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E  MAYFLOWER  COMPACT 
AND  ITS  SIGNERS 

WITH  FACSIMILES 

AND  A  LIST  OF 
THE  MAYFLOWER  PASSENGERS 


1620  mm^^m  1920 


By   GEORGE   ERNEST   BOWMAN 
Editor  of  The  Mayflower  Descendant 


In  Commemoration  Of  The 

Signing  Of  The  Compact 

2  1  November  1620 


/Raasacbuectts  Society  ot  flSaigflowec  DcsccnOants 

Boston,  Massachusetts 
1920 


THE  MAYFLOWER  COMPACT 
AND  ITS  SIGNERS 

WITH  FACSIMILES 

AND  A  LIST  OF 
THE  MAYFLOWER  PASSENGERS 


By   GEORGE    ERNEST    BOWMAN 

Editor  of  The  Mayflower  Descendant 


In  Commemoration  Of  The 

Signing  Of  The  Compact 

2  1  November  1620 


/nbassacbuBctts  Society  ot  /llba^flovver  Descendants 

Boston,  Massachusetts 
1920 


.Blf5 


Of  a  limited  edition  of  fifteen  hundred  copies,  printed  from 


«^ 


type,  this  is  Number  X/=wUO 


^I'lny^ 


This  brochure  has  been  prepared  and  published,  at  the  personal 
expense  of  the  author,  in  commemoration  of  the  Three  Hundredth 
Anniversary  of  the  Signing  of  The  Compact. 

A  copy  will  be  presented  by  him  to  each  person  attending  the 
Twenty-Fifth  Annual  Dinner,  of  the  Massachusetts  Society  of  May- 
flower Descendants,  on  Monday  evening,  22  November,  1920. 

All  copies  not  reserved  for  personal  distribution  have  been  pre- 
sented to  that  Society  to  be  sold,  and  the  proceeds  used  in  its 
publication  and  research  work. 


Boston,  Massachusetts 
21  November,  1920 


CONTENTS 

Facsimile  of  Oldest  Known  Copy  of  The  Compact    .        .        .     Page  6 

The  Mayflower  Compact  and  Its  Signers 7 

Mourt's    Relation 9 

Facsimile  of  Oldest  Known  Manuscript  Copy  of  The  Compact  io 

Bradford's  History ii 

The  Signers  of  The  Compact I2 

Facsimile  of  page  15  of  "New-Englands  Memoriall"        .        .  15 

Facsimile  of  page  16  of  "New-Englands  Memoriall"        .        .  16 

Why  Did  Only  Forty-One  Passengers   Sign  The  Compact?  17 

The  Mayflower  Passengers IQ 


11 


IN     JMEIilCJ.  3    1 

in  oncbody,  and  to  fubmit  to  fuch  government  and  go vcr-  ^ 

nours,as  we  fhould  by  common  confent  agree  to  make  and  | 

chofc,  and  fet  our  hands  to  this  that  followes  word  for  | 

word,  j 

IN  the  name  of  God,  Amen.  We  whofe  names  are  vnder- 
written  ,thc  loy  all  Subieds  of  our  dread  ioverajgne  Lord 
King  I A  M  E  s,by  the  grace  or  God  of  Great  Bntaine^Franctf 
and /r^'/fjwfi  King,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  6cc. 

Having  vnder-taken  for  the  glory  ef  God,  and  advance- 
ment of  the  Chrillian  Fai:h,  and  honour  of  our  King  and 
Countrey,  a  Voyage  to  plant  the  flrfl-  Colony  in  the  Nor- 
therne  parts  of  V 1 1\  g  i  n  i  a,  doc  by  thefc  prcients  lolcmnly 
ficmutcially  in  theprcfcnceofG^iandoneofanotherjCove- 
nant^and  combine  our  fclues  togeiher  into  a  civill body  po- 
litike,  for  our  better  ordering  and  prefervationjand  furthe- 
rance of  the  ends  aforefaid  }  and  by  vertue  hereof  to  en- 
ad;,  con(litute,andir*me  fuch  iuU  andequall  La vi'cs,  Ordi- 
nances, ads,  con  ftitutionSjofhccs  from  timetotimcjas  fliall 
be  thought  mofl  meet  and  convcnicntfor  the  general!  good 
of  the  Colony  ;vnto  which  we  promife  all  due  fubmillion 
and  obedience.  In  \^itncl^e  whereof  we  haue  here-vnder 
fubfcribedour  namfef  .(f«/'<'(fW  1 1 .  oiNovembcry\v\  cheyeare 
oftheraigaeofour  ibveraigneLord  KingL^ME  i,  o\£»g~ 
land,  Fm»ce.,2V\^ Ireland i^i.  An^oi Scotland s^-  ■^rMO  Do' 
Ttsino  1620. 

