Tag: Doty

The Doty Line, A Narrative — Eight

This is Chapter Eight of nine, being the next-to-last chapter of our narrative about the Doty Line. This chapter will introduce a new family line, the Shaw family, whose surname replaces the Doty surname in this part of our family history.

Setting The Stage

For the first part, the entire history takes place in a relatively small area of the upper Hudson River, at its confluence with the Mohawk River. As you can see in the map below, the town of Cohoes (Falls) is circled in orange. The area circled in yellow covers the district of Schaghticoke, and the towns of Lansingburgh, and Pittstown. Note the town of Troy shown just below Lansingburgh.

Detail from A Map of the State of New York, by Simeon De Witt, circa 1804. (Image courtesy of the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library).

In their era, borders, place names, and populations were always in flux, so we try to feature images which are as accurate as possible to the timeframe. As powerful as maps are for location orientation, we do sometimes come upon an image which helps readers to be grounded in a particular place. One such image is shown below, Troy from Mount Ida (No. 11 of The Hudson River Portfolio).

Troy from Mount Ida (No. 11 of The Hudson River Portfolio)
Various artists/makers, circa 1821–22. (Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art).
This view shows the Hudson River at the border of Lansingburgh.

Look within this artwork and observe that the rain clouds have just cleared away, the late afternoon sunlight is just starting to shine through, it’s very quiet, except for the birds who are starting to call to one another. Two people are making their way along the river road. Maybe we can hear the murmur of their voices?

Imagine that you are standing at this most southern viewpoint in the new town of Lansingburgh, looking toward the south, down the Hudson River. Before you lies the small village of Troy.* In front of you are three islands, located where the Hudson meets the Mohawk. One island is named Van Schaick — which is likely named after one of Lydia Doty’s ancestors who were very early to this area. Behind you, with the breeze to your back, lie the towns of Lansingburgh, Pittstown, and Schaghticoke, where the future of this family unfolds.

Finally, to the right of the three major islands, lies the small town of Cohoes, where the our exploration truly begins.

Excerpted image of Lansingburgh, New York in 1847, as Point-of-Interest #153
from Wade & Croome’s Panorama of the Hudson River from New York to Waterford,
by Wade, Disturnell, and Croome.

The image above is an open panoramic view from the 1840s, found within a unique souvenir book. It is built in an accordion style, with views that stretch out for 38 continuous hand-colored panels. It features aerial and panoramic views along both shores of the Hudson River, from New York City, on Manhattan Island, up to the Mohawk river junction at the town of Waterford (across the river from the town of Lansingburgh).

Our Comment: This souvenir book literally mirrors the historical movement of our family as it journeys from New Amsterdam / Manhattan, to Lansingburgh.

*We learned about the eventual ascendance of Troy as a metropolitan city; with it eventually overtaking and eclipsing all the other communities in the area in terms of prominence. From Wikipedia, “Through much of the 19th and into the early 20th centuries, Troy was one of the most prosperous cities in the United States. Prior to its rise as an industrial center, it was the transshipment point for meat and vegetables from Vermont and New York, which were sent by the Hudson River to New York City. The trade was vastly increased after the construction of the Erie Canal, with its eastern terminus directly across the Hudson River from Troy at Cohoes in 1825”. (1)

This oak tree, which eventually became known as the Witenagemot Oak Peace Tree, was planted to commemorate a treaty. It stood until 1949 when a flood toppled it. (Image courtesy of the Knickerbocker Historical Society).

A Tree of Welfare

This family eventually lived in several adjacent communities on both sides of the upper Hudson River. This area had earlier been populated first by Native Peoples, who then gave way to the Dutch, and then the British.

“In 1675, Governor Andros, governor of the colony of New York, planted a tree of Welfare near the junction of the Hoosic River and Tomhannock Creek, an area already known as Schaghticoke, “the place where the waters mingle.” This tree symbolized the friendship between the English and the Dutch, and the Schaghticoke Indians. The Native Inhabitants were Mohican refugees from New England welcomed to Schaghticoke [through a treaty] because they agreed to help protect the English from the French and the Iroquois. They stayed until 1754.

Prior to the proclamation of colonial independence, Schaghticoke was part of the colony of New York with most of its citizens governed by the city of Albany, which owned the land they rented.” (Wikipedia)

Daniel Shaw, like many of our other ancestors, was a farmer for most of his life. (This was confirmed through his Will). (2)

Getting To Know Daniel Shaw

Our research on Daniel Shaw and his birth family is ongoing. At first glance, we thought he may be related to a man named John Shaw who arrived in Plymouth Colony, in 1623 and was very involved in the settling of that place. However, a direct link between the family lines has not yet been found. We learned that another family of Shaws settled in Connecticut, so, as we publish this section of our family blog, we are researching that possible connection. (Updates will be added as we resolve the Shaw family line history).

Therefore, this grandfather is a bit enigmatic — due to the fact that not much information about his life before meeting Lydia Doty seems to have surfaced. He was barely mentioned in the Doty-Doten Family in America book by Ethan Allan Doty, (DDFA).

Despite that, in the rather comprehensively titled book, the History of the Seventeen Towns of Rensselaer County, From the Colonization of the Manor of Rensselaerwyck to the Present Time, we first observe Daniel Shaw’s name and the (likely) name of his future father-in-law, Joseph Doty. The context was what was then known as a patriotic pledge, made when American Colonists knew that a war with Great Britain was imminent.

It was a long, patriotic pledge, made on May 22, 1775. The opening paragraph reads: “A general association agreed to and subscribed by the freemen, freeholders and Inhabitants of the town of Lansingburgh and patent of Stone Arabia: Persuaded that the Violation of the rights and liberties of America depends, under God, on the firm opinion of its Inhabitants in a vigorous prosecution of the measures necessary for Its safety,— convinced of the necessity of preventing the anarchy and confusion which attend a dissolution of the power of government, we, the freemen, freeholders and inhabitants of the town of Lansingbugh and patent of Stone Arabia, being greatly alarmed at the avowed design of the British ministry to raise a revenue In America, and shocked by the bloody scenes now enacting In Massachusetts bay government, in the most solemn manner…”

Excerpted text from the History of the Seventeen Towns of Rensselaer County, From the Colonization of the Manor of Rensselaerwyck to the Present Time, page 34. In the left column we see Daniel Shaw as one of the signatories to a Patriotic Pledge, given in Lansingburgh on May 22, 1775. Despite the misspelling of the surname, in the right column we see the name of his future father- in-law, Joseph Doty. (See footnotes).

This tells us that he was living in the Lansingburgh area as early as May 1775.

The Albany County area and the local communities were the scenes of many fierce battles during the Revolutionary War. We learned that Daniel had served in the Albany Militia’s Fourteenth Regiment. It appears that years later, in March 1789, he was paid in certificates. The currency of the new United States was not regularized yet and many States still printed their own money. Certificates were issued by the government, which could be used with merchants to pay for goods. (See footnotes).

New York Revolutionary War Tax Lists By County — Albany, showing page 4, October 1779, Land and Property Tax Lists – Schachtakoke. See Daniel Shaw of Cohoes indicated by the arrow, along with three siblings of Lydia Doty listed — her brothers Peter, Ormond, and Jacob Doty.

The United States was very new in this era and it was unclear to whom and how property taxes were to be paid. This was still not finalized until many years after The War had ended. We did find tax records from the year 1779. As explained by, the Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, “Subcommittee on Revolutionary Taxes and have been found to support the War and/or address a request of the Continental Congress. The lists therefore provide evidence of Revolutionary service for those whose names are found on the lists…” In a very young United States, paying the taxes to a government that was not very organized and still evolving… this was seen as a hallmark of patriotic behavior. (3)

Excerpted and collaged content from the U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 for Daniel Shaw
New York > Willett´s Regiment of Levies, 1781-1783.

The Colonial Militias of New York

The 14th Albany County Regiment of Militia was a regiment of the New York Militia, and was part of the 2nd Brigade alongside the regiments of Tryon County. (Renamed as Montgomery County in 1784). Militiamen for Albany County were recruited into the 2nd New York Regiment.

Generally speaking, the “Albany County militia was the colonial militia of Albany County, New York. Drawn from the general male population, by law all male inhabitants from 15 to 55 had to be enrolled in militia companies, the later known by the name of their commanders. By the 1700s, the militia of the Province of New York was organized by county and officers were appointed by the royal government. By the early phases of the American Revolutionary War the county’s militia had grown into seventeen regiments.” We learned that Lydia Doty’s brothers Peter, Ormond, and Jacob Doty, were also part of this regiment.

As they were allied with the 2nd New York Regiment, this “regiment would see action in the Invasion of Canada (1775), the Battle of Valcour Island (1776), the Battles of Saratoga (1777), the Battle of Monmouth (1778), the Sullivan Expedition (1779), and the Battle of Yorktown (1781). The regiment would be furloughed, June 2, 1783, at Newburgh, New York.” (Fandom AR Wiki, and Wikipedia) We have another family line living in this exact same area during that time, who also participated in the Battles of Saratoga. Either family or both, may have also participated in The Battle of Klock’s Field, and The Battle of Oriskany. (See The Devoe Line, A Narrative — Five).

Observation 1: It is important to note that these men certainly did not participate in all of these battles. (We know this because they were paying property taxes in March and October 1779). We can credibly believe that The Battles of Saratoga in 1777, is an event which they fought in, because it took place right in their back yard. Other than that, they may have been called up periodically for campaigns.

Observation 2: Daniel Shaw’s friendship with (and awareness of) the Doty brothers, could have led to his meeting their sister, Lydia Doty. (4)

Wedding scene from Ramsay’s The Gentle Shepherd, Act V. Printed for G. Reid and Co., 1798.
(Image courtesy of The Lewis Walpole Library at Yale University).

The Doty Surname Gives Way to Shaw

For this section, unless noted otherwise, all events took place in Albany County, New York State. Of note: Albany County was reformed to be Rensselaer County, in 1791. So, before 1791 > Albany County, and after 1791 > Rensselaer County. Furthermore, when a county name changes, such as in a record for a marriage or a death, we have noted this.

We believe that in about 1783, Daniel Shaw, married Lydia Doty (likely) in Lansingburgh. He was born about 1760 in (unknown location) – died August 13, 1842, in Lansingburgh, Rensselaer, New York. Lydia Doty was born in December 1769 in Lansingburgh, (then Albany County), New York – died November 2, 1830, in Schaghticoke, Rensselaer, New York.

Daniel was about 9 to 10 years older than Lydia, and she was only about 14 to 15 when she married him. Even though we do not know the exact death date for Lydia’s mother Giesje ‘Lucretia’ Doty, we believe that Lydia was very young when her mother died. During this time, the American Revolution was raging all around her. (We speculate that she may have been cared for by an older sister, but we do not have evidence for this. Even though we have seen similar circumstances in other family lines). The truth is, we do not know who actually cared for her, or her younger sister Nancy.

Together Daniel and Lydia had 10 children, who are listed below. In the 1790 Census, the family is shown as living in Pittstown, Albany County. Therefore, we believe that the first five children: Lucretia, Daniel Jr., Nancy, William, and Orman, were born there.

Taken on August 2, 1790, The 1790 population census was the First Census of the United States. (The National Archives).
  • Lucretia (Shaw) Preston. She was born about 1784 – died after 1865 in Verona, Oneida County. She married James Preston, date unknown.
  • Daniel Shaw, Jr. He was born about 1786 – died January 17, 1857 in Greenwich, Washington County.
  • Nancy (Shaw) Stover. She was born April 11, 1788 – died March 21, 1872 in Somers, Kenosha County, Wisconsin. She married Joseph Stover. We noted that of all these siblings, she was the only one to relocate outside of New York State.
  • William Shaw. He was born September 11, 1789 – died May 16, 1876 in Ulster County, New York. He married two times, with both marriages being in New York. First, to Hannah Burhans on July 25, 1812 in New York; second, to Eliza Bonestell on February 7, 1856 in Kingston, Ulster County. Please see the footnotes for an obituary about William’s life.
  • Orman Shaw. He was born on March 3, 1790 – died November 24, 1867 in Halfmoon, Saratoga County. About 1811, he married Elizabeth (last name unknown).
    We are descended from Orman and his wife Elizabeth.

The next five children: Henry, Soloman, John, Elizabeth, and Hiram, were likely born in the Schaghticoke District, (now) Renssaelar County. This was located just slightly to the west, right next to Pittstown. It could also be that the family may have already been living in Lansingburgh. It was technically a separate municipality from the Schaghticoke District. (Who knows exactly after more than 2oo years of various record keepers?)

Taken on August 4, 1800, the 1800 population census was the Second Census of the United States. (The National Archives).
  • Henry Shaw. He was born 1796 — died (date unknown). He is noted as being the 1842 executor for his father Daniel Shaw’s Will.
  • Solomon Shaw. He was born 1797 — died 1863.
  • John Shaw. He was born 1799 — died August 1859 in Cohoes. He married Mary Elizabeth Hutchins about 1827.
  • Elizabeth (Shaw) Baninger. She was born 1802 — death date unknown. She married (first name unknown) Baninger.
  • Hiram Shaw. He was born 1804 — died May 25, 1857, Waterford, Saratoga County. He married Jane A. Patten about 1823. (He died a tragic death, please see the footnotes). (5)

Perhaps He Was A Prudent Man?

Lydia Doty died in November 1830, and consequently her husband Daniel was maybe feeling a little bit blue in the years afterward— or maybe not. Perhaps he was just prudent? We observed that he executed his Will on September 22, 1834, but continued to live on for almost eight more years, dying on August 13, 1842.

The Will of Daniel Shaw, dated September 22, 1834.

When we looked at the Will contents, we read that he left his son Henry “the whole of my real estate, the crops on the ground and all the grain, hay fodder on the premises at the time of my death and also one mare and one colt and all the farming utensils”. (It seems Henry never married, so perhaps he was living with his father in his older age?) For his other children (excepting for Henry who was provided for), he asked that his estate “be equally divided among them”.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the Will is that after he indicated what he was providing to his son Henry, and before he mentions his other children, he specifically requests provision for a servant girl (we added commas to make the text understandable) —

To Misa, a Mulatto girl in my family, I give and bequeath one bedstead, one bed and straw-bed, two blankets, two sheets, two pillows, and one bolster, which I have usually had for my personal use, and one cow, which she may select from my cows, as a compensation for her services…

We checked the 1840 census to see if Daniel owned any slaves.* He did not. However, that census did indicate that there were three “Free Colored Persons” residing in the home, as follows:

  • Two males, one under 10, and one between 10-24 years old
  • One female, between 24-36 years old

    *Slavery was fully abolished in New York following a gradual emancipation act passed in 1799 that freed children born after that date. An act on March 31, 1817, set the timeline for final emancipation, and the last enslaved people in the state gained freedom on July 4, 1827. (See footnotes).

    We speculate that the Free Colored Person on the census (female) was Misa, and we wonder if the two males could have been her sons? By 1840, Daniel Shaw had been living in his Lansingburgh home for many years. When we looked at the ages for the other residents in the home, none of them aligned perfectly with the very scant knowledge we have about his children… Conceivably, he could have had a family boarding there. It makes sense that in his older age, and being a widower, he needed people around him. (6)

Crossing The Bridge

In the era we live in today, with the general ease of transportation, getting around is something we don’t pay much heed to. (Unless of course, we get stuck driving in traffic, or worse, we get a bit anxious because our luggage is taking much too long to show up at the carousel at the airport!) For our ancestors, getting around town took some real effort. Just imagine what it was like to cross the Hudson or Mohawk Rivers back then? It’s no wonder people got excited when a new bridge was built!

Page 108 from The Hudson, From the Wilderness to the Sea, by Benson John Lossing, 1866.
The Union Bridge was built between 1800-1810.

From a Wikipedia article on the History of Lansingburgh, “The structure which spans the Hudson River between Lansingburgh and Waterford, Saratoga county, known as the Union Bridge, is distinguished as being the oldest wooden bridge in the United States. It stands intact today as strong apparently as in the early days of the century. When the bridge was constructed it was deemed a marvel of engineering skill. How the public looked upon the structure at that time is manifested by the elaborate character of the exercises which attended its opening.

The day was a holiday in Lansingburgh. A ‘very numerous procession’ was formed at noon at Johnson & Judson’s hotel and marched to the bridge, and thence across to Waterford, ‘under the discharge of seventeen cannon’, where a dinner had been provided at Van Schoonhoven’s hotel at the expense of the stockholders of the bridge. Among the prominent persons in attendance were the governor, the secretary of state, the comptroller, ‘and a large number of respectable gentlemen from Albany and the adjacent villages’, who ‘partook in much harmony and conviviality’. The structure is 800 feet (240 m) long and thirty feet wide…”

In the next chapter, we will literally cross over this Union Bridge with our 4x Great Grandfather Orman Shaw, and learn about a union of another kind — that with his future wife Elizabeth. They will come to reside in the community of Halfmoon, Saratoga County. (7)

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials,
Notes, and Observations

Setting The Stage

(1) — four records

Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library
A Map of the State of New York
by Simeon De Witt, circa 1804
https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:p8418t73n
Note: For the map image.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Troy from Mount Ida
(No. 11 of The Hudson River Portfolio)
Various artists/makers, 1821–22
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/418421
Note: For the river and town image.

Wade & Croome’s Panorama of the Hudson River from New York to Waterford
[electronic resource]
by William Wade, John Disturnell, and William Croome, circa 1847
https://archive.org/details/ldpd_11290386_000/page/n1/mode/2up
Note: For the cover image, and the panoramic Point-of-Interest view #153 of Lansingburgh, New York

Troy, New York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy%2C_New_York
Note: For the text.

A Tree of Welfare

(2) — two records

50 Objects — New York’s Capital Region in 50 Objects
Witenagemot Oak Peace Tree
https://www.albanyinstitute.org/online-exhibition/50-objects/section/witenagemot-oak-peace-tree
Note: For the tree photograph.

Schaghticoke, New York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schaghticoke,_New_York
Note: For information about the Tree of Welfare and Albany land ownership.

Getting To Know Daniel Shaw

(3) — four records

(DDFA)
Doty-Doten Family in America
Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620
by Ethan Allan Doty, 1897
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/512/mode/2up
Book pages: 513, Digital pages: 512 /1048
Note: For the text.

History of the Seventeen Towns of Rensselaer County, From the Colonization of the Manor of Rensselaerwyck to the Present Time
by Arthur James Weise, circa 1880
https://archive.org/details/cu31924064123015/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater
Book page: 34, Digital page: 40/168, Left and right columns at bottom.
Note: For the names Daniel Shaw and Joseph “Dody” as observed within the text.

Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution
New York Revolutionary War Tax Lists
https://www.ess-sar.org/pages/nys_taxlists.html
Note: For the text.

Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution
New York Revolutionary War Tax Lists by County — Albany
October 1779 Land and Property Tax Lists — Schachtakoke
https://www.ess-sar.org/pages/nystax_counties/nys_taxlists_county_albany_schachtakoke_october-1779.html
Document page: 4, Digital page: 5
Note 1: Entry 16 lists Danl Shaw of Cohoes.
Note 2: Three siblings of Lydia Doty are listed: Peter, Orman, and Jacob Doty.

The Colonial Militias of New York

(4) — seven records

U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 for Daniel Shaw
New York > Willett’s Regiment of Levies, 1781-1783 (Folder 173)
— Various Organizations (Folder 181)
Digital page: 226/644
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/4282/records/1725089
Note 1: “An account of certificates” with Daniel Shaw being listed 25th from the bottom. Indications read “Investigation shows that a large number of the names on this records as of Col. Peter Yates’ Reg’t. NY”
Note 2: Further notations on digital page 228/644 indicate that payments were paid on 3 March 1789 in Lansingburgh by John VanRensselaer.

JAR: Journal of the American Revolution
How Was The Revolutionary War Paid For?
https://allthingsliberty.com/2015/02/how-was-the-revolutionary-war-paid-for/
Note: For reference.

Albany County Militia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albany_County_militia
Note: For the text.

American Wars
Albany County Militia – 14th Regiment
https://www.americanwars.org/ny-american-revolution/albany-county-militia-fourteenth-regiment.htm
Note: For the listings of the Shaws and the Dotys.

Fandom
American Revolutionary War Wiki
14th Albany County Regiment of Militia
https://arw.fandom.com/wiki/14th_Albany_County_Regiment_of_Militia#cite_note-1
Note: For the text.

2nd New York Regiment
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_New_York_Regiment
Note: For the data.

Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York
by Various Authors, circa 1853
(is enclosed within)
New York In The Revolution, Volume One
by The Board of Regents and Berthold Fernow, circa 1887
https://archive.org/details/documentsrelativ15alba/page/n9/mode/2up
Note 1: On book page 469 —Daniel Shaw, private, and Peter Doty, private, are listed on the Roster of the State Troops as being members of Yate’s Regiment.
Note 2: On book page 361 —Jacob Doty, private, and Orman Doty, private, are listed on the Roster of the State Troops as being members of Van Rensselaer’s Regiment.

The Doty Surname Gives Way to Shaw

(5) — eleven records

The Hammond-Harwood House Museum
18th Century Marriage
https://hammondharwoodhouse.org/18th-century-marriage/
Note: For the colonial wedding image.

Schaghticoke, New York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schaghticoke,_New_York
Note: For information about Rensselaer County in 1791.

(DDFA)
Doty-Doten Family in America
Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620
by Ethan Allan Doty, 1897
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/512/mode/2up
Book pages: 513, Digital pages: 512 /1048
Note: For the text.

Lydia Shaw
in the U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60525/records/81992848?tid=&pid=&queryId=7c715aee-d3b7-4366-ba38-8699a4dee0c0&_phsrc=RPj2&_phstart=successSource
and
Lydia Shaw
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/121224259/lydia-shaw
Note: For the data.

Daniel Shaw
in the 1790 United States Federal Census
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5058/records/235427?tid=&pid=&queryId=1604fcd7-4f55-449e-8ae3-7d9d14acac82&_phsrc=UbN8&_phstart=successSource
Book page: 355, Digital page: 324/647, Left column, entry #20 from the bottom.
Note: For the data. This indicates that the family was living Pittstown.

1790 Census Records
https://www.archives.gov/research/census/1790
Note: For the data.

Daniel Shaw
in the 1800 United States Federal Census
New York > Rensselaer > Scaghticoke
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7590/records/270758
Book page: 782 (handwritten), Digital page: 9/9
Note: For the text.

1800 Census Records
https://www.archives.gov/research/census/1800
Note: For the data.

William Shaw obituary from an uncredited Kingston, New York newspaper.

William Shaw
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106338154/william-shaw
Note: For the obituary profile from an uncredited Kingston, New York newspaper. There are errors in the profile, such as his birthplace. He was not born in Dutchess County.

Hiram Shaw
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/142742279/hiram-shaw
Note: We speculate that he may have committed suicide.

Perhaps He Was A Prudent Man?

(6) — four records

[Record of the Will of Daniel Shaw]
New York, Probate Records, 1629-1971 > Rensselaer > Wills 1842-1843 vol 33
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GY4J-6ST?lang=en&i=167
Book pages: 279-285, Digital pages (images): 168-171/277
Note: The first six pages are notices to all the siblings of the probate. The actual Will begins on book page 285, or image 171.

The Historical Society of the New York Courts
When Did Slavery End in New York?
https://history.nycourts.gov/when-did-slavery-end-in-new-york/
Note: Our text was derived from this article.

Daniel Shaw
in the 1840 United States Federal Census
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8057/records/3781404?tid=&pid=&queryId=a0d38961-eb39-4ef6-8a80-0f8cea30f959&_phsrc=Szr6&_phstart=successSource
Note: For the data.

1840 Census Records
https://www.archives.gov/research/census/1840
Note: For the data.

Crossing The Bridge

(7) — two records

The Hudson, From the Wilderness to the Sea
by Benson John Lossing, 1866
https://archive.org/details/hudsonfromwilder00lossi/page/108/mode/2up
Book page: 108, Digital page: 124/486
Note: For the bridge image.

History of Lansingburgh, New York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Lansingburgh,_New_York
Note: For the text.

The Doty Line, A Narrative — Seven

This is Chapter Seven of nine. We have wondered if Joseph Doty, Jr. moved from New Amsterdam, up to the Nine Partners area of the Hudson River Valley due to the influence of the family of his wife Geisje (Lucretia) Van Schaick. Perhaps he somehow connected with her family through the prevalence of the Dutch culture of Manhattan when he lived there? (His militia service was also was affiliated with the Dutch Burgher Guards).

Joseph also had his cousins Charles and Elias Doty from Oyster Bay, living in the Dutchess County area. So, it’s also possible that he and Lucretia could have connected through family, or the Dutch Reformed Church. Who knows, we’re just glad that they met!

Tintin struggles as he peers intently at a map of the Hudson River Valley. He is surrounded by clues and artifacts, piecing them together to try to puzzle-out the hidden locations.
(Image courtesy of Shutterstock).

From Wikipedia, The Adventures of Tintin is a series of 24 comic albums created by Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. The country of Belgium was created in 1830, after it gained independence from the Southern Netherlands.

Let’s Talk About Place Names

During their lifetimes, our ancestors lived in locations that changed name(s) quite a few times. This gets quite confusing. We have corrected the history in this chapter to reflect these transformations.

We have observed that many researchers have rather clumsily used inappropriate place names for locations mentioned in this history. Some of this is understandable, since two different countries clashed over who had control of the area. Be that as it may, many past record sources, and then more contemporary records, have not thought about this sufficiently. We are following them in time and have a longer view of how the area names and boundaries evolved. So let’s address this issue —

New Netherland vs. The Province of New York
The area was first known as New Netherland, a Dutch colony, until 1664. The English renamed it when they took control in 1664 as the Province of New York, after the Duke of York (later King James II).

New Amsterdam > Manhattan
First, it was called New Amsterdam, then the English changed the name to New York City in 1664, for the same reason cited above.

Fort Orange > Albany
Located on the upper Hudson River, it was named as Fort Orange by the Dutch. It was initially founded in 1614-1624 as a fur trading post. The English then renamed it Albany, designating it first as a settlement in 1664, a county in 1686, then as a city in 1686. It is the oldest city in New York State.

Early Autumn on Esopus Creek, by A. T. Bircher. (Image courtesy of The Old Print Shop).

Esopus > Wiltwyck > Kingston
This was a broad area on the upper Hudson River named by Native Peoples to describe a creek. The Dutch used this name because it was convenient to do so. In 1657, Peter Stuyvesant, the director-general of New Netherland, built a stockade to protect the Dutch, and renamed the Esopus village Wiltwyck. A few years later, the English renamed portions of it as Kingston in 1669.

Kinderhook
This was a settlement which existed prior to 1651. First it was in Albany County, then this area became Columbia County in 1786, after the American Revolutionary War.

Ulster County
Derived from parts of the Esopus area by the Duke of York in 1683. Prior to that it was simply named Esopus. (Note: The Dutch were not very concerned about the names of interior settlements, since they concentrated mostly on extracting resources, such as beaver pelts from along the Hudson River). (1)

Manhattan 1660* (view from Governor’s Island), by L. F. Tantillo Fine Art.
(Image courtesy of the New Amsterdam History Center, via The Dutch Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art). *Technically, the location then is New Amsterdam.

The De Longs, and The Van Schaicks, Come to America

Both family genealogical histories for our 6x Great Grandmother Geisje (Lucretia) DeLong’s maternal and paternal lines begin in The Netherlands (Holland). These lines then cross the Atlantic Ocean to America in a like manner, with them then building new lives in a Dutch-controlled New Amsterdam (Manhattan), in a similar time frame. However, the two families then diverge slightly for a couple of generations, before coming together in the third generation. We’ll start with the De Longs, who are the paternal side. Please note that in all records there are several spellings for this family surname. Among them: Delange, De Lange, Delong, De Long.

The Paternal Line, the De Langes / De Longs —
During this period of history, it was completely normal for Dutch immigrants to enter America through New Amsterdam. We don’t know the amount of time this family actually stayed there, but it seems plausible that fairly quickly they chose to relocate again. This time, they moved northward up the Hudson River to the area known by the Dutch as Esopus. In that area, they are considered to be very early pioneers since that area was still a rough frontier.

Detail excerpt from The Provinces of New York and New Jersey; with part of Pensilvania, 
and the Province of Quebec, by Thomas Pownall, and Samuel Holland, circa 1776.
(Image courtesy of the Library of Congress).
The lower orange circle indicates where the De Longs and the Van Schaicka certainly first entered New Amsterdam. The upper blue circle indicates where the De Long family was active; the upper green circle, where the Van Schaicks were active.

The first DeLange to arrive in America was Franciscus Adrianus (Arie) De Lange, born about 1627 in Leur, Etten-Leur, Noord-Brabant, The Netherlands — died April 17, 1699 in Kingston, the Province of New York. He married Anna (maiden name unknown).

