that it was Francis, the younger son, who got hold of the gunpowder in his father's cabin in Cape Cod harbor, and narrowly missed blowing up the ship. John died before 1630. Francis lived, as appears, to good age, and had a family.

Moses Fletcher was of the Leyden company, a "smith," and at the time of his second marriage at Leyden, November 30/December 21, 1613, was called a "widower" and "of England." As he was probably of age at the time of his first marriage,--presumably two years or more before his last,--he must have been over thirty in 1620. He was perhaps again a widower when he came over, as no mention is made of his having wife or family. He was possibly of the Amsterdam family of that name. His early death was a great loss to the colony.

A Thomas Williams is mentioned by Hon. Henry C Murphy ("Historical Magazine," vol. iii. pp. 358, 359), in a list of some of Robinson's congregation who did not go to New England in either the MAY-FLOWER, FORTUNE, ANNE, Or LITTLE JAMES. He either overlooked the fact that Williams was one of the MAY-FLOWER pa.s.sengers, or else there were two of the name, one of whom did not go. Nothing is known of the age or former history of the Pilgrim of that name. He died in the spring of 1621 (before the end of March). As he signed the Compact, he must have been over twenty-one. He may have left a wife, Sarah.

John Goodman we know little more about than that he and Peter Browne seem to have been "lost" together, on one occasion (when he was badly frozen), and to have had, with his little spaniel dog, a rencontre with "two great wolves," on another. He was twice married, the last time at Leyden in 1619. He died before the end of March, 1621.

As he signed the Compact, he must have been over twenty-one.

Edward Margeson we know nothing about. As he signed the Compact, he was presumably of age.

Richard Britteridge affords little data. His age, birthplace, or occupation do not transpire, but he was, it seems, according to Bradford, the first of the company to die on board the ship after she had cast anchor in the harbor of New Plymouth. This fact negatives the pleasant fiction of Mrs. Austin's "Standish of Standish" (p. 104), that Britteridge was one of those employed in cutting sedge on sh.o.r.e on Friday, January 12. Poor Britteridge died December 21, three weeks earlier. He signed the Compact, and hence may be accounted of age at the landing at Cape Cod.

Richard Clarke appears only as one of the pa.s.sengers and as dying before the end of March. He signed the Compact, and hence was doubtless twenty-one or over.

Richard Gardiner, we know from Bradford, "became a seaman and died in England or at sea." He was evidently a young man, but of his age or antecedents nothing appears. He signed the Compact, and hence was at least twenty-one years old.

John Alderton (sometimes spelled Allerton), we are told by Bradford,--as elsewhere noted,--"was hired, but was reputed one of the company, but was to go back, being a seaman and so, presumably, unmindful of the voyages, for the help of others." Whether Bradford intended by the latter clause to indicate that he had left his family behind, and came "to spy out the land," and, if satisfied, to return for them, or was to return for the counsel and a.s.sistance of Robinson and the rest, who were to follow, is not clear, but the latter view has most to support it. We learn his occupation, but can only infer that he was a young man over twenty-one from the above and the fact that he signed the Compact. It has been suggested that he was a relative of Isaac Allerton, but this is nowhere shown and is improbable. He died before the MAY-FLOWER returned to England.

Thomas English (or Enlish), Bradford tells us ("Historie," Ma.s.s. ed.

p. 533), "was hired to goe Master of a [the] shallop here." He, however, "died here before the ship returned." It is altogether probable that he was the savior of the colony on that stormy night when the shallop made Plymouth harbor the first time, and, narrowly escaping destruction, took shelter under Clarke's Island. The first three governors of the colony, its chief founders,--Carver, Bradford, and Winslow,--with Standish, Warren, Hopkins, Howland, Dotey, and others, were on board, and but for the heroism and prompt action of "the l.u.s.ty sea man which steered," who was--beyond reasonable doubt--English, as Bradford's narrative ("Morton's Memorial") shows, the lives of the entire party must, apparently, have been lost. That English was, if on board--Bradford shows in the "Memorial" that he was--as Master of the shallop, properly her helmsman in so critical a time, goes without saying, especially as the "rudder was broken" and an oar subst.i.tuted; that the ship's "mates," Clarke and Coppin, were not in charge (although on board) fully appears by Bradford's account; and as it must have taken all of the other (four) seamen on board to pull the shallop, bereft of her sail, in the heavy breakers into which she had been run by Coppin's blunder, there would be no seaman but English for the steering-oar, which was his by right. Had these leaders been lost at this critical time,--before a settlement had been made,--it is certain that the colony must have been abandoned, and the Pilgrim impress upon America must have been lost. English's name should, by virtue of his great service, be ever held in high honor by all of Pilgrim stock. His early death was a grave loss. Bradford spells the name once Enlish, but presumably by error. He signed the Compact as Thomas English.

