History Heritage Pilgrim - Frisby

PILGRIMS
The foundation of the colony of New Plymouth founded in the new world by the Pilgrims was one of
the major events in the early history of the American colonies. “The Pilgrims were a group of people
'in ye North parts' of England, where 'many became enlightened by ye word of God, and had their
ignorance and sins discovered unto them, and begane by his grace to reforme their lives.' For this
they were scoffed and scorned 'by ye prophane multitude.”
Among the early Pilgrims was a group of separatists, also known
as Brownists, who were members of a radical religious movement
that broke or separated from the new Protestant Church of England
during the reign of Elizabeth I, Queen of England in the16th and
17th centuries.
The only remaining wing of the original Scrooby Manor House. William
Brewster resided here and this is the place where the Pilgrims first met in
secret following their separation from the Church of England. Photo by
Eugene A. Fortine
In 1606, after much persecution, William Brewster
led a group of separatists to Leiden (Leyden), The
Netherlands, (Holland) to escape religious
persecution in England. After living in Leiden for ten
to twelve years, some members of the group voted to
immigrate to America. The voyage was financed by a
group of London investors who were promised
produce from America during their first six years in
exchange for their assistance.
The congregation of John Robinson traveled by barge
from Leiden on the river Vliet to Delft Haven where
they boarded the hired ship called the Speedwell to
take them from Delft Haven, the Netherlands,
(Holland) to Southampton, England, to meet up with
the Mayflower.
The two ships
planned to sail
together to Northern Virginia. The
Speedwell departed Delfthaven on July
22, and arrived at Southampton, where
they found the Mayflower waiting for
them. The Speedwell had been leaking
on her voyage from the Netherlands to
England, though, so they spent the next
week patching her up.
The Mayflower was hired in London,
and sailed from London to Southampton
in July 1620 to begin loading food and
supplies for the voyage-much of which
was purchased at Southhampton.
Speedwell Passenger List 1620
ALLERTON
Isaac (34), tailor
Mary [Norris] (32), wife
FLETCHER
Moses (c.38), blacksmith
FULLER
TILLEY
Edward (46), occupation unknown
Agnes/Alice/Ann_____(?), wife
Bartholmew (8), son
Edward (c. 25), occupation unknown
Remember (6), daughter
Ann _____(?), wife
John (49), silk-worker
Samuel, Jr. (5), son
Joan (Hurst) Rogers, wife
FULLER
Mary (4), daughter
BLOSSOM
Dr. Thomas F. (?)
BRADFORD
William (31), fustian-maker
Dorothy [May] (c.23), wife
BREWSTER
William (54), teacher/printer
Mary _____(?), wife
John (8), son
Love (9), son
Wrestling (6), son
BROWNE
Peter (20), occupation unknown
FULLER
Dr. Samuel (35), physician
GOODMAN
John (25), linen-weaver
HOLBECK
William (?), servant
HOOKE
John (13-14), servant
HOWLAND
John (28), servant
MARGESON
Edward (?), occupation unknown
MINTER
Desire (20), with Carvers
CARVER
Catherine [White-Leggatt] (?),
wife
PRIEST
CHILTON
RIGDALE
Digory (40), hatter
James (57), tailor
John (?), occupation unknown
Susanna [Furner] (?), wife
Alice _____(?), wife
Mary (15), daughter
CLARKE
Richard (?), hired seaman
COOKE
Francis (43), wool-comber
CRACKSTON
John (35), occupation unknown
John, Jr. (?), son
CUSHMAN
Mary (?), wife
DELANO
Philip (18)
EATON
Francis (25), carpenter
Sarah _____(?), wife
RING
William (?), occupation unknown
ROGERS
Thomas (30+), camlet merchant
Joseph (12), son
SOULE
George (21), servant
STANDISH
Myles (36), military leader
Rose_____(?), wife
STORY
Elias (42), hired seaman
THOMSON
Edward (?), servant
TILLEY
Elizabeth (14), daughter
TINKER
Thomas (39), wood-sawyer
Mrs, Tinker [?] (?), wife
Son Tinker (?)
TURNER
John (39), merchant
Elder son Turner (?)
Younger son Turner (?)
WHITE
William (28), wood-carver
Susanna [Fuller] (26), wife
Resolved (5), son
WILDER
Roger (?), servant
WILLIAMS
Thomas (?), occupation unknown
WINSLOW
Edward (25), printer
Elizabeth [Barker] (23), wife
The following is a letter written by John Robinson and given to the Pilgrims as they set sail from Southampton. The
letters of Robinson to the colony were very precious to the Pilgrims, as of an absent father to this flock, fraught with wise
counsels, and with feelings of an affectionate heart. He always looked upon them as his people, and they looked to him as
their Pastor; for to the day of his death neither he nor they had abandoned the hope of being again united.
