Special Sub-Topic: The Mayflower, Its Occupants and Crew Authored by: Redlass Sub-topic of: US Colonial History

Everyone knows that the Mayflower brought the Pilgrims to America and that's why we all get to pig out on a Thursday in November. But where else did the Mayflower sail?

Norway. In 1609, the Mayflower was hired to take hats, hemp, herring, salt, tar, wine, and vinegar to Norway. It arrived a month late. (It took longer than expected to load it, plus there was stormy weather - and the person who hired it had been thrown in jail because he had defaulted on his debts).

There was one other ship that was hired to accompany the Mayflower but it turned out to be a leaky vessel that wasn’t deemed seaworthy for the arduous trip across the Atlantic. What was the name of this rickety tub?

Speedwell. In 1620, both the Mayflower and the Speedwell attempted to make a trip to America. Unfortunately, the Speedwell was leaking. They put in to port and eventually abandoned the Speedwell and packed the passengers and cargo onto the Mayflower.

The Mayflower’s captain owned another ship before he got the Mayflower. The ship, named after his wife, was called:

Josian. It seems the owner of the Mayflower, Christopher Jones, traded the Josian to Robert Burton of Leigh for the Mayflower.

On what day did the Mayflower leave Plymouth, England?

September 6, 1620. After the unsuccessful attempt earlier in the summer to get to America with the Speedwell, the Mayflower finally left Plymouth, England on September 6, 1620.

The Mayflower left England with 102 passengers. How many passengers arrived in Plymouth Harbor?

102. 102 left England and 102 arrived at Cape Cod. Oceanus Hopkins was born and a servant boy died. Two children conceived during the voyage were born post arrival - Peregrine White and the Allerton baby. A crew member also died, but he wasn’t one of the passengers.

One lusty sailor passed the time by haranging the other passengers when they got seasick. He said he hoped he’d throw half of them overboard after they died of their seasickness. When asked to desist he would swear and curse, further offending the religious passengers. What was this sailor’s fate?

He died of seasickness.. The only surviving first-hand account we have of the journey tells this story of "God’s providence".

When was Thanksgiving first made an official holiday?

1863. Abraham Lincoln declared it an official holiday in 1863. It is thought that the date was picked to be close to the anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod on Nov. 21, 1620.

What variety of Christianity did the passengers of the Mayflower adhere to?

Protestants. There is a widespread but erroneous belief that the passengers were all "Separatists" who wanted to leave the Church of England. This is true of about half of them. The others were more ot less loyal to the Church of England. The notion that the passengers were staunch, God-fearing Calvinists fleeing from religious persecution has become part of American folklore but it's not strictly accurate.

The Patuxet tribe inhabited the land that became the Pilgrims' settlement. All but one (commonly known as Squanto) of the Patuxet were dead by the first Thanksgiving. What happened to them?

They were wiped out by a plague, probably small pox. In 1618 and 1619, the Patuxet and the Nauset were hit heavily by a plague. It is thought that it was either small pox or tuberculosis.

During the first winter when there was so much death and disease, only two of the eleven girls in the colony died. These two girls had an especially sad story. Their parents had gone through a bitter divorce and the "father" learned that he wasn’t the biological parent. So he paid to have them sent to America on the Mayflower to punish his ex-wife for her affair. Who were these girls?

Mary and Ellen. All of the above girls were passengers on the Mayflower, but it was Mary and Ellen More who died.