The  fame  day  ^a  foone  as  we  could  we  fcta-fliore  1 5.  or 
1<5.  men,  wellarn.ed,  with  fomctofefch  wood,for  wcliad 
none  left ;  as  alfo  to  (ce  what  the  Land  was,  and  ^^  hat  Inha- 
bitants they  could  meet  wich,thcy  found  it  to  he  a  {inall  neck 
ofLind5onthis!idev,herewelayisthe7?..7.andchefi!rthcr 
fidethe  Sea  ;  the  .round  or  earth, fandhils,  much  iiketbe 
Downcsin  HolL/^ri,  but  much  better  5  the  cruH  of  the  earth  a 
S>its depth, excclientbbckecartli-, all  wooded  with  Okcs, 
plnes.SirMTas, juniper  Bi'ch,Holly,Vines,fomeAfli, Wal- 
nut ;  the  woodfor  the  moll:  part  open  and  without  vnder- 
wood,  fit  cither  to  goe  or  tide  in :  at  mght  our  people  retur- 
C  2  ncd, 


THE  MAYFLOWER  COMPACT 
AND  ITS  SIGNERS 

Where  is  the  original  Mayflower  Compact,  with  its  forty-one 
autograph  signatures  ? 

How  has  the  text  of  The  Compact  been  preserved  to  the 
present  day  ? 

How  have  the  names  of  the  Signers  of  The  Compact  been 
handed  dowm  to  us? 

The  first  of  these  questions  cannot  be  answered,  as  I  have  not 
found,  either  in  print  or  in  unpubHshed  records,  any  statement 
which  indicated  a  knowledge  of  the  location  of  the  original  manu- 
script of  The  Compact,  after  April,  1621,  or  even  proved  its  exist- 
ence after  that  date. 

The  only  later  entry  I  have  found,  which  might  possibly  refer 
to  the  original  Compact,  is  in  the  Plymouth  Colony  Records,  under 
date  of  15  November,  1636.  In  the  record  of  a  meeting  of  the 
Governor,  Assistants  and  others,  as  a  committee  to  prepare  a  re- 
vision of  the  laws  of  the  colony,  we  read :  "Now  being  assembled 
.  .  .  and  having  read  the  Combinacon  made  at  [Cape]  Cod  the 
11^'^  of  Novbr  1620";  but  there  is  nothing  in  this  record  to  indi- 
cate that,  when  they  "read  the  Combinacon",  they  had  before  them 
the  original  document.  They  may  have  had  only  an  official  copy 
of  it. 

According  to  the  Old  Style  calendar,  then  used  by  the  English, 
the  Mayflower  reached  Cape  Cod  Harbor,  now  Provincetown, 
Mass.,  on  Saturday,  11  November,  1620,  which  was  the  same  day 
as  Saturday,  21  November,  1620,  according  to  the  New  Style  cal- 
endar, with  which  the  Pilgrims  had  become  familiar  in  Holland, 
and  which  the  English  government  finally  adopted  in  1752.  It  is 
incorrect,  therefore,  to  claim  that  the  Three  Hundredth  Anniver- 
sary of  the  Signing  of  The  Compact  will  fall  on  Thursday,  ii 
November,  1920,  as  three  full  centuries  from  the  date  of  the  Sign- 
ing will  not  be  completed  until  Sunday,  21  November,  1920. 

As  the  Mayflower  Passengers  had  been  forced  by  circum- 
stances to  settle  outside  of  their  original  grant  from  the  Virginia 
Company,  they  drew  up  and  signed,  before  they  landed  at  Cape 
Cod,  according  to  Governor  Bradford's  History,  "a  combination" 
which  was  "y^  first  foundation  of  their  govermente  in  this  place". 

[Page  seven] 


This  "combination",  which  was  called  "The  Compact"  as 
early  as  1793,  was  signed  on  the  Mayflower,  Saturday,  21  Novem- 
ber, 1620,  New  Style,  by  the  forty-one  passengers  who  were  then 
of  age  and  were  free  agents,  and  the  original  document,  of  course, 
remained  on  the  ship  until  carried  ashore  at  Plymouth. 