(Spelling and grammar is unchanged and is as it appears in the original document)
CERETAINE VSEFVL
ADVERTISEMENTS SENT
in a letter written by a descreete friend vnto
the Planters in New England, at their first setting
saile from Southhampton, who earnestly desireth
the prosperitie of that their new
Plantation
* *
*
Loving and Christian friends, I doe heartily and in the Lord salute you all, as being they with whom I am present
in my best affection, and most earnest longings after you, though I be constrained for a while to be bodily absent from
you, I say constrained, god knowing how willingly and much rather that otherwise I would haue borne m part with you in
this first brunt, were I not by strong necessitie held backe for the present. Make account of me in the meane while, as of a
man duided in my selfe with great paine, and as (naturall bonds set aside) hauing my better part with you. And though I
doubt not but in our godly wisedomes you both foresee and resolue vpon that which concerneth your present state and
condition both seuerally and ioyntly, yet haue I thought but my dutie to adde some further spurre of prouocation vnto
them who run already, if not because you need it, yet because I owe it in loue and dutie.
And first, as we are daily to renew our repentance with our God, speciall for our sinnes knowne, and generall for
our vnknown trespasses, so doth the Lord call vs in a singular manner vpon occasions of such difficultie and danger as
lieth vpon you, to a both more narrow search and carefull reformation of our wayes in his sight, lest he calling to
remembrance our sinnes forgotten by vs or vnrepented of, take aduantage against vs, and in iudgement leaue vs for the
same to be swallowed vp in one danger or other; whereas on the contrary sin being taken away by earnest repentance and
the pardon thereof from the lord, sealed vp vnto a mans conscience by his Spirit, great shall be his securitie and peace in
all dangers, sweete his comforts in all distresses, with happy deliuerance from all euill, whether in life or in death.
Now next after this heauenly peace with God and our owne consciences, we are carefully to prouide for peace
with all men what in vs lieth, especially with our associates, and for that end watchfulness must be had, that we neither at
all in our selues do glue, no nor easily take offence being giuen by others. Woe be vnto the world for offences, for though
it be necessary (considering the malice of Satan and mans corruption) that offences come, yet woe vnto the man or woman
either by whom the offence cometh, saith Christ, Math. 18.7. And if offences in the vnseasonable vse of things in
themselues indifferent, be more to be feared than death itselfe, as the Apostle teacheth, 1. Cor. 9. 15 how much more in
things simply euill, in which neither honour of God nor loue of man is thought worthy to be regarded.
Neither yet is it sufficient that we keep our selues by the grace of God from giuing offence, except withal we be
armed against the taking of them when they are giuen by others. For how vnperfect and lame is the worke of grace in that
person, who wants charitie to couer a multitude of offences, as the Scriptures speake. Neither are you to be exhorted to
this grace onely vpon the common grounds of Christianitie, which are, that persons ready to take offence, either want
charite to cover offences, or wisedome duly to weigh humane frailtie; or lastly are grosse, though close hypocrites, as
Christ our Lord teacheth, Math. 7. 1, 2, 3. as indeed in mine owne experience, few or none haue beene found which
sooner giue offence, that such as easily take it; neither haue they euer nourished in themselues that touchey humour. But
besides these, there are diuer spetiall motiues prouoking you aboue others to great care and conscience this way: As first,
you are many of you strangers, as to the persons, so to the infirmities one of another, and so stand in neede of more
watchfulnesse this way, lest when such things fall out in men and women as you suspected not, you be inordinately
affected with them; which doth require at your hands much wisedome and charitie for the couering and preuenting of
incident offences that way. And lastly your intended course of ciuill communitie wil minister continuall occasion of
offence, and will be as fuell for that fire, except you diligently quench it with brotherly forbearance. And if taking of
offence causelessly or easily at mens doings be so carefully to be auoided, how much more heed is to be taken that we
take not offence at God himselfe, which yet we certainly do so oft as we do murrmure at his prouidence in our crosses, or
beare impatiently such afflictions as wherewith he pleaseth to visit vu. Store we vp therefore patience against the euill
day, withour which we take offence at the Lord himselfe in his holy and iust works.