In the next generation, the De Lange line continues on in the Esopus and (then the) Kingston areas. Adrianus Franciscusz De Lange, was born about 1650, in the same location as his father Arie — died before April 17, 1699 in Brabant, an area of Kingston, Ulster County, the Province of New York. He married first Rachel Jansen, date unknown. He married second, Anna (maiden name unknown), date unknown.

The Maternal Line, the Van Schaicks
For Geisje (Lucretia) maternal family line, we return to The Netherlands. This history begins with Niclass Laurenzen Van Schaick*, born about 1633 in Utrecht, The Netherlands — died about 1688 at Kinderhook, Albany County, the Province of New York. He married Jennetjie Cornelis* circa 1664, before they immigrated to America. She was born about 1642, (possibly) in Beverwyck, Netherlands — died February 8, 1728, in the same location as her husband.

*Quite interestingly, we learned that through these ancestors, our 8x Great Grandparents, Niclass Laurenzen Van Schaick and Jennetjie Cornelis — that we connect to the famous Roosevelt family of U.S. Presidential fame. (Please see The Roosevelt Family Connection at the very end of this chapter).

Fort Orange and The Patroon’s House, by L. F. Tantillo.
(Image courtesy of the New York State Museum).

As with the De Longs, we do not know how long the Van Schaicks were in New Amsterdam. Some of the literature suggests a family connection — and that perhaps Niclass was the brother of Gerrit Goosensz Van Schaick, who was also born in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Known as Goosen, he was one of the original settlers in the community of Fort Orange > Albany. It makes sense that Niclass and Jennetje would live in the same area.

Often, other researchers have not captured the birth of all ten of Niclass and Jannetje’s children. Maritje Van Schaick, our 7x Great Grandmother was the last of their children, born about 1683 at Kinderhook, Albany settlement, (Albany County in 1686). After several generations in America, the DeLange/DeLong family is finally joined by marriage to the Van Schaick family.
(See our Research Observation in the footnotes).

Marriage Record of September 6, 1703 for Frans Arie DeLong and Maritje Van Schaick.
(Note that their names are spelled differently).
From the records of the Dutch Reformed Church in Albany, the Province of New York.

Frans Arie DeLong, born April 24, 1681, in Ulster County, the Province of New York – died May 29, 1755, in Beekman, Dutchess County, same Province. He married Maritje Van Schaick, September 6, 1703. She was born October 19, 1683, in Stuvesant/Kinderhook, Albany County [Columbia County, circa 1786] – died February 1758 in Dutchess County, Province of New York. Frans and Maritje (Van Schaick) DeLong had a large family of twelve children, with the eleventh being our 6x Great Grandmother, Giesje (De Lange/De Long) Doty. (2)

If the DeLange, or Van Schaick families were dressed in their very, very, very best clothes,
their portraits would have looked somewhat like this.
(Image courtesy of Nicole Kipar’s late 17th Century Costume history).

A Flourishing Family In The Hudson River Valley

The Joseph Doty Jr. family spent the arc of their lifetimes situated on either Long Island Sound, or within the Hudson River Valley. He was born in 1708 in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York Province — died about 1788 likely in Lansingburgh, Rensselaer  County, New York State.

Marriage Record of March 20, 1743 for Joseph Doty Jr. and Giesje De Lange.
From the records of the Dutch Reformed Church in Fishkill (Rombout Patent), Dutchess County, the Province of New York.

On March 20, 1743, Joseph Doty Jr., married Geisje De Lange* at the Dutch Reformed Church located in the hamlet of Fishkill, Rombount Precinct, Dutchess County, New York Province. She was born in the Crum Elbow Precinct, Dutchess County, the Province of New York, about 1725, daughter of Frans Arie DeLong and Maritje (Van Schaick) DeLong. She died after 1773, likely in Lansingburgh, Rensselaer County.

*Geisje DeLong’s surname became anglicized to De Long (from De Lange). On many records, her first name is recorded as “Lucretia”. This was actually her nickname which she used for most of her life.

The Dutch Reformed Church in Fishkill, New York, date unknown.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com).

Together Joseph and Lucretia had 10 children, who are listed below. The records cited are quoted from the The Doty-Doten Family in America (DDFA) book.
Note: All of their children were born in the Province of New York. We have made corrections to their birth locations.

The first five children, Ormond, Peter, Rebecca, Elizabeth, and Rhoda, were born in the Crum Elbow Precinct, Dutchess County:

  • Ormond Doty was born November 24, 1746 in Crum Elbow Precinct, Dutchess County. He died in South Wallingford, Vermont, November 18, 1826. He married Phoebe Vail; she died at the same location, May 1, 1830. “It is reported that during the Revolution Ormond Doty lived at or in the vicinity of Albany, N. Y.; that he was a Loyalist and was imprisoned at Albany for some time on that charge, but at the intercession of his brothers, who were Patriots, he was released on the condition of going to South Wallingford, Vermont, at that time a wilderness. He removed there with his family, where they settled and remained”.
  • Peter Doty was born about 1750 in Crum Elbow Precinct, Dutchess County. He died in 1811 after a Will was written dated July 2, 1811. He married Catharine Overrocker, who died January 1820.“They lived Schaghticoke. N. Y. He was a prosperous farmer there. His Will, dated July 2, 1811, is on record at Troy, N. Y.”.
  • Rebecca Doty (twin) was born about 1756 in Crum Elbow Precinct, Dutchess, New York. She married (1) John Irish; (2) Stutely Stafford.
    “She married first John Irish. He was killed as a British spy at Tinmouth, Vermont, during the Revolution. She married second, Stutely Stafford. They lived South Wallingford, Vermont”.
  • Elizabeth Doty (twin) was born about 1756 in Crum Elbow Precinct, Dutchess County. She married Daniel Barheit.
  • Rhoda Doty (also known as Rhody), was born about 1759 in Crum Elbow Precinct, Dutchess County. She married Jacob Stover.
    “They lived Schaghticoke. N. Y., and it is probable that descendants lived Schuylerville, Saratoga County, and Greenwich, Washington County, N. Y.”.

    The next three children, Mary, Jacob, and Marian, were born in the same location, but it had been renamed as the Charlotte Precinct, Dutchess County:
  • Mary Doty (also known as Polly), was born about 1763 in Charlotte Precinct, Dutchess County. She married Leonard Schermerhorn. “They lived Berne, N. Y.”.
  • Jacob Doty was born about 1766, in Charlotte Precinct, Dutchess County. He married Zilla Berrie. “He is said to have lived in Albany or vicinity, during the Revolution, but afterward removed to Vermont”.
  • Marian Doty was born about 1768 in Charlotte Precinct, Dutchess County. She married Ephraim Putnam.

    The last two children, Lydia and Nancy, were born in a new location: Lansingburgh, Rensselaer County:
  • Lydia Doty was born in December 1769, in Lansingburgh, Rensselaer County. She married Daniel Shaw about 1783. Lydia died November 2, 1830 in Schaghticoke, also in Rensselaer County.
    (We are descended from Lydia and Daniel).
  • Nancy Doty was born about 1773, in Lansingburgh, Rensselaer, County. She married Mark Jimney. (3)
Hudson River Scene, by John Frederick Kensett.
(Image courtesy of the Beacon Historical Society via the Metropolitan Museum of Art).

The Dutch Words Were — Kromme Elleboog

While doing research for this chapter on the Doty Family, we encountered these odd-seeming place names in the Hudson River Valley: Crum Elbow, or Crom Elbow. They seemed like real head scratchers to us, but we’ve seen other odd things — such as trying to interpret quill-pen written manuscripts where the writer was implausibly scribbling away while experiencing a serious medical emergency.

Therefore, we were delighted to learn the following, simply because it made this aspect of our family history, that much more interesting. From the Dutchess County Historical Society Yearbook of 1933 —

In the seventeenth century, while the Dutch held sovereignty over the valley of the Hudson, that is: from 1609 to 1664, they established settlements at three places,—one on the site of the city of New York, one on the site of Albany and one on the site of Kingston. They made no attempt to explore or to clear the forested regions on either side of the river between New York and Albany, chiefly because they were greatly concerned with the trade in furs, and the three settlements just mentioned did an active business as trading posts.

Ignoring the hinterland [the interior land areas], the Dutch plied the river in sailboats, learned to know the river well and had names for many of the sailing courses and for natural features along the shores.

In 1664 sovereignty over the Hudson valley passed to the English. They, after a few years, began to be interested in the regions east and west of the river and in 1683 the colonial legislature passed an Act by which those lands were laid out into counties. Coincidently with the creation of counties there arose an era of speculation in land, during which the desirable tracts along the river were bought up and ultimately opened for settlement.

In the course of the development, government officials filed documents and conducted correspondence in English and encouraged the common use of that tongue. It took just about a century for the English language to supplant the Dutch and, while the two were in use at once, original documents were recorded in which may now be found many instances of phonetic spelling, occasions when an Englishman tried to write down the Dutch words he heard in use about him.

An instance of such phonetic spelling and of partial translation is the place-name: Krom Elbow. The Dutch words were: Kromme Elleboog, meaning a bent or crooked elbow. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; Kromme was rendered in the records as: Krom, Krum, Crom, Crum and even Crown (K being a characteristic Dutch letter and C English), while Elleboog was translated in full into Elbow.

[Excerpted from from an article by Helen Wilkinson Reynolds,
in The Dutchess County Historical Society Yearbook for 1933.]

The following bit of information from the excerpt above, became very important with the ongoing history of the Doty Family. “In 1683… coincidently with the creation of counties there arose an era of speculation in land, during which the desirable tracts along the river were bought up and ultimately opened for settlement”. (4)

The Nine Partners Patent in Dutchess County

“The Great Nine Partners Patent, also known as the ‘Lower Nine Partners Patent,’ was a land grant in Dutchess County, New York, made on May 27, 1697, by New York governor Benjamin Fletcher. The parcel included about four miles (6 km) along the Hudson River and was eight to ten miles (13 to 16 km) wide, extending from the Hudson River to the Connecticut border…

It was the ninth of fourteen patents granted between 1685 and 1706 which came to cover the entirety of historic Dutchess County [which until 1812 also included today’s Putnam County]”. (Wikipedia, 9 Partners) Some modern writers also refer to the patent as the Nine Partners area.

The sepia rectangle shows The Great Nine Partners Patent, a land grant in Dutchess County, New York, as surveyed by Richard Edsall, circa 1740. [It is barely legible] The map which overlays the The Great Nine Partners Patent map is from the Dutchess Count Historical Society yearbook of 1939, and indicates the many land patents that were scattered over the breadth of Dutchess County.

Note also in the lower left corner of Duchess County is the hamlet of Fishkill in the Rombout Patent. This is the place where Joseph Doty and his wife Giesje De Lange (Lucretia De Long) were married.

The Crum Elbow Precinct
Encouraging settlers to move into the new counties that lined the Hudson River superhighway was very successful.“Prior to 1734, there had been little settlement in the area, but it proceeded rapidly thereafter. Settlers came to the area up the Hudson, but also from New England. When the legislature divided Dutchess County into precincts in 1737, the Nine Partners Grant was included in the Crum Elbow Precinct.” (Wikipedia, 9 Partners)

Observation: The Province of New York used many Precinct Names in this era, but not many town names. ‘Towns’ were quite frequently scattered, and being very tiny hamlets, of not much more than where two paths crossed. Some modern researchers have developed a tendency to magnify and enlarge some of these characteristics of places / hamlets / crossroads in their desire for a sense of a ‘town’.

So the historical place naming sequence (generally speaking) is:
> Counties (commencing in 1683)
> Patents (for Dutchess County, from 1685 until 1706)
> Precincts (or Dutchess County, in 1737, and then ongoing as needed for an administrative function)
> Town names (This varies, but precincts were eliminated in 1788. From that point on, only town names were used).

Detail excerpt from The Provinces of New York and New Jersey; with part of Pensilvania,
and the Province of Quebec, by Thomas Pownall, and Samuel Holland, circa 1776.
(Image courtesy of the Library of Congress).

The area outlined in white (above) is the border of the Crum Elbow Precinct from 1697 through 1762. The Doty family lived within this Precinct for most of their time in Dutchess County. Seven years later, in 1769, the entire family relocated north to Lansingburg, Rensselaer County.

The Crum Elbow Precinct Is Divided Twice More
In 1762, the Crum Elbow Precinct was divided into two new precincts, called the Amenia, and the Charlotte Precincts. From that point forward, the Amenia Precinct was a separate entity. In 1786, Charlotte Precinct was divided again into: the Clinton Precinct, and the Washington Precinct. Washington Precinct included the towns presently known as Stanford and Washington. Clinton Precinct included present-day Clinton, Hyde Park, and Pleasant Valley.

The later divisions of 1786 did not affect this family, because, in 1769, the whole family relocated to Lansingburg, Rensselaer County, which was the next county north of Dutchess County moving up the Hudson River.

The Doty family had lived in the Crum Elbow Precinct for many years, but we do not know exactly where. We likely will never know exactly where, unless some new records turn up. Some researchers have mentioned the Charlotte Precinct, but the Dotys only experienced that place name for about seven years before they moved. Some have mentioned the Clinton Precinct, but this precinct did not exist when they lived there. (5)

The Van Allen Homestead, by Henry A. Ferguson
(Courtesy of the Albany Institute of History & Art).

Literally Mending Fences Here And There

This was an era when there was no municipal government to take care of roads so that they were safe and passable. In addition, since many people had livestock, and boundary markers were generally a bit vague, someone had to pay attention to where the fences actually were. Joseph Doty was not alone in this role. Many of his neighbors had similar roles and a few interesting records do survive, such as —

In the book Records of Crum Elbow Precinct, Dutchess County, New York, 1738… President Franklin D. Roosevelt (who knew he liked genealogy?), cited that Joseph Doty [Jr.] was:

  • Either an Overseer, or a Path Master of the High Ways in the Crum Elbow Precinct for the years: 1756 and 1759
  • Then the same role for the Charlotte Precinct four years later
  • The Delong family’s bridge (of his wife’s family) is also mentioned as being in the Charlotte Precinct in 1772
    (See footnotes). (6)

A Blacksmith, Probably in Good Circumstances…

In the later 1760s, Joseph and Lucretia sold some of their properties in the Crum Elbow Precinct (which had recently been renamed as the Charlotte Precinct). There are two records which are written about in the Doty-Doten Family book, on page 505 — “Joseph Doty was a blacksmith, probably in good circumstances, his sons and daughters all being people of good position… June 5, 1767. Joseph Doty, blacksmith, of Crum Elbow, Dutchess Co., N. Y., mortgages land there. March 30, 1769. Joseph Doty, blacksmith, and his wife Cashea [Lucretia] of Charlotte, sell lots there, being part of nine partners, to Samuel Smith, Jr. of Jamaica, Queens Co., and Melancthon Smith of Charlotte”. The Precinct they lived in was populated by farmers and tradesmen. We speculate that Joseph may have learned the blacksmith trade during his time in Manhattan, perhaps as part of his militia service role?

From these old records we were able to learn about his profession as a blacksmith. Also, we recovered an index record for the second land sale (likely due to the fact that we were fortunate to have a distinctive name such as Melancthon Smith to work with). The index indicates that the original deed is found on page 292, but the original record book is not cited. What’s more, we found a tax record for Joseph Doty of Nine Partners / Crum Elbow / Charlotte, for the time period of June 1754 – June 1768. This supports both his residency there, and the fact that since his tax record ends in June 1768, that there was change afoot. (See footnotes).

Dutchess County, Grantee Deed Indexes. (Image courtesy of Family Search)

Observation: Finding colonial era records in New York State is a very hit-or-miss affair, due to both the history of the area, and to be quite honest, the State of New York bureaucracy. They have not been very organized when it comes to digitizing older documents. We don’t have any records for when the Dotys first acquired property. So, we can only speculate as to when they left Fishkill, and moved north to the Crum Elbow Precinct. Does this mean that their residency there began about June 1754, as the tax records could imply? No, not really, because tax records for the years 1749, 1750, 1751, and 1752 are missing.

Records are quite scant. Censuses for the population did not yet exist, nor did income taxes, and you cannot pay property taxes, unless you own property. (7)

Detail excerpt from The Provinces of New York and New Jersey; with part of Pensilvania,
and the Province of Quebec, by Thomas Pownall, and Samuel Holland, circa 1776.
(Image courtesy of the Library of Congress).
This map documents the family’s transition from the Crum Elbow Precinct in Dutchess County, to the new town of Lansingburg in Rensselaer County in 1769.

Where the Hudson Meets the Mohawk

In 1769, they moved to Lansingburgh [Village], New York, located further north in Rensselaer County. The specific area where they moved to was at first, very sparsely settled. This is where the Hudson River meets the Mohawk River. Just slightly north, across the rivers was the established community of Halfmoon, and the town of Albany was to the south. (Albany had long been established; initially as a Dutch trading post in 1614).

The book, the History of Rensselaer County records, “The purchase by Abraham Jacob Lansing on June 21, 1763, was followed soon after by his actual settlement. Two or three other families were already here… and several others soon followed. In seven years quite a settlement was formed. The map of the city plat laid out by Mr. Lansing was tiled May 11, 1771. The survey had taken place a year or two earlier, for quite a number of lots were sold in 1770, and the town-meeting that adopted the ‘proposals’ had met in January before the map was tiled”. This book does not record that they were purchasers of property there.

Initially the area was called the New City. A. J. Weise’s History of Lansingburgh records that there were an estimated 50 people living there in 1771, 400 living there in 1780, and that by 1790, the population had increased to 500 people. In 1788, the year that Joseph Doty, Jr. likely passed away, this enthusiastic description was written: “Elkanah Watson, a traveler, thus writes in his journal concerning New City, in the year 1788: “This place is thronged with merchants, emigrants, principally, from New England, who have enjoyed a very extensive and lucrative trade, supplying Vermont and the region on both banks of the Hudson,  as far as Lake George, with merchandise, and receiving in payment wheat,  pot [potash] and pearl ashes, and lumber”. (See footnotes). (8)

These two maps indicate the position of the ‘New City’ of Lansingburgh
near the town of Halfmoon, the Province of New York.
(Images courtesy of the Lansingburgh Historical Society).

Our story about the Dotys is nearing its final resolution with the Doty family name giving way to the Shaw family name in the next chapter. Be that as it may, we have one more chapter to go, where the Shaw name then gives way to the Devoe family name, of which we have much, much history. However, before we go there, we have learned some interesting things…

The Roosevelt Family Connection

We connect to the Theodore Roosevelt Jr. family through Great Grandparents — For his generation, they were the 5x Great Grandparents; for our generation, the 8x Great Grandparents.

As a reminder, this is how we introduced them earlier:
The Maternal Line, the Van Schaicks
For Geisje (Lucretia) maternal family line, we return to The Netherlands. This history begins with Niclass Laurenzen Van Schaick*, born about 1633 in Utrecht, The Netherlands — died about 1688 at Kinderhook, Albany County, the Province of New York. He married Jennetjie Cornelis* circa 1664, before they immigrated to America. She was born about 1642, (possibly) in Beverwyck, Netherlands — died February 8, 1728, in the same location as her husband.

The 10 children of Nicholas Van Schaick and Jannetje are as follows:

  1. Cornelia, who was born about 1668 and married Hendrick <Joris> Van Salsbergen.
  2. Nicholas was born about 1666
  3. Fytje was born about 1668 and died 1735; married Dirk Dirksz van der Karre
  4. Dominicus Van Schaick, who was born 1671 and married Rebecca Groesbeck
  5. Arent, who was born about 1674 and married Maria Van Loon
  6. Laurens, who was born about 1675 and married Jannetje Oothout*
  7. Emanuel, who was born 1678 and married Margrietje Wyngaert*
  8. Jannetje, who married Johannes Van Hoese.
  9. Elias
  10. Marritje, who was born about 1683 and married Frans De Lange*

Of these children, their youngest daughter ‘10. Marritje’ is our 7x Great Grandmother. Her brother, ‘7. Emanuel’ is the one that married into the family line which became the Roosevelt line.

Theodore Roosevelt Jr., circa 1904. 26th President of the United States, 1901 – 1909.
(Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

Shown below in two parts, is the family tree related to this lineage:

When you look at the family tree for Theodore Roosevelt Jr., working from left to right, you can observe that his 2x Great Grandfather is Cornelius Van Schaak, (upper right in purple text).

Continuing from Cornelius and moving right to the column of Great Grandparents, we see Theodore’s 5x Great Grandparents, Nicholas Laurens Van Schaick and Jannetjie Cornelis. (Again, they are our 8x Great Grandparents.)

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt with Anna and baby James,
Hyde Park, New York, circa 1908. FDR was the 32nd President of the United States.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons).

Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor —
Another Roosevelt connection of note, is the person shown in the upper chart at top center position. The man is named Grandparent: Cornelius Van Schaak Roosevelt and he leads to two connections: Theodore Roosevelt Jr.’s fifth cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Franklin’s wife Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, who was Theodore’s niece. This is diagrammed simply below:

Cornelius Van Schaak Roosevelt has also led to some interesting family connections.
(Image courtesy of Fandom).

When you look at the family tree for Cornelius Van Schaak Roosevelt, working from left to right with the purple text, you can observe that his 2x Great Grandfather is Emanuel Van Schaak, (Marritje’s brother).

Lithograph of Martin Van Buren by Daniel Dickinson, c. 1820s.
(Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

One More President

These same Dutch grandparents Nicholas Van Schaick and Jannetje Cornelis, led us to the Roosevelt family, but they also connect us to another United States President. Their son, ‘6. Laurens’ is the one that married into the family line which led to the 8th United States President, Martin Van Buren.

When you look at the family tree for Martin Van Buren Sr., working from left to right with the purple text, you can observe that his Great Grandfather is Laurens Van Schaak, (Marritje’s brother). (9)

So, what would our parents have thought about this?

Throughout their 50 year marriage, our parents used to have some really very absurd arguments about which-side-of-the-family-had-more-important-ancestors. However, they actually knew very little about their true family histories* — so much of these conversations consisted of them blowing cigarette smoke at each other and making offhand comments.
*Much of the research and discovery has emerged in the present generation due to online research capabilities.

But first, a bit of background —
We have all heard the expression that opposites attract, and sometimes it does indeed prove true. Mom and Pop had a mixed-marriage, in the fact that Mom was a country Republican from the mold of: I believe in Civil Rights, but I think we pay too much in taxes! (She always voted Republican). Pop was a Democrat, who grew up in the city during the Great Depression and he felt that FDR had been very helpful to his family. (He always voted Democrat).

Mom would definitely say that Theodore was a Win! for her side, and Pop would counter that FDR was a Win! for his side, and that he had been President for far longer. We never really saw them come to détente on discussions like this… So, when they voted, the actual irony was this: they always ended up canceling-out each other’s vote.

The same hue and pitch entered discussions about family lines, and the same pattern usually continued. In thinking about this, we have pondered, Were they just looking at their various kids’ genes and trying to puzzle-out what they as parents, perceived about each child, one way or another?

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials,
Notes, and Observations

Let’s Talk About Place Names

(1) — nine records

Tintin and Snowy

The Adventures of Tintin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tintin
Note: For information on Tintin and his creator Hergé.

Province of New York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_New_York
Note: For the data.

History of Manhattan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Manhattan
Note: For the data.

Fort Orange (New Netherland)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Orange_(New_Netherland)
Note: For the data.

Verso of Bricher’s painting.

The Old Print Shop
Early Autumn on Esopus Creek
by A. T. Bricher, circa 1875
https://oldprintshop.com/product/147946
Note: For the landscape image.

Esopus Creek
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esopus_Creek
and
Esopus, New York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esopus,_New_York
Notes: For the data.

Kinderhook, New York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinderhook,_New_York
Note: For the data.

Ulster County, New York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_County,_New_York
Note: For the data.

The De Longs, and The Van Schaicks Come to America

(2) — eleven records

The New Amsterdam History Center,
via The Dutch Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Manhattan 1660 (view from Governor’s Island), by L. F. Tantillo Fine Art.
https://newamsterdamhistorycenter.org/fat-event/metropolitan-museum-of-art/
Note: For the panoramic artwork of New Amsterdam.

Library of Congress
The Provinces of New York and New Jersey;
with part of Pensilvania, and the Province of Quebec.
by Thomas Pownall, and Samuel Holland, circa 1776
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3800.ar104500/?r=0.402,1.183,0.673,0.371,0
Note: For sections of the map which indicate the areas of Esopus and New Amsterdam.

Franciscus Adrianus De Lange
https://www.geni.com/people/Franciscus-De-Lange/6000000002665615528
Note: For the data. (Use this file with caution!)

Adrianus Franciscuzs DeLange
https://www.geni.com/people/Adrianus-Franciscusz-De-Lange/6000000000115739032
Note: For the data. (Use this file with caution!)

Nicholas <Laurens or Gerrit?> Van Schaick
https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~rclarke/genealogy/page1/vschai-n.htm
Note 1: For the birth order of Maritjie with her siblings.
Note 2: She is listed as number eleven in the tracing, but looking closely, you will observe that she is child #10.

Nicholas Laurens Van Schaick (1633 – 1699)
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Van_Schaick-116
Note: This document (also) lists Maritje as his daughter.

New York State Museum
Introduction to the Fort Orange Educational Guide
Fort Orange and The Patroon’s House
by L. F. Tantillo.
https://nysm.nysed.gov/fort-orange-educational-guide
Note: For the landscape image.

Frans Arie DeLong
https://www.geni.com/people/Frans-DeLong/6000000002665613104
Note: For the data. (Use this file with caution!)

Maria Van Schaak
in the U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989
New York > Albany > Albany, Vol II, Book 2
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6961/records/2220205
Book page: 230, Digital page: 234/308
Note: For the marriage record.

Maritje van SCHAAK
Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-2015
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9289/records/20450007
Note: For the data on her birth year.

Research Observation: Unfortunately, many, many, (if not most), genealogical websites and family trees have incorrectly identified Lucretia’s mother, Maritje Van Schaick. Often she is listed as the daughter of Iden Van Schaick and Isabel Bloedgoet. Iden and Isobel did have a daughter named Maritje, but she is not the Maritje Van Schaick who was born in Kinderhook, New York. In fact, it is completely implausible that this mother (Isabel Bloedgoet), uniquely gave birth to Maritje in 1680s Kinderhook, which is about 130 miles further north, when all her other children were born in New Amsterdam.

Nicole Kipar’s 17 the century Costume Archive
The Painter’s Family, circa 1630-35
by Cornelis De Vos
http://www.kipar.org/archive/period-galleries/galleries_dutch_paintings1.html
Note: For the family portrait.

A Flourishing Family In The Hudson River Valley

(3) — nine records

(DDFA)
Doty-Doten Family in America
Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620
by Ethan Allan Doty, 1897
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/504/mode/2up?view=theater
Book pages: 505-506, Digital pages: 504-506 /1048
Note: For the text.

Giesje De Lange
in the U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989
New York > Fishkill > Hopewell, Fishkill and MarbleTown, Book 14
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6961/records/2028806
Book page: 127, Digital page: 33/56
Note: For the marriage record of Joseph Doty, Jr, and Giesje De Lange [Lucretia (De Long) Doty]

Fishkill NY Dutch Reformed Church
https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/87441358/person/320142427851/media/ecda803e-41ca-42b7-afa8-374708585ea5
Note: For the church image.

Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs:
a record of achievements of the people of the Hudson and Mohawk valleys in New York state, included within the present counties of Albany, Rensselaer, Washington, Saratoga, Montgomery, Fulton, Schenectady, Columbia and Greene
Volume 3
Cuyler Reynolds, 1866-1934, ed
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101030753469&seq=170
Book page: 1058, Digital page: 170/680
Note: On the page, see the entry for Doty-Eaton.

(DDFA)
Doty-Doten Family in America
Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620
by Ethan Allan Doty, 1897
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/504/mode/2up?view=theater
Book pages: 505-506, Digital pages: 504-506 /1048
Note: For the text, and for the brief biographies of the children.

Apparently, to this day this name is still used for streets in The Netherlands. (Image courtesy of: https://www.rtvdordrecht.nl/nieuws/de-kromme-elleboog-is-een-logische-straatnaam-voor-het-centrum).

The Dutch Words Were — Kromme Elleboog

(4) — five records

The Dutchess County Historical Society Yearbook for 1933, Volume 18
Kromme Elleboog
A Seventeenth Century Place-Name in the Hudson Valley
by Helen Wilkinson Reynolds
https://issuu.com/dchsny/docs/dchs_yb_v018_1933_masterfile/s/15204965
Note: For the text.

Hudson River Scene
John Frederick Kensett, circa 1857
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11310
Note: For the landscape image.

Library of Congress
The Provinces of New York and New Jersey;
with part of Pensilvania, and the Province of Quebec.
by Thomas Pownall, and Samuel Holland, circa 1776
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3800.ar104500/?r=0.402,1.183,0.673,0.371,0
Note: For sections of the map which indicate the Great Nine Partners purchase and the Crum Elbow Precinct.

Timeline of Town Creation in the Hudson Valley
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_town_creation_in_the_Hudson_Valley
Note: For the data.