William Trevore was, according to Bradford, one of "two seamen hired to stay a year in the countrie." He went back when his time expired, but later returned to New England. Cushman (Bradford, "Historie,"

p. 122) suggests that he was telling "sailors' yarns." He says: "For William Trevore hath lavishly told but what he knew or imagined of Capewock Martha's Vineyard, Monhiggon, and ye Narragansetts." In 1629 he was at Ma.s.sachusetts Bay in command of the HANDMAID (Goodwin, p. 320), and in February, 1633 (Winthrop, vol. i. p. 100), he seems to have been in command of the ship WILLIAM at Plymouth, with pa.s.sengers for Ma.s.sachusetts Bay. Captain Standish testified in regard to Thompson's Island in Boston harbor, that about 1620 he "was on that Island with Trevore," and called it "Island Trevore."

(Bradford, "Historie," Deane's ed. p. 209.) He did not sign the Compact, perhaps because of the limitations of his contract (one year).

--- Ely (not Ellis, as Arber miscalls him, "The Story of the Pilgrim Fathers," p. 377) was the other of the "two seamen hired to stay a year," etc. He also returned when his time expired. (Bradford, Hist. Ma.s.s. ed. p. 534.) He did not sign the Compact, probably for the reason operative in .Trevore's case. A digest of the foregoing data gives the following interesting, if incomplete, data (errors excepted):--

Adult males (hired seamen and servants of age included)... 44 Adult females (including Mrs. Carver's maid).............. 19 Youths, male children, and male servants, minors.......... 29 Maidens, female children.................................. 10 ------- 102

Married males............................................. 26 Married females........................................... 18 Single (adult) males (and young men)...................... 25 Single (adult) females (Mrs. Carver's maid)............... 1

Vocations of adults so far as known (except wives, who are presumed housekeepers for their husbands):--

Carpenters................................................ 2 Cooper.................................................... 1 Fustian-worker and silk-dyer.............................. 1 Hatter.................................................... 1 Lay-reader................................................ 1 Lady's-maid............................................... 1 Merchants................................................. 3 Physician................................................. 1 Printers and publishers................................... 2 Seamen.................................................... 4 Servants (adult).......................................... 10 Smith..................................................... 1 Soldier................................................... 1 Tailor.................................................... 1 Tradesmen................................................. 2 Wool-carders.............................................. 2

Allowing for the addition of Wilder and the two sailors, Trevore and Ely, who did not sign it, the number of those who signed the Compact tallies exactly with the adult males. Besides these occupations, it is known that several of the individuals representing them were skilled in other callings, and were at some time teachers, accountants, linguists, writers, etc., while some had formerly practised certain handicrafts; Dr. Fuller, e.g. having formerly been a "silk-worker," Brad ford (on the authority of Belknap), a "silk-dyer," and others "fustian-workers."

Hopkins had apparently sometime before dropped his character of "lay-reader," and was a pretty efficient man of affairs, but his vocation at the time of the exodus is not known.

The former occupations of fourteen of the adult colonists, Browne, Billington, Britteridge, Cooke, Chilton, Clarke, Crackstone, Goodman, Gardiner, Rogers, Rigdale, Turner, Warren, and Williams are not certainly known. There is evidence suggesting that Browne was a mechanic; Billington and Cooke had been trained to husbandry; that Chilton had been a small tradesman; that Edward Tilley had been, like his brother, a silk-worker; that Turner was a tradesman, and Warren a farmer; while it is certain that Cooke, Rogers, and Warren had been men of some means.

Of the above list of fourteen men whose last occupations before joining the colonists are unknown, only five, viz. Browne, Billington, Cooke, Gardiner, and Warren lived beyond the spring of 1621. Of these, Warren died early, Gardiner left the colony and "became a seaman;" the other three, Billington, Browne, and Cooke, became "planters." Thomas Morton, of "Merry Mount," in his "New Eng land's Canaan" (p. 217), gives Billington the sobriquet "Ould Woodman."

The early deaths of the others make their former handicrafts--except as so much data pertaining to the composi tion and history of the colony-- matters of only ephemeral interest.

CHAPTER VII

QUARTERS, COOKING, PROVISIONS

Probably no more vexatious problem presented itself for the time being to the "governors" of the two vessels and their "a.s.sistants," upon their selection, than the a.s.signment of quarters to the pa.s.sengers allotted to their respective ships. That these allotments were in a large measure determined by the requirements of the women and children may be considered certain. The difficulties attendant on due recognition of social and official station (far more imperative in that day than this) were in no small degree lessened by the voluntary a.s.signment of themselves, already mentioned, of some of the Leyden chief people to the smaller ship; but in the interests of the general welfare and of harmony, certain of the leaders, both of the Leyden and London contingents, were of necessity provided for in the larger vessel. The allotments to the respective ships made at Southampton, the designation of quarters in the ships themselves, and the final readjustments upon the MAY-FLOWER at Plymouth (England), when the remaining pa.s.sengers of both ships had been united, were all necessarily determined chiefly with regard to the needs of the women, girls, and babes. Careful a.n.a.lysis of the list shows that there were, requiring this especial consideration, nineteen women, ten young girls, and one infant. Of the other children, none were so young that they might not readily bunk with or near their fathers in any part of the ship in which the latter might be located.