A fourth thing there is carefully to be prouided for, to wit, that with your common employments you ioyne
common affections truly bent vpon the general good, auoiding as a deadly plague of your both common and speciall
comfort all retirednesse of minde for proper aduantage, and all singularly affected any maner of way; let euery man
represse in himselfe and the whole bodie in each person, as so many rebel against the common good, all priuate respects
of mens selues, not sorting with the generall conueniencie. And as men are carefull not to haue a new house shaken with
any violence before it be well settled and the parts firmly knit: so be you, I beseech you brethren, much more carefull, that
the house of God which you are and are to be, be not shaken with vnnessary nouelitis or other oppositions at the first
settling thereof.
Lastly, whereas you are to become a body politik, using amongst your selues ciuill gouernment, and are not
furnished with any person of speciall eminencie aboue the rest, to be chosen by you into office of gouernment: Let your
wisedome and godlinesse appeare, not onely in chusing such persons as do entirely loue, and will diligently promote the
common good, but also in yielding vnto them all due honour and obedience in their lawfull administrations, no beholding
in them the ordinarinesse of their persons, but God’s ordinance for your good; nor being like vnto the foolish multitude,
who more honour the gay coate, that either the virtuous mind of the man, or glorious ordinance of the Lord. But you
know better things, and that the image of the Lords power and authoritie which the magistrate beareth, is honorable, in
how meane persons soeuer. And this dutie you both may the more willingly, and ought the mor conscionably to performe,
because you are at least for the present to haue onely them for you ordinary gouernours, which your selues shall make
choise of for that worke.
Sundrie other things of importance I could put you in mind of, and of those before mentioned in more words, but I
will not so far wrong your godly minds, as to think you heedlesse of these things, there being also diuers among you so
well able to admonish both themselues and others of what concerneth them. These few things therefore, and the same in
few words I do earnestly commend vnto your care and conscience, ioyning therewith my daily incessant prayers vnto the
Lord, that he who hath made the heauens and the earth, the sea and all riuers of waters, and whose prouidence is ouer all
his workes, especially ouer all his deare children for good, would so guide and guard you in your wayes, as inwardly by
his Spirit, so outwardly by the hand of his power, as that both you and we also, for and with you, may haue after matter of
praising his Name all the days of your and our liues. Fare you well in him in whom you trust, and in whom I rest.
An vnfained, well-willer
of your happie successe
in this hopefull voyage,
I. R.
The Pilgrims never did obtain a valid charter from the King. Without financial assistance from others, it would be
impossible to undertake such a move. For this reason, the Pilgrims were compelled to get together with those who had
financial resources. Thus it was that they ended up making a compact with Thomas Weston and a group of “merchant
adventurers” who financed the expedition in return for anticipated profit that was to be provided by the labor of the colony
in the new world.
On August 5, the two ships finally set sail for America. But the Speedwell began leaking again, so they pulled into the
town of Dartmouth for repairs, arriving there about August 12. The Speedwell was patched up again, and the two ships
again set sail for America, about August 21. After the two ships had sailed about 300 miles out to sea, the Speedwell
again began to leak. Frustrated with the enormous amount of time lost, and their inability to fix the Speedwell so that it
could be sea-worthy, they returned to Plymouth, England, and made the decision to leave the Speedwell behind. The
Mayflower would go to America alone. The cargo on the
Speedwell was transferred over to the Mayflower, some of
the passengers were so tired and disappointed with all the
problems that they quit and went home. Others crammed
themselves onto the now very crowded Mayflower.
The Speedwell in the Port of Dartmouth
Finally, on September 16, 1620, these separatists were part
of a group numbering 102 men, women and children who
left Plymouth, England, for America on the Mayflower.
Other passengers were English families or individuals who
were hoping to better their life situations, or were seeking
financial gain. These two general groups have sometimes
been referred to as the “saints” and “strangers”. By the time
the Pilgrims had left England, they had already been living
onboard the ships for nearly a month and a half.