The  Third  Exploring  Party,  composed  entirely  of  men,  set 
out  from  the  Mayflower,  on  Wednesday,  16  December,  1620,  New 
Style,  in  the  shallop,  and  on  Friday  evening,  18  December,  they 
were  driven  into  Plymouth  harbor  in  a  storm,  landing  on  Clark's 
Island;  on  Saturday,  "this  being  the  last  day  of  y^  weeke,  they 
prepared  ther  to  keepe  y^  Sabath" ;  and  on  Monday,  21  December, 
long  celebrated  as  "Forefathers'  Day",  they  landed  and  explored 
the  coast. 

It  should  be  especially  noted  that  the  Mayflower  itself  did  not 
reach  Plymouth  until  Saturday,  26  December,  1620,  New  Style. 
She  left  Cape  Cod  Harbor,  for  Plymouth,  on  Friday,  25  Decem- 
ber, 1620,  New  Style,  but  was  driven  back  by  a  storm.  The  next 
day,  Saturday,  26  December,  she  started  again  and  reached  Plym- 
outh the  same  day,  just  five  weeks  after  she  had  sailed  into  Cape 
Cod  Harbor.  She  remained  at  Plymouth  through  the  winter,  and 
in  April,  1621,  started  on  her  return  voyage  to  England,  arriving 
there  in  May.  When  she  left  Plymouth,  she  must  have  had  on 
board  either  the  original  Compact  or  an  officially  attested  copy  of 
it,  but  nothing  has  been  found  to  determine  which  she  carried. 

In  brief,  the  original  Compact  was  on  the  Mayflower,  at  Cape 
Cod  Harbor,  from  21  November  to  26  December,  1620;  then  was 
at  Plymouth  until  sometime  in  April,  1621 ;  then  for  about  a 
month  was  either  at  Plymouth  or  again  on  the  Mayflower,  on  its 
return  voyage  to  England.  From  this  point  the  history  of  the 
original  document  is  entirely  unknown,  and  we  cannot  say  with 
certainty  that  any  particular  person  has  seen  it,  since  the  departure 
of  the  Mayflower  from  Plymouth. 

The  oldest  copy  of  the  text  of  The  Compact,  known  at  the 
present  time,  is  that  printed  in  "Mourt's  Relation",  in  1622. 

The  oldest  manuscript  copy  of  the  text  in  existence,  as  far  as 
known,  is  in  Bradford's  History,  written  between  1630  and  1646. 

The  oldest  known  list  of  the  forty-one  Signers  of  The  Com- 
pact is  found  in  "New-Englands  Memoriall",  printed  in  1669. 

William  Bradford  and  Edward  Winslow  are  the  only  Signers 
of  The  Compact  who  are  known  to  have  left  any  written  or 
printed  statement  about  it. 


[Pn^e  eig/it\ 


MOURT'S  RELATION 

The  Fortune  arrived  at  Plymouth,  New  England,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1 62 1,  and  began  her  return  voyage  in  December.  She  carried 
back  to  England  an  account  of  the  colony,  written  by  William 
Bradford  and  Edward  Winslow,  which  was  printed  in  London,  in 
1622,  with  the  title:  "A  Relation  or  Journal  of  the  beginning  and 
proceedings  of  the  English  Plantation  settled  at  Plimoth  in  New 
England". 

On  the  third  page  of  the  first  edition  of  this  book,  which  is 
commonly  called  "Mourt's  Relation",  we  find  the  oldest  known 
copy  of  the  text  of  The  Compact,  and  this  entire  page  has  been 
reproduced,  in  the  illustration  on  page  six,  through  the  courtesy 
of  the  John  Carter  Brown  Library,  of  Providence,  R.  L 

"Mourt's  Relation",  unfortunately,  does  not  give  the  names 
of  the  forty-one  Signers  of  The  Compact. 

Bradford  was  Governor  of  the  Colony  when  the  Fortune  was 
at  Plymouth,  and  probably  all  the  official  records,  including  either 
the  original  Compact  or  an  attested  copy,  were  in  his  care,  conse- 
quently he  and  Winslow,  both  of  whom  had  signed  The  Compact, 
were  in  a  position  to  secure  a  careful  transcript  of  it,  to  include  in 
their  "Relation";  but,  unfortunately,  there  is  nothing  in  this  book 
to  show  whether  the  original  Compact  had  been  sent  to  England 
in  the  Mayflower,  was  in  Plymouth  when  the  Fortune  sailed,  or 
was  taken  to  England  by  the  Fortune. 

