THE MAYFLOWER
The first Mayflower left Plymouth, England on September 6, 1620 with 102 passengers and about 25 carefully selected crew, arriving in the New World two months later days later. She was a "sweet" ship in that she had been engaged in the wine trade in the Mediterranean since 1616. She had also been engaged in fur trade with Norway and had experienced the storms of the North Sea, a most treacherous body of water. The dimensions of the first Mayflower were 90 feet in length (12 Feet more than a tennis court), 26 feet in width, with a tonnage of 180. Small as she was she was larger than the Discovery, which landed at Virginia in 1607. There was a barn in Buckinghamshire, England, in which some roof timbers and the central cross beam were made from the original ship.
On July 4, 1955, construction started on Mayflower II, a replica of the original ship, in Brixham, England. She was designed by U.S. Naval Architect William Baker and commissioned by Plimouth Plantation. Although her dimensions and tonnage were similar, there were major updates. Mayflower II steered with a wheel instead of a tiller, had a generator, electricity, and two-way radio, as well as superior pumps. She also had a galley without a refrigerator for the preparation of meals. The Pilgrims had a sandbox on which small fires could be kindled and at best they could stew in small pots. In bad weather, this cooking procedure could not be used due to the danger of fire from the burning coals. Mayflower II left England April 20, 1957 and arrived at Plymouth, MA on June 13. It is permanently berthed in Plymouth and well worth a visit.
Mayflower II was Captained by Alan Villiers, an Australian, and had an international crew that numbered 31. Two LIFE Magazine reporters were also on the voyage. The 1967 route went south to pass the Canary Islands, down below the Tropic of Cancer and back up to the west of Bermuda. In 1620, Captain Jones, familiar with the charts and maps of explorers Cabot and Gosnold, took a shorter, more northern route in rougher seas, aiming to stay along the 42nd parallel.
Article from the Tar Heel Pilgrim, May 2000.
Sources: Caffrey, Kate: Mayflower; Williston, George: Saints and Sinners; "California Mayflower," Apr. 1997; "Daughters," Publication of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Nov. 1996; "LIFE MAGAZINE," Apr. 17, 1957; "Mississippi Mayflower Messenger," Apr. 1997 and "New York Mayflower Newsletter," Spring 1998.
THE PILGRIMS
102 passengers sailed from Plymouth and 102 arrived in New England. One passenger, a servant of Deacon Samuel Fuller died, and one child was born at sea. That child was Oceanus, son of Stephen and Elizabeth Hopkins. Unfortunately, the baby died during the first winter.
The voyage took 66 days to cross the Atlantic. The first child born in New England after the ship arrived was Peregrine White, son of William and Susanna White. The landing took place on November 11, 1620, at present day Provincetown, MA, at the tip of Cape Cod.
The first governor of Plymouth Colony was John Carver, who was elected in November 1620, while aboard the Mayflower. He was again elected in March 1621. He died in April 1621.
The first Pilgrims to be married in New England were Edward Winslow and Susanna White, both widowed during the first winter. They were married in a civil ceremony, as was the Pilgrim custom, on May 12, 1621.
Out of 102 passengers, 51 survived the first winter, (1620-1621) Only four of the married women survived - Elizabeth Hopkins, Eleanor Billington, Susanna White, and Mary Brewster. These four women along with the older girls presumably oversaw the food preparation for the three-day harvest feast celebrated by the colonists, Massasoit, and 90 of his Indian men - the feast we now call "The First Thanksgiving". 52 English were at that feast, since Peregrine White was born after arrival.
The Pilgrims didn't use forks. They used a knife, a spoon, a large napkin and their --- fingers, and might share plates and drinking vessels.
William Bradford transcribed his memory of the first Colony in his book titled "Of Plimoth Plantation". The original manuscript is held in the Massachusetts State archives.
(Ka Pupu Nihoniho, November 2000 - Hawaii State Newsletter)
Pilgrim children chores included fetching water from the brook or springs, gathering firewood, herding animals, gathering berries, and other wild plants and helping their parents cook, clean, preserve food, plant and harvest crops and care for younger children.
The children probably played marbles, running games, board games, and ball games. The Pilgrim children were expected to show courtesy to adults, including their parents, by bowing and curtsying to them. They also served meals to their parents and ate after their parents were served, often on stools near the hearth (fireplace).
Boys and girls in the 1600s in England and New England wore gowns (dresses) until they were about seven years old. At that time a boy would be "breeched", that is, dressed for the first time as a young man in scaled-down versions of adult clothing.
There was no school in the early years of New Plymouth. Parents who wanted their children to learn to read and write taught them themselves or had their children taught by neighbors.
(Pilgrim News - Nebraska, Autumn 2000)