The Nine Partners Patent in Dutchess County

(5) — three records

(Wikipedia, 9 Partners)
Great Nine Partners Patent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Nine_Partners_Patent
Note: For the text.

Untitled Manuscript Map of Great Nine Partners Patent
in Dutchess County, New York
by Richard Edsall (surveyor), circa 1740
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/140a7300-fcc4-0132-425e-58d385a7b928?canvasIndex=0
Note: For the map image, (Image ID 5376733)

Dutchess County Historical Society
18th Century Maps
by Author unknown
https://dchsny.org/18th-century-maps/
Note: For the DCHS 1939 Yearbook (map)

Literally Mending Fences Here And There

(6) — two records

Left: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1882 — 1945.
32nd President of the United States, and Right: Frontispiece for Records of Crum Elbow precinct, Dutchess county, New York… Maybe his interest in genealogy is a genetic trait? There must be something there, because we have it too…

Records of Crum Elbow Precinct, Dutchess County, New York, 1738-1761,
together with records of Charlotte precinct, 1762-1785,
records of Clinton precinct, 1786-1788, and
records of the town of Clinton, 1789-1799
by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1882-1945, editor
https://archive.org/details/recordsofcrumelb00roos/page/n7/mode/2up
Note 1: Joseph Doty is listed as either an Overseer, or a Path Master of the High Ways in the Crum Elbow Precinct for the years: 1756 (page 28), 1759 (page 30); then for the Charlotte Precinct in 1763 (page 66).
Note 2: The Delong family’s bridge is mentioned in the Charlotte Precinct in 1772 (page 75).

The Making of the Hudson River School, The Improved Landscape
The Van Allen Homestead
by Henry A. Ferguson 
https://www.albanyinstitute.org/online-exhibition/the-making-of-the-hudson-river-school/section/the-improved-landscape
Note: For the painting.

A Blacksmith, Probably in Good Circumstances…

(7) — three records

TuckDB Postcards
The Village Blacksmith
https://www.tuckdbpostcards.org/items/16508-the-village-blacksmith
Note: For the postcard image.

Joseph Doty
Mentioned in the Record of Melancthon Smith
Land – New York, Land Records, 1630-1975
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Z82J-HL6Z?lang=en
Note: For the land deed.
Book page: 2144, Digital page: Image 11 of 347

Crum Elbow tax lists: includes Nine Partners precinct, Crum Elbow precinct, Charlotte precinct, Amenia precinct, Clinton precinct, Washington precinct
by Clifford M. Buck
https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/296090/?offset=0#page=13&viewer=picture&o=info&n=0&q=
Book page 12, Digital page: 13/76
Note 1: Typed tax record for Joseph Doty of Crum Elbow, for the the time period of June 1754 – June 1768.
Note 2: Document identifier number 285952.

Where the Hudson Meets the Mohawk

(8) — five records

Library of Congress
The Provinces of New York and New Jersey;
with part of Pensilvania, and the Province of Quebec.
by Thomas Pownall, and Samuel Holland, circa 1776
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3800.ar104500/?r=0.402,1.183,0.673,0.371,0
Note: For sections of the map documenting the transition from the Crum Elbow Precinct in Dutchess County, to the hamlet of Lansingburg Village in Rensselaer County in 1769.

History of Rensselaer Co., New York
by Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester, circa 1880
https://archive.org/details/historyofrenssel00sylv/mode/2up
Book page: 293, Digital page: 292/844
Note: For the text on the history of Lansingburgh Village.

Albany, New York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albany,_New_York
Note: For reference.

The History of Lansingburgh, N. Y.
From the Years 1760 to 1877
by A. J. Weise, A. M., circa 1877
https://ia801209.us.archive.org/6/items/historyoflansing00weis/historyoflansing00weis.pdf
Note 1: Book page 39 — for the text regarding population statistics.
Note 2: Book page 11 — for the quote from the traveler Elkanah Watson.
Note 3: Book page 7 — For the description of the original town map, as follows,
“The Map is filed in the Albany County Clerk’s office, and is marked number 18. The following description is attached to it: ‘This Map describeth a tract of land lying on the east side of Hudson’s river, about eight miles above the City of Albany, and is layed out in a regular square for the erecting a City by the name of Lansingburgh; the lots are one hundred and twenty feet long and fifty wide. The streets are seventy feet wide, and the alleys are twenty feet wide the oblong square (the Green or Park) in the center is reserved for publick uses. Laid down by a scale of ninety feet to an inch. June 7, 1771. 
Joseph Blanchard, Surveyor. May 11, 1771. A. Jacob Lansingh’.”

Lansingburgh Historical Society
Old Maps of Lansingburgh
https://www.lansingburghhistoricalsociety.org/old-maps
Notes: For the two map images, described accordingly on their website —
“Detail showing New City within boundaries of (unlabeled) Stone Arabia, and Iron Hill north of it. Cropped from ‘A chorographical map of the Northern Department of North-America’ (1780)”
and
“This Map describeth a Tract of Land […] Lay’d out in a Regular form for the Erecting a city by the name of Lansinghburrough”

The Roosevelt Family Connection, and One More President

(9) — ten records

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (1858 – 1919)
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Roosevelt-18
Note: For the Family Tree of Theodore Roosevelt Jr., part one

Cornelis Van Schaack (bef. 1734 – 1797)
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Van_Schaack-2
Note: For the Family Tree of Theodore Roosevelt Jr., part two.

Theodore Roosevelt, circa 1904
File:President Theodore Roosevelt, 1904.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:President_Theodore_Roosevelt,_1904.jpg
Note: For his portrait.

File:Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt with Anna and baby James, formal portrait in Hyde Park, New York 1908.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Franklin_D._Roosevelt_and_Eleanor_Roosevelt_with_Anna_and_baby_James,_formal_portrait_in_Hyde_Park,_New_York_1908.jpg
Note: For the family portrait.

Roosevelt family
Fandom
https://familypedia.fandom.com/wiki/Roosevelt_family
Note: For the simple FDR family tree.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 – 1945)
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Roosevelt-1
Note: For the Family Tree of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, part one

Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt (1794 – 1871)
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Roosevelt-72
Note: For the Family Tree of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, part two. Which leads to Emanuel Van Schaack.

History Facts
FDR was related to 11 other presidents
by Michael Nordine
https://historyfacts.com/famous-figures/fact/fdr-related-to-11-presidents/
Note: For the data.

Martin Van Buren Sr. (1782 – 1862)
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Van_Buren-1
Note: For the Family Tree of Martin Van Buren Sr., which leads to Laurens Van Schaack.

Martin Van Buren
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Van_Buren
Note: For his biography and portrait.

The Doty Line, A Narrative — Six

This is Chapter Six of nine. The settlement of the Isaac Doty family in Oyster Bay, Long Island was the first step in their journey away from the Plymouth Colony. Time brought even more change… In this chapter we will be focusing on the son Joseph Doty Sr. and his wife Sarah (whose last name is unknown), and their family.

Seascape

In the same way that a wave returns the borrowed grains of a sandcastle back to their beach — once gone, we only see the newly smoothed surface. And like that, we know very little about the life of our ancestor Joseph Doty Sr., because records about his life are very scant, or perhaps, they have not yet been discovered.

Seascape Near Heijst, by Willem Roelofs, 19th century. (Image courtesy of Fine Art America).

Despite this, we do know a few things about his lifetime: He lived his entire life in Oyster Bay, Long Island, the Province of New York. He married a woman named Sarah (maiden name unknown), and he was the father of four children. Joseph died remarkably young, probably around the age of 36. When he died, his wife Sarah was pregnant with their fourth child. We know these things from the only meaningful record we have from this portion of his life — his 1716 Will.

Author Ethan Allan Doty tells us in his book, The Doty-Doten Family in America,
“His will is recorded at Jamaica, Queens Co., N. Y. , signed Joseph Doughty of Oyster Bay, made July 7, 1716, and devises his estate to his eldest son Joseph, to his son Isaac, to his daughter Sarah, and to his wife Sarah, and provides for a child in case his wife be with child.” It seems likely that his Will was written in haste, so something must have been going on with either his health or perhaps he’d been in a life threatening accident. We do not know.

We can infer from this document that his children were all born in Oyster Bay, and that their names are:

  • Sarah Doty, born about 1706, “She married John Jackson, probably the son of James Jackson and Rebecca Hallett.”
  • Joseph Doty Jr., born about 1708,
    (We are descended from Joseph Jr.).
  • Isaac Doty, born 1711, and who probably died young
  • Elizabeth Doty, born about 1716, most likely after Joseph Sr.’s death. “[She] Married there 1730, Daniel Dunning (or Downing). Marriage license issued to Daniel Dunning and Elizabeth Doty of Queens County,
    N. Y., August 4, 1730”.

Interestingly, the document also mentions receipts, which are “When an executor or administrator paid debts owed by the estate and collected money from those who owed the deceased person, receipts were issued which were filed with the annual accounting and final settlement. Among these will be receipts signed by the heirs as they receive money from the estate”. (Family Search)

  • His widow Sarah, received receipts for her share of above, January 29, 1717. From this date it is safe to assume that Joseph Sr. most likely died shortly after writing his Will.
  • Sarah (Doty) Jackson, wife John Jackson, received receipts May 7, 1724. 
  • Joseph Doty Jr. receipts for 178£*, in full. May 6, 1729. 
  • Elizabeth Doty received receipts for her share, July 24, 1736.

*Observation: It is certain that Joseph Jr. received this money from his late father’s estate around the time of his 21st birthday. The value of 178£ calculates to over $44,500 dollars in today’s currency, (see footnotes). Cha-ching!

It also seems that property Joseph Sr. owned in Oyster Bay was eventually sold, about two years after he died. On “July 30, 1718, Jervis Mudge, Thomas Cirby and Joseph Carpenter, executors of Joseph Doty, deceased, sell to Isaac Doty, Jr., certain land at Oyster Bay, which is an equal one-third of land given by their father, Isaac Doty, Sr., to his three sons, Joseph, Jacob and James.” (1)

A Panoramic View of New York Harbor As Seen From Long Island, 1727 by Henry Popple, and issued in 1733. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia).

Manhattan Calling

We know that Joseph Jr. was soon living in Manhattan, and that he didn’t have to travel very far to get there. Why was he there? Of course, we don’t know for certain. Nevertheless, receiving the equivalent of $44,500 plus dollars when you are aged 21 years in Colonial America, certainly eased this transition.

In those days, despite the Dutch having first colonized the area, the population was a mixture of many different types of people. The English population eventually came to dominant governance. Wikipedia tells us, “By 1700, the Lenape population [Native Peoples]of New York had diminished to 200. The Dutch West Indies Company transported African slaves to the post as trading laborers used to build the fort and stockade, and some gained freedom under the Dutch. After the seizure of the colony in 1664, the slave trade continued to be legal. In 1703, 42% of the New York households had slaves; they served as domestic servants and laborers but also became involved in skilled trades, shipping and other fields. Yet following reform in ethics according to American Enlightenment thought, by the 1770s slaves made up less than 25% of the population”.

It was into this colonial admixture of European Dutch and English immigrants, and enslaved peoples, that Joseph Jr.had moved. (2)

The image on the right shows the short distance that Joseph Doty, Jr. needed to travel to relocate to Manhattan. (Note that the geography of Long Island is not very accurate).
Plate 27-A from, A Plan of the City of New York (and) A Plan of the Harbour of New York
by Author unknown, circa 1730-35, from Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, Print Department.
Plate 32-A from, A Plan of the City and Environs of New York [Grim’s General Plan
by David Grim, circa 1742-44, from from The New York Historical Society.

All three map plates shown above are derived from the book, The Iconography of Manhattan Island, Volume 1, by I. N. Phelps Stokes, circa 1915.

The Burgher Guards

The Burgher Guard of Manhattan, also known as the Burgher Militia, was a citizen militia organized by the Dutch West India Company in 1640 to protect New Amsterdam (Manhattan) from external threats. These local militias were utilized to supplement the presence of the Dutch garrison, and were known as the Burgher Guards. These citizen-soldiers, composed of adult male residents, were responsible for maintaining order and defending the colony. Membership in the Burgher Guard was a sign of citizenship and was initially restricted to certain residents, excluding indentured servants and enslaved Africans. 

After the English takeover in 1664, the Burgher Guard was eventually absorbed into the English colonial militia system, with the burgher class-right transitioning to the English concept of freemanship. (3)

Captain Charles Laroex’s Company of New York City Militia in 1738

The world of 1730s Manhattan was still a far-flung New England outpost of the British Empire, and despite a century of colonization, the English were still trying to figure out how to appropriately govern the area. With regard to defense, it was not practical for England to maintain standing armies throughout the colonies. So, it makes sense that they carried over one of the same systems that they already knew —that of forming local militias.

These groups were a community-based force, with Companies drawn from specific geographic areas within towns. They varied in size, with a minimum of 24 men to form a company and larger companies including officers like captains, lieutenants, and sergeants. Their main function included maintaining order, providing local defense, and assisting in emergencies. The militias also played a role in town governance, with records of town meetings reflecting militia-related concerns such as fence heights, road maintenance, and care for the poor.

When we discovered that our 6x Great Grandfather Joseph Doty, Jr. had been cited repeatedly by other researchers as being a private in Captain Charles Laroex’s Company of New York City Militia in 1738, but no one had provided any support for this intriguing fact. We searched high-and-low to verify this. A big concern was the fact that the 1911 fire at the State Library in Albany, New York had destroyed many colonial era records. “The English volumes of Colonial Manuscripts included censuses, assessment lists, muster rolls, and other items useful to genealogists, almost all of which were destroyed by the fire.” (See footnotes, NYG&B) However, despite our concerns, diligence finally paid off.

Detail from an article titled Great War Marks End Of Burgher Guards, found on page 10 of the August 19, 1917 edition of The Sun newspaper. (See footnotes).

We first found confirmation that the Laroex Company did indeed exist. It is mentioned in an August 19, 1917 The Sun newspaper article, “…But the old burgher spirit could not be ‘snuffed out’, and as late as 1738 the Independent companies in this city were almost exclusively Dutch American. They were Beekmans’s, Laroex’s, Stuyvesant’s, Richard’s, Van Horn’s and Cuyler’s and the Blue Artillery”. (The Sun) Digging further, we found a book at the Library of Congress, published in Amsterdam in 1850, titled Breeden Raedt Aen De Vereenighde Nederlandsche Provintien. (It had been translated from the original Dutch). This book contained many records of 1738 Manhattan, as well as the full rosters the various militia companies. (4)

Excerpted from Breeden Raedt Aen De Vereenighde Nederlandsche Provintien. (Image courtesy of the Library of Congress).

The Fires and Riots of 1741...

As we had written about the population of enslaved people in Manhattan at that time, “By the 1740s, 20% of the residents of New York were slaves, totaling about 2,500 people… After a series of fires in 1741, the city panicked over rumors of its black population conspiring with some poor whites to burn the city. Historians believe their alarm was mostly fabrication and fear, but officials rounded up 31 black and 4 white people, who over a period of months were convicted of arson. Of these, the city executed 13 black people by burning them alive and hanged the remainder of those incriminated.”

Propagandist illustrations documenting the New York Slavery Conspiracy of 1741, taken from The Evolution of Slavery, Abolition in NY, and the NY Courts, The Lemmon Slave Case.

Comment: That text about the 1741 riots and lynch mobs is difficult to read, but sometimes we see that there is much cruelty in history. We don’t know if Joseph Doty was still involved with the Laroex Company militia at that time, or quite honestly, if he even was still living in Manhattan by 1741. If he was there, we wonder if perhaps these events influenced his decision to leave the city? (5)

In due course, he moved up the Hudson River to the community of Nine Partners — in the Crum Elbow Precinct of Duchess County, and by 1744 he was married.

Before we leave Manhattan and the Oyster Bay area, we thought it would be very interesting to take a look at the history of oysters in New York Harbor. It’s not with every ancestor that you get to delve into something so unique!

Slurp, painting by Pam Talley. (Image courtesy of Fine Art America).

Oysters and New York’s Past

It might seem obvious, but why was the town which Isaac Doty and his family lived in called Oyster Bay?

In 1609, when English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into the harbor of what later became known as New York City, he “could not have seen… [that there] were 220,000 acres of oyster beds below the surface on the harbor floor, constituting nearly half of the oysters in the entire world”. Later in time, on nearby Long Island, the early Dutch settlers referred to the area as Oyster Bay due to the vast number of high-quality oysters native to the region. Oysters became a staple of the colonial New York diet. (Untapped New York)

It was the Lenape people [Native Peoples] who showed the settlers how to harvest oysters from the harbor. “The local Lenape had been living off the reefs for generations. They would open the oyster shells by wrapping the entire oyster in seaweed before tossing them into the fire”.

Mine oysters – Dredging boats in the Chesapeake, from Harper’s Weekly magazine, March 16, 1872. (Image courtesy of The New York Public Library Digital Collections).

“Oysters were always popular and in high demand. Literal tons of oysters were eaten everyday. Worried that the supply might not last, the local government introduced a conservation law in 1715, banning the harvest of oysters during the months without an R, which lasts from May to August. The popularity of New York oysters [continued to] spread across the nation and to Europe, where large shipments of oysters were being sold. In order to meet the demand, the conservation law from 1715 was lifted in 1807, prompting the unsustainable harvesting of the oyster reefs. The supply was still not enough to meet the demand, and so oysters from Long Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey were brought into New York. These oysters were able to be sold as New York oysters because they were in the harbor for a short amount of time”. (Untapped New York, and the Billion Oyster Project)

Historically, oysters were deeply woven into the life of East Coast cities, as Charles Dickens described enthusiastically in his 1842 travelogue American Notes. He then “describes cellars serving oysters, pretty nigh as large as cheese-plates”. (BBC)

Eventually, pollution in New York Harbor decimated the viability of the oyster harvest. Recent efforts to revitalize the harbor and bring back the native oysters is ongoing. “That thriving population of oysters is long gone. But over the past 10 years, one of New York’s most ambitious rewilding projects has sought to revive its once-famous oysters, adding 150 million larvae across 20 acres of harbour since its beginnings. The goal: restoring the city’s coastal habitat, improving water quality and educating the public.” (BBC) (6)

Detail excerpt from The Provinces of New York and New Jersey; with part of Pensilvania,
and the Province of Quebec, by Thomas Pownall, and Samuel Holland, circa 1776.
(Image courtesy of the Library of Congress).

This map documents the family’s transition from Oyster Bay, Long Isand, to the Crum Elbow Precinct in Dutchess County, to the hamlet of Lansingburg Village in Rensselaer County.

Saying Farewell to Oyster Bay

When you eat a well prepared fresh oyster it should taste a bit like the sea… just a bit salty (and delicious!) We say this because, when we have been researching out ancestral lines, occasionally we come across an intriguing bit of family folklore that sometimes leads us down a new and exciting path. However, sometimes a fanciful story can lead us down a rabbit hole. Such is the story with a legend we encountered in the Doty-Doten book (DDFA) , and this story must be taken with a very large grain of salt. Like your food, you can immediately tell when it is just too salty.

Wikipedia tells us that “To take something with a ‘grain of salt’ or ‘pinch of salt’ is an English idiom that suggests to view something, specifically claims that may be misleading or unverified, with skepticism or not to interpret something literally. In the old-fashioned English units of weight, a grain weighs approximately 65 mg, which is about how much table salt a person might pick up between the fingers as a pinch.

On the left, Pliny the Elder, author of Naturalis Historia. He is also noted for dying in the AD 79 explosion of Mount Vesuvius, which buried the City of Pompeii. At right, a 1917 Morton Salt Company advertisement featuring the famous slogan, ‘When It Rains It Pours’ and an image of the Morton Salt Girl.

The phrase is thought to come from Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia, regarding the discovery of a recipe written by the Pontic King Mithridates to make someone immune to poison. One of the ingredients in the recipe was a grain of salt. Threats involving poison were thus to be ‘with a grain of salt,’ and therefore, taken less seriously.”

Ethan Alan Doty had written this:
“The legend in the family was that Elsha Van Schaick was daughter and sole heir of an Amsterdam banker, and that she eloped with Francis De Long, who was a French officer. This story made it difficult to obtain full items [property?] of some branches, who were suspicious that they were to be defrauded of their share of valuable estate.”

Comment: What a great story! Even so, it’s just not true. We extensively researched the Van Schaick family. The closest this branch ever came to anything to do with banking was long after Lucretia’s lifetime. Another branch of the family is actually featured in a prestigious vanity book from 1881 titled, Contributions to the History of Ancient Families of New Amsterdam and New York, by Edwin R. Purple.* We suspect that this book was printed for Gilded Age Manhattan families who swirled on dance floors in New York High Society circles.
* The perfect name for a writer of that genre. See “Quote or No Quote?” in the footnotes at the end of this chapter.

The Van Schaicks were indeed very early in New Amsterdam, and then Manhattan. Some branches of the family went into the Hudson River Valley, therefore the history truly develops from what branch of the family you belong within. Then, what was going on with this tale of a banking heiress and a French army officer? We came upon a well researched file about Lucretia’s father Frans DeLang, which covers this family legend. It states:

“In discussing the marriage of Joseph Doty and Geesje (Lucretia) De Long, the Doty Genealogy gives her parents as Frans and ‘Elsha’, the latter an obvious error and presumably confusion with Maritje’s youngest daughter Egge or Echa.” Lucretia’s mother was named Maritje Van Schaick.

“The story is also another of the 19th century attempts to assign a French heritage to a Dutch family. Frans was not a French officer, he was born to Dutch parents and in the new world. I doubt if Claas Van Schaick was an Amsterdam banker before emigration, and Maritje was not likely his sole heir.”

“An even more inane version appears in the History of Danby (Vermont) which says Lucretia Doty was daughter of ‘Hielcha DeLong, the wife of Francis DeLong, a French officer. They say she let herself down from a two story building in Amsterdam in 1780, came to America, and settled on Long Island.’ So this puts American-born Frans in Amsterdam and eloping at the age of 99! I hope he didn’t hold her ladder.”

For an extensive history of the De Lange /De Lang / De Long family, please see the footnote for Frans DeLang at the end of this chapter. It is written by Delong family descendant Roy Delong, basing his observations on, “…the following notes from the late John D. Baldwin (50+ year Delong researcher). (Note various spellings of surname in this text…”). (7)

In the next chapter, we follow the Joseph Doty Jr. as he leaves Manhattan, and first ventures forth into Dutchess County. Then with his new wife Geisje ‘Lucretia’ De Long and their family, they settle in the oddly-named Crum Elbow Precinct in Dutchess County. Eventually, Life then takes them still further in their northward trek up the Hudson River Valley, and finally into Rensselaer County.

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials,
Notes, and Observations

Seascape

(1) — seven records

Fine Art America
Seascape Near Heijst
painting by Willem Roelofs, 19th century
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/seascape-near-heijst-willem-roelofs-1822-1897.html
Note: For the seascape image.

(DDFA)
Doty-Doten Family in America
Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620
by Ethan Allan Doty, 1897
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/500/mode/2up
Book pages: 501, Digital pages: 500 /1048
and
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/504/mode/2up?view=theater
Book pages: 505, Digital pages: 504 /1048
Note: For the texts.

U.S. Probate Records Class Handout
Under the subtitle: Distributing the Estate
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/U.S._Probate_Records_Class_Handout
Note: To explain the role of receipts in a Colonial American Will.

Pounds Sterling to Dollars: Historical Conversion of Currency
https://www.uwyo.edu/numimage/currency.htm
Note: For the calculation of the inheritance value for Joseph Doty, Jr. from his late father’s estate when he was 21 years old.

Joseph Doty
in the Mayflower Births and Deaths, Vol. 1 and 2
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3718/records/37992?tid=&pid=&queryId=ab22e56d-3bb2-4c0f-b15c-cffa1c314979&_phsrc=ylI10&_phstart=successSource
Book page: 422, Digital page: 434/537
Note: For confirmation of birth date and his Will date.

Joseph Doty
in the U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60525/records/137781328
and
Joseph Doty
in the Global, Find a Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60541/records/182712503
Joseph Doty
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/172015138/joseph-doty
Note: For the data.

Manhattan Calling

(2) — four records

A Panoramic View of New York Harbor As Seen From Long Island, 1727
by Henry Popple, and originally engraved by William Henry Toms
(who also signed it) & R.W. Seale, issued in 1733
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_New_York_City#/media/File:New_York_Harbor_Waterfront_1727_panorama_map.jpg
Note: This is an inset from A Map of the British Empire in America with the French and Spanish Settlements adjacent thereto…

History of New York City
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_New_York_City
Note: For the text.

The three map plates in this chapter are derived from the book,
The Iconography of Manhattan Island, Volume 1
by I. N. Phelps Stokes, circa 1915 —

Plate 27-A
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, Print Department
A Plan of the City of New York (and) A Plan of the Harbour of New York
by Author unknown, circa 1730-35
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/IA_Query_”sponsor-(Sloan)_date-(1000_TO_1925)_publisher-((New_York)_OR_Chicago_OR_Jersey_OR_Illan)”_(IA_iconographyofman01stok).pdf
Book pages: 260-261, for map explanation
Note: For the map.

Plate 32-A
from The New York Historical Society
A Plan of the City and Environs of New York [Grim’s General Plan]
by David Grim, circa 1742-44
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/IA_Query_”sponsor-(Sloan)_date-(1000_TO_1925)_publisher-((New_York)_OR_Chicago_OR_Jersey_OR_Illan)”_(IA_iconographyofman01stok).pdf
Book pages: 270-271, for map explanation
Note: For the data.

The Burgher Guards

(3) — one record

New Amsterdam Stories
What happened to the burgher right after the English invasion in 1664? 
https://newamsterdamstories.archives.nyc/english-invasion#:~:text=The burgher right continued to, a sign of municipal identity.
Note: For research on the text.

Captain Charles Laroex’s Company of New York City Militia in 1738

(4) — four records

Journal of the American Revolution
Colonial Militia on the Eve of War, Prewar Conflict (< 1775)
by Michael Cecere
https://allthingsliberty.com/2025/04/colonial-militia-on-the-eve-of-war/
Note: For research on the text.

(NYG&B)
New York Genealogical & Biographical Society
The 1911 State Library Fire And Its Effect On New York Genealogy
by Harry Macy, Jr.
https://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/knowledgebase/1911-state-library-fire-and-its-effect-new-york-genealogy
Note: For the text.

Page 10 article titled Great War Marks End Of Burgher Guards, found in the
August 19, 1917 edition of The Sun newspaper.

NYS Historic Newspapers
The Sun, 19 August 1917
Article: Great War Marks End of Burgher Guards
https://www.nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=suna19170819-01.1.72&e=——-en-20–1–txt-txIN———-
Newspaper page: 10, Filmstrip pdf page: 72
Note: For the specific page reference.

V. Extracts From A Work Called Breeden Raedt Aen De Vereenighde Nederlandsche Provintien. Translated From The Dutch Original by Mr. C.
A List of the Company [of Militia]
Belonging Under the Command of Capt. Charles Laroexs
https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/public/gdcmassbookdig/extractsfromwork00mely/extractsfromwork00mely.pdf
Book page: 213-214
Note: For the listing of Joseph Doty in the 1738 New York City Militia Company of Captain Charles Laroexs.

The Fires and Riots of 1741...

(5) — two records

History of New York City
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_New_York_City
Note: For various texts.

The Historical Society of New York Courts
The Evolution of Slavery, Abolition in NY, and the NY Courts,
The Lemmon Slave Case
by Hon. Albert M. Rosenblatt
https://history.nycourts.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/20200420-Lemmon-Slave-Case-Slide-Presentation.pdf
Note: For the images.

Oysters and New York’s Past

(6) — six records

Fine Art America
Slurp 
painting by Pam Talley
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/slurp-pam-talley.html?product=poster
Note: For the oyster painting..

Untapped New York
Aw Shucks: The Tragic History of New York City Oysters
by Thomas Hynes
https://www.untappedcities.com/history-new-york-oysters/
Note: For the text.

History of New York Harbor
https://www.billionoysterproject.org/harbor-history
Note: For the text.

The Oysters of New York’s Past
by Wenjun Liang
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1ce158b2123a4c9c9898278e98f015d5
Note: For reference.

The New York Public Library Digital Collections
Mine oysters – Dredging boats in the Chesapeake
from Harper’s Weekly magazine, March 16, 1872
https://iiif-prod.nypl.org/index.php?id=4018402&t=v
Note: For the 1872 image of the oyster farmers.

BBC
Oysters as large as cheese plates:
How New Yorkers are reclaiming their harbour’s heritage
by Anna Bressanin
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20241118-how-new-yorkers-are-reclaiming-their-harbours-heritage
Note: For the text.

Saying Farewell to Oyster Bay

(7) — eight records

Library of Congress
The Provinces of New York and New Jersey;
with part of Pensilvania, and the Province of Quebec.
by Thomas Pownall, and Samuel Holland, circa 1776
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3800.ar104500/?r=0.402,1.183,0.673,0.371,0
Note: For sections of the map which document this family’s journey from Oyster Bay, Long Island to Rensellaer County, the Province of New York.