I  have  not  attempted  to  make  a  list  of  early  printed  copies  of 
The  Compact,  my  efforts  having  been  devoted  entirely  to  finding 
some  reference  to  the  existence  of  the  original  document;  but  it 
may  be  of  interest  to  note  that  Samuel  Purchas  reprinted  part  of 
"Mourt's  Relation",  including  The  Compact,  in  "Purchas  His  Pil- 
grimes",  published  at  London,  in  1625. 


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BRADFORD'S  HISTORY 

The  oldest  known  manuscript  copy  of  The  Compact  is  found 
in  Gov.  William  Bradford's  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  the 
original  manuscript  of  which  is  in  the  State  Library,  in  Boston. 
This  History  was  first  put  into  print  in  the  year  1856. 

In  Bradford's  handwriting,  facing  original  page  4,  of  this  man- 
uscript History,  is  a  note,  dated  "Anno  Dom :  1646",  stating 
that  he  "first  begane  these  scribled  writings  .  .  .  aboute  y^  yeare  . 
1630" ;  and  on  page  57  is  a  statement  that  the  peace  with  Massa- 
soit,  which  had  been  made  in  the  year  1621,  "hath  now  continued 
this  .  24  .  years",  that  is,  until  1645  o^"  1646. 

As  Bradford's  copy  of  the  "combination",  as  he  called  The 
Compact,  is  found  on  page  54  of  his  History,  it  is  evident  that  he 
wrote  that  page  between  1630  and  1646,  and  probably  it  was  much 
nearer  to  the  latter  date  than  to  the  former. 

The  entire  fifty-fourth  page  of  Governor  Bradford's  History 
of  Plymouth  Plantation,  on  which  is  found  the  oldest  manuscript 
copy  of  The  Compact,  has  been  reproduced  in  the  illustration 
facing  this  page. 

It  is  not  possible  to  determine,  at  the  present  time,  whether 
the  copy  of  The  Compact  in  Bradford's  History  was  made  from 
the  original  document,  from  an  official  copy  of  the  original,  from 
Mourt's  Relation,  or  from  some  unknown  source.  Bradford  of 
course  had  access  to  all  official  records  of  Plymouth  Colony,  as 
already  stated,  but  apparently  it  did  not  occur  to  him  that  the 
names  of  the  Signers  of  The  Compact  would  interest  those  who 
might  read  his  History. 


[Page  e/eveu] 


THE  SIGNERS  OF  THE   COMPACT 

The  oldest  known  list  of  the  forty-one  Signers  of  The  Compact 
is  found  in  Nathaniel  Morton's  "  New-Englands  Memoriall",  first 
printed  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  in  1669. 

Morton  had  been  one  of  the  156  inhabitants  of  Plymouth,  on 
I  June,  1627,  New  Style,  as  shown  by  the  Division  of  Cattle  on 
that  date,  and  he  must  have  been  personally  acquainted  with  the 
sixteen  Signers  then  living  at  Plymouth,  as  follows :  John  Alden, 
Isaac  Allerton,  John  Billington,  William  Bradford,  William  Brew- 
ster, Peter  Brown,  Francis  Cooke,  Edward  Doty,  Francis  Eaton, 
Samuel  Fuller,  Stephen  Hopkins,  John  Rowland,  George  Soule, 
Myles  Standish,  Richard  Warren,  Edward  Winslow. 

Three  of  these  sixteen,  John  Alden,  John  Rowland  and  George 
Soule,  were  living  in  1669,  Alden  and  Soule  at  Duxbury,  and 
Rowland  at  Plymouth ;  and  Alden,  at  least,  was  present,  as  an 
Assistant,  when  Plymouth  Colony  voted  a  contribution  towards  the 
expense  of  printing  the  "Memoriall". 

Morton  had  also  been  Secretary  (at  first  called  Clerk)  of  Plym- 
outh Colony  for  more  than  twenty  years,  when  his  book  was 
printed,  and  he  presumably  had  in  his  care  either  the  original 
Compact,  with  its  autograph  signatures,  or  an  official  copy ;  and  in 
"The  Epistle  Dedicatory"  of  his  "Memoriall",  he  wrote:  "the 
greatest  part  of  my  intelligence  hath  been  borrowed  from  my  much 
honoured  Uncle,  Mr.  William  Bradford,  and  such  Manuscripts  as 
he  left  in  his  Study,  from  the  year  1620,  unto  1646",  and  "Certain 
Diurnals  of  the  honoured  Mr.  Edward  Winslow,  have  also  af- 
forded me  good  light  and  help". 