Mayflower Passenger List
John Alden
John Carver
Ellen More
Edward Tilley
Isaac Allerton
Katherine (White) Carver John Goodman
Richard Gardinar
Jasper More
Ann (Cooper) Tilley
Mary (Norris) Allerton
James Chilton
William Holbeck
Richard More
John Tilley
Bartholomew Allerton
Mrs. Chilton
John Hooke
Mary More
Joan (Hurst) Tilley
Remember Allerton
Mary Chilton
Stephen Hopkins
William Mullins
Elizabeth Tilley
Mary Allerton
Richard Clarke
Elizabeth (Fisher) Hopkins Mrs. Alice Mullins
Thomas Tinker, wife, and son
John Allerton
Francis Cooke
Constance Hopkins
Priscilla Mullins
William Trevore
John Billington
John Cooke
Giles Hopkins
Joseph Mullins
John Turner, and two sons
Eleanor Billington
Humility Cooper
Damaris Hopkins
Degory Priest
Richard Warren
John Billington
John Crackston
Oceanus Hopkins
Solomon Prower
William White
Francis Billington
John Crackston
John Howland
John Rigsdale
Mrs. Susanna White
William Bradford
Edward Doty
John Langmore
Alice Rigsdale
Resolved White
Dorothy (May) Bradford Francis Eaton
William Latham
Thomas Rogers
Roger Wilder
William Brewster
Mrs. Sarah Eaton
Edward Leister
Joseph Rogers
Thomas Williams
Mrs. Mary Brewster
Samuel Eaton
Edmund Margesson
Henry Samson
Edward Winslow
Love Brewster
Thomas English
Christopher Martin
George Soule
Elizabeth (Barker) Winslow
Wrestling Brewster
Moses Fletcher
Mary (Prower) Martin
Myles Standish
Gilbert Winslow
Richard Britteridge
Edward Fuller
Desire Minter
Mrs. Rose Standish
Peter Browne
Mrs. Fuller
Elias Story
"Mr. Ely"
William Button
Samuel Fuller
Edward Thompson
Dorothy, Carver's maidservant
Robert Carter
Samuel Fuller
The voyage itself across the Atlantic Ocean took 66 days. The first half of the voyage went fairly smoothly, the only
major problem was sea-sickness. But by October, they began encountering a number of Atlantic storms that made the
voyage treacherous. Several times, the wind was so strong they had to just drift where the weather took them, it was not
safe to use the ship’s sails. It being so late in the year, the passengers found it almost impossible to keep warm and dry.
The pounding of heavy seas opened up many seams in the deck and superstructure, letting cascades of icy water down
upon the frightened passengers curled up on their narrow bunks below, many of whom were already suffering from
seasickness. William Butten, a youth and servant to Samuel Fuller was the only passenger who died on the voyage. After
a main beam broke in the storm, the skipper himself became seriously concerned, and there was much discussion among
the officers about turning back. But the beam was repaired with a great iron screw a passenger had brought with him from
Holland, the ship pronounced safe by the captain, although
leaky in her upper works, and the voyage continued.
On November 11, November 21 (old style calendar), the
Mayflower dropped anchor in the sheltered harbor off the site
of present-day Provincetown, Massachusetts. On December
21, after an exploratory voyage along Cape Cod, the Pilgrims
landed and disembarked from the Mayflower near the head of
the cape and founded Plymouth Colony. Today, people in New
England celebrate December 21 as Forefathers’ Day.
The feelings of the Pilgrims on this occasion are best expressed
by William Bradford: “Being thus arrived in a good harbor and
brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed ye
God of Heaven, who had brought them over ye vast and furious
ocean, and delivered them from all ye periles and miseries therof, againe to set their feete on ye firme and stable earth,
their proper elemente…”
The Pilgrims had originally intended to go to Virginia, where they would have been under the jurisdiction of the London
Company, one of two English companies that had been chartered to colonize North America. But they were blown off
course and had no grant to settle in the region controlled by the Plymouth Company, the other English company. Thus the
Pilgrims drew up the Mayflower Compact which served as a precursor to constitutional law in America. This was the first
agreement that formed a government by the consent of the governed. The Mayflower Compact was completed and signed
on the ship, Mayflower (old May Floure) which was anchored off the coast of Massachusetts. The compact gave the
settlers the power to frame and enact laws for the general good of the planned settlement. All adult male passengers on
the ship were required to sign it. Most of the Pilgrims were members of the Separatist congregation that had split from the
Church of England. However, some were not, and these people sought independence from the separatists. To prevent
this, Separatist leaders wrote the compact, which was modeled after the covenant that had established their Separatist
faith. Under this informal agreement or covenant, government was based on consent of the governed, an important
precedent for the development of American democracy. All colonists had to obey the laws that were enacted. This
compact established majority rule, which remained a primary principle of the government in Plymouth Colony until
Massachusetts Bay Colony absorbed the colony in 1691. John Carver was selected as governor; he was succeeded in
1621 by William Bradford.
THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT
November 11, 1620
(This was November 21, old style calendar)
In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread
Sovereign Lord, King James, by the Grace of God, of great Britaine, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of
the Faith, &c.
Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of
our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first colony in the Northerne Parts of Virginia; doe, by these
Presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine
ourselves together into a civill Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of
the ends aforesaid; and by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equall Laws,
Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Offices, from time to time, as shall be tho
ught most meete and convenient for the Generall Good of the Colonie; unto which we promise all due
Submission and Obedience.
In Witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the eleventh of
November, in the Raigne of our Sovereigne Lord, King James of England, France, and Ireland, the
eighteenth, and of Scotland, the fiftie-fourth, Anno. Dpomini, 1620.
Mr. John Carver
Mr. William Bradford
Mr. Edward Winslow
Mr. William Brewster
Miles Standish
John Alden
Isaac Allerton
John Turner
Francis Eaton
James Chilton
James Craxton
John Billiington
Joses Fletcher
John Goodman
Mr. Samuel Fuller
Mr. Christopher Martin
Mr. William Mullins
Mr. William White
Mr. Richard Warren
John Howland
Edward Liester
Mr. Stephen Hopkins
Digery Priest
Gilbert Winslow
Edmund Margesson
Thomas Williams
Peter Brown
Richard Bitteridge
Geoge Soule
Edward Tilley
John Tilley
Francis Cooke
Thomas Rogers
Thomas Tinker
John Ridgate
Edward Fuller
Richard Clark
Richard Gardiner
Mr. John Allerton
Thomas English
Edward Doten
Although the Leiden congregation had sent its strongest members with various skills for establishing the new colony,
nearly half of the passengers died the first winter from an epidemic of “great sickness.” They arrived in the fall when
everything was brown and no fresh fruits or vegetables were available. They had lived on salted or dried meat for months.
It was after a year or two that they finally discovered that the illness was scurvy and caused by the lack of fresh foods.
That first winter was a period of fatigue, anxiety, sickness, sadness and death.
Anyone who arrived in Plymouth on the Mayflower and survived the initial hardships is now considered a Pilgrim with no
distinction being made on the basis of their original purposes for making the voyage. Originally, there were saints and
strangers. Saints were the Pilgrims and strangers were those who came for other reasons than religion.
The Pilgrim sarcophagus containing the remains of many of the Pilgrims who died the first winter sits high on Cole's Hill overlooking Plymouth Harbor. This was the
site of the first burial ground. Photos were taken by Laura Shull of Arkansas Mayflower Society.
The Sarchophagus Monument erected to the memory of those who perished the first winter holds the remains gathered over the years either from the rainstorm or by
excavation. Placed inside this sarcophagus in a plain pine box sealed inside a waterproof box are those remains. This monument was erected by the General Society of
Mayflower Descendants in 1920. Their names, a quote from the diary of Wm. Bradford and inscription about how the original bodies may have been buried marks this
important and impressive monument.
The names of John and Joan Tilley and John’s brother Edward may be engraved on the tomb.
The inscription on the Sarcophagus reads:
Here under cover of darkness the fast dwindling company laid their dead, leveling the earth above them lest the Indians should learn how many were their graves.
Reader, history records no nobler venture for faith and freedom than that of this pilgrim band. In weariness and painfulness in watchings often in hunger and cold, they
laid the foundations of a state wherein every man through countless ages should have liberty to worship God in his own way. May their example inspire thee to do thy
part in perpetuating and spreading the lofty ideals of our Republic throughout the world.
All the while the Pilgrim company had been overcome with sickness, growing weaker and weaker, “ye Indeans came
skulking about them,” causing great concern. One day, to their amazement, a tall powerful warrior emerged from the
woods, crossed the clearing, and came striding down the street toward the Common House. When the dumbfounded
Pilgrims ran out to interceop him, he greeted them in English, “Welcome.” His name was Samoset. He told them that
four years previously a devasting plague had swept the forests of New England. The Patuxet tribe, a large and formidable
one in its day, had occupied the area where the Pilgrims had now settled, but had been completely wiped out except for
one person, a friend of his named Squanto. Samoset later introduced Squanto to the Pilgrims. His extraordinary career
had taken him to England with a white exploring party in 1605 where he had learned to speak English. He had returned
with Captain John Smith in 1614, only to be kidnapped away a short time later by a ship which put in at Patuxet
(Plymouth) harbor and lured a number of Indians on board under the pretext of trade, then seized and bound them and
sailed for Spain, where they were sold on the slave market. Squanto managed to get away and made his way to London,
where he lived for several years before sailing again to America with an exploring party. When he returned to Plymouth,
just six months before the arrival of the Mayflower, he discovered that the plague had exterminated all of his people –
every man, woman, and child; all of his family and friends. All that remained was abandoned cornfields, white skulls and
bleached bones. By this strange chain of fate, Squanto had been spared to become the last of the Patuxet. Upon hearing
Squanto’s story, the Pilgrims considered it to be a special providence of God in “opening up a way for them,” since they
did not now have to contend with the Patuxet tribe for the possession of the ground. Squanto quickly embraced the
Pilgrim faith, came to live with them, and was a faithful friend until the day he died. Without Squanto’s help, it is
doubtful that the struggling Pilgrim community could have survived. The seed that they had brought with them from
England did poorly, but Squanto taught them how to plant corn and catch fish. Even then, the gaunt specter of starvation
haunted them day and night for years.