Encyclopædia Britannica
Pliny the Elder
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pliny-the-Elder
Note: For the portrait.

Made In Chicago Museum
Morton Salt Company, est. 1848
https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/morton-salt-co/
Note: An advertisement from 1917/1918, featuring the original iteration of the Morton Salt Girl and the “It Pours” slogan on the blue can.

“A grain of salt”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_grain_of_salt
Note: For just a pinch of the text.

(DDFA)
Doty-Doten Family in America
Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620
by Ethan Allan Doty, 1897
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/504/mode/2up?view=theater
Book pages: 505-506, Digital pages: 504-506 /1048
Note: For the text.

Contributions to the History of Ancient Families of New Amsterdam and New York
by Edwin R. Purple, circa 1881
https://archive.org/details/ldpd_6499396_000/page/n11/mode/2upBook page: 9, Digital page: 30/164
Note: For the text.

Professor Buzzkill podcast
Quote or No Quote? Who Said,
“If you don’t have anything nice to say, come and sit here by me”?
https://professorbuzzkill.com/2023/11/29/quote-or-no-quote-who-said-if-you-dont-have-anything-nice-to-say-come-and-sit-here-by-me/
Note 1: For the text.
Note 2: Gilded Age Society has some interesting stories —
“If you don’t have anything nice to say about someone, come sit here by me,” It was originally said by Alice Roosevelt, the eldest daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt. [From the Oyster Bay, New York social circles…]

By the time her father ascended to the Presidency, Alice Roosevelt was a prominent writer and well-known socialite in New York and Washington. According to the most solid evidence we have, what Alice said (or, more accurately, what she had embroidered on a couch pillow) was ‘If you can’t say something good about someone, sit here by me.’

Alice Roosevelt Longworth

From all accounts, Alice Roosevelt was vivacious, intelligent, curious, and constantly in motion. She was known to come into the President’s office, unbidden, several times a day, to offer her thoughts and suggestions on politics and to make comments on social affairs. Apparently, this frustrated the President greatly. So much so, in fact, that, after multiple ‘Alice interruptions’ one morning, Teddy Roosevelt turned to an advisor and said, ‘I can either run the country, or I can attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both.’”

Frans DeLang
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/103424712/frans-delang?_gl=1*1hxjf0b*_gcl_au*MTM3MTk4NzE2Mi4xNzQ5MDYwMjEx*_ga*MTAxNTA3NTUwNi4xNzMyMjExNDYx*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*c2M1ZjIzNmVmLTZkNDEtNGRhYS05ZGEyLTQ1OTBlY2Q0OTZkOSRvNjkkZzEkdDE3NTQ3Njk1MzkkajM0JGwwJGgw*_ga_LMK6K2LSJH*c2M1ZjIzNmVmLTZkNDEtNGRhYS05ZGEyLTQ1OTBlY2Q0OTZkOSRvNjgkZzEkdDE3NTQ3Njk1MzkkajM0JGwwJGgw
Note 1: For three quotes from the text.
Note 2: The content of this extensive history is researched and excerpted from
“…the following notes from the late John D. Baldwin (50+ year Delong researcher). (Note various spellings of surname in this text…”.

The Doty Line, A Narrative — Five

This is Chapter Five of nine. When our ancestor Edward Doty Sr. died in 1655, his son Isaac was only about seven years old. As he had grown up in a large family with eight other siblings. Some of these brothers and sisters stayed local and then had big families of their own… so, we speculate that he may have gotten just a bit tired of seeing so many Doty relatives everywhere he looked?

This suggests that he then sought out some new horizons. Author Ethan Allan Doty wrote, “At the death of his father he was just six years of age, and probably continued to live with his mother until about the time of her marriage to John Phillips, in 1667. It is somewhat doubtful where he spent the next five years of his life, but it is probable that it was in Sandwich. Mass.. where his brother Joseph was also, early in life, a resident. But it is possible that he may have visited in this period Oyster Bay on Long Island where he subsequently lived”. (Doty-Doten Family in America, DDFA) (1)

Map of New Netherland and New England, and also parts of Virginia, also known as the Novi Belgii Novæque Angliæ nec non partis Virginiæ tabula. Although this map is not considered to be very accurate for its geography, but it is correct for the time period in which Isaac Doty lived.

Drawn in 1685 by Nicolaes Visscher, it shows the distance that Isaac Doty traveled from the Plymouth Colony area which was undertake control of England — to the area of Oyster Bay, Long Island, New Amsterdam, which was under the control of the Dutch.
(Map image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).
Created a mere 70 years later than the map above, A Map of the Most Inhabited Part of New England, by Braddock Mead (alias John Green) — this clearly shows how much cartography [map making] skills had improved in those years.
(Map image courtesy of the Norman B. Levanthal Map & Education Center Collection).

Breaking New Ground

For reasons which we continue to ponder, Isaac Doty, broke away from the Plymouth Colony and relocated much further west, settling at Oyster Bay, Long Island. At the time, this area was the border between the English settlements in the New York Colony, and the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam. We will write in detail about both the historical details and Isaac’s family history later on in this chapter. First, we would like to set the stage about what was happening in Long Island before he moved there.

The name “ ’t Lange Eylandt alias Matouwacs” appears in Dutch maps from the 1650s, with ’t Lange Eylandt translating to Long Island from Old Dutch. The English referred to Long Island as Nassau Island, after the House of Nassau of the Dutch Prince William of Nassau, Prince of Orange (who later also ruled as King William III of England). It is unclear when the name Nassau Island was discontinued. Another indigenous name from colonial time, Paumanok, comes from the Native American name for Long Island and means “the island that pays tribute”. (Wikipedia)

Writer John E. Hammond from The Oyster Bay Historical Society, [as quoted throughout,] tells us in The Early Settlement of Oyster Bay — “The original settlers of the area [and the group which Isaac Doty had the most contact with, were the Matinecocks. In their language, their name meant] “at the hilly ground”. They were part of the thirteen tribes who made up the Matouwack Confederacy, (see map below).

“They were a part of the Algonquin language and cultural group but had no written language. When the first Europeans arrived in the early 1600s the total population of the 13 chieftaincies on Long Island was estimated at about 6,500.” Like many of our other family lines who were in New England in this era, they witnessed that the Europeans “had a great impact on the” Native Peoples; “many were decimated by diseases which they had no resistance to”. (2)

Shows areas of Long Island held by the various Native People tribes that made up the Matouwack Confederacy as of 1609. Isaac Doty interacted with the Matinecocs.
(Image courtesy of the Brooklyn Public Library).

The Matinecock People

As with other tribal groups in the area, “their leaders were called sachems and were shown great respect by the other members of the community”. Furthermore, “…the sachems sought the opinions of the other members of the community while sitting in council, and the sachem’s decision on any subject was always final”. When the Dutch and English settlers began buying up the land, many of the native sachems “thought this was just another form of tribute; many did not believe that they were actually selling off the rights to their land”.

The effect on the population from the diminishing ravages of disease cannot be underestimated. “By the year 1685, the last piece of land was bought by the European settlers”. By 1709, there were no Native Peoples left on the island “except small remnants of a few scattered communities. The remaining Matinecocks moved to join with the Shinnecocks and Montaucks… Those that chose to stay on their ancestral land settled within small hamlets near sites of their earlier villages and sought work on English plantations”. (Hammond)

An unknown artist’s representation of the Matinecock People (note the colonial era ship in the distance). This is a screen grab of a video about the Matinecocks which we have linked in the footnotes.

The decades before Isaac Doty’s arrival in the Oyster Point area saw the Matinecocks facing profound challenges, including conflicts like Kieft’s War and the Battle of Madnan’s Neck, which further impacted their population and landholdings. (Wikipedia, see footnotes). (3)

The Dutch Held New Amsterdam

In this period, Manhattan Island was called New Amsterdam* because it was under the control of the Dutch, who desired to control more land territory. Very close to the mouth of the Hudson River, there was also Long Island, where the Dutch controlled the western one-third, and the eastern two-thirds of Long Island was controlled by the English.
(*and sometimes it was also called, the New Netherlands)

The point where there was tension between the two empires, was more-or-less right through the area of Oyster Bay.

Left image: Map of Long Island [Long Iland sirvaide], by Robert Ryder, circa 1675. (Image courtesy of The Brooklyn Library). Right image: A contemporary map of Oyster Bay to better understand the true landscape and harbors. (image courtesy of Historical Nautical Charts of New York).

Again, as explained by writer Hammond, the Dutch and the British had different perspectives about what constituted the exact boundaries of Oyster Bay. This caused much confusion about who had the right to govern the area… The Dutch perspective was that only Part A below was Oyster Bay. (They referred to Part B as Martin Gerritsen’s Bay). The English perspective was that Oyster Bay was both Part A and Part B, as shown below.

The Dutch had difficulty in populating the territory after they claimed the New Netherlands and freely accepted English settlers within their territory. [This was] allowed, provided the English settlers swore an oath to the Dutch Directors and paid their tithes; one tenth of all their crops were taken by the Dutch as taxes.

The settlement at Oyster Bay was by a group of traders from Plymouth who neither swore any oath to the Dutch nor had any political connection with the Hartford or New Haven colonies. The Oyster Bay settlement was under no government and was therefore the center of a long dispute between the Dutch at New Amsterdam and the English in New England.” (4)

The Stuarts: King Charles II (reigned 1660 – 1685). The Houses of Stuart and Orange: James, first as the Duke of York, then King James II (reigned 1685 – 1688). Peter Stuyvesant, Director-General of New Netherland, (1647 – 1664).

The 1660s Brought Change and a Charter

Continuing with Hammond, “In 1660 King Charles II was restored to the throne in England. Believing that all of the English villages on the western end of Long Island were now theirs, the General Court of Hartford ordered on October 23, 1662, that all English towns on Long Island send representatives to the General Assembly at Hartford. This was the first time that the settlement at Oyster Bay came under the protection of any government other than themselves.

…on March 22, 1664, King Charles II gave the entire territory to his brother James, Duke of York [the future King James II] and Oyster Bay then became part of the North Riding of Yorkshire. In August 1664, Peter Stuyvesant was forced to relinquish all control over New Amsterdam. The Duke’s Laws were issued in 1665, and in 1667 the settlement at Oyster Bay received its charter from the new colony and thereby formally began the political entity we know today as the Township of Oyster Bay.”

[From 1664 until 1776, what was once called the New York Colony became known as the Province of New York]. (5)

Oyster Bay, by William Langson Lathrop, 1933, via the Heckscher Museum.
(Image courtesy of the Empire State Plaza & New York State Capitol).

Isaac Doty Acquires a Home and Land

The records for very old property deeds in the Oyster Bay Area are not that great, and many original documents are simple gone. We think that this may have had something to do with the fact that “Oyster Bay settlement was under no government” until the later 1670s, and even then, it took some time to get everything settled. There are however, a few bright spots where we have located either a mention of property he was involved with, or property he owned.

First, we need a little background about his life in Plymouth. When his father Edward Doty Sr., died, he left extensive land holdings which were divided up between his many children. One of those areas was property in Yarmouth, Barnstable County, on Cape Cod, near Plymouth County where Isaac had grown up. The map below show the town of Sandwich just south of Plymouth and not far from Yarmouth, which was to the east.

From the book The Doty-Doten Family in America (DDFA), written by his descendant Ethan Allan Doty, we learned that the settlement of Oyster Bay began thus, “The first purchase, as above said, was made in 1651 and by emigrants from Sandwich, the principal of whom were Peter and Anthony Wright, two brothers, who, with their father, had come from Lynn, Mass., to Sandwich, shortly before. The larger part of the emigrants for the next twenty or thirty years came from Sandwich and it is probable that Isaac Doty, having spent a portion of his minority there, was attracted by the reports of returning visitors to his new home on Long Island”. It was here that Isaac likely met the Wright family, of which, Anthony Wright was to have much influence on his life.

“The first purchase… was made in 1651 and by emigrants from Sandwich, the principal of whom were Peter and Anthony Wright, two brothers, who, with their father, had come from Lynn, Mass., to Sandwich, shortly before. The larger part of the emigrants for the next twenty or thirty years came from Sandwich… and that it is probable that Isaac Doty, having spent a portion of his minority there [in Plymouth and Sandwich], was attracted by the reports of returning visitors to [then relocate to]his new home on Long Island”.

He was received with favor. A piece of land for a house lot was at once granted, January 6 [or 23], 1673, and he proceeded to build a house upon it. It is probable that he was married by this time, as the house lot was seldom granted by the town to a young single man.

Oyster Bay property records from the description found in the book, The Village of Oyster Bay,
Its Founding and Growth From 1653 to 1700, by Van S. Merle-Smith, Jr.
This set of two maps indicates at least some of the property that Isaac Doty owned in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York Colony. At left, the circle indicates property that he purchased circa 1682-1685. At right, Lot 23 in the township settlement. (Images derived from The Village of Oyster Bay, Its Founding and Growth From 1653 to 1700, by Van S. Merle-Smith, Jr.).

[Lot 23] — This plot was situated upon what is known in the present village as South street, at the head of that street and the corner of Pine Hollow road. He continued to live there several years, while he added constantly to his possessions through the neighboring country.”

All of the following records are from the The Doty-Doten Family in America book, unless noted otherwise:

1675
“On the town records it appears, under date of 26th June, 1675, Anthony Wright by a deed of gift to James Townsend and Isaac Douty, all of Oyster Bay, conveys a certain piece of meadow land at Monensscussott Beach in Sandwich in Plymouth Colony, said lot having been granted to said Anthony Wright by the town of Sandwich in return for certain services rendered the town. And Anthony Wright’s will, made 20th of 3d month. 1678, bequeaths to ‘James Townsend five shillings; to his wife, Elizabeth Townsend, two shillings six pence; and to Isaack Dotye, one cow.’

It is a matter of speculation why Isaac Doty should have received these repeated favors from Anthony Wright; for besides the direct gifts he probably owed his favorable reception in the town and the grants of land there by the town meeting to the influence of this same Anthony Wright. It can hardly have been by reason of any connection by marriage, for Anthony Wright was not married, or at least had no issue. He died September 9, 1680, and aside from the above bequests left his whole estate to Alice, the widow of his brother, Peter Wright.

Page 90 from The Village of Oyster Bay.

1676 through 1678
In 1676, his name appears in deeds; May 21, 1677. A list of the freeholders, among whom, entitled to one share of the town, was Isaac Doutty; [in] 1678, he bought one share at Unkaway Neck. [This strange name is an obsolete name for a section of land in the southern part of Oyster Bay].

The 1680s
July 5, 1681. He buys of the Indians a plot where he lives on the east side of Hempstead Harbor; October 16, 1682. Isaac Doughty and William N. Crooker hire for seven years the farm at Littleworth of Robert Godfree. Littleworth was in the western part of the town on the eastern side of Hempstead Harbor; it is now known as Glenwood [Glen Cove] and is in the town of North Hempstead; Up to this time the Indians had continued to hold a considerable part of their old possessions, but in 1685 Isaac Doughty, with a number of others, united and purchased from the chief of the Matinecocks [The Sachem] the balance of their lands in this vicinity.

“A List Of The Estates Of Ye Inhabitants Of Oyster Baye For A Contry Rate, This 29Te Of Sept 1683.” From Documentary History of the State of New-York, Volume Two by Edmund Bailey O’Callaghan). Image courtesy of the Internet Archive).

In 1688, his wife, Elizabeth, joins with him in executing a deed, which she signs with her mark; but the absence of her name in other deeds, both before and after, has no significance, as it was not customary at this time for the wife to sign deeds with the husband. Throughout this period Isaac Doty was frequently appointed to ‘lay out lots,’ to settle boundary lines and to act as commissioner for various purposes, which show him to have been held in high respect by his neighbors, and his judgment to have been greatly esteemed.

In 1703, he is mentioned as one of the proprietors of Littleworth, and in 1704, in a deed, calls his residence at Oyster Bay, New York. (6)

Farmer At The Plough, from  John Tobler’s Almanack, 1761, published by Christopher Sower, the Library Company of Philadelphia. (Image courtesy of Who Built America?)

In consideration of filial duty and affection…

Isaac Doty, Sr. was born on February 8, 1648 in the Plymouth, Massachusetts Colony – died about 1728 in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York Colony. He married Elizabeth Wood* about 1672, in the same location. Elizabeth was born in Portsmouth, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations — died about 1722 in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York Colony.

*The John Wood Family
There is much information circulating online that records Elizabeth’s family surname as England, rather than as Wood. (However, the name England is an error. This mistake stems from a misreading of a 1684 Will of a man named Hugh Parsons. Please see the footnotes for a detailed explanation).

Together Isaac and Elizaeth had six children (all boys), who were born, lived and died in Oyster Bay, Long Island, the Province of New York. The land and civic records cited are from the The Doty-Doten Family in America (DDFA) book —

  • Isaac Doty, Jr. was born about 1673 – died after 1718
    He married Elizabeth Jackson and they lived in Oyster Bay. On March 29th, 1697, his father “By a deed of gift he conveys to his son, Isaac, Jr., a farm”.
  • Joseph Doty (Sr.?) was born about 1680 – died July 7, 1716. He married Sarah (last name unknown). On “June 9th, 1704. In consideration of filial duty and affection he conveys a farm to his son Joseph, and the same day another to his son Jacob.”
    We are descended from Joseph and Sarah.
Road to the Beach, Shinnecock Hills, by Charles L. Wright II, 1891
(Image courtesy of the Long Island Museum).
  • Jacob Doty was born June 19, 1683 – died after 1750. He married Penelope Albertson on September 2, 1713 in Oyster Bay. She was born in 1694 — death date unknown. (See June 9th, 1704 land record above).
  • Solomon Doty was born about 1691 – died about 1761. He married Rachel Seaman about 1722.
  • James Doty was born about 1693 – died about 1773. He married Catherine Latting about 1730. She was born about 1710 – died about 1781. In a notation for his brother Samuel Doty, it is shown that he had a farm near his brothers.
  • Samuel Doty was born about 1695 – died about 1741. He married Charity Mudge, and records indicate that this family were members of the Society of Friends [the Quakers]. On “March 5th, 1723. In consideration of his fatherly love for his son, Samuel, he conveys to him a farm, adjoining those of his brothers, Jacob, Joseph, Isaac and James”.
It is likely that the properties Isaac Doty Sr. gifted to his sons were located in the western section of Oyster Bay, near Hempstead Harbor. The views then would have been similar to this —
Paradise Woods, Southold, Long Island, by Whitney M. Hubbard.
(Image courtesy of the Long Island Museum).

Outside of records which account for property he left his sons, there are also a couple of civic records. Isaac Doty Sr., “was a member of the Episcopal Church of Oyster Bay and at the meetings held 12th January, 1703, and 14th January, 1707, was appointed vestryman; the first time his name is written Isaac Doughty; the second time it is Isaac Doty, Sr., his son Isaac being now also a householder”. According to idiom.com, A vestryman is a person who “is a member of the vestry, a committee of parishioners responsible for the financial and administrative affairs of a church. As a vestryman, he contributed to the decision-making process regarding church maintenance and community events”.

“September 29th, 1727. He acknowledged in person deeds made by him, 1702-3. [and] January 7th, 1728. He appeared before a magistrate to identify some old landmarks or boundary lines, testifying that he was then about seventy nine years of age. This is the last reference to him upon the records of the town, but he probably died shortly after, and must have been buried in the Episcopal Cemetery at Oyster Bay, though no stone now marks his resting place”.

In his summation about Isaac Doty Sr., author Ethan Allan Doty wrote, “It may be readily seen from the documents already quoted that Isaac Doty was of an exceptionally strong character. He possessed in a marked degree that element of industry and thrift which characterized, to greater or less extent, every one of the children of Edward Doty. With an energy that was commendable, he pushed out to a new territory, constantly extended his lines, and lived to see a prosperous settlement and each one of his sons provided with a farm well cleared and tilled, which his foresight had made possible, and which his fatherly affection had secured.

Upright in all his dealings, his word was respected by his neighbors, who were glad to refer their disputes to his arbitration. He was an active member and supporter of the established church of his town, and encouraged the attendance of his family. His posterity have generally maintained these characteristics, and there have been no more solid and highly esteemed men in the localities where they have lived than his immediate descendants on Long Island and in the western part of Dutchess County. N.Y.”. (7)

A rare image of Christ Church in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York Colony in 1750. Image courtesy of Historic Structures, see footnotes).

The Christ Church (Episcopal) of Oyster Bay

We looked into the available history for the Episcopal Church of Oyster Bay and found some interesting information about its founding. “From a genealogical record in Thompson’s History of Long Island it appears that a great-grandson of the Rev. John ‘was a leading man in the Episcopal ’ and did much toward the erection of a place of worship for that denomination on or near the site of the present Oyster Bay academy, which land is still known as the church lot. This Mr. Youngs was born in 1716, and his exertions must have been directed toward the completion of the church.

The question of the actual date of the erection of the first church is now definitively settled by a letter from the Rev. Mr. Thomas to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in which he speaks of a church having been erected in Oyster Bay. The date of the letter is April 22nd 1707”.

The church was built and thrived for many years, however, life did eventually intervene… Soldiers on both sides of the Revolutionary War took shelter there, and took wooden planks and stones from the church structure to supply their firewood and to build fortifications. “The church finally blew down, and the materials were sold at auction in 1804. The last vestige of the church having disappeared, and there being in all probability no Episcopalian in the parish, the church ground was taken for the location of an academy. One or more of the persons having charge of this new institution set out trees in the yard, took up tombstones and leveled graves, which at one time were numerous in all parts of the yard”. (History of Queens County, New York)

This means that if Isaac Doty Sr. and his wife Elizabeth were indeed buried there, then their graves ended up under ‘an academy’. Subsequent history indicates that the academy eventually evolved into another place of worship. In total, it is likely that through both rebuilding and remodeling, at least five church structures have likely stood on the site.

For an interesting historical viewpoint from more current times, the present (Episcopal) Christ Church in Oyster Bay (on that same site) has this distinction that, “The most famous parishioner of Christ Church was President Theodore Roosevelt, whose funeral took place here on January 8, 1919”. It turns out that we actually have connections to the Roosevelt Family Line, see: The Doty Line, A Narrative — Seven. (8)

As we continue the generations of the Doty family, we move into the next two generations which follow — both ancestors are named with the same name. The first is Joseph Doty, Sr., followed by his son Joseph Doty, Jr., being the one who sought out new areas to live in the Hudson River Valley.

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials,
Notes, and Observations

(1) — one record

(DDFA)
Doty-Doten Family in America
Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620
by Ethan Allan Doty, 1897
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/496/mode/2up
Book pages: 496-500 Digital pages: 496-500 /1048
Note: For the text.

Breaking New Ground

(2) — five records

Map of New Netherland and New England, and also parts of Virginia,
which is also known as the
Novi Belgii Novæque Angliæ nec non partis Virginiæ tabula
by Nicolaes Visscher, 1685
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Netherland#/media/File:Map-Novi_Belgii_Novæque_Angliæ_(Amsterdam,_1685).jpg
Note: For the map image.

Boston Public Library
Norman B. Levanthal Map & Education Center Collection
A Map of the Most Inhabited Part of New England
by Braddock Mead (alias John Green)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_map_of_the_most_inhabited_part_of_New_England_(2674889207).jpg
Note: “This large, detailed map of New England was compiled by Braddock Mead (alias John Green), and first published by Thomas Jefferys in 1755. Green was an Irish translator, geographer, and editor, as well as one of the most talented British map-makers at mid-century. The map was re-published at the outset of the American Revolution, as it remained the most accurate and detailed survey of New England.”

Long Island
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island
Note: For the text.

(Hammond)
The Oyster Bay Historical Society
The Early Settlement of Oyster Bay
by John E. Hammond
https://www.oysterbayhistorical.org/history-of-oyster-bay.html
Note: Their .pdf download of the town’s history is from:
The Freeholder, Spring 2003, Volume 7, no. 4. 3-9, 18-19.
https://www.oysterbayhistorical.org/uploads/4/9/5/1/4951065/__the_early_settlement_of_oyster_bay.pdf
Note: For the text.

The Matinecock People

(3) — four records

Brooklyn Public Library
Center for Brooklyn History Map Collections
The Indian Tribes of Long Island
(Designed, compiled and lithographed) by Victor G. Becker, 1934
https://mapcollections.brooklynhistory.org/map/the-indian-tribes-of-long-island-designed-compiled-and-lithographed-by-victor-g-becker/
Note: For the map image.

(Hammond)
The Oyster Bay Historical Society
The Early Settlement of Oyster Bay
by John E. Hammond
https://www.oysterbayhistorical.org/history-of-oyster-bay.html
Note: Their .pdf download of the town’s history is from:
The Freeholder, Spring 2003, Volume 7, no. 4. 3-9, 18-19.
https://www.oysterbayhistorical.org/uploads/4/9/5/1/4951065/__the_early_settlement_of_oyster_bay.pdf
Note: For the text.

Lost Matinecock Tribe of Flushing, College Point, Whitestone, Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, NY
by Thomas Byrne
Note: To watch this short video, please click this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX7LFjs_9TM

Kieft’s War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kieft%27s_War
Note: For reference only.

The Dutch Held New Amsterdam

(4) — five records

Brooklyn Public Library
Center for Brooklyn History Map Collections
Map of Long Island [Long Iland sirvaide]
by Robert Ryder, circa 1675
https://mapcollections.brooklynhistory.org/map/long-iland-sirvaide-by-robartt-sic-ryder/
Note 1: From the Blathwayt Atlas in the John Carter Brown Library, 1949
Note 2: Also available at this link —
https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p15150coll4/id/2688/

Historical Nautical Charts of New York
Harbor Charts of Long Island – Page 2
Chart 367 – Oyster Bay 1916
https://www.old-maps.com/NY/ny_Nautical_Historical_LI_Harbors_2.htm
Note: This map better documents the land and harbors of Oyster Bay, New York.

(Hammond)
The Oyster Bay Historical Society
The Early Settlement of Oyster Bay
by John E. Hammond
https://www.oysterbayhistorical.org/history-of-oyster-bay.html
Note: Their .pdf download of the town’s history is from:
The Freeholder, Spring 2003, Volume 7, no. 4. 3-9, 18-19.
https://www.oysterbayhistorical.org/uploads/4/9/5/1/4951065/__the_early_settlement_of_oyster_bay.pdf
Note: For the text.

The 1660s Brought Change and a Charter

(5) — nine records

Charles II of England: History, Family, Reign & Achievements
https://simple.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_England
Note: For his portrait.

List of English Monarchs
Houses of Stuart and Orange
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_monarchs
Note: For the portrait of James II.

Peter Stuyvesant,
Director-General of New Netherland, (1647 – 1664)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Petrus_(Peter_Pieter)_Stuyvesant_portrait_c1660.jpg
Note: For his portrait.

The Empire State Plaza & New York State Capitol
Oyster Bay
by William Langson Lathrop, 1933, via the Heckscher Museum
https://empirestateplaza.ny.gov/hall-new-york/long-island
Note: For the painting.

Isaac Doty Acquires a Home and Land

(6) — six records

(DDFA)
Doty-Doten Family in America
Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620
by Ethan Allan Doty, 1897
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/496/mode/2up
Book pages: 496-500 Digital pages: 496-500 /1048
Note: For the text.

The Village of Oyster Bay,
Its Founding and Growth From 1653 to 1700
by Van S. Merle-Smith, Jr.
https://archive.org/details/villageofoysterb00merl/page/n5/mode/2up
Book page 62, Digital page: 62/136
Note 1: Small inset township map of home lots, titled The Town Spot Oyster Bay 1685.
Book page 73, Digital page: 72/136
Note 2: Description for Lot. 23 where Isaac Doty had his homesite. Also shown at left is property that he purchased circa 1682-1685.
Note 3: The background map was created from the book endsheets.
Book pages: front and back end sheets
Book page 90, Digital page: 118/136
Note 4: Isaac Doty’s surviving real estate records from 1677 through at least 1702.

(Hammond)
The Oyster Bay Historical Society
The Early Settlement of Oyster Bay
by John E. Hammond
https://www.oysterbayhistorical.org/history-of-oyster-bay.html
Note: Their .pdf download of the town’s history is from:
The Freeholder, Spring 2003, Volume 7, no. 4. 3-9, 18-19.
https://www.oysterbayhistorical.org/uploads/4/9/5/1/4951065/__the_early_settlement_of_oyster_bay.pdf
Note: For the text.

Documentary History of the State of New-York
Volume Two
by Edmund Bailey O’Callaghan
https://archive.org/details/documentaryhisto00ocal_0/page/n327/mode/2up
Book page: 306-307, Digital page: 328/766
Note 1: For the record of “A List Of The Estates Of Ye Inhabitants Of Oyster Baye For A Contry Rate, This 29Te Of Sept 1683.”
Note 2: See —Isack dotty…………..066, Left column, 19th entry

Who Built America?, Volume 1, Chapter 3
Family Labor and the Growth of the Northern Colonies, 1640-1760
Farmer At The Plough, from  John Tobler’s Almanack, 1761
published by Christopher Sower, the Library Company of Philadelphia.
https://www.whobuiltamerica.org/book/wba/part-i-colonization-and-revolution-1492-1815/family-labor-and-the-growth-of-the-northern-colonies-1640-1760/
Note: For the image

In consideration of filial duty and affection…

(7) — eleven records

(DDFA)
Doty-Doten Family in America
Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620
by Ethan Allan Doty, 1897
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/496/mode/2up
Book pages: 496-504 Digital pages: 496-504 /1048
Note: For the text.

John Wood of Rhode Island and
His Early Descendants on the Mainland
by Bertha W. Clark
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/28334/images/dvm_GenMono007787-00001-0?usePUB=true&_phsrc=YEO2&pId=2000000000
Book pages: 11-11~1/2) and 15-16, Digital pages: 23-24/171 and 28-29/171).
Note: For the data.

Elizabeth (Wood) Doty And Susanna (Wood) (England) Carpenter
Of Rhode Island And Long Island:
Daughters Of John Wood, Not William England 
by Henry B. Hoff
Excerpted from:
The Mayflower Descendant: A Magazine of Pilgrim Genealogy and History
Volume: 54, Page 27, Winter 2005
https://www.americanancestors.org/DB407/i/14019/27/259013230
The same article is also found here:
Elizabeth Wood Doty
unknown – unknown – Burial Details Unknown
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57325018/elizabeth-doty
Note: For the text.

From The Mayflower Descendant article by Henry B. Hoff:

“In the sketch of William England of Portsmouth, R.I., Austin’s Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island informs us that England’s widow Elizabeth married second Hugh Parsons whose 1684 will “to wife Elizabeth’s two daughters living on Long Island, viz.: Susannah Carpenter and Elizabeth Doty, certain legacies,” Subsequent works, such as the 1897 Doty genealogy and the 1901 Carpenter genealogy, explained the sole rationale for identifying Hugh Parsons’ stepdaughters as children of William England; namely, the marriage of Ephrain: Carpenter and Susanna England in Oyster Bay, Long Island on 3 December 1677. From this record Austin and others had assumed that this was Susanna’s first marriage and so her maiden name (and that of her sister Elizabeth) was England — and thus Hugh Parsons’ wife Elizabeth was the widow of William England.

However, since 1966 the correct identification of Susanna and Elizabeth has been available at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston, Mass., and several other libraries from a typescript by Bertha W. Clark, “John Wood of Rhode Island and His Early Descendants on the Mainland.” On pages 10 through 16, Miss Clark, an accomplished genealogist, showed that Hugh Parsons married Elizabeth, the widow of John Wood of Portsmouth, and that her daughter Susanna Wood married first Josiah England and second Ephraim Carpenter. Miss Clark cited the 1655 settlement of John Wood’s estate.

The Empire State Plaza & New York State Capitol
Road to the Beach, Shinnecock Hills,
by Charles L. Wright II, 1891, via the Long Island Museum).
https://empirestateplaza.ny.gov/hall-new-york/long-island
Note: Named after the Shinnecock Nation, these sprawling hills in Suffolk County are the highest point on Long Island’s East End, and the only place on the island where one can see both shorelines. Charles L. Wright II (1876-1966) was born in Long Island and lived there until the age of 15 when he left to study art in Paris. Following his studies, Wright gained notoriety for his landscape paintings, especially of the area surrounding Shinnecock Hills, and for his movie poster art for RKO studios.

The Empire State Plaza & New York State Capitol
Paradise Woods, Southold, Long Island
by Whitney M. Hubbard, via the Long Island Museum
https://empirestateplaza.ny.gov/hall-new-york/long-island
Note: Whitney M. Hubbard (1875-1965) was educated at the Art Students League in New York. He led a secluded life in Greenport, Long Island for seventy years, producing a body of marine and landscape paintings. When he died in 1965, Hubbard’s paintings were not highly valued, but have since gained recognition for their exceptional quality and authentic impressions of Long Island.

Idiom.com English Dictionary
Vestryman Role
https://getidiom.com/dictionary/english/vestryman-role
Note: For the text.

The Christ Church (Episcopal) of Oyster Bay

(8) — three records

Historic Structures
Christ Church, Oyster Bay New York
https://www.historic-structures.com/ny/oyster_bay/christ-church-oyster-bay/
Note: For the 1750 church image.

History of Queens County, New York
with Illustrations, Portraits, & Sketches
Town Village and City Histories: Oyster Bay
https://archive.org/details/historyofqueensc00unse/page/n535/mode/2up?view=theater
Book pages: 500-502, Digital pages: 536-538/617
Note: For the text and the image of the 1878 building of Christ Church, Oyster Bay.

Theodore Roosevelt, 1858 — 1919.
26th President of the United States

Christ Church Oyster Bay
History of Christ Church Oyster Bay
https://christchurchoysterbay.org/who-we-are/history
Note: For the text about President Theodore Roosevelt.

The Doty Line, A Narrative — Four

This is Chapter Four of nine. After more than a dozen years in the Plymouth Colony, Edward Doty’s life is about to take an affection new direction with his kindred. In this chapter, we are writing about his wife Faith, their children, and the end of this Mayflower Pilgrim’s journey with us.

The Freemen of 1633

In 1633, the Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, list ‘Edward Dowty’ as being a Freeman. This meant that in the Plymouth Colony, being a Freeman gave him a specific legal and political status that granted certain rights and responsibilities. Freemen were considered part of the community and had the right to participate in the colony’s governance by voting and holding office. They were also expected to uphold the laws and contribute to the colony’s success. (1)

This anecdote has been transmitted from father to son…

Edward Doty’s land dealings are where he created much of his prosperity. As we learned in Chapter Two, his real estate holdings commenced with the 1623 Division of Land. Even earlier than this, however, it appears that as a young man, he was a bit eager and impatient to be a landholder — as this story from Thacher’s History of the Town of Plymouth relates:

History of the Town of Plymouth, by James Thacher, page 330. (See footnotes).

Wikipedia also tells us that “… later [he was] granted an additional twenty acres. Records of the 1630s and 1640s show numerous land transactions by him apparently making him quite prosperous. Per the record of December 4, 1637, one such land transaction involved land being granted to him and Tristram Clarke, ‘his father in law.’ It is known that he did own land in central Plymouth where the Mayflower Society House now stands.” Also, “he periodically received land grants from court as with other residents, and received other property rights and benefits from being classed as a ‘first comer’ ”. (Wikipedia) (2)

Arrival of Winthrops Company in Boston Harbor 1630
by William Formby Halsall, 1880
(Image courtesy of Merchant’s House Museum).

The Arrival of The Francis

After the Francis left Ipswich, England in late April 1634, it arrived in Plymouth Harbor likely in late May, or early June 1634.

“The years 1630 to 1640 are known as the Great Migration. The largely Puritan immigrants from England settled in New England, north of the settlement at Plymouth Bay, in a stretch of land known as the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The major centers of the new colony were the eastern coastal Massachusetts towns of Boston and Salem. During the Great Migration, an estimated two hundred ships reportedly carrying approximately 20,000 people arrived in Massachusetts.” (Ebsco) The ship Francis anchored in Plymouth Harbor, but it may have also visited the Massachusetts Bay Colony to the north of Plymouth.

It turns out that in 1634, Edward was soon share his life in the Plymouth Colony with the Clarkes (also spelled Clearke) family, of which his wife #2 was a member. In a ship reference list simply titled, Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600’s (see footnotes), the ship Francis’s passenger list includes:

  • Clearke Thurston, aged 44, and
  • Clearke Ffaythe, aged 15, (listed as a Ward of J Pease)

We know that Thurston Clearke, is actually Thurston Clarke Sr., the Clark family patriarch. Ffaythe Clearke, is his daughter Faith Clarke. (Why she was traveling as a ward of J. Pease is unknown). He is listed as Pease John, aged 27, “From Baddow, Magna, Essex, bound for Salem, Edgartown”.

Writer Ethan Allan Doty, writes about Faith and her family, in Doty-Doten Family in America,“Faith Clarke was born 1610, and was at this time but sixteen years of age, was the daughter of Thurston Clarke and Faith [same named], his wife. They came to Plymouth from Ipswich, Suffolk, England, in 1634 in the Francis, he being at that time forty-four years of age. His name is sometimes written Tristram Clarke.

Besides their daughter Faith they had two sons, Thurston, Jr., and Henry. They probably had no issue. [Meaning the brothers] Under date of 1st April, 1690, we find: ‘The selectmen of Duxborough having reported that two of their inhabitants, Henry Clarke and Thirston Clarke, by reason of their age indiscretion & weakness of understanding are incapable of their own support notwithstanding that they have an estate sufficient, and John Dotey of Plymouth their nephew having promised to take prudent care of them Is allowed to recoup himself from their estate,’ under certain conditions mentioned. (Doty-Doten Family in America, DDFA)

Excerpted illustration from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, published in 1570.

The reason for their emigration was likely religious. The Clarke family, being from Ipswich, England, would have been very aware of the persecution of Protestants in their town’s history. Wikipedia states, “In the time of Queen Mary [ruled 1553 – 1558] the Ipswich Martyrs were burnt at the stake on the Cornhill for their Protestant beliefs… From 1611 to 1634 Ipswich was a major centre for emigration to New England. This was encouraged by the Town Lecturer, Samuel Ward”.

Who was George Clarke?
Not everyone who lived in the Plymouth Colony who had the surname Clarke was related to the Thurston Clarke family. “Since several of Doty’s court cases involved Thurston Clarke and George Clarke, it would appear that some of his legal situations, including fights, were the result of in-law domestic problems. (Wikipedia) However, Ethan Allen Doty’s history of this family, states that George Clarke was not related to the Thurston Clarke family. (Doty-Doten Family in America, DDFA)

On January 6, 1635 Edward Doty and Faith Clarke were married. The actual Court Record reads, “6th Jany 1634-5. Edward Doten and Fayth Clarke wore married.” 

Faith Clarke was born at Ipswich, England about 1619. When they married, Edward* was about 36 years old and Faith was about 16 years old. They had at least nine children over a period of about 16 years, all born at Plymouth, Massachusetts Colony. 
*Going forward, after the birth of his oldest son, we will now refer to him as Edward Sr. (3)

With Six Boys, and Three Girls

Back in this era children were born at home, and very few records were kept that have survived. For nearly all of the Doty children, their birth dates are educated guesses.

  • Edward Doty Jr., born about 1637 – died about December 20, 1675. He was married February 25, 1662 to Sarah Faunce in the same location. They had eleven children, with their last child Benjamin likely being born a few months after his father had already passed on.

    “It is related that in a storm on the 8th Feb., 1689-90. Edward Dotey, with his son John and Elkanah Watson, another resident of Plymouth, were drowned in Plymouth harbor, or, perhaps more properly, by the wreck of their vessel in attempting to enter the harbor… On the 18th March following, Sarah Dotey relict widdow of Edward Dotey late of Plimouth deceased,” made oath to an inventory of the estate, to which her brother-in-law, ‘John Doten’, and son-in-law, James Warren, were witnesses. The widow continued to live in Plymouth until 1693, whereon the 26th April of that year she married John Buck, of Scituate, Mass… It is probable that at her second marriage Mrs. Buck removed to Scituate, where her death occurred 27th June, 1695.”
Illustration from the Handbook of Old Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts, page 6.
(Image courtesy of the Library of Congress).
  • John Doty, born about 1639-40 — May 8, 1701. He married first Elizabeth Cooke in Plymouth in 1667; she died in 1692. They had nine children. [Her mother was a daughter of Mayflower passenger Stephen Hopkins and her father was a son of Mayflower passenger Francis Cooke. (Wikipedia)]

    He married second Sarah (Rickard) Jones in 1695, also in Plymouth; they had three children. From his two marriages, John Doty had twelve children. It seems John Doty became the caretaker for his extended family. The following two passages are examples:

    “1690, April 1. The selectmen of Duxborough having reported that two of their inhabitants Henry Clarke and Thisten Clarke, [his maternal uncles] by reason of their age, indiscretion and weakness of understanding are incapable of their own support notwithstanding they have an estate sufficient, and John Dotey of Plymouth their nephew having promised to take prudent care of them, is allowed to recoup himself from their estate, under certain provisions…”

    “In 1695, after the death of his brother Edward’s widow, [(Sarah (Faunce) Doty]he and Elmer Faunee were appointed guardians for her minor children.”
  • Thomas Doty, born about 1641 — died about 1679. He was married to Mary Churchill about 1638; they had two children both born in Plymouth. From Wikipedia, “On January 17, 1671 Mary Churchill confessed she had gotten pregnant by Thomas, son of Edward Doty, with whom she had ‘carnall coppulation’ three times – first time on July 15, second time on August 8 and the third was about ‘senight’ after. A sergeant went to Mary Churchill’s house, found Doty there and took him into custody. Doty was warned ‘take heed lest evil come of such carriages’. Mary Churchill was fined and at the time of his court hearing Doty fled the colony, but the two finally married about the time of the birth of their first child.”
Puritans Going To Church, Mezzotint after George Henry Boughton, circa 1884.
  • Samuel Doty, born about 1643 — died November 15, 1715. He was most likely the first of the Doty siblings to leave Plymouth Colony, moving to New Jersey. He married to Jeane Harmon about 1678 in Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey; they had thirteen children. “He was the ancestor of the very large and influential branch of the Doty family, who, from the State of New Jersey, have gone forth as pioneers to the West and the South.” Comment: With thirteen children (!), no wonder they were a ‘large and influential branch’ of the family.
  • Desire (Doty) Sherman/ Holmes/ Standish, born about 1645 — died January 1731. She was married three times, and outlived all three of her husbands. All of her marriages took place in Marshfield, Massachusetts. With her three husbands she had twelve children. She married first William Sherman on December 25, 1667; he died in 1679. She married second Israel Holmes on November 24, 1681; he died in 1684. She married third Alexander Standish in 1686; he died in 1702. Observation: in 1667, her mother Faith (Clarke) Doty was remarried to John Phillips and they relocated to the town of Marshfield, just north of Plymouth. It seems that Desire likely lived near her mother.

    “She was a remarkable woman, as is evident from her history. Born on the High Cliff at Plymouth, losing her father at the age of ten years, her early married life especially unfortunate by reason of the insanity of her first* and the early death of her second husband, she not only successfully raised the young children left to her care, but her troubles had borne so lightly upon her that she attracted the attention of and married the well-to-do farmer of Duxbury [Alexander Standish, son of Miles Standish]. She lived to see her children well married and prosperous, and before her death her pathway was smoothed by hosts of grandchildren at Marshfield and Duxbury, who must have found delight in listening to the tales of one who had had such a long and varied experience.”

    *Observation: Please see the footnotes for two passages which describe some of the likely circumstances which contributed to William Sherman’s being described as having died from insanity.
A 1930 postcard image of the Governor Winslow House in Marshfield, Massachusetts. It was built in 1699, and is still standing today. Desire (Doty) Standish lived until 1731, so this building would have been something that she knew. (Image courtesy of Picture Rock Treasures).
  • Elizabeth (Doty) Rouse, born about 1647 — died April 7, 1741 in Marshfield, Massachusetts. She married John Rouse on January 13, 1675 in Plymouth; they had three children. She married second William Carver on January 28, 1718.
  • Isaac Doty, born February 8, 1648 — died (after) January 7, 1728 in Oyster Bay, Queens County (existent as Nassau in 1899), New York. He married Elizabeth Wood about 1672 in the same county, and they had six children. They are profiled in the next chapter.
    We are descended from Isaac and Elizabeth.
  • Joseph Doty, born April 30, 1651 — died about 1732 in Rochester, Plymouth County (existent 1685). He was married three times and outlived all three of his wives. He married first Elizabeth Warren about 1674 in Plymouth; they had two children. He married second Deborah Hatch about 1680 in Sandwich, (Barnstable County, existent 1685); they had seven children. He married Sarah Edwards on March 9, 1712 in Rochester, Plymouth County. From his three marriages, John Doty had nine children.

    “He was thus, at the death of his father, but four years of age. He doubtless lived with his mother at Plymouth up to about the time of her marriage to John Phillips in 1667, and must have enjoyed considerable advantage in having the aid and counsel of his brothers, Edward and John, both of whom were now well established householders and prosperous and examplary citizens. The Colony records show that in 1672, he was living at Plymouth, and it is probable that he did not remove with his mother and sisters to Marshfield… Sepecan, or Scippican, was the early name for Rochester, Mass., which was also known as Mattapoiset. He became one of the original purchasers of Rochester, but apparently did not take up his residence there till about 1683”.
The town which became Rochester, was earlier known as Sepecan, or Scippican,
and also as Mattapoisett. It is located in the southwestern corner of Plymouth County.
(Map image courtesy of the Mattapoisett Museum).
  • Mary (Doty) Hatch, born about 1653 in Plymouth — died (before) June 13, 1728. She married Samuel Hatch July 10, 1677 in Scituate, Plymouth Colony. (4)

Know All Men To Whom It May Concern

Pilgrim Edward Doty Sr. died on August 23, 1655 at Plymouth after having been ill. As per the Doty-Doten Family in America (DDFA) book, “His Will is dated there three months earlier, and as it states him then sick it is probable that his sickness continued altogether many months”. Also note that whoever wrote the document, created yet another spelling of his surname — now written as Dotten.

May the 20th 1655

In the Name of God Amen

Know all men to whom It may concerne that I Edward Dotten senir: of the Towne of New Plymouth in New England being sicke and yett by the mercye of God in prfect memory and upon matture Consideration Doe by this my last will and Testament leave and bequeath my purchase land lying att Coaksett unto my sons; my son Edward I give a Double portion and to the rest of my sonnes equall alike if they live to the age of one and twenty if they Die before then to bee prted among the rest onely to my wife I leave a third During her life and then after to returne to my sonnes, And unto my loveing wife I give and bequeath my house and lands and meddows within the precincts of New Plymouth together with all Chattles and moveables that are my proper goods onely Debts and engagements to bee paied; As for my Share of land att Punckquetest if it come to anything I give it unto my son Edward; This being my last will and Testament; I Edward Dotten Doe owne it for my Act and Deed before these my loveing ffrinds whoe are Witnesses; and Doe sett my hand to the same; the Day and yeare abovewritten

Witness 
John howland Edward Dotten 
James hurst his Marke 
John Cooke 
William hoskins

Ther being many names besides Coaksett I mean all my purchase land According to the Deed

Att the generall court held the fift of March 1655; faith the wife of Edward Dotten Decased Did give up and make over all her right and enterest she had in the land of Edward Dotten Att Coaksett or places adjacent unto her Children this shee Did in the prsence of the said Court; held att Plymouth yt Day and yeare above expressed;

The above written Will and Testament of Edward Dotten Deceased was exhibited to the Court held att Plymouth the fift of March 1655 on the oathes of
Mr John howland
James hurst
John Cooke
and William Hoskins

Edward Sr. was interred at the Burial Hill cemetery… “Behind Plymouth’s town square, a steep hill abruptly rising to the height of 165 feet marks the site where the Pilgrims originally erected a stockade and meeting house. In the 1630s, however, the site began to be used as the town’s cemetery. Several of the Mayflower passengers were interred there, including Governor William Bradford, Church Elder William Brewster, and Mary Allerton, the last surviving passenger.” (TripSavvy)

Contemporary photograph of Burial Hill cemetery in Plymouth, Massachusetts. (Photo by Ken Weidemann / Getty Images, via the TripSavvy article).

[A few years] “after Doty’s death, Faith [Doty] married John Philips on March 14, 1667 as his 2nd wife. She moved to Marshfield and died there December 21, 1675. She was buried at Winslow Cemetery in Marshfield.” (Wikipedia) (5)

The Prosperity of An Early Investor

Upon Edward Doty Sr. death, he left a considerable amount of real estate through his wheeling & dealing / negotiating / bargaining / deal making / horse-trading / and investing. These properties were then distributed amongst his heirs. The place names for several of these locations have changed over the centuries, but we have been able to investigate historical documents and records to discern the locations as diagrammed on the two maps below. Note that several of the properties are situated further away from the Plymouth Colony.

The first map shows the property known by the names of Heigh Cliffe, or High Cliff, or Skeart Hill, described as “six acres of meadow there” and “a locality still known by that name, being the extreme north of town, bordering on Kingston.” (DDFA) It has been described by researchers that he likely maintained this location as his residence throughout his life, after relocating there from the initial Watson Hill site. The inventory of his estate identifies “three score acres of upland with the meadow adjoining it” [which is 60+ acres]. So it seems that indeed, he came to own more land at High Cliff than just the first six acres with which he started.

Manuscript map of Plymouth harbor, circa 1795. Note the inset detail written as Doten’s Cliff.
(Image courtesy of Massachusetts Historical Society).

As we had learned in the The Doty Line, A Narrative — Two chapter, “In 1626, Edward Doty was one of twenty-seven Purchasers involved with the colony joint-stock company which afterwards was turned over to the control of senior colony members. That group [of investors] was called the “Undertakers”, and was made up initially of William Bradford, Myles Standish and Isaac Allerton, who were later joined by Edward Winslow, William Brewster, John Howland, John Alden, Thomas Prence, and four former Merchant Adventurers back in London. On the agreement, dated October 26, 1626, his surname appears as ‘Dotey’”. (Wikipedia)

Through an analysis of real estate place names, his Will, and the inventory of his estate, we have learned that Edward Doty eventually owned properties in the locations listed below on the following map.

This map of Massachusetts by John Hinton, 1781 , documents the locations where Pilgrim Edward Doty Sr. had held property more than a century earlier. (Map courtesy of the Library Congress).

New Plymouth
This area includes the lands known as High Cliff, and…

Clarke’s Island
Even though as a young man he was eager to set foot on this island in Plymouth Bay and was held back by other explorers on the Mayflower, ironically, he did eventually own the island.

The Dartmouth Tract
Doty had been an early investor in properties that fell to the southwest area of Plymouth. This area was eventually formalized by treaty as The Dartmouth Tract (or Old Dartmouth) in 1652, but he had been acquiring lands in that area for some years prior to that event. This area held several properties, including…

Coaksett (also known as Cohasset), and Mount’s Hill
These areas are mentioned in his Will, and are part of what became the town of Dartmouth. Of note, Mount’s Hill is where the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is located.

Lakenham
This area was originally part of part of the hamlet of Plympton (see map above), and eventually became known first as Carver, and then North Carver.

Punckquesett (spelled as Punckquetest in his Will)
This area eventually became Tiverton, until 1676, when the border between colonies of Massachusetts Colony and Rhode Island Colony were adjusted.

Yarmouth
He was described as a large purchaser at Yarmouth, located on Cape Cod. (6)

Item: a ‘candlesticke’

The inventory of Edward Doty Sr.’s estate in November 1655, contains an entry for “6 pewter dishes and a candlesticke”, which could be the item below. (Look closely — it is hanging on a larger display pedestal). It doesn’t really look like a ‘candlesticke’ to our modern eyes, but we are writing with a description of how someone else saw it nearly 400 years ago. In any case, the Pilgrim House Museum contains this item. It is rather remarkable that it has survived through time to our era.

We wonder about the times when either Edward Sr. or Faith once lit this simple candleholder — initially, it was probably the only source of light in their home, except of course, for the fire in their hearth. How many simple things do any of us hold in our hands today, of which one of our future descendants could write about in another 4oo years?

As it is sometimes said, just as one candle can light another without diminishing — that the flame will continue on from generation-to-generation. Of the many children this family brought forth, we are descended from their son Isaac Doty and his wife Elizabeth Wood. We will be writing about their lives in the next chapter. (7)

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials,
Notes, and Observations

The Freemen of 1633

(1) — one record

Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England
by New Plymouth Colony; Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff, David Pulsifer
https://archive.org/details/recordsofcolonyo0102newp/page/n5/mode/2up
Book page: 3, Digital pages: 24/432
Note: ‘Edward Dowty’ listed as being a Freeman

This anecdote has been transmitted from father to son…

(2) — three records

Edward Doty
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Doty
Note: For the text.

History of the Town of Plymouth,
from its first settlement in 1620, to the present time
by James Thacher, circa 1835
https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofp03thac/page/330/mode/2up?view=theater
Book page: 330, Digital page: 348/424.
Note: For the Clark’s Island story.

Merchant’s House Museum
Arrival of Winthrops Company in Boston Harbor 1630
by William Formby Halsall, 1880
https://merchantshouse.org/blog/seabury-tredwell-ancestry/
Note: For the image of the painting.

The Arrival of The Francis

(3) — eight records

Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600’s
 Over 7100 families and 290 ships
General list —
https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
and the ship Francis —
https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/francis.htm
Note: For the data.

Edward Doty
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Doty
Note: For the text.

(DDFA)
Doty-Doten Family in America
Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620
by Ethan Allan Doty, 1897
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/26/mode/2up
Book pages: 27-28, Digital pages: 32-34 /1048
Note: For the text about Faith Clarke’s family, her parents and her brothers, and this quote below —
“Thurston Clarke, the elder died at Duxbury, Mass., 1661. His widow died about 1663, as appears by an entry in the records 1st June, 1663. ‘The Court have ordered concerning the disposing of the estate of Faith Clarke widdow, deceased, that her daughter Faith Dotey widdow shall have a quarte pte,’ etc.”

Ipswich
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipswich
Note: For the text.

The Armory
A Large Volume of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs 1570, by An Impartial Hand. Detailing the Burning at the Stake of the Protestant Martyrs Under Queen ‘Bloody’ Mary the 1st’s Rule, Published 1741, Formerly Part of the Richard Hoare Collection.
https://www.thelanesarmoury.co.uk/shop.php?code=19180
Note: For the excerpted illustration from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.

(DDFA)
Doty-Doten Family in America
Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620
by Ethan Allan Doty, 1897
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/16/mode/2up
Book pages: 17, Digital pages: 16/1048
Note: For the comment about George Clarke not being related to the Thurston Clarke family.

Ebsco
History of immigration from 1620 to 1783
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/history-immigration-1620-1783#:~:text=The%20years%201630%20to%201640,as%20the%20Massachusetts%20Bay%20Colony.
Note: For the text.

With Six Boys, and Three Girls

(4) — eighteen records

(DDFA)
Doty-Doten Family in America
Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620
by Ethan Allan Doty, 1897
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/n5/mode/2up
Book pages: 6- 29, Digital pages: 12-34/1048
Note: For various texts as noted below:

*Indicates specific passages from the Doty-Doten book:

*Edward Doty, Jr., and Sarah Faunce
“It is related that… her death occurred 27th June, 1095.”
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/30/mode/2up
Book page: 31-32, Digital page: 30/1048
Note: For the data.

Library of Congress
Handbook of Old Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts
Its history, its famous dead, and its quaint epitaphs
https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.handbookofoldbur00perki/?st=gallery
Book page: 6, Digital page: 12/86
Note: For the image of the sailing ship nears Clark’s Island.

*John Doty, and (w1) Elizabeth Cooke, (w2) Sarah Rickard
“1690, April 1. The selectmen… for her minor children.”
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/142/mode/2up
Book page: 143, Digital page: 142/1048
and
Edward Doty
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Doty
Note: For the information about Elizabeth Cooke’s relatives.

Thomas Doty, and Mary Churchill
Edward Doty
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Doty
Note: For Mary Churchill’s admission about Thomas Doty.
and
Plymouth Colony, Its History & People, 1620-1691
by Eugene Aubrey Stratton
https://archive.org/details/plymouthcolonyit0000stra/mode/2up
Note: The Wikipedia link lists the relevant page as 194.

Puritans Going To Church,
Mezzotint after George Henry Boughton, circa 1884.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Puritans_going_to_church)_-_G.H._Boughton_%2784_LCCN2006678318.jpg
and
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/529102656205618784/
Note: For the image.

*Samuel Doty, and Jeane Harmon
“He was the ancestor of … pioneers to the West and the South.”
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/276/mode/2up
Book page: 276, Digital page: 282/1048
Note: For the text.

*Desire (Doty) Sherman Holmes Standish
“She was a remarkable woman… a long and varied experience.”
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/492/mode/2up
Book page: 492, Digital page: 492/1048
Note: For the text.

Re: William Sherman and ‘insanity’
The following two passages describe some of the likely circumstances which contributed to William Sherman’s being described as having died from insanity. It is possible that perhaps he had a form of what we refer to today as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/490/mode/2up. (Please note the word choices are those of the original author).

“Desire Doty and her husband, William Sherman, lived at Marshfield. He was an extensive farmer there and an active man, and when the great Indian War, known as King Philip’s War, broke out in 1675, he, with most of the other able bodied men of the town, shouldered his musket and went to the front. The war proved in many respects a very severe one. The border settlements, which had now begun to be established at favorable points in the interior, as far as Springfield, were attacked, captured, burned and the settlers massacred. It taxed the utmost resources of the colony to cope with it, and it was not until some six hundred lives had been lost, twelve or thirteen towns had been destroyed and the colony had expended the immense sum of $500,000 that King Philip, the Indian chief, was tracked to his lair at Narragansett in the latter part of 1676 and killed”.

A group of Indians armed with bow-and-arrow, along with a fire in a carriage ablaze, burn a log-cabin in the woods during King Philip’s War, 1675-1676, hand-colored woodcut from the 19th century. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KingPhilipsWarAttack.webp

“In atrocities by the Indians on the defenseless settlers and on prisoners, this war was unquestionably a most harrowing experience for the colonists and William Sherman, by reason of the exposures and hardships, and witnessing the cruelties of that campaign, was subject after his return to periods of insanity during the balance of his life. In consideration of his affliction the colony, in 1675, granted him relief. And it has been noted before that, in 1677, after the death of Mrs. Faith Phillips, that thirty shillings of her estate by the consent of her sons, was to be divided in equal proportions between her daughters, Desire Sherman, Elizabeth Rouse and Mary Doten, unless the two younger sisters shall see reason, in respect of the low condition of the eldest, to consider her in that respect.”

Postcard MA Governor Winslow House Marshfield
from Picture Rock Treasures
https://www.ebay.com/itm/235827821669
Note: for the 1930 postcard image of the Governor Winslow House in Marshfield, Massachusetts

Elizabeth Doty
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/1409952/person/418525322/facts
Note: For the three children of Elizabeth (Doty) Rouse.

*Joseph Doty, and (w1) Elizabeth Warren, (w2) Deborah Hatch, w3) Sarah Edwards
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/626/mode/2up
“He was thus, at the death of his father… occupation than that of farmer.”
Book page: 626, Digital page: 626/1048
Note: For the text.

Mary Hatch
in the U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3824/records/152808?tid=&pid=&queryId=a87de511-8463-4be3-9006-5c96cb3e99c1&_phsrc=sWy4&_phstart=successSource
Note: For the reference on her husband.

Map image of southwestern Plymouth County
courtesy of the Mattapoisett Museum
https://www.mattapoisettmuseum.org
Note: For the map image.

Know All Men To Whom It May Concern

(5) — three records

Caleb Johnson’s Mayflower History.com
Will of Edward Doty
https://mayflowerhistory.com/will-of-edward-doty
Note: For the text.

(DDFA)
Doty-Doten Family in America
Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620
by Ethan Allan Doty, 1897
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/22/mode/2up
Book page: 23/1035, Digital page: 22/1048
Note: For Edward Doty Sr.’s Will

Trip Savvy
The Top Things to Do in Plymouth, Massachusetts
by Rich Warren
https://www.tripsavvy.com/top-things-to-do-in-plymouth-massachusetts-5077597
Note: For the text and photograph.

The Prosperity of An Early Investor

(6) — five records

(DDFA)
Doty-Doten Family in America
Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620
by Ethan Allan Doty, 1897
https://archive.org/details/dotydotenfamilyi00doty/page/18/mode/2up
Book pages: 18-24, Digital pages: 18-26/1048
Note: For the descriptions of his lands at High Cliff, and other properties

Massachusetts Historical Society
Doten’s Cliff
Manuscript map of Plymouth harbor, circa 1795
https://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=1711
and for detail:
https://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=1711&mode=zoomify&img_step=1&
Note: This early map shows the location for the High Cliff property.

Old Dartmouth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Dartmouth
Note: For the land purchase information.

Library of Congress
A new and accurate map of the colony of Massachusets [i.e. Massachusetts] Bay,
in North America, from a late survey.
by John Hinton, 1781
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3760.ar088100/?r=-0.402,-0.067,1.841,0.917,0
Note: Published in London in 1780.

Item: a ‘candlesticke’

(7) — three records

Pilgrim Edward Doty Society
Edward Doty & Kin
https://www.edwarddoty.org/edward-doty-kin/
Note: For the oil lamp image.

Mayflower House Museum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_House_Museum
and
Mayflower Society
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_Society
Note: For the text and photograph.

The Doty Line, A Narrative — Three

This is Chapter Three of nine. Edward Doty was a farmer, but he is sometimes also written of as being a yeoman (which is the same as a farmer), or sometimes as a plantor. (With the ‘or’ suffix spelling, plantor is likely an antique mis-spelling).

He was never a ‘Capital P’ Planter — which is something different, being a more elevated class of (usually tropical) plantation owners.

“What is the difference between a colonial farmer & a Planter? The difference between a colonial farmer and a Planter is a farmer worked in small, family-run farms. Farmers also cleared land, dug ditches, built fences and farm buildings, plowed, and did other heavy labor. Planters were wealthy, educated men who oversaw the operations on their large farms, or plantations.” (IPL, Learneo Services) (1)

Mr. Hot Under The Collar?

You Prigger! No I’m not , you’re a Prancer!! You’re a Doxie! Is that so?! Gilt! Rum Dubber!! You’re a Palliard and always will be! Your family are Clapperdogeons! [Faux Gasp] You Filching Cove! You should talk, you’re a Filching Mort! You’re a Lubber and so are all your Lollpooping friends! Rook! Rook! Rook!

…And so it goes, on and on in every era… These are just a few of the Colonial Era insults that used to be bandied about by some of our forebears. The Offended might have occasionally whispered under their breath that The Offender was A Gentlleman of Three Outs. (See footnotes).

We mentioned in the last chapter that Edward Doty had a history of being in court frequently in the Plymouth Colony being on both sides of things. As an example of a typical case, here is an excerpt from The Plymouth Colony Archive Project, from the Records of the General Court 1 April 1633, Records of Plymouth Colony 1:12 — “William Bennet accuses Dowty ‘of New Plymouth’ of slander by calling him a rogue. 😡 The foreman of the jury, Josuah Pratt found Dowty guilty and fined him 50 shillings, plus 20 for ‘the King’ and gave him eight month to make payment”.

An intriguing entry from 1643, (about Wolf Traps, yikes!) notes the following, “At a Townes meeting holden the xth ffebruary 1643 It is agreed That wolfe traps be made according to the order of the Court in manner following, That one be made at Playne Dealing — by Mr Combe, Mr Lee ffrancis Billington Georg Clark John Shawe and Edward Dotey”.

Near Watson Hill “…in 1624, Edward received his share of land allotment [for a home lot] and in 1627, in an allotment given to “heads of families and young men of prudence…” Edward was, also, given a share, even though he was unmarried, which shows him to have gained the confidence of the governor.” (Mayflower Ancestors)

This is a foldout map from the 1835 book, History of the Town of Plymouth, by James Thacher,
which clearly shows where Edward Doty began his real estate holding in Plymouth, with land near Watson’s Hill.

Watson Hill is uniquely remembered because it is the vantage point from which the Native Person Samoset first observed the Pilgrims. “Stephen Hopkins, who had previously lived at Jamestown and, through interaction with the Powhatan tribe of Virginia, knew a little of the Algonquian language Samoset spoke”.(World History Encyclopedia) This resulted in Samoset staying in Hopkins’s home that evening, which is the same home that Edward Doty was also living. We speculate, that through his association with first Samoset, and then Squanto, that perhaps Doty favored Watson Hill as his home site. We cover much about the relationship between the Pilgrims and Native Peoples in the [same-named] chapter The Pilgrims — The Native Peoples. (2)

Whatever Happened to Edwards’s First Wife?

Plymouth Archives have Edward Doty records for everything from court cases, to land-dealing records, to the birth of his children… it’s actually a bit exhausting to wade through all of it. That may be, but as we wrote, there are many straightforward records of his real estate transactions in the Plymouth documents. He left much property to his children upon his death, which we will review in the later chapter, The Doty Line, A Narrative — Four.

Edward Doty had two wives, but there are no credible surviving records about who wife #1 actually was. There has been speculation that his first wife was in England, but if that were true, historians should be able to locate something? However, the fact that Edward Doty’s origins in England are also quite obscure, doesn’t help matters much, does it? He could have married someone who arrived on a later ship?

The issue with that is the timing —Edward Doty received land in 1623, but both he and Edward Leister are listed under Stephen Hopkins’s name. This leads us to believe that neither man was yet married, probably because their indentures to Hopkins were coming to an end. In the 1627 Division of Cattle, as with our other Pilgrim ancestor George Soule, if Doty had been married then, his wife would have been entitled to an additional share. Yet, no spouse is listed for him. (Could have had a very short marriage between 1623 and 1627? Perhaps.) About seven more years would pass before he would meet his wife #2. During this interval, many, many ships came to the New England Colonies during the Great Migration. They brought immigrants to the far north of Maine, all the way south to and beyond Jamestown, Virginia. Some of these ships did come through Plymouth.

If indeed Doty had a wife in the Plymouth Colony before he married wife #2 in 1635, then certainly Governor William Bradford would have recorded this in his manuscript, Of Plimoth Plantation. It is highly unlikely that under the meticulous and watchful eyes of Bradford, that Doty’s first marriage would have been unobserved, much less disregarded, but it could have happened. (3)

From the original document Of Plimoth Plantation, by William Bradford. Edward Doty is listed as having had a second wife. Note that it indicates 7 children — after this was initially written, they had 2 more children, for a total of 9 children in the family. (Image courtesy of the State Library of Massachusetts, Digital Collections).

Comment: The following section below is adapted from a post made at Fine Artist Made, (see footnotes).

Edward Doty Wasn’t The Only Person Who Could Get Upset
— The Incident At Ipswich, England

Back in England, by 1630, Britain had already been entrenched, for a number of years, in a period of political turmoil, social unrest and economic uncertainty. On top of that, the Church of England, in consort with the Crown, had launched a campaign of religious persecution against a growing Puritan reform movement, whose mission was to revitalize a church grown stale, tyrannical and corrupt. The Great Migration of Puritans to British North America had begun, and would continue fitfully until the pending English Civil War.

The situation worsened for the Puritans in 1633, with the appointment of William Laud, a fierce opponent to their cause, as the Archbishop of Canterbury. They would need to take their chances in the untested wilderness of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

A romantic painting by Bernard Gribble (1872–1962), showing The Pilgrim Fathers Boarding the Mayflower for Their Voyage to America. Although the Mayflower was certainly not this grand and imposing, this painting does show what it was like for emigrants going to British North America to travel on merchant ships in that era. (Image courtesy of the Times Literary Supplement).

The process, technicalities and red tape involved with preparations for a voyage of this magnitude were likely frustrating and expensive. Passengers (Puritans and Others) had to acquire licenses and documents to pass the port — then locate a ship. Finding an appropriate vessel would have involved an intensive search followed by serious negotiations. They had to procure provisions for their passage, as well as for their first year in New England. All this by necessity must have been accomplished surreptitiously.

Early in February 1634, two vessels were moored in Ipswich Harbor on the estuary of the Orwell River. Their passenger lists consisted largely of single men, married couples, and families — as many children as adults; some as young as one year old. They were middle class artisans and farmers. The first ship, called the Francis* was commanded by Master John Cutter and carried 84 passengers. The other was the Elizabeth with 101 passengers and Master William Andrewes at her helm. These two captains were planning to make their passage in tandem for their mutual benefit and safety. Their ships, rigged for a lengthy uncertain voyage, suddenly had their passages blocked.
(*Please see the last paragraph at the end of this chapter).

What happened was this: there was immediate opposition to this “progressive” contingent by the conservative officials in the Church of England, (who felt no sympathy for the Puritan’s case). On February 4, the Archdeacon of Suffolk’s agent, Henry Dade, the Commissary of Suffolk, wrote a letter from his office in Ipswich, to the Church of England’s principal leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud. Dade reported that two ships were about to sail from Ipswich Port with men and provisions for their abiding in New England, and that in each ship “are appointed to go about six score men.” He supposed they were debtors or persons discontented with the government of the Church of England.

In this 1874 engraving, English Puritans Escaping to America, was captioned “strength of faith and character mark the faces of those setting forth to the New World”. (Image courtesy of British Heritage Travel).

[Our observation: It seems Dade had worked himself up into quite a frothy state.] He told the Archbishop that his intelligence had informed him, that some 600 more were planning to shortly follow and described the “ill effects of suffering such swarms going out of England could cause; that trade would be overthrown and persons indebted would flee to New England to avoid bankruptcy and be treated as religious men for leaving the kingdom because they could not endure the ceremonies of the church.”

He blamed the Puritan minister, Samuel Ward, for inciting desire among his flock to relocate to Massachusetts. Ward was stationed in the ancient church of St. Mary-le-Tower, the civic church of the Corporation of Ipswich. The records of the Privy Council show that a warrant for tying up the two Ipswich vessels was issued within the week. A few days later, on February 14, similar steps were taken for the detention of ten other ships lying in the Thames near London — all under similar charters for Massachusetts Bay Colony.

(Here is where we invoke long story short…) After much drama, these conditions were imposed on everyone for the voyages:

  • If anyone blasphemes or profanes the holy name of God, they shall be severely punished.
  • On the ship, everyone must attend when the “Booke of Common Prayer” (established in the Church of England) were said at both Morning and Evening Prayers.
  • All persons must have the ‘Certificate from the officers of the port’ where they departed, have taken both the oath of allegiance and supremacie (the belief that a particular group is superior to others, and should dominate them).
  • That upon their return to this Kingdom they certify to the Board, the names of all persons transported, together with their proceedings in the execution of the aforesaid articles.

Finally, in mid to late April 1634, once the powers that be had sufficiently flexed their muscles, the Francis and Elizabeth set sail. Plying the vast Atlantic without further incident or loss of life, they entered the clear unfettered waters of the Massachusetts Bay some five to ten weeks later.

From left to right: William Laud, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Center: A painting, Ipswich England harbor, Boat on Beach, Sunset, by John Moore of Ipswich, and Right: Samuel Ward, of the ancient church of St. Mary-le-Tower

Then by November, Samuel Ward (thanks to Dade’s efforts), was banned from preaching for life for encouraging immigration to New England. There were riots in the streets of Ipswich. The Corporation of Ipswich refused to replace Ward, paid his stipend for life and after his death in 1640, supported his widow and eldest son who could not work himself. In 1637, Ward’s compatriot, Timothy Dalton, after his own suspension, immigrated to New Hampshire.

In the end, the Henry Dade as the Commissary of Suffolk’s unyielding persecutor of the Puritans of Ipswich — this would prove to be undoing. Amidst charges of corruption, oppression and extortion brought by a friend of Ward’s, a humble Puritan cobbler, he was compelled to resign his posts. (The cobbler himself was faced with excommunication and sought asylum in New England).

As for Dade’s accomplice, William Laud, the Archbishop of Canterbury — in 1645, in the midst of the English Civil War, in part, for his crimes against the Puritans — he was beheaded.

The importance of relating this saga about strife and bureaucracy in England, with the ship Francis, is that this ship brought our 9x Great Grandmother Faith Clarke (along with her father Thurston Clarke), to the Plymouth Colony. The good news is, that very soon, we will meet the new Mrs. Doty. (4)

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials,
Notes, and Observations

(1) — one record

IPL, Learneo Services
What Is The Difference Between A Colonial Farmer And A Planter?
https://www.ipl.org/essay/What-Is-The-Difference-Between-A-Colonial-17E05078F5C70CC6
Note: For the text.

Mr. Hot Under The Collar?

(2) — seven records

Medium
The Art and Science of Swearing
by Robert Roy Britt
https://medium.com/wise-well/the-art-and-science-of-swearing-5fadb0b6c979
Note: For the insult cloud artwork.

10 Colonial Insults for Lollpools, Doxies and Prigs
by The New England Historical Society
https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/lollpoops-doxies-prigs-ten-colonial-insults/#google_vignette
Note: For the reference, you _______!

The Plymouth Colony Archive Project
EDWARD DOTEY (DOTEN, DOTTEN, DOTY, DOWTIE)
of Plymouth
http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/DOTEYED.htm
Note: For the text.

Mayflower Ancestors
Edward Doty & Descendants
Edward Doty: 1599 – 1655
https://gardenmayflowerancestors.wordpress.com/
Note: For the text.

History of the Town of Plymouth,
from its first settlement in 1620, to the present time
by James Thacher, circa 1835
https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofp03thac/page/n11/mode/2up
Note: For the foldout map at the beginning of the book.

World History Encyclopedia
Samoset
https://www.worldhistory.org/Samoset/
Note: For the text.

Interview of Samoset With The Pilgrims, book engraving
by Artist unknown, circa 1853
File:Interview of Samoset with the Pilgrims.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interview_of_Samoset_with_the_Pilgrims.jpg
Note: For the image of Interview of Samoset With The Pilgrims

Whatever Happened to Edwards’s First Wife?

(3) — two records

The Plymouth Colony Archive Project
EDWARD DOTEY (DOTEN, DOTTEN, DOTY, DOWTIE)
of Plymouth
http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/DOTEYED.htm
Note: For the text.

State Library of Massachusetts Digital Collections
Of Plimoth Plantation: manuscript, 1630-1650
https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/items/db0e9f79-477c-4a4c-979b-359c2be1d4ad
Note 1: The notation for Edward Doty having a wife from a second marriage is located very close to the end of the book.
Note 2: There are no page numbers, but the page is possibly — Digital page:534/546, left column.
Note 3: The document is digitized and available as a .pdf download at the above link, file name: ocn137336369-Of-Plimoth-Plantation.pdf

Edward Doty Wasn’t The Only Person Who Could Get Upset
— The Incident At Ipswich, England

(4) — seven records

Fine Artist Made
Incident at Ipswich, Part 1
https://www.fineartistmade.com/blog/blog-detail.php?Incident-at-Ipswich-part-1-68
and
Incident at Ipswich, Part 2
https://www.fineartistmade.com/blog/blog-detail.php?Incident-at-Ipswich-part-2-70
by Patrick Mealey and Joyce Jackson
Note: For the text.Historic UK

Times Literary Supplement
The Pilgrim Fathers Boarding the Mayflower for their Voyage to America
by Bernard Gribble, (1872–1962)
https://www.the-tls.com/history/early-modern-history/mayflower-voyage-400
Note: For the ship painting.

British Heritage Travel
From East Anglia to A City Upon A Hill
https://britishheritage.com/from-east-anglia-to-a-city-upon-a-hill
Note: Primedia Archive, for the fleeing Puritans in a boat image.

The Life and Death of William Laud
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/The-Life-and-Death-Of-Wiliam-Laud/
Note: For the Laud portrait.

Boat on Beach, Sunset
by John Moore of Ipswich (1821–1902)
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/boat-on-beach-sunset-12029
Note: For the Ipswich, England harbor scene.

The Digital Puritan
Samuel Ward
https://digitalpuritan.net/samuel-ward/
Note: For the Samuel Ward portrait.

The Doty Line, A Narrative — Two

This is Chapter Two of nine. This chapter covers the early dramatic events of the 162os: a foolish knife fight, how land was distributed, how cattle and other livestock were shared, and how The Colony started to find itself.

In the last chapter, we wrote about picturing our ancestors in our mind’s eye. One of the drawbacks about that way of pondering the Pilgrims is this — it is normal to picture them in a bucolic environment, with ordered streets, clean clothes, rosy cheeks. Hollywood has never really been very good at looking at how rough and tough things initially were for them.

When the Mayflower finally disappeared over the horizon, they were truly alone in the New World.

The Departure of the Mayflower for England in 1621 by N.C. Wyeth. This was part of a series of murals the artist created for the MetLife building in New York City in 1941.
(Image courtesy of the Brandywine Museum of Art).

Only 53 Passengers Remained

Consider the fact that the Mayflower was the home of the Pilgrims for a long time and that it was a very old merchant ship.

“During the winter, the passengers [had] remained on board Mayflower, suffering an outbreak of a contagious disease described as a mixture of scurvy, pneumonia, and tuberculosis. After it was over, only 53 passengers remained—just over half; half of the crew died as well. In the spring, they built huts ashore, and the passengers disembarked from Mayflower on March 31, 1621.”

Captain Christopher “Jones had originally planned to return to England as soon as the Pilgrims found a settlement site. But his crew members began to be ravaged by the same diseases that were felling the Pilgrims, and he realized that he had to remain in Plymouth Harbor ‘till he saw his men began to recover.’  Mayflower lay in New Plymouth harbor through the winter of 1620–21, then set sail for England on April 15, 1621. As with the Pilgrims, her sailors had been decimated by disease. Jones had lost his boatswain, his gunner, three quartermasters, the cook, and more than a dozen sailors. Mayflower made excellent time on her voyage back to England. The westerly winds that had buffeted her on the initial voyage pushed her along on the return trip home. She arrived in London on May 16, 1621, less than half the time that it had taken her to sail to America.” (Wikipedia)

Historian Caleb Johnson writes that, “Christopher Jones took the ship out on a trading voyage to Rochelle, France, in October 1621, returning with a cargo of Bay salt. [As the] master and quarter-owner of the Mayflower, [he] died and was buried at Rotherhithe, County. Surrey, England, on 5 March 1621/2. No further record of the Mayflower is found until May 1624, when it was appraised for the purposes of probate and was described as being in ‘ruinis’.  The ship was almost certainly sold off as scrap.” (Mayflower History.com)

With all of the many demands put upon the new shore-bound Plymouth community, our ancestor Edward Doty was about to steal the spotlight through a bit of infamy. (1)

Seeing Red + Flying Off The Handle = (We’re) Fit to Be Tied

Well, the two Edwards seemed to have had quite enough of each other and entered into a duel. It is reportedly the first duel fought in New England, which may be true, but how can you prove something like that? Who would want to?

Edward Doty and Edward Leister were both young men who were indentured servants in the home of the Stephen Hopkins family. Admittedly, the initial voyage of the Mayflower had been harrowing… they were both living as servants in a tiny, rather rough looking house, in far away new world colony… Mr. Hopkins ran a tavern (out of his home?) and just about everyone drank beer in those days because water could be contaminated… Was a young lady involved? Who knows? — but their rather intense dust-up has been featured by historians for over 400 years, which is a rather long time for a local fight to echo through history.

From the standpoint of their community, this fight took place slightly less than eight weeks after the Mayflower had departed for England. Everyone was probably exhausted after leaving the ship, continuing to care for the sick and dying, building huts to live in, and trying to source food in a new land. Who had the free time or energy to get caught up in a duel? Apparently, these two did.

Copy of Le Duel a l’Épée et au Poignard (The Duel with the Sword and Dagger),
from “Les Caprices” (Image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art).

William Bradford, the Governor of the Plymouth Colony at the time, recorded the details in his journal, but that original document was eventually lost. Transcriptions of what was recorded have survived and we found an account published in a Boston newspaper called The Liberator, on June 12, 1840. In an intriguing way, we noticed this newspaper account falls (more-or-less) at the halfway point between the 1620s and our present era.

Excerpted newspaper account from The Liberator newspaper, June 12, 1840, page 4.
(Image courtesy of Newspapers.com).

If history has a way a not-forgetting, then perhaps we all need to mind our manners in today’s world? It seems that Edward Doty had a history of being in court frequently in the Plymouth Colony being on both sides of things. Maybe he was a bit of a hot head? As elaborated upon by our quite far distant cousin Anna Kasper in her blog post, Anna’s Musings & Writings, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, Week 7: “…Edward Doty did not always make good on that promise of ‘a better carriage.’ He did not like to pay his servants, he just let his cattle kind of wander around, he got into fights, and is found in the Plymouth Court records numerous times! To say that Edward was notably a contentious man would be correct.”

We are reminded of our ancestor David Du Four from a separate family line who we chronicled in The DeVoe Line, A Narrative — Two. (David did not seem to be a contentious man). We wrote this in the section subtitled:
For. Every. Little. Kerfuffle. With. Your. Neighbors.
“It seems that David Du Four had several showings in court because the records have survived. Here’s a little background on the times. In 1670s he was a “frequent flyer” at court, with several cases. In New Amsterdam, people from all walks of life could bring a case to court. They could defend the case themselves, or ask someone to speak for them.  It was not necessary for them to have a lawyer for every case. This is because…” there wasn’t a true court system existent. “To a degree, it seems like going to court was similar to being sent to the Principal’s Office. You had to go and plead your case.”

Then, whatever happened to Edward Leister? We don’t know very much. Governor William Bradford later recorded, “Lester, after he was at liberty, went to Virginia and there died”. American Ancestors has discerned a bit more, by evaluating some of the surviving colonial documents: “…in the 1623 division of land are two men with [the] first name [of] Edward but without surnames; these must be his two servants, Edward Doty and Edward Leister. But Leister is not in the 1627 division of cattle, so he must have left for Virginia between those two dates. He does not appear in the February 1623/4 list of those in Virginia living and dead, or in the February 1624/5 Virginia muster of inhabitants.”

Panoramic View of London in the early 1600s,
by Matthäus Merian der Ältere (Matthew Merian), 1638.

For Edward Doty, we do not know exactly when, nor where, he was born. He was recorded as being of London, but we don’t know if he had been born in another part of England and then had perhaps migrated to London. When he was a signer of the Mayflower Compact, there is speculation that he may have been slightly underage, but the Mayflower Society believe that he was probably at least 18 years of age. (It appears that there are a couple of other signers who were in similar circumstances). We do know however, that as an indentured servant to Stephen Hopkins, he was contracted to that obligation until the age of 25 years.

With that fact in mind, we can parse that he was likely born circa 1598. (2)

The Common Cause of Labor

“Working communally — also known as the “common course of labor” — was a key part of the business model planned for Plymouth Colony. In the original terms and conditions for funding and planting the colony, all the colonists agreed to work together for seven years at commercial fishing, trading, and farming “making such commodities as shall be most useful for the colony.” At the end of the seven years, the terms and conditions dictated that the colonists would receive a share of the common stock including land and livestock.

After three years, Plymouth Colony’s governor William Bradford ended communal work as related to farming, because it caused too much internal conflict and resulted in poor corn harvests. Without a good corn harvest to feed the colony and without regular supplies from England, the colony would not survive. It is interesting to note, however, that this injunction affected only grain and other field production. All other group work — hunting, fishing, trading and defense – continued as before and seemingly without tension.” (Plimoth Patuxet)

Edward continued to do his work for the Hopkins family as part of his commitment to the greater good. However, as one of the original settlers (the old-comers) within the Plymouth Colony, he was entitled a certain privileges which this status afforded him. One of these was the right to have land tenure.

The 1623 Division of Land in which Edward Doty received one acre. As described above, “These lye on the South side of the brook to the woodward opposite to the former”

It is likely that Edward was about 25 years old at this time. “In 1623 a parcel of land was allotted to each man to till for his family and to maintain those who were exempt from agricultural employment because of other duties. Each family was given one acre per family member. In abandoning the ‘common course and condition’ everyone worked harder and more willingly. The food problem was ended, and after the first abundant harvest under individual cultivation, the Pilgrims did not have to endure the meager rations of the first years. The plots assigned them permanently in 1624 became privately owned in 1627.” (Images of Old Hawaii)

“The people mentioned in the Division of Land came on the Mayflower (1620), the Fortune (1621), and the Anne (1623). A couple may have arrived on the Swan(1622) or the Little James (1623), but these were small ships carrying mostly cargo. The Division of Land is recorded in Volume XII of the ‘Records of the Colony of New Plymouth’ ”(TPCAP – The Plymouth Colony Archive Project)

At this time, one acre of land was distributed to each family member. As he was a single man, Edward Doty received one acre of land described communally as, “These lye on the South side of the brook to the woodward opposite to the former”. (Family Search) (3)

Animals Resting in a Pasture, by Paulus Potter, circa 1650.
(Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

About The Division of Cattle

Like the distribution of land in 1623, in 1627, the Pilgrims divided their livestock (cattle, goats, etc.) into separate lots.

“The Pilgrims did not bring any large livestock animals with them on the Mayflower. In fact, the only animals known with certainty to have come on the Mayflower were two dogs, an English mastiff and an English spaniel, who are mentioned on a couple of occasions in the Pilgrims’ journals.

In 1624, [Governor William] Bradford reports that ‘Mr. Winslow came over, and brought a prety good supply, and the ship came on fishing, a thing fatall to this plantation. He brought 3. Heifers & a bull, the first begining of any catle of that kind in ye land’. Other cattle came, some nicknamed the Great Black Cow, the Lesser Black Cow, and the Great White-Backed Cow. By 1627, both the Lesser Black Cow and the Great White-backed Cow had calves.

The 1627 Division of Cattle. Edward Doty is listed as #11, as Edward Dolton. “The fourth lot fell to John Howland & his company Joyned to him his wife. To this lot fell one of the 4 heyfers Came in the Jacob Called ”

Onboard the Jacob in 1624 were four black heifers (a heifer is a young female cow that has not yet had a calf.) The four black heifers were nicknamed Least, Raghorn, Blind, and Smooth-Horned. There was also a Red Cow that belonged to the poor of the colony, which had a red female calf around 1625, and a male calf in 1627. By May 1627, there were 16 head of cattle and at least 22 goats living in Plymouth.” (Images of Old Hawaii)

It appears that Edward Doty, as part of the group of colonists (listed above as part of ‘John Howland & his company’), communally shared the ‘4 heyfers’ which had arrived on the ship Jacob in 1624. (4)

The Council for New England

We understand that Edward Doty was a man who didn’t die a poor man by the standards of his era. He was an early investor in the development of the Plymouth Colony and a land owner. The three passages excerpted below describe the business aspects he was involved with in those early decades.

“The Council for New England was a 17th-century English joint stock company to which James I of England awarded a royal charter, with the purpose of expanding his realm over parts of North America by establishing colonial settlements. The Council was established in November of 1620, and was disbanded (although with no apparent changes in land titles) in 1635. It provided for the establishment of the Plymouth Colony, the Province of New Hampshire, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the New Haven Colony, and the Province of Maine”.

Left image: The Stuarts, King James I (reigned 1603 – 1625). Painting of James VI and I
Wearing the Jewel Called the Three Brothers in His Hat, circa 1605, (after) John de Critz.
Upper right: The Seal of The Council For New England, and
Lower right: (Shown at a small scale, the actual Peirce Patent from 1621.. It is cited as one of the most important documents in Anglo-American history.)

“In 1621, King James I authorized the Council for New England to plant and govern land in this area. This Council granted the Peirce Patent, confirming the Pilgrims’ settlement and governance of Plymouth. Peirce and his associates, the merchant adventurers, were allotted 100 acres for each settler the Company transported. The Pilgrims had a contract with the Company stating all land and profits would accrue to the Company for 7 years at which time the assets would be divided among the shareholders. Most of the Pilgrims held some stock. The Pilgrims negotiated a more favorable contract with the Company in 1626. In 1627, 53 Plymouth freemen, known as “The Purchasers,” agreed to buy out the Company over a period of years. In turn, 12 “Undertakers” (8 from Plymouth and 4 from London) agreed to pay off Plymouth’s debts in return for trade benefits”. (Pilgrim Hall Museum)

“In 1626, Edward Doty was one of twenty-seven Purchasers involved with the colony joint-stock company which afterwards was turned over to the control of senior colony members. That group [of investors] was called the “Undertakers”, and was made up initially of William Bradford, Myles Standish and Isaac Allerton, who were later joined by Edward Winslow, William Brewster, John Howland, John Alden, Thomas Prence, and four former Merchant Adventurers back in London. On the agreement, dated October 26, 1626, his surname appears as ‘Dotey’.” (Wikipedia) (5)

We continue our narrative about the Edward Doty in the next chapter, with his initial focus on acquiring stability through land ownership. (After all, a farmer who works the land, might want to own it too.) Then we look back a bit at the immigration unrest in Ipswich, England — which was certainly not a merry place at this time.

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials,
Notes, and Observations

Only 53 passengers Remained

(1) — three records

The Departure of the Mayflower for England in 1621
by N.C. Wyeth
https://collections.brandywine.org/objects/11394/the-departure-of-the-mayflower-for-england-in-1621?ctx=a8ad2d38-5e2e-466c-ae9e-f1f68e71df17&idx=8
Note: This was part of a series of murals the artist created for the MetLife building in New York City in 1941.

Mayflower
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower
Note: For the text.

Caleb Johnson’s Mayflower History.com
The End of the Mayflower
https://mayflowerhistory.com/end-of-the-mayflower
Note: For the text.

Seeing Red + Flying Off The Handle = (We’re) Fit to Be Tied

(2) — seven records

The Met [The Metropolitan Museum of Art]
Copy of Le Duel a l’Épée et au Poignard (The Duel with the Sword and Dagger),
from Les Caprices
by Anonymous, (After Jacques Callot French, 17th century)
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/417395
Note: For the illustration.

Edward Doty and Edward Leister duel 1621
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-liberator-edward-doty-and-edward-lei/5952148/
Note: From Newspapers.com “The Liberator was a radical [their words] abolitionist newspaper published from 1831-65 in Boston, Massachusetts. A weekly four-page paper, it was the most influential abolitionist publication in the United States during the nineteenth century. At its peak, the Liberator was circulating 3,000 copies a week, primarily across the free North. It was funded and read largely by the free Black population in the North”.

HOW THE PILGRIM FATHERS SERVED DUELISTS.
The following account of the first duel fought in New England, and the second political offence committed in the Plymouth Colony, we take from a work entitled The New-England Chronology.’ The date of the event is June 8th, 1621.

The second offence is the first duel fought in New-England, upon a challenge to single combat, with sword and dagger, between Edward Doty and Edward Leister, servants of Mr. Hopkins. Both being wounded, the one in the hand, the other in the thigh, they are adjudged by the whole company to have their head and feet tied together, and so to lie for twenty-four hours, without meat or drink; which is begun to be inflicted. But within an hour, because of their great pains, at their own and their master’s humble request, upon promise of better carriage, they are released by the Governor.’
— Pa. Observer.

The DeVoe Line, A Narrative — Two
https://ourfamilynarratives.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=13086&action=edit
Note: For the text in the section —
For. Every. Little. Kerfuffle. With. Your. Neighbors.

Anna’s Musings & Writings
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week 7: Landed. February Theme: Branching Out. My Contentious and Quarrelsome Mayflower Pilgrim Ancestor Edward Doty.
https://anna-kasper.com/2022/02/15/my-contentious-and-quarrelsome-mayflower-pilgrim-ancestor-edward-doty/
Note: For the text.
Hi cousin!

A contemporary reenactment of a farm laborer from the Plimouth Plantation Living Museum.

.American Ancestors 2020
Edward Leister
https://mayflower.americanancestors.org/edward-leister-biography#:~:text=Edward%20Leister%20came%20to%20Plymouth,%5BBradford%20442%2C%20445%5D.
Note: For the text.

Battlemaps.us
Panoramic View of London in the early 1600s,
by Matthäus Merian der Ältere (Matthew Merian), 1638
https://www.battlemaps.us/products/london-1600s-panoramic-view?srsltid=AfmBOoqFDoZLYTk2TCIRr2uUgV98KngVjw-QLKUO2raArsDdj_lOQJsq
Note: For the panoramic view of London.

The Mayflower Society
The Doty Family, Passenger Profile
https://themayflowersociety.org/passenger-profile/passenger-profiles/edward-doty/
Note: For the text.

The Common Cause of Labor

(3) — five records

Plimoth Patuxet Museums
As Precious As Silver
https://plimoth.org/yath/unit-3/as-precious-as-silver
Note: For the text.

Dividing the Land and Development of Towns
https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/Dividing-the-Land-and-Development-of-Towns.pdf
Note: For the text.

Plymouth Colony 1623 Division of Land document
Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986 > Plymouth > Deeds 1620-1651 vol 1
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89Z7-5Z3H?i=7&wc=MCBR-538%3A361612701%2C362501301&lang=en
Note 1: One acre of land for Edward Doty, as an unmarried man.
Note 2: This file is available at two locations. As indicated above, and also here:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89Z7-5Z3H?i=7&wc=MCBR-538:361612701,362501301&lang=en
Book page: 4, Digital page: Image 8 of 239, Lower portion of page.
Note 3: He is the first Edward listed after Steven Hopkins’s name.

(TPCAP)
The Plymouth Colony Archive Project
Plymouth Colony Division of Land, 1623
http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/landdiv.html
Note: For the text. Additional context, “In 1623, the Pilgrims divided up their land. The people mentioned in the Division of Land came on the Mayflower (1620), the Fortune (1621), and the Anne (1623). A couple may have arrived on the Swan(1622) or the Little James (1623), but these were small ships carrying mostly cargo. The Division of Land is recorded in Volume XII of the ‘Records of the Colony of New Plymouth’, and reprinted in the ‘Mayflower Descendant’, 1:227-230. Each family was given one acre per family member”.

About The Division of Cattle

(4) — four records

Animals Resting in the Pasture
by Paulus Potter, circa 1650
File:Paulus Potter – Animals Resting in the Pasture.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paulus_Potter_-_Animals_Resting_in_the_Pasture.jpg
Note: For the painting image.

Plymouth Colony 1627 Division of Cattle document
Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986 > Plymouth > Deeds 1620-1651 vol 1https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99Z7-5ZZW?i=31&wc=MCBR-538%3A361612701%2C362501301&lang=en
Book page: 52, Digital page: Image 32 of 239, Middle of page.
Note: For the image. Edward Doty is listed in the Fourth Lot, as #11, named Edward Dolton.

The Plymouth Colony Archive Project
Plymouth Colony Division of Cattle, 1627
http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/cattlediv.html
Note: Additional context, “1627. At a publique court held the 22th of May it was concluded by the whole Companie, that the cattle wch were the Companies, to wit, the Cowes & the Goates should be equal devided to all the posts of the same company & she kept until the expiration of ten years after the date above written & that every one should well and sufficiently paid for there own pt under penalty of forfeiting the same. That the old stock with half th increase should remain for common use to be divided at then of the said terms or otherwise as location fallers out, & the other half to be their own for ever. Upon wch agreement they were equally divided by Lotts she as the burthen of keeping the males then being should be borne for common use by those to whose lot the best Cowes should fall & so the Lotts fell as followers. thirteenepsonts being portioned to one lot.”

Division of Cattle
https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/Division-of-Cattle.pdf
Note: For the text.

The Council for New England

(5) — six records

The Coat of Arms of King James VI and I

Council for New England
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_New_England
Note: For the text.

Painting of James VI and I Wearing the Jewel Called the Three Brothers in His Hat, circa 1605
by (after) John de Critz 
File:Portrait of James I of England wearing the jewel called the Three Brothers in his hat.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_James_I_of_England_wearing_the_jewel_called_the_Three_Brothers_in_his_hat.jpg
Note: For the portrait of James I.

Digital Commonwealth
Seal of the Council for New England
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:h128nr41z
Note: For the seal artwork.

Plymouth Live
Important piece of American history is being brought to Plymouth
https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/important-piece-american-history-being-2587196
Note: For the Peirce Patent document image.

Pilgrim Hall Museum
Beyond The Pilgrim Story
https://pilgrimhall.org/bradford_17th_century_documents.htm
Note: Excerpted text is from the section, Willliam Bradford: a 1626 “Undertaker”.
Note: For the text.

Edward Doty
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Doty#CITEREFBanks2006
Note: For the text.

The Doty Line, A Narrative — One

This is Chapter One of nine. We hope that you have taken the time to read the opening chapters we wrote based on the lives of The Pilgrims. It will help to make these The Doty Line chapters more accessible.

As the authors of this family history genealogy blog, we are in the 12th generation of Doty descendants in America. Pilgrim Edward Doty and his wife Faith (Clarke) Doty Phillips are our 9x Great Grandparents. He was one of our two Mayflower ancestors, with the other being Pilgrim George Soule whose family line is profiled in The Soule Line’s seven chapters.

A map of London during the Tudor Period and prior to 1561,
by Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg in Civitates Orbis Terrarum.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia).

A Man “of London”

Unfortunately, no one has been able to discern specifically the early origins for our 9x Great Grandfather Pilgrim Edward Doty. We wished to uncover more, but for now, until more credible evidence turns up, we must settle for the 20,000 foot view as to where he came from. One of these fine days, someone, somewhere, perhaps an observant researcher — will discover a clue that will reveal his true origins. For us, his name first comes up first in connection with the voyage of the Mayflower.

It’s 1620. He is sailing westward to the new colonies in North America, and for a few years, he is an indentured servant to the Stephen Hopkins family. This means that he was responsible for contributing to the success of the Hopkins family for a period of time, and until he had achieved the age of 25 years, he could not be released from this condition. Edward Leister, his fellow indentured traveler with the Hopkins family, was of the same status.

The original document Of Plimoth Plantation, by William Bradford, page 530. Edward Doty is listed as traveling with the Steven (Stephen) Hopkins family. (Image courtesy of the State Library of Massachusetts, Digital Collections).

He is then briefly mentioned in a pamphlet titled Mourt’s Relation, written by Thomas Winslow of the New Plymouth Colony, with contributions from William Bradford. This booklet eventually gained great fame.

From the website Voyaging Through History —

The manuscript was carried out of New Plymouth by Robert Cushman, Chief Agent in London for the settlers, on board the Fortune in 1621. When Mourt’s Relation was sold in John Bellamy’s London bookshop in the 1620s its readers could have scarcely imagined this would become one of the most well-known texts in American history… Perhaps the most significant feature of Mourt’s Relation is its inclusion of ‘The Mayflower Compact’: the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. Signed on November 21, 1620 (prior to landing), the text gave a legal framework of government to the eventual settlement… Over time the Mayflower Compact has become revered as an antecedent to the American Constitution.

Something else we were able to see within Mourt’s Relation, is this text below. This is the only reference yet where we have found any indication for his origin before the Mayflower sailed.

In this pamphlet, Edward’s name is mentioned as being of London next to the name of the man he was indentured to, “Steeuen Hopkins”, (Stephen Hopkins). For more about what Indentured Servitude was, please see our chapters on The Pilgrims — specifically the chapter: The Pilgrims — A Mayflower Voyage.

A note about name spellings:
Historical sources vary much in how these names are spelled. Stephen Hopkins’s first name is written as Steven, Stephen, or Steeuen in original documents. [We are using Stephen for our text]. Edward Doty’s surname has several spellings in original documents, including: Doty, Dotte, Doten, Dotten, Dotey, Dowty, and Dolton. [Whew! We are using Doty for our text].

Most importantly, we know that Edward Doty was one the people who ‘signed’ The Mayflower Compact. However, the names of the signatories to the document were not published for many years out of the fear of reprisals from the British Monarchy. In any case, we know that Edward could not write his name:

“One is that no copy of the original [Mayflower Compact] document survives. Therefore, unfortunately we can’t see his signature. But considering he signed other legal documents, including his Will, with ‘his mark,’ he appears not to have learned how to write and we wouldn’t see much in the way of a signature anyway. Nevertheless, all accounts of the document give him credit for being among the 41 men who signed the pact.” (AFHB – A Family History Blog, see footnotes). (1)

As with many of our ancestors, their ability to read, write, and sign their name was not as important then as it is today. Clearly, someone drafted the text to Edward’s 1655 Will and wrote his name. He then endorsed this with ‘his marke’, a double flourish which we have circled.

Being thus arrived in a good harbor…

Only one primary source account exists which describes the events while the Mayflower was at sea. It was written by Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford in his History of Plymouth Plantation. It concludes with this dramatic passage:

Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element. And no marvel if they were thus joyful, seeing wise Seneca was so affected with sailing a few miles on the coast of his own Italy; as he affirmed, that he had rather remain twenty years on his way by land, then pass by sea to any place in a short time; so tedious and dreadful was the same unto him.

When Edward Doty and Edward Leister arrived with the Hopkins family in Plymouth Harbor, there were no truly accurate maps of the area, but that was soon to change. The 1623 map below shows the location of the Plymouth Colony, along with other (new) local names. The nearby Native People populations are also indicated. (2)

This map from the book Three Visitors to Early Plymouth, captures the geography
of early New England, including most of the settlements that began in 1623.
(Image courtesy of the Internet Archive).

So, Who Was Stephen Hopkins?

He was a man of many accomplishments. Wikipedia sums it up best when they describe him: “Steven Hopkins (fl. 1579 – d. 1644) was an English adventurer to the Virginia Colony and Plymouth Colony. Most notably, he was a passenger on the Mayflower in 1620, one of 41 signatories of the Mayflower Compact, and an assistant to the governor of Plymouth Colony through 1636. He worked as a tanner and merchant and was recruited by the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London to provide the governance for the colony and to assist with the colony’s ventures.

He was also the only Mayflower  passenger with prior New World experience, having been shipwrecked [from the ship Sea Venture] in Bermuda in 1609 en route to Jamestown, Virginia. Hopkins left Jamestown in 1614 and returned to England. Hopkins traveled to New England in 1620 and died there in 1644.” (Wikipedia)

It is interesting to note that that he spent five years in Jamestown, Virginia after being shipwrecked. He was there for so long that his first wife Mary (who was living in England with their three children) died, leaving the children without a parent present. This could be one reason why he returned to England, where he married his second wife Elizabeth, who came with him on the Mayflower. For more information on the disastrous Jamestown Colony, please see our chapter, The Pilgrims — Colonial Pursuits.

The first page of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, printed in the First Folio of 1623.
(Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

During his tenure in Bermuda (long story short), he was accused of treason and nearly beheaded. It is thought by scholars that the character of ‘Stephano’ in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest is based upon Stephen Hopkins’s experiences in Bermuda. (The play was first performed in November 1611). (3)

Living With The Hopkins Family in the Plimoth Plantation

The entire Hopkins family and their two indentured servants survived the first terrible winter, which is rather remarkable since so many other of their fellow travelers had passed away. What was it like for the indentured servants Edward Doty and Edward Leister to be living in the Stephen Hopkins home? Likely very crowded.

The image at the left shows the reproduction home of the Stephen Hopkins family located at the Plimoth Patuxet Museum historical site. The “elaborated” 1879 map at right show the location of that home within the context of William Bradford’s original sketch for New Plymouth. (See footnotes).

“The Mayflower Quarterly of December 2011, in an article on Plymouth-area taverns, has a paragraph on Stephen Hopkins, who kept an ‘ordinary’ (tavern) in Plymouth on the north side of Leyden Street from the earliest days of the colony.

The article defines a 17th-century ‘ordinary’ as a term for a tavern where set mealtimes and prices were offered. Terms such as ‘inn, alehouse and tavern’ were used interchangeably with ‘ordinary’ in early Plymouth records. Hopkins kept this tavern from the early colony days until his death in 1644. In the early 1600s he had also had an alehouse in Hampshire with his wife Mary and his mother-in-law Joan, which they maintained after he left for America in 1609.

Hopkins apparently had problems with the Court over his tavern. Plymouth records indicate that Hopkins let ‘men drink in his house upon the Lords day’, ‘for suffering servants and others to sit drinking in his house’ (contrary to Court orders), also to play games ‘& such like misdemeanors, is therefore fined fourty shillings.’ In addition, the Court had several charges against him ‘for selling wine, beere, strong waters, and nutmeggs at excessiue rates, is fined.’” (Wikipedia) (4)

Now that we have arrived in the new Plymouth Colony, the next chapters will narrate how the Doty Family grew, how they developed and changed, and what Life brought them during the subsequent generations.

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials,
Notes, and Observations

A Man “of London”

(1) — six records

Tudor London
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudor_London
Note: For the 1561 “Civitates Orbis Terrarum” map image.

State Library of Massachusetts Digital Collections
Of Plimoth Plantation: manuscript, 1630-1650
https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/items/db0e9f79-477c-4a4c-979b-359c2be1d4ad
The actual page 530 is here:
https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/server/api/core/bitstreams/4d69e338-cc1b-4eda-b2ff-57bfbbb5c6ed/content
Note 1: For the original document on which Edward Doty is listed as a passenger on the Mayflower.
Note 2: The document is digitized and available as a .pdf download at the above link, file name: ocn137336369-Of-Plimoth-Plantation.pdf
Digital page: 530/546. First page, right column at center, with the Steven (Stephen) Hopkins family.

Voyaging Through History, the Mayflower and Britain
Mourt’s Relation (1622)
https://voyagingthroughhistory.exeter.ac.uk/2020/08/25/mourts-relation-1622/
Note: For the text.

Mourt’s Relation or Journal of The Plantation at Plymouth
by William Bradford, 1590-1657; Edward Winslow, 1595-1655; 
(and Henry Martyn Dexter, 1821-1890)
https://archive.org/details/cu31924028815079/mode/2up
Digital pages: 100-102/242, Book pages: 43-45/176
Note: This edition is circa 1865.

(AFHB)
A Family History Blog
Signer of the Mayflower Compact
by Jamie
https://genealogy.thundermoon.us/blog/2020/09/26/signer-of-the-mayflower-compact/
Note 1: For the text, and the double flourish signature of Edward Doty.
Note 2: Jamie, the author of A Family History Blog, is another cousin. He is a descendant of Edward Doty’s son Isaac and his wife Elizabeth (England), as we are also. Hi cousin!

Being thus arrived in a good harbor…

(2) — two records

Mayflower
by Rootsweb Author, kee46@msn.com
https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ahopkins/cushman/mayflowe.htm
Note: For the text.

Three Visitors to Early Plymouth
by Sydney V. James, Samuel Eliot Morison, Isaack de Rasieres; John Pory; Emmanuel Altham
https://archive.org/details/plymtuxet005/plymtuxet005_epub/
Digital page: 2/133
Note: For the map image.

So, Who Was Stephen Hopkins?

(3) — three records

Stephen Hopkins (pilgrim)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hopkins_(pilgrim)
Note: For the data.

The Bermudian.com (magazine)
The Wreck of the Sea Venture: The Untold Story
by Gavin Shorto
https://www.thebermudian.com/history/history-history/the-wreck-oftheseaventure-the-untold-story/
Notes: For the antique map image of the island of Bermuda, and the wreck of the Sea Venture ship painting.

The Tempest
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tempest
Note: For the folio image.

Living With The Hopkins Family in the Plimoth Plantation

(4) — three records

Stephen Hopkins’ House, Plimoth Plantation
https://www.worldhistory.org/image/13127/stephen-hopkins-house-plimoth-plantation/
Note: For the replica house photograph,
stephen-hopkins-house-plimoth-plantation-13127.jpg

The Pilgrim Republic : an historical review of the colony of New Plymouth, with sketches of the rise of other New England settlements, the history of Congregationalism, and the creeds of the period
by John Abbot Goodwin, 1824-1884
https://archive.org/details/pilgrimrepublic01goodgoog/page/106/mode/2up
Book page: 106, Digital page: 159/722
Note: For the plan image of early Plymouth.

Stephen Hopkins (pilgrim)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hopkins_(pilgrim)
Note: As cited in the article (footnote 17) —
Suitably Provided and Accommodated: Plymouth Area Taverns
by Stephen C. O’Neill
The Mayflower Quarterly (Plymouth, MA: The General Society of Mayflower Descendants), December 2011, vol. 77, no. 4, pp. 335, 336

The Doty Line, A Narrative — Nine

This is Chapter Nine of nine. This the last chapter of our narrative about the Doty Line, hence, we are writing about the marriage and family of Orman Shaw and his wife Elizabeth. In the last chapter (Eight), the Doty name gave way to the Shaw surname, and in this chapter, the Shaw surname gives way to the DeVoe surname.

This chapter covers the years from when Orman and his wife Elizabeth were born, from the years after the American Revolution, up the time of the American Civil War. We came across this distinctive bit of history, and feel that because it is unique, that perhaps we should share it. We reminds us of how life was so different for these generations, as compared to how we live today.

So, let’s take a look at the very last soldiers of the American Revolution.

Image capture from the BBC video America’s Last Revolutionaries: Rare Photos of US patriots. (See footnotes).

The Last Six Men of the American Revolution

These men had lived their lives through a period when the United States as we have come to know it, first came into being. The BBC (isn’t that a bit ironic?) has created a celebrated video where we learn about these men who fought in the American Revolutionary War, and lived lifetimes that were so long — the end of their lives generally coincided with the end of those of our ancestors. To see the video (about 8 minutes in length), click on the link below:
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0kh0k3v/america-s-last-revolutionaries-rare-photos-of-us-patriots (1)

A World That Seeks Balance

The young United States which Orman and Elizabeth Shaw were born into, was a world of variability. As such, they grew up in a young country that was trying to figure out how to govern itself, how to pay its debts from The War, how to establish a currency, how to unite the different states into a functioning Republic…

The PBS television program American Experience, aptly describes it this way in their program After The Revolution —
“The period following the Revolutionary War was one of instability and change. The end of monarchical rule, evolving governmental structures, religious fragmentation, challenges to the family system, economic flux, and massive population shifts all led to heightened uncertainty and insecurity. 

Although the states had united politically under the Articles of Confederation in 1777, they did not yet exist as a united nation. Each state retained individual sovereignty and operated under its own constitution. Congress struggled to hold the states together, and interests often clashed.” The Articles of Confederation ended in 1789, and were then replaced with The Constitution.

Saratoga County New York, by Burr, 1866.
(Image courtesy of Maps Of The Past)

In other chapters we have described how local borders always seemed to be in flux — as described by Wikipedia, “When counties were established in the Province of New York in 1683, the present Saratoga County was part of Albany County. This was an enormous county, including the northern part of New York, as well as all of the present state of Vermont and, in theory, extending westward to the Pacific Ocean. This large county was progressively reduced in size by the separation of several counties until 1791, when Saratoga County and Rensselaer County were split off from Albany County”.

This family stayed local, living their 24 years first in Rensselaer County, and then moving one county westward to the community of Halfmoon in Saratoga County, where they put down deeper roots. The 1855 New York State Census tells us they relocated circa 1835. The Shaws were self sufficient farmers, likely making many of the things they needed, as their forebears had done across generations.

Orman Shaw’s Lot 53 property, where he had his farm. Shown on a map of the Town of Half Moon,
from the New Topographical Atlas of Saratoga County, New York, circa 1866

Even though this family had been born into an era of much change after the Revolutionary War, and there was much instability, things did evolve. The central government had become strong enough that a war with Great Britain had become inevitable for many reasons, but the basis of this new War was autonomy, and economics for the young United States. (2)

The War of 1812,
and Colonel William Knickerbocker’s 45th Regiment

“The tensions that caused the War of 1812 arose from the French revolutionary (1792–99) and Napoleonic Wars (1799–1815). During this nearly constant conflict between France and Britain, American interests were injured by each of the two countries’ endeavours to block the United States from trading with the other. American shipping initially prospered from trade with the French and Spanish empires, although the British countered the U.S. claim that ‘free ships make free goods’ with the belated enforcement of the so-called Rule of 1756 (trade not permitted in peacetime would not be allowed in wartime)”. (Encyclopædia Britannica)

Orman Shaw served in the War of 1812 as a Private, in Captain Samuel Strom’s Company. That group was part of the larger brigade and regiment — the Schaghticoke brigade of Colonel William Knickerbocker’s 45th Regiment, of the New York Militia. They participated in the Plattsburgh Campaign.

At Left: Soldier Dress & Uniform in the War of 1812. (Image courtesy of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library). At Right: Macdonough’s Victory on Lake Champlain and Defeat of the British Army at Plattsburg by General Macomb, September 11, 1814, by Engraverː Benjamin Tanner, after painting by Hugh Reinagle. (Image courtesy of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum Collection via Wikipedia).

As described in an article titled, Bicentennial of the Battle of Plattsburgh, on the blog History of the Town of Schaghticoke —
“According to a 1936 article in the Albany “Evening News”, the call for the draft went out; the men assembled at Henry Vandercook’s Inn and put slips of paper with their names in a hat. Every fourth slip of paper drawn was opened, and the man whose name appeared [was] drafted for service. I do not know how accurate this account is, as much of the rest of the story was not, but in any case, the 2,200 men began to march north on September 13, first goal Granville. Three solid days of rain ensued, with the march halted at Speigletown.

The newspaper account stated [that] they reached Granville two weeks later. [However…] they reached Granville on September 18. Whatever the case, the battle had occurred on September 11. As soon as that word reached the Brigade at Granville, it was disbanded and the men [were] sent home”.

1857 Pension claim for his service in the War of 1812, for Orman Shaw.
Excerpted from the New York, War of 1812 Certificates and Applications of
Claim and Related Records, 1858-1869. (See footnotes).

So we do not know if Orman actually experienced any other battles, since it seems he was certainly soaked to the bone with the rain and fatigued from the long march to Plattsburgh.

An eventual benefit of that experience was that he was eventually paid (43 years later!). He did qualify for a pension for his war service. The 1857 record for this is shown above, indicating that even at this very late date, he was compensated for costs that initially came out of his own pocket. (Notice that, like many other people of his era, he signed his name with an X). The amount was $54.25, which in today’s time is equal to about $2014.00. His wife Elizabeth was the designated heir for any further pension benefits. (See footnotes). (3)

Just to be quite clear — this is not our 4x Great Grandfather Ormand Shaw’s family from long-ago New York State. Be that as it may, this is still a wonderful image — that of an unknown Ohio family, circa 1855, which we are using to ‘stand-in’ for Orman and Elizabeth’s family, [if only we had a daguerreotype of them!]. Image courtesy of Ohio Memory.

One interesting aspect of this time period, is that early forms of photography were starting to emerge as the world moved into the modern era. Some examples of this new photography are: heliography, calotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, daguerreotypes, and albumen prints.

The Seven Shaws of Saratoga County

All birth and deaths took place in New York State, unless noted otherwise. Some county names did change over time — Albany County was reformed to be Rensselaer County, in 1791. So, before 1791 > Albany County, and after 1791 > Rensselaer County. Furthermore, when a county name changes, such as in a record for a marriage or a death, we have noted this.

We believe that in about 1811, Orman Shaw, married Elizabeth (last name unknown) in Rensselaer, New York. He was born on March 3, 1790 in Pittstown, Albany County* – died August 13, 1842, Halfmoon, Saratoga County.
*Albany County became Rensselaer County in 1791.