It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  Morton  had  ample  opportunity  to 
obtain  an  accurate  list  of  the  Signers,  and  it  is  unfortunate  that 
he  did  not  make  any  reference  to  the  existence  or  the  location  of 
the  original  Compact. 

I  have  found  no  manuscript  or  printed  reference  to  any  list  of 
the  Signers  antedating  that  given  by  Morton,  and  the  fact  that 
his  "Memoriall"  is  our  sole  authority  for  the  names  of  the  Signers 
should  be  emphasized,  because  he  does  not  state  the  order  in  which 
the  names  were  affixed  to  the  original  document,  and  does  not 
number  the  Signers. 

In  the  first  edition  of  the  "Memoriall",  The  Compact  is  found 
on  page  15,  with  the  names  of  twenty-one  Signers  at  the  bottom 

IPa^e  tiveh'c] 


of  that  page,  in  three  cokimns,  and  the  remaining  twenty  names, 
also  in  three  columns,  at  the  top  of  page  i6.  In  the  following  copy 
the  names  are  arranged  as  printed  in  the  "Memoriall". 


[At  the  bottom  of  page  15 


John  Carver 
William  Bradford 
Edward  Winslow 
William  Brewster 
Isaac  Allerton 
Myles  Standish 
John  Alden 

[At  the  top  of  page 

John  Turner 
Francis  Eaton 
James  Chilton 
John  Crakston 
John  Billington 
Moses  Fletcher 
John  Goodman 


Samuel  Fuller 
Christopher  Martin 
AA'illiam  Mullins 
\\'illiam  White 
Richard  Warren 
John  Rowland 
Stephen  Hopkins 


16] 


Degory  Priest 
Thomas  Williams 
Gilbert  Winslow 
Edmund  Margeson 
Peter  Brown 
Richard  Britterige 
Georsre  Soule 


Edward  Tilley 
John  Tilley 
Francis  Cooke 
Thomas  Rogers 
Thomas  Tinker 
John  Rigdale 
Edward  Fuller 


Richard  Clarke 
Richard  Gardiner 
John  Allerton 
Thomas  English 
Edward  Doty 
Edward  Leister 


The  first  person  to  number  the  Signers  seems  to  have  been 
Rev.  Thomas  Prince,  of  Boston,  in  1736,  in  "A  Chronological  His- 
tory of  New-England";  but  he  distinctly  stated  that  his  list  of 
the  names  was  taken  from  Morton's  "Memoriall".  Prince  ar- 
ranged the  names  in  two  columns,  the  first  containing  the  twenty- 
one  names  at  the  bottom  of  page  15  of  the  "Memoriall",  the 
second  containing  the  names  at  the  top  of  page  16.  In  each  case 
Prince  took  first  the  seven  names  in  the  left-hand  column,  then 
those  in  the  central  column,  then  the  right-hand  column.  The 
names  in  his  own  first  column  he  numbered  from  one  to  twenty- 
one,  and  those  in  his  own  second  column  from  twenty-two  to 
forty-one. 

As  we  do  not  know  either  the  shape  or  the  size  of  the  paper, 
or  parchment,  on  which  the  original  Compact  was  written,  it  is 
impossible  to  determine  whether  the  forty-one  signatures  were 
arranged  in  two,  three  or  four  columns.  Even  if  we  had  the 
original  Compact  before  us,  and  found  that  there  were  only  two 
columns  of  signatures,  it  would  still  be  impossible  to  determine 
the  exact  order  of  signing;  and  it  is  also  doubtful  if  we  should 

[Pa^-e  thiriceit] 


be  able  to  determine  whether  the  first  signature  was  at  the  top  of 
the  right-hand  column  or  at  the  top  of  the  left-hand  column. 

Nathaniel  Morton  himself  probably  did  not  know  the  exact 
order  of  signing,  and  it  is  unfortunate  that  Prince,  writing  sixty- 
seven  years  later,  put  numbers  before  the  names  of  the  Signers, 
because  subsequent  writers,  supposing  that  he  knew  the  actual 
order  of  signing,  have  followed  his  numbering,  with  the  result 
that  many  persons  believe  they  are  descended  from  "the  fourth 
Signer",  or  from  "the  seventeenth  Signer",  or  from  "the  thirty- 
fifth  Signer",  etc.,  accepting  as  correct  the  numbers  assigned 
by  Prince  one  hundred  and  sixteen  years  after  The  Compact  was 
drawn  up. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  the  John  Carter  Brown  Library,  of 
Providence,  R.  I.,  we  are  able  to  present  herewith  reproductions 
of  the  entire  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  pages  of  Morton's  "New- 
Englands  Memoriall",  and  these  two  pages  follow,  printed  back 
to  back,  exactly  as  they  appear  in  the  first  edition  of  that  book. 


[Page/ou  rteen] 


An.i620,  New-Eng.lands  Menmidl. 


I 


bv  a  genera!  Confcnt  from  time  to  time  be  made  choice  of,  and 
afftnted  unto.     The  Concents  whereof  followeth. 

N  the  N,mecf  Cod,   Amen.       We  whofc  Names  |'j^p^;^,;J; 
■    are  under-written,  the  LoyA  Subje^s  of  our  dread  ,f  ,i,c  cov.r.:- 
^v>eraign  Lord  King  ^ames,  by  the  grace  ot  God  of  '!-^^Ji^- 
Creat  Britain,  France  and  Ireland^  King,  Dtfendor  of  the 
Fditfh  &^'  Having  undertaken  tor  tlic  glory  of  God, 
and  advancement  of  the  Chriftian  Faith,  and  the  Ho- 
nonrof  our  K  ngandCoumrcy,  a  Voyage  to  plant  thQ 
firft  Colony  in  the  Northern  parts  of  Firginia  j  Do  by 
thcfe  Preknts  folemnly  and  mutually,  in  the  prcfence  of 
God  and  one  another ,  Covenant  and  Combine  our 
felves  together  into  a  Civil  Body  Poliiiclc,  for  our  better 
ordering  and  prefervation,  and  furtherance  of  the  ends 
cforcf-ud  :  and  by  virtue  hereof  do  cna<rt,iConftitute  and 
frame  fiich  juft  and  equal  L3ws,0  dmanccsj  Ads,  Con- 
ftitutions  and  Officers,  from'  time  to  time,  as  (hall  be 
thought  moft  meet  and  convenient  for  the  general  good 
of  the  Colony  5  unto  which  we  promifc  all  due  fubmif- 
fion  and  obedience.     In  witncfs  whereof  we  have  here- 
unto fubfcnbed  our  Names  at  Cafe  Cod,  the  eleventh  of 
Novemixr  t\ti  the  Reign  of  our  Sovtr:.ign  Lord  Ktng 
fimes,  of  EttgUnd,  France  and  JrtUnd  the  eighteenth,  - 
andof  Scotland  iht  fifty  fourth,  AnnsDim,  idiO. 

fdhnCa*vir.  Sajnttil  Fuller.  Edward  Ti'lj, 

fVH^iam  Br^tdford.  Ckriflcfher  Martin.  fohttTillj. 

EdreM-dH-inJloyv,  mllamMfdlint,  Francis  Cook.. 

jyillAmByCfvfier.  William  H'hlte,  Tkbmas  Rn'Trrs. 

Jkac  Allmm.  ;  Richard  JVatren.  Thomas  Tlnk:r.         ) 

Mil  s  Stanclifii  John  HowU'd.  fohn  RuitrdaU. 

phnAldi-ni -^  hiVenHofi^.^  Edward  Fuller. 


f«hn 


16  'H<:\v-]i\)o]ar\ds  MfmorulL AnA6T.o^ 

John  Turner.  Dignj  Pnrfi.  Rich.jrd  CUrk. 

Francis  Eatcf).  Thomas  ml/um.  Rich.irc\  G^rdtrur. 

Jams  Chilton.  Ciikn  PP-i>:Jlow.  J.,hn  AlUrton. 

'  J^hn  Craxton.  Tuimoyid  Margffin.  Thomas  EngitpK 

John  Billinqton,  Ptur  Brorvn.  EdwArADotcn. 

Jofes  Fleukr.  Richard  Bituridge.  Edw-trd  Lie(}cr. 

■  John  Goodman.  George  SomIc. 

M::  TrhnCir.      AfcM  tliis,  they  thokUt.Jobi  Carver,  a  man  godly  and 

vcyth:f,AGu  wdl-approved  amoiicft  tlicm,  to  be  their  Governour  for  that 

7,.,r.y.^rj(,ri  pf  year. 

/vrAi'ji'ii.uih  Nccefllcynow  calling  them  to  look  out  a  place  for  Hibica- 
lion,  as  Well  as  the  Mafter  and  Mariners  imporcunicy  urging 
them  cliereunto  ^  while  their  Carpenter  was  trimming  up  of 
iht'ir  Boat,  fixteen  of  their  men  tendred  themfelves  to  go  by 
land  and  difcover  thofe  neareft  places  -,  which  was  accepted  :^ 
and  they  being  well  armed,  were  fsnt  forth  on  the  fixceenth  of 
jVezTrt/kr  1620.  and  having  raarclied  about  a  mile  by  the  Sea- 
lide,  they  efpisdfive  Indians,  who  ran  away  from  them,  and 
.  they  followed  them  all  that  day  fundry  miles,  but  could  not 
come  to  fpeech  wich  them :  fo  night  coming  on,  they  becook 
thcmfelves  to  their  Rendezvouz,  and  fet  out  their  Sentinels,  and 
rclted  in  quiet  that  night  -,  and  the  next  morning  they  followed 
the  I/iJuws  trufts,  buc  could  not  finde  them  nor  their  dwellings, 
but  ill  length  lighted  on  a  good  quanaty  of  dear  ground  near 
to  a  Pond  of  frefli  water,  where  formerly  the  hidiens  had  plant- 
ed iKdiun  Corn,at  which  place  the)'  faw  fundry  of  their  graves  • 
and  proceeding  furtl)er,  they  found  new  Stubble  wliere  lyidiim 
Corn  had  been  planted  the  fame  year  •,  alfo  they  found  where 
iaLtly  an  houfe  had  been,  where  fome  Planks  and  a  grea:  Kettle 
was  remaining,  and  heaps  of  fand  newly  paddled  with  cheir 
lunds,  which  they  digged  up,  and  found  in  them  divers  fair 
IkJim  Baskets  filled  with  Corn,  fome  whereof  was  in  Ears 
t.-ir  and  good  of  divers  colours,  which  feemcd  to  them  a  very 
goojlv  fight,  having  feen  none  before:  Of"  wliich  Rarities  they 
co.k  Ibaic  CO  carry  CO  their  friends  on  Shipboard,  Ijke  as  the 

Jfratlitcs 


WHY  DID  ONLY  FORTY-ONE  PASSENGERS 
SIGN  THE  COMPACT? 

Some  years  ago  a  speaker  at  one  of  the  meetings  of  the 
Massachusetts  Society  of  Mayflower  Descendants  said  that  it  was 
very  singular  that  only  forty-one  of  the  Mayflower  Passengers 
signed  "The  Compact,"  and  stated  that  no  explanation  had  been 
found  for  this  apparent  discrimination.  As  others  have  labored 
under  the  same  impression,  it  has  seemed  advisable  to  state  the 
facts  very  concisely. 

The  voyage  of  the  Mayflower  ended  at  Plymouth,  New  Eng- 
land, and  her  passenger  list  contained  one  hundred  and  four 
( 104)  names  in  all ;  but  William  Butten  died  before  Provincetown 
was  reached,  and  Peregrine-  White  (William^)  was  not  born  until 
about  the  second  week  in  December.*  On  21  November,  1620, 
therefore,  the  number  of  passengers  on  board  the  Mayflower,  at 
what  is  now  Provincetown,  was  one  hundred  and  two  (102). 
Of  this  number,  twenty-nine  (29)  were  females,  as  follows: 
eighteen  married  women  accompanying  their  husbands ;  seven 
unmarried  daughters  with  their  parents ;  three  young  unmarried 
women ;  one  little  girl  with  Edward  Winslow's  family. 

Of  the  seventy-three  (7^)  males  on  the  Mayflower,  21  Novem- 
ber, 1620,  but  forty-one  (41)  signed  "The  Compact."  Why  do 
we  not  find  the  signatures  of  some  of  the  other  male  passengers? 
The  question  is  easily  answered. 

More  than  two-thirds  of  the  thirty-two  (32)  who  did  not  sign 
were  under  age,  and  their  signatures  would  have  had  no  value. 
There  were  seventeen  (17)  minor  sons  of  passengers,  one  (i) 
minor  nephew  of  a  passenger,  and  five  (5)  boys  who  were  not 
with  their  own  parents.  Therefore,  twenty-three  (23)  of  the 
males  who  did  not  sign  were  minors  in  the  care  of  their  parents 
or  of  other  persons. 

Nine  (9)  males  are  still  to  be  accounted  for.  In  his  list  of  the 
Mayflower  Passengers,  Gov.  Bradford  says:  "Ther  were  allso 
other  .  2  .  seamen  hired  to  stay  a  year  here  in  the  country,  William 
Trevore ;  and  one  Ely.  But  when  their  time  was  out  they  both 
returned."  As  Trevore  and  Ely  were  bound  by  a  seaman's  con- 
tract, which  in  those  days  was  exceedingly  strict,  it  is  evident 
*  Between  7  December  and  10  December,  1620,  New  Style. 
[Page  seventeen^ 


that  neither  of  these  two  men  was  free  to  sign  "The  Compact." 
And  it  was  not  necessary  that  they  should  sign,  as  they  could 
be  controlled  by  their  contracts,  without  reference  to  the  later 
"Compact." 