The relations with the Indians were almost too successful. Indian warriors soon began streaming into the Pilgrim village,
expecting to be wined and dined. Braves would drop in at all hours of the day and night, often with their wives and
children, and all had insatiable thirsts and appetites. The Pilgrims hardly had enough provisions for themselves, but they
were also hesitant to offend the Indians.
With Squanto as guide, the Pilgrims sent two men to the Massasoit chief to see if they could put a stop to this “disorderly
coming.” After being presented with a fancy red coat as a gift, the chief agreed to their request. The poor Pilgrims had
eaten nothing all day and looked hopefully about them for supper. None was offered. They went to bed hungry, being
invited to share the royal couch with the chief and his squaw. It was hard and uncomfortable, and two big braves came in
later and lay down on top of them. The next morning the chief went fishing and returned about noon with two bass, which
were thrown into a pot and boiled. After sharing this “feast” with forty famished braves, the Pilgrims felt hungrier than
before. Being faint and dizzy from fatigue, hunger, and lack of sleep, and fearing that they may not make it home, they
sent a runner ahead of them with instructions to bring back food from Plymouth and meet them along the way.
The Wampanoag leader Massasoit signed a peace treaty with the colonists in which each promised to live in peace and
support the other if attacked. In the fall of 1621 the Pilgrims and the Native Americans shared a bountiful harvest of corn,
beans, along with fish and game, in what became known as the first American Thanksgiving.
The Wampanoag was a North American tribe of the Alogonquian-Ritwan language family and of the Northeast culture
area. They formerly occupied the territory between the eastern shore of Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic coast,
including the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. In 1620 the Wampanoag were said to be settled in about 30
villages.
Although their first harvest had met with only marginal success, the Pilgrims had much to be thankful for. They were able
to double their weekly food ration, they had made peace with the Indians and most of all, there had been no sickness
among them for months.
One day late in 1621, a tall white sail appeared on the horizon. It was the “Fortune” with 35 “saints” and “strangers” on
board. Although delighted to again meet many of their brethren from the Leyden congregation, the Pilgrim leaders were
dismayed to find that they brought very little, in the way of provisions. Instead, they brought a letter from Thomas
Weston on behalf of the “merchant adventurers”, criticizing them for keeping the Mayflower so long the previous winter
and then sending her back empty. Stung by Weston’s remarks, the Pilgrims worked hard to load up the “Fortune” with
beaver and otter pelts obtained through trade with the Indians, along with hardwood timer and other items. The “Fortune”
departed on December 13, loaded down with enough cargo to satisfy almost half of the Pilgrim’s debt to the merchants.
On the way back to England, the “Fortune” was captured by a French privateer and taken to a small island, where its
cargo was confiscated and those on board robbed and imprisoned. They did receive one more substantial group of saints
from Leyden—on the “Anne” in 1623—but with only enough provisions to sustain the new arrivals at a subsistence level
until the next harvest.
For three years, the Pilgrims fought the grim spectre of starvation on the community of common wealth system. Then a
momentous decision was made that completely altered the Pilgrim’s fortunes. Every family was assigned a parcel of land
and was responsible for growing corn on their land. This had very good success; for it made all hands very industrious, so
as much more corn was planted. The Pilgrim harvest was so abundant that fall of 1623 that they never again suffered
from lack of food. Many of them had enough extra corn that it became a major trading commodity, both within the
Pilgrim community and in external trade with the Indians and other white settlers.
After 1632 many of the Pilgrims began to scatter into the surrounding countryside in search of better farming
opportunities, and many new towns were formed which were offshoots from Plymouth.
That these Pilgrims were truly assisted by the Lord and guided by His Spirit is confirmed in the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 13.
References:
Internet searches
“Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth”