List of Mayflower passengers explained

This is a list of the passengers on board the Mayflower during its trans-Atlantic voyage of September 6 – November 9, 1620, the majority of them becoming the settlers of Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. Of the passengers, 37 were members of a separatist Puritan congregation in Leiden, The Netherlands (also known as Brownists), who were seeking to establish a colony in the New World where they could practice their religion without interference from the English government or church.[1] The Mayflower launched with 102 passengers, 74 male and 28 female, and a crew headed by Master Christopher Jones. About half of the passengers died in the first winter. Many Americans can trace their ancestry back to one or more of these individuals who have become known as the Pilgrims.

Members of the Leiden, Holland Congregation

Note: An asterisk on a name indicates those who died in the winter of 1620–21.

Servants of the Leiden Congregation

Passengers recruited by Thomas Weston, of London Merchant Adventurers

Servants of Merchant Adventurers passengers

Passenger activities and care

Some families traveled together, while some men came alone, leaving families in England and Leiden. Two wives on board were pregnant; Elizabeth Hopkins gave birth to son Oceanus while at sea, and Susanna White gave birth to son Peregrine in late November while the ship was anchored in Cape Cod Harbor. He is historically recognized as the first European child born in the New England area. One young man died during the voyage, and there was one stillbirth during the construction of the colony.

According to the Mayflower passenger list, just over half of the passengers were Puritan Separatists and their dependents. They sought to break away from the established Church of England and create a society along the lines of their religious ideals. Other passengers were hired hands, servants, or farmers recruited by London merchants, all originally destined for the Colony of Virginia. Four of this latter group of passengers were small children given into the care of Mayflower pilgrims as indentured servants. The Virginia Company began the transportation of children in 1618.[13] Until relatively recently, the children were thought to be orphans, foundlings, or involuntary child labor. At that time, children were routinely rounded up from the streets of London or taken from poor families receiving church relief to be used as laborers in the colonies. Any legal objections to the involuntary transportation of the children were overridden by the Privy Council.[14] [15] For instance it has been proven that the four More children were sent to America because they were deemed illegitimate.[16] Three of the four More children died in the first winter in the New World, but Richard lived to be approximately 81, dying in Salem, probably in 1695 or 1696.[17]

The passengers mostly slept and lived in the low-ceilinged great cabins and on the main deck, which was 75 by 20 feet large (23 m × 6 m) at most. The cabins were thin-walled and extremely cramped, and the total area was 25 ft by 15 ft (7.6 m × 4.5 m) at its largest. Below decks, any person over five feet (150 cm) tall would be unable to stand up straight. The maximum possible space for each person would have been slightly less than the size of a standard single bed.[18]

Passengers would pass the time by reading by candlelight or playing cards and games such as nine men's morris.[19] Meals on board were cooked by the firebox, which was an iron tray with sand in it on which a fire was built. This was risky because it was kept in the waist of the ship. Passengers made their own meals from rations that were issued daily and food was cooked for a group at a time.

Upon arrival in America, the harsh climate and scarcity of fresh food were exacerbated by the shortness of provisions due to the delay in departure. Living in these extremely close and crowded quarters, several passengers developed scurvy, a disease caused by a deficiency of vitamin C. At the time the use of lemons or limes to counter this disease was unknown, and the usual dietary sources of vitamin C in fruits and vegetables had been depleted, since these fresh foods could not be stored for long periods without their becoming rotten. Passengers who developed scurvy experienced symptoms such as bleeding gums, teeth falling out, and stinking breath. Passengers consumed large amounts of alcohol such as beer with meals. This was known to be safer than water, which often came from polluted sources causing diseases. All food and drink was stored in barrels known as "hogsheads".

No cattle or beasts of draft or burden were brought on the journey, but there were pigs, goats, and poultry. Some passengers brought family pets such as cats and birds. Peter Browne took his large bitch mastiff, and John Goodman brought along his spaniel.

The passenger William Mullins brought 126 pairs of shoes and 13 pairs of boots in his luggage. Other items included oiled leather and canvas suits, stuff gowns and leather and stuff breeches, shirts, jerkins, doublets, neckcloths, hats and caps, hose, stockings, belts, piece goods, and haberdashery. At his death, his estate consisted of extensive footwear and other items of clothing, and made his daughter Priscilla and her husband John Alden quite prosperous.

Mayflower officers and crew

According to author Charles Edward Banks, the Mayflower had 14 officers consisting of the master, four mates, four quartermasters, surgeon, carpenter, cooper, cook, boatswain, and gunner, plus about 36 men before the mast for a total of 50. More recent authors estimate a crew of about 30. The entire crew stayed with the Mayflower in Plymouth through the winter of 1620–21, and about half of them died. The surviving crew returned to London on the Mayflower on April 5, 1621.

Crew members per various sources

Banks states that the crew totaled 36 men before the mast and 14 officers, making a total of 50. Nathaniel Philbrick estimates between 20 and 30 sailors in her crew whose names are unknown. Nick Bunker states that Mayflower had a crew of at least 17 and possibly as many as 30. Caleb Johnson states that the ship carried a crew of about 30 men, but the exact number is unknown.

Officers and crew

Known Mayflower seamen

Unidentified passenger

Known crew members

Ship crewmen hired to stay one year

Note: Asterisk on any name indicates those who died in the winter of 1620–21.

Animals on board

Two dogs are known to have participated in settling Plymouth. In Mourt's Relation, Edward Winslow writes that a female English Mastiff and a small English Springer Spaniel came ashore on the first explorations of Provincetown. The ship was probably also carrying small domestic animals such as goats, pigs, and chickens. Larger domestic animals came later, such as cows and sheep.[22]

See also

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Who Were the Pilgrims?.
  2. Book: Willis, George . Saints & Strangers: Lives of the Pilgrim Fathers and Their Families . July 5, 2017 . . 9781351492164 . 121-122.
  3. Locations of birth for Mayflower passengers follow Caleb Johnson's list as found at Mayflower History.com . Retrieved August 29, 2006.
  4. Division of passengers by category generally follows Appendix I of Saints and Strangers by George F. Willison with some exceptions.
  5. Humility Cooper and Henry Sampson were both children who joined their uncle and aunt Edward and Ann Tilley for the voyage. Willison lists them as "strangers" because they were not members of the church at Leiden; however, as children they would have been under their aunt and uncle who were members of that group.
  6. A genealogical profile of Edward Fuller http://www.plimoth.org/media/pdf/fuller_edward.pdf
  7. Pilgrim Village Family Sketch Edward Fuller New England Genealogical Historic Society http://www.americanancestors.org/pilgrim-families-edward-fuller/
  8. Ruth Wilder Sherman, CG, FASG, and Robert Moody Sherman, CG, FASG, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Family of William White, Vol. 13, 3rd edition (Pub. by General Society of Mayflower Descendants 2006) p. 3.
  9. A genealogical profile of John Carver (a collaboration of Plimoth Plantation and New England Historic Genealogical Society accessed 2013-04-21) http://www.plimoth.org/media/pdf/carver_john.pdf
  10. David Lindsay, Mayflower Bastard: A Stranger amongst the Pilgrims (New York: St. Martins Press, 2002) p. 27
  11. Memorial for The More children http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=1835987
  12. Book: Lindsay, David . Mayflower Bastard: a Stranger Among the Pilgrims . . 2007 . 9781429976992.
  13. Donald F. Harris, PhD., The Mayflower Descendant (July 1994) vol. 44 no. 2 p. 111
  14. R.C. Johnson, The Transportation of Vagrant Children from London to Virginia, 1618–1622, in H.S. Reinmuth (Ed.), Early Stuart Studies: Essays in Honor of David Harris Willson, Minneapolis, 1970.
  15. The Mayflower Descendant (July 2, 1994) vol. 44 no. 2 pp. 110, 111
  16. Donald F. Harris, The Mayflower Descendants vol 43 (July 1993), vol. 44 (July 1994).
  17. David Lindsay, Mayflower Bastard: A Stranger amongst the Pilgrims (St. Martins Press, New York, 2002) Introduction
  18. Caffrey, Kate. The Mayflower. New York: Stein and Day, 1974
  19. Hodgson, Godfrey. A Great and Godly Adventure. Public Affairs: New York, 2006
  20. In the tradition of the sea, each Monday a crew member was appointed the "liar" or swabber assistant. This person was the first person caught telling a lie the previous week, and the crew would harass him around the main mast with calls of "liar, liar."
  21. David Beale, The Mayflower Pilgrims: Roots of Puritan, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Baptist Heritage (Greenville, SC: Ambassador-Emerald International, 2000) pp. 121–122
  22. Web site: Animals.

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