All  of  the  other  males,  seven  only,  are  distinctly  called  servants 
by  Gov.  Bradford,  and  there  can  be  no  question  that  the  terms 
of  their  contracts  with  their  respective  masters  were  such  that 
they  were  not  free  agents,  even  if  they  were  twenty-one  years  old. 
Their  ages  have  not  been  discovered,  and  possibly  some  of  these 
seven  were  too  young  to  sign,  even  if  they  had  not  been  servants. 

In  brief,  every  male  passenger,  without  a  single  exception, 
who  is  known  to  have  been  of  legal  age  and  also  a  free  agent, 
signed  "The  Compact";  and  every  male  passenger  who  did  not 
sign  it  was  either  a  minor  or  a  servant  under  some  form  of  con- 
tract which  undoubtedly  did  not  leave  him  free  to  sign,  or  which 
made  his  signature  unnecessary. 


[Pa£-e  eighteen'] 


THE  MAYFLOWER  PASSENGERS 


There  were  only  one  hundred  and  four  (104)  Mayflower  Passen- 
gers.   Every  one  of  them  is  included  in  the  two  lists  following. 
There  were  no  other  passengers. 

[The  50  P.\ssENGERS  FROM  Whom  Descent  Can  Be  Proved] 


John'  Alden 
Isaac'  Allerton 

wife  Mary 

daughter  Mary^ 

daughter  Remember' 
John'  Billington 

wife  Eleanor 

son  Francis' 
William'  Bradford 
William'  Brewster 

wife  Mary 

son  Love" 
Peter'  Brown 
James'  Chilton 

wife  ■ 

daughter  Mary' 
Francis'  Cooke 

son  John' 

[The  54  Passengers  from  Whom  We  Ca 

Bartholomew'  Allerton  Moses  Fletcher 
John  Allerton  Richard  Gardiner 

John"  Billington  John  Goodman 

Dorothy  Bradford  William  Holbeck 

(istwifeof  William')  John  Hooke 


Edward'  Doty 
Francis'  Eaton 

wife  Sarah 

son  Samuel' 
Edward'  Fuller 

wife 

son  Samuel' 
Dr.  Samuel'  Fuller 
Stephen'  Hopkins 

2d  wife,  Elizabeth 

son  Gyles' 
(by  1st  wife) 

daughter  Constance" 
(by  1st  wife) 
John'  Rowland 
Richard  More 


Wrestling'  Brewster 
Richard  Britteridge 
William  Butten 
Robert  Carter 
John  Carver 
Katharine  Carver 

(wife  of  John) 
Maid    servant    of    the 

Carvers 

Richard  Clarke 

^  Humility  Cooper 

John'  Crakston 

son  John' 

Ely 

Thomas  English 


Damaris"  Hopkins 
Oceanus'  Hopkins 
John  Langmore 
William  Latham 
Edward  Leister 
Edmund  Margeson 
Christopher  Martin 

wife 

Desire  Minter 
Ellen  More 
Jasper  More 
[a  boy]  More 
Joseph'  Mullins 
Solomon  Prower 


William'  Mullins 

wife  Alice 

daughter  Priscilla' 
Degory'  Priest 
Thomas'  Rogers 

son  Joseph' 
Henry'  Samson 
George'  Soule 
]\Iyles'  Standish 
John'  Tilley 

wife 

daughter  Elizabeth' 
Richard'  Warren  ■ 
William'  White 

wife  Susanna 

son  Resolved' 

son  Peregrine' 
Edward'  Winslow 

NNOT  Prove  Descent] 

John  Rigdale 

wife  Alice 
Rose  Standish 

(ist  wife  of  Myles') 
Elias  Story 
Edward  Thomson 
Edward  Tilley 

wife  Ann 
Thomas'  Tinker 

wife  ■ — 

son ■ 

William  Trevore  ^ , 
John'  Turner 

son • 

son 

Roger  Wilder 
Thomas  Williams 
Elizabeth  Winslow 

(istwifeof  Edward') 
Gilbert  Winslow 


[/V^c  ninctieu} 


LIBRfiRY  OF  CONGRESS 


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