His wife Elizabeth, was born May 1795 (location unknown) — died April 2, 1876 in Saratoga County. She is buried in the Crescent Cemetary, Crescent, Saratoga County.

They had five children, who are listed below. The first four children were born in Rensselaer County; youngest daughter Emeline was born in Saratoga County.

  • Elida (Shaw) DeVoe. She was born April 10, 1812 in Rensselaer County – died February 17, 1896, in Easton, Washington County. She married Peter M. DeVoe on January 22, 1829. Please refer to the chapter, The DeVoe Line, A Narrative — Eight, for the history of their family. (Note: Elida’s name is sometimes spelled Alida, and she is also occasionally written about with the nick name ‘Olive’ on documents).
    We are descended from Elida and her husband Peter M. DeVoe.
Marriage records excerpted from the U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989, New York > Bought > Bought, Book 6. (See footnotes).
  • Elizabeth (Shaw) DeVoe Smead. She was born February 12, 1814 in Rensselaer County – died March 29, 1901 in Stillwater, Saratoga County. She was married two times: first to Cornelius DeVoe on October 7, 1830, he died in 1844; second (after) 1844, to Elihu Smead, he died in 1895. It is interesting to note that Elizabeth and her older sister Elida both married men from the DeVoe family, at the Boght-Becker Dutch Reformed Church, Colonie, Albany County.
  • John W. Shaw. He was born in 1825 in Rensselaer County – died March 8, 1915 in Daytona Beach, Volusia County, Florida. He married Sarah E. (last name unknown). She was born in 1827.
  • Luzern Shaw. He was born in 1830, in Rensselaer County – died March 13, 1876, in Cohoes, Albany County. He married Julie Furman about 1855. She was born in April 1837, in either Dutchess or Green County – died December 6, 1838, in Halfmoon, Saratoga County.

    Luzern’s death is written about in the March 1876 edition of The Troy Daily Times under the section called: “Cohoes – Temperance Address — St. Patrick’s Day — Sudden Death: Luzern Shaw, an old resident of the first ward, died very suddenly last night. Heart disease is supposed to be the cause of his death.” They had three children, one of whom (Norman) died by suicide. (See footnotes).
  • Emeline (Shaw) Devine. She was born in 1838, in Saratoga County. She married Michael Devine, and died after 1868, likely in Malta, New York. (4)

Bringing The Farm to The Market

Sometimes we have the opportunity to understand more about the everyday lives of our ancestors when we come across documents which inform us about how they earned their livelihoods. Some pursed being merchants, one was a silversmith, several were painters, and many, many were farmers. For Orman Shaw, we have what are known as Agricultural Assessments from the Federal government in 1850 and 1860, as well as one from New York State in 1865. These reports help to paint a picture of what products he had brought to the market.

Sunday, a watercolor painting by Myles Birket Foster, of the English School.
This image demonstrates well the types of products which were produced on Orman Shaw’s farm in the 19th century: grain crops such as wheat farming, and raising livestock, in an area similar to the upper Hudson River Valley. (Image courtesy of Meisterdrucke).

From those documents, and selecting 1860 as an example report, we learned some interesting things. Instead of being a farmer who grew crops, (but not corn, which seems to be stuck in our mind’s eye…) — he grew Irish potatoes, buckwheat, and hay. He raised swine, which were market animals. There were dairy cows, so he had fresh milk with which he made and sold butter. He was selling the wool from his sheep, likely to the newly developing area woolen mills that were opening in nearby counties.

In 1850, he reported his farm as having 211 improved acres, and 8 unimproved acres. The value of the farm was about $1200. Ten years later in 1860, it was clear to us that he had sold much land because his acreage was reduced to 41 acres, but the cash value of his property had increased to over $12,000. It seems that since he was in his 60s by then, he must of felt that having money in the bank was a prudent choice. That makes sense since this is what had been going on in America of the 1850s—

“The Panic of 1857 was a significant economic crisis that began in August 1857, stemming from a combination of agricultural and financial instabilities. The aftermath of the Crimean War reduced European demand for American crops, particularly affecting land speculators in the U.S. Meanwhile, the financial infrastructure was already overextended, and the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company sparked widespread panic. Following this, a series of bank failures in New York led to a loss of public confidence in the banking system, exacerbated by the sinking of the Central America steamer, which carried crucial gold reserves”. (Ebsco)

Excerpts from pages 9 and 10 for Orman Shaw in the U.S., Selected Federal Census Non-Population Schedules for 1860.

The New York State assessment of 1865 actually sought out much more data than the previous Federal assessments in 1850 and 1860. (The amount of questions and the categories actually doubled). Since the survey was done in 1865, this period of time coincided with the end of the American Civil War. We evaluated the data in 1865, it looked remarkably like the data from 1860. The questions then became for us, How did the Civil War affect things for New York farmers by the last assessment of 1865, which occurred soon before Orman’s death? (Technically, the War ended 1865ish when there was a general cease of hostilities, see below).

“The conclusion of the American Civil War commenced with the articles of surrender agreement of the Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, at Appomattox Court House, by General Robert E. Lee and concluded with the surrender of the CSS Shenandoah on November 6, 1865, bringing the hostilities of the American Civil War to a close. Legally, the war did not end until a proclamation by President Andrew Johnson on August 20, 1866, when he declared “that the said insurrection is at an end and that peace, order, tranquillity, and civil authority now exist in and throughout the whole of the United States of America”. The Confederate government being in the final stages of collapse, the war ended by debellatio, with no definitive capitulation from the rapidly disintegrating Confederacy; rather, Lee’s surrender marked the effective end of Confederate military operations”. (Wikipedia)

Center image, Lee’s Surrender, Peace in Union by Thomas Nast.
The surrender of General Lee to General Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, April 9, 1865.
(Image courtesy of http://www.granger.com via Wikipedia). The United States Flag and The Confederate States Flag images are courtesy of Google Images.

Unlike the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, no major battles for the Civil War were fought on the soil of New York State. Be that as it may, there were still riots and some fires south of Saratoga County in Manhattan. Perhaps this explains the relative equanimity that we perceive between the 1860 to 1865 surveys. If anything, farmers like Orman Shaw of Saratoga County were more appreciated. “New York boasted the nation’s most valuable farm land both before and after the Civil War. New York City was the nation’s biggest commercial, manufacturing and financial center during Reconstruction. [i.e. after the War]” (PBS, American Experience)

Traveling On The Erie Canal, published in the 1825 edition of The Northern Traveler by Theodore Dwight. (Image courtesy of 40 x 4 x 28, see footnotes).

One thing to understand about this period, is that these years marked a transition between farming for one’s own subsistence, to one where many products could now be transported for sale to a larger market. Starting in the 1820s, New York State had built canals, such as the Erie Canal, and they were innovative for transporting goods to market. During the 1850s, new railroad lines were being built (practically everywhere it seems), and they were achieving even greater success with the timing and volume of goods moved. (NY State Canal Commission) (5)

Seen This Way, The Past Isn’t Finished…

As we surmised from reviewing the various agricultural assessments, Orman Shaw seems to have been a sensible and thoughtful man. To that end, he thought about his own end long before it happened, creating his Will many years before it was actually needed. It is a very straightforward document, leaving much of his estate to his wife Elizabeth, but also providing for his children. (See footnotes).

First page of the 1868 Probate Notice, for the December 1858 Will of Orman Shaw.
Excerpted from the New York, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999,
Saratoga > Wills, Vol 021. (His complete Probate and Will is in the footnotes).

The Dotys > the Shaws > and the DeVoes had been making their homes in the New Amsterdam / New York area for many, many years. As an example, while the Dotys began in the Plymouth Colony, our ancestor David Du Four (DeVoe) was also living in Manhattan as a Walloon emigrant from the Southern Netherlands. For the generation that was to follow this one, this statement was prophetic. “Saratoga County was also a gateway for the westward migration of many settlers, as the Mohawk River provided a natural passageway through the Appalachian Mountains. Both the historic Champlain Canal, located on the Hudson River, and the Erie Canal, located on the Mohawk River, operated in this county.” (Town of Saratoga)

We are descended from two of the original Plymouth Pilgrim families, from the 1620 voyage
of the Mayflower. Both of these lines meet with our 2x Great Grandparents, through
the marriage of Peter A. DeVoe (for Edward Doty), and Mary Ann Warner (for George Soule).
Background image, Isolation: The Mayflower Becalmed on a Moonlit Night, by Montague Dawson.

This then brings us full circle to Generation 8 in America — to Elida (Shaw) DeVoe’s son, Peter A. DeVoe, who is our 2x Great Grandfather. He is the direct descendant of Mayflower passenger, Pilgrim Edward Doty. When he married our 2x Great Grandmother Mary Ann Warner, she was the direct descendant of Doty’s fellow Mayflower passenger, Pilgrim George Soule. Their union connected the Doty and Soule lineages from the Mayflower.

You can read about Elida (Shaw) DeVoe’s life with her family and the subsequent generations, starting in The DeVoe Line, A Narrative — Eight.

We look backward, in order to look forward.
Sometimes we ponder if the genealogy work that we enjoy doing, is similar in a way to the type of work which archeologists do. In a passage found in a recent fascinating book about Pompeii, written by the director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, we felt that his words captured our similar point-of-view very well:

“We must realize that we’re the product of the past, the decisions people have taken, sometimes centuries ago, but also that the decisions we make about telling history
in a particular way constructs the present and the future. Seen this way, the past isn’t finished. We, who keep telling and discovering the past, are in the middle of it.”
— excerpted from
The Buried City, Unearthing the Real Pompeii
by Gabriel Zuchtriegel, and Jamie Bulloch (translator] (6)

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials,
Notes, and Observations

The Last Six Men of the American Revolution

(1) — two records

BBC
America’s Last Revolutionaries: Rare Photos of US Patriots
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0kh0k3v/america-s-last-revolutionaries-rare-photos-of-us-patriots
Note: For the video link.

The original book upon which the video is based:
The Last Men of the Revolution : A Photograph of Each From Life,
Together With Views of Their Homes Printed in Colors: Accompanied by
Brief Biographical Sketches of The Men
by E. B. Hillard, circa 1864
https://archive.org/details/gri_33125012930976/page/n7/mode/2up
Note: For the data.

A World That Seeks Balance

(2) — four records

PBS
American Experience
After the Revolution
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/midwife-after-revolution/#:~:text=The%20period%20following%20the%20Revolutionary,to%20heightened%20uncertainty%20and%20insecurity.
Note: For the text.

Saratoga County, New York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saratoga_County,_New_York
Note: For the text.

Maps Of The Past
Historic County Map — Saratoga County New York
by Burr, 1866
https://mapsofthepast.com/products/historic-county-map-saratoga-county-new-york-burr-1866-23-x-26-38-vintage-wall-art?srsltid=AfmBOoriJTM18WF7QhJ6QUHVM9PG1DdHHVq2Ji6H_5h-tjaPtL8_cO9X
Note: For the map image.

New Topographical Atlas of Saratoga County, New York,
from Actual Surveys by S. N. & D. G.
by Beers and Assistants, Stone & Stewart Publishers, Philadelphia, 1866
Town of Half Moon
http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/saratoga/HalfMoon.html
Note: For the map image.

The War of 1812,
and Colonel William Knickerbocker’s 45th Regiment

(3) — eight records

Encyclopædia Britannica
War of 1812, United Kingdom-United States history
https://www.britannica.com/event/War-of-1812
Note: For the text.

Orman Shaw
in the New York, U.S., War of 1812
Payroll Abstracts for New York State Militia, 1812-1815
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5370/records/40678?tid=&pid=&queryId=c54e6ca0-5bf6-48b1-b11e-3f621985e820&_phsrc=XgW11&_phstart=successSource
Digital page: 746/1026
Note: For the form and data.

Pritzker Military Museum & Library
Soldier Dress & Uniform in the War of 1812
https://www.pritzkermilitary.org/soldier-dress-uniform-war-1812
Note: For soldier and sailor uniforms for the War of 1812.

Battle of Plattsburgh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Plattsburgh
Note: For the naval battle image.

History of the Town of Schaghticoke
Bicentennial of the Battle of Plattsburgh
https://schaghticokehistory.wordpress.com/tag/war-of-1812/
Note: For the text.

Orman Shaw
in the New York, War of 1812
Certificates and Applications of Claim and Related Records, 1858-1869
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61602/records/1892
Note: For the form and data.

Orman Shaw
in the U.S., War of 1812
Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1133/records/12473?tid=&pid=&queryId=67ee574a-c0de-4bba-a7f3-604dc04b1412&_phsrc=XgW8&_phstart=successSource
Note: For the form and data.

CPI Inflation Calculator
https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1857?amount=54.25
Note: For the data.

The Seven Shaws of Saratoga County

(4) — eighteen records

Ohio Memory
The Father of Commercial Photography
by Lily Birkhimer
https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/901
Note: For the image of the hand-tinted daguerreotype showing an unknown Ohio family in 1855.

Ormon Shaw
in the U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60525/records/64818874?tid=&pid=&queryId=f3dee6ae-c8db-4089-a5d2-9496668ef966&_phsrc=XgW1&_phstart=successSource
and
Ormon Shaw
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92469264/ormon-shaw
Note: For the data.

Elizabeth Shaw
in the U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60525/records/64818889?tid=13457304&pid=122242335478&ssrc=pt
and
Elizabeth Shaw
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92469282/elizabeth-shaw
Note: For the data.

Peter Devoe
in the U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989
New York > Bought > Bought, Book 6
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/216615:6961
Book page: 13, Digital page: 59/105, Entry 1.
Note: For the marriage dates of Elida Shaw and her sister, Elizabeth Shaw.

The New York Times
Suicide of a Boy — A Threat Carried Out
https://www.nytimes.com/1870/08/20/archives/suicide-of-a-boya-threat-carried-out.html
Note 1: 1870 Death notice for Norman Shaw, the son of Luzern Shaw and Julie (Furman) Shaw.
Note 2: The online link is for New York Times subscribers.

Research Note — We have included all Census information we were able to locate for this family, from 1810 through 1865.

O Shaw
in the 1810 United States Federal Census
New York > Rensselaer > Schaghticoke
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7613/records/319074?tid=&pid=&queryId=1c086b73-fe18-43fd-973f-86393d43093a&_phsrc=XgW14&_phstart=successSource
Book page: 64, or 435 (handwritten), Digital page: 1/10, Upper portion, entry #19
Note: For the data.

1810 Census Records
https://www.archives.gov/research/census/1810
Note: For the data.

Ormand Shaw
in the 1820 United States Federal Census
New York > Rensselaer > Schaghticoke
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7734/records/504125?tid=&pid=&queryId=5410cdcd-49a1-4779-b96f-4c5ad74bb3a9&_phsrc=XgW10&_phstart=successSource
Digital page: 7/9, Upper portion, entry #7 (below his father Daniel Shaw)
Note: For the data.

1820 Census Records
https://www.archives.gov/research/census/1820
Note: For the data.

Orean Shaw
in the 1840 United States Federal Census
New York > Saratoga > Half Moon
Book page: 4 or 5, Digital page: 13/34, Upper portion, entry #5
Note: For the data.

1840 Census Records
https://www.archives.gov/research/census/1840
Note: For the data.

Orman Shaw
in the 1850 United States Federal Census
New York > Saratoga > Halfmoon
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8054/records/8325089?tid=&pid=&queryId=b5d111be-0778-4a9b-9b32-0d9a0f10ea2f&_phsrc=GES1&_phstart=successSource
Digital pages 28-29/67, Lines 41, 42, (on page 28), Lines 1, 2 (on page 29)
Note: For the data.

1850 Census Records
https://www.archives.gov/research/census/1850
Note: For the data.

Norman Shaw
in the New York, U.S., State Census, 1855
Saratoga > Halfmoon > E.d. 1
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7181/records/1653051873
Digital page: 19/22
Note 1: This census lists a granddaughter named Elizabeth Shear living in the home, who we believe could be a daughter of Elizabeth (Shaw) Smead. (We are still researching this relationship. Observe the difference in the surname spelling). Additionally, in Orman Shaw’s 1858 Will there is a minor boy listed named Norman Shear, who is likely her brother.
Note 2: This census also indicates that they have been living in Halfmoon for 20 years. That means that they relocated there circa 1835. Thus, Emeline is their only child born there.

New York Genealogical & Biographical Society
1855 New York State Census
https://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/subject-guide/new-york-state-census-records-online
Note: “The 1855 New York state census is notable because it was the first to record the names of every individual in the household. It also asked about the relationship of each family member to the head of the household—something that was not asked in the federal census until 1880.”

Orman Shaw
in the New York, U.S., State Census, 1865
Saratoga > Halfmoon
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7218/records/1039871?tid=&pid=&queryId=6799a95f-ba3d-474c-b989-2cb60c663a84&_phsrc=XgW18&_phstart=successSource
Book page: 37, Digital page: 19/62, Right page, line 14
Note: For the data.

New York Genealogical & Biographical Society
1865 New York State Census
https://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/subject-guide/new-york-state-census-records-online
Note: For the data.

Bringing The Farm to The Market

(5) — twelve records

Meisterdrucke
Sunday
Watercolor painting by Myles Birket Foster, circa 1861
https://www.meisterdrucke.uk/fine-art-prints/Myles-Birket-Foster/66821/Sunday.html
Note: For the pastoral artwork.

Orman Shaw
in the U.S., Selected Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850-1880
— for 1850
New York > Agriculture > 1850 > Saratoga > Halfmoon
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1276/records/4678711?tid=&pid=&queryId=7ec47de9-f45e-4860-bfae-001c1dda8dad&_phsrc=gDu9&_phstart=successSource
Digital page: 2/6, Line 39
and
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1276/records/4678711?tid=&pid=&queryId=7ec47de9-f45e-4860-bfae-001c1dda8dad&_phsrc=gDu9&_phstart=successSource
Digital page: 3/6, Line 39
Note: For the data.

Orman Shaw
in the U.S., Selected Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850-1880
— for 1860
New York > Agriculture > 1850 > Saratoga > Halfmoon
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1276/records/4516098?tid=&pid=&queryId=fe821526-8e41-485d-96a7-9c17a3008267&_phsrc=gDu11&_phstart=successSource
Book page: 9, Digital page: 6/7, Line 16
and
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1276/records/4516098?tid=&pid=&queryId=fe821526-8e41-485d-96a7-9c17a3008267&_phsrc=gDu11&_phstart=successSource
Book page 10, Digital page 7/7, Line 16
Note: For the data.

Ebsco
Panic of 1857
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/panic-1857
Note: For the text.

Arman Shaw
in the New York, U.S., State Census, 1865
(The file is mislabled. This is actually an Agricultural Assessment.)
– for 1865
Saratoga > Halfmoon
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7218/records/2880127?tid=&pid=&queryId=45bdb53a-b9b7-4bfa-8ee3-f3d512ba51f2&_phsrc=gDu19&_phstart=successSource
Book page: 56-59, Digital page: 29-31/62, Line 7
Note: This is a multipage form with many more data points.

Conclusion of the American Civil War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conclusion_of_the_American_Civil_War
Note: For the text.

Lee’s Surrender, Peace in Union by Thomas Nast
[www.granger.com via Wikipedia]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:General_Robert_E._Lee_surrenders_at_Appomattox_Court_House_1865.jpg
Note: For the painting.

PBS
American Experience
Reconstruction: The Second Civil War
State by State — New York, Union State
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/reconstruction-states/
Note: For the text.

40 x 4 x 28
(Historical Landscapes of The Erie Canal)
Navigating The Noses
Traveling On The Erie Canal, circa 1825
by Henry Inman (painter) and Peter Maverick (engraver)
https://40x4x28.com/category/the-noses/
Note: For the image.

NY State Canal Commission
The Dream of The Erie Canal
https://www.canals.ny.gov/About/History
Note: For the data and the image.

Seen This Way, The Past Isn’t Finished…

(6) — four records

First page of the December 1868 Probate Notice
for the December 1858 Will of Orman Shaw, page 495.
Second page of the December 1868 Probate Notice
for the December 1858 Will of Orman Shaw, page 496.
Third page of the December 1858 Will of Orman Shaw, page 497.

Orman Shaw
in the New York, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8800/records/9143519?tid=&pid=&queryId=dfe2db3c-1d4c-4bdb-b0b1-0c88cfc683fc&_phsrc=XgW6&_phstart=successSource
Book pages: 495-497, Digital pages: 271-272/401
Note: For the document [3 pages total] and data.

Town of Saratoga
County of Saratoga History
https://www.saratogacountyny.gov/departments/county-clerk/historian/county-history/
Note: For the text.

Isolation: The Mayflower becalmed on a moonlit night
by Montague Dawson, (British, 1890-1973)
https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Isolation–The-Mayflower-becalmed-on-a-m/FD8D6C1A6976C620
Note: For the image of the Mayflower painting.

The University of Chicago Press
The Buried City, Unearthing the Real Pompeii
by Gabriel Zuchtriegel, and translated by Jamie Bulloch
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo246710287.html
Note: For the pull quote excerpted from the text.

The Pilgrims — A Thanksgiving

This is Chapter Seven of seven. It is the last of our opening chapters on The Pilgrims. So far we have covered topics such as — how they thought differently than we do today, British colonization, their experiences in Holland, the Mayflower, Plimoth Plantation, and the Native Peoples they encountered. Finally, we get to the part that most of us know, the Thanksgiving celebration. Like a great meal, pass the plate please, because there’s always more to share.

The Thanksgiving holiday is a national ritual that has moved like a resonant wave through American culture for more than 150 years. Iconic images such as those by painter Norman Rockwell have impressed generations, including our own family.

Freedom From Want, by Norman Rockwell, from the Saturday Evening Post magazine,
March 6, 1943. (Image courtesy of the Saturday Evening Port archives).

Freedom From Want

“One of Norman Rockwell’s most well known and adored paintings, ‘Freedom from Want’ was never actually on the cover of the magazine. It appeared as an inside illustration, along with the three other images that represented President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, and Freedom from Fear. Hundreds of variations of this image have been created, including ones for our magazine featuring The Muppets and The Waltons.” (The Saturday Evening Post)

These examples pay tribute to the themes represented in Norman Rockwell’s painting, Freedom From Want. (There are many, many versions of this iconic artwork). From left to right, the Peanuts Gang, the Legos, and the Muppets all gather to celebrate. (See footnotes).

The Pilgrims arrived at Cape Cod Bay over 400 years ago. That has been a lot of time for some mythology about the first Thanksgiving to have developed — an event at which two of our ancestors were present. Some myths and rituals are good, because they bring all of us together. We think it will be interesting to look at and write a bit about, both this mythology and the actual history.

Myths are the body of legends and stories that belong to our different societies.  Occasions such as wedding ceremonies, funerals, baptisms, Bar Mitzvah, church services, college graduations, Super Bowl, and Heineken Cup (Rugby) are all examples of the various types of rituals that take place during our normal lives.

It is these myths and rituals that give our societies some meaning and contribute to stability. Indeed, one could say that stability requires its myths and rituals. 

Writer Brian Leggett,
writing on Joseph Campbell’s book, The Power of Myth

“For American culture, the story of the Pilgrims, including their “first Thanksgiving” feast with the local Native Americans, has become the ruling creation narrative, celebrated each November along with turkey, pumpkin pie, and football games. The Pilgrims and Plymouth Rock have eclipsed the earlier 1607 English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, as the place where America was born.” (National Endowment For The Humanities – NEFTH) (1)

What Happened In That First Winter

Before we can get to the first Thanksgiving celebration we need to pass through the devastating winter which the Saints and Strangers experienced. When they disembarked, it was already a troublesome experience. “With passengers and crew weakened by the voyage and weeks exploring Cape Cod, the Mayflower anchored in Plymouth harbor in late December 1620. The weather worsened, and exposure and infections [began to] take their toll. (PBS)

Immediate decisions were made as to where to begin with the development of structures for shelter. This required felling trees and making their own lumber. — “First to be built was a Common House which would have several huts around it.  Then there would be living quarters built for the settlers.  There would be a total of 19 lots. Because of the hardships that the settlers had to endure in the coming months, the Common House had to be used as living quarters and a hospital. Just as the construction of the Common House began, a storm came along which featured snow that changed to rain. During the next three weeks, there were a number of storms that moved through while producing rain, snow, and sleet. Many settlers lived on the Mayflower and left the ship [only] to work until March when more dwellings were constructed in earnest.” (NY NJ PA Weather – NYNJPA)

The First Winter of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts, 1620. Colored engraving, circa 19th century. (Image courtesy of The Granger Collection).

“Many of the colonists [had fallen] ill. They were probably suffering from scurvy and pneumonia caused by a lack of shelter in the cold, wet weather. Although the Pilgrims were not starving, their sea-diet was very high in salt, which weakened their bodies on the long journey and during that first winter. As many as two or three people died each day during their first two months on land. Only 52 people survived the first year in Plymouth. When the Mayflower left Plymouth on April 5, 1621, she was sailed back to England by only half of her crew.” (Plimoth Pautexet)

By the spring of 1621, about half of the Mayflower’s passengers and crew had died. We obtained these charts from the Pilgrim Hall Museum, and they are perfect for explaining quite clearly what a difference one year made in their lives.

William Bradford kept a registry recording those who had passed. The Plymouth Colony Archive Project shares his entry below. On March 24, 1621 (only three months after they arrived), he wrote —

Elizabeth Winslow: March “Dies Elizabeth, the wife of Master Edward. This month, Thirteen of our number die.”

“And in three months past, die Half our Company. The greatest part in the depth of winter, wanting houses and other comforts; being infected with the scurvy and other diseases which their long voyage and unaccommodate condition bring upon them. So as there die sometimes two or three a day. Of one hundred persons, scarce 50 remain. The living scarce able to bury the dead; the well not sufficient to tend the sick: there being in their time of greatest distress but six or seven who spare no pains to help them. Two of the seven were Master Brewster, their reverend Elder, and Master Standish the Captain.

The like disease fell also among the sailors; so as almost Half their company also die, before they sail.”

(See footnotes — Deetz and Mayflower Society)

“Of the eighteen women who began the journey, only five (Susanna White, Eleanor Billington, Elizabeth Hopkins, Katherine Carver, and Mary Brewster) were alive by the spring of 1621. Of these 5 women, Katherine Carver, wife of Plimoth’s first governor John Carver, would not live to see the year’s end. William Bradford writes that John Carver died in April 1621, and Katherine “his wife, being a weak woman, died within five or six weeks after him.”

“About a year after the arrival of the Mayflower, [around the time of the first Thanksgiving] the ship Fortune reached Plimoth bringing more settlers in November 1621.  Amongst its passengers there were only two women, meaning this small contingent of  adult women were often spread quite thin between the colony’s domestic duties.” (Mayflower Society) (2)

To Celebrate With A Harvest Feast

The Thanksgiving holiday has not existed for 400+ years as many people likely assume. In fact, for a long period of time it was a forgotten event. One of the first places it was mentioned is a small book we referred to in the chapter, The Pilgrims — A Mayflower Voyage.

In fact, “as autumn came, the Pilgrims gathered to in a ‘special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors,’ wrote one of their number, Edward Winslow.” This same event was held again in 1623, but after that, there are no further records of it. (NEFTH)

Images left to right: Front cover for Mourt’s Relation, circa 1622. Photograph of the original 17th century volume (book) Of Plimoth Plantation. 1945 front cover for George F. Willison book, Saints and Strangers. (See footnotes).

Writer Joshua J. Mark in the World History Encyclopedia, helps us to understand the context of this period in the early 1620s: “The story of the First Thanksgiving comes from only two sources initially: Bradford and Winslow’s ‘Mourt’s Relation’, which gives a detailed account. The book seems to have been an initial success before going out of print and was only brought back to public notice in 1841.

By the fall of 1621, with Squanto’s [and Samoset’s] help, the colonists were able to bring in a good crop and had been shown the best hunting grounds and fishing streams. The colonists decided to celebrate with a harvest feast which has since been defined as the First Thanksgiving.

“Visit of Samoset to the Colony.” Illustration from the 1876 textbook,
A Popular History of the United States, by William Cullen Bryant, circa 1876.

The narrative of the event is usually given along the lines provided by the scholar George F. Willison in his 1945 ‘Saints and Strangers: Being the Lives of the Pilgrim Fathers & Their Families, with Their Friends and Foes’, which is loosely based on Bradford’s and Winslow’s earlier account:

As the day of the harvest festival approached, four men were sent out to shoot waterfowl, returning with enough to supply the company for a week. Massasoit was invited to attend and shortly arrived – with ninety ravenous braves! The strain on the larder was somewhat eased when some of these went out and bagged five deer. Captain Standish staged a military review, there were games of skill and chance, and for three days the Pilgrims and their guests gorged themselves on venison, roast duck, roast goose, clams and other shellfish, succulent eels, white bread, corn bread, leeks and watercress and other “sallet herbes”, with wild plums and dried berries as dessert – all washed down with wine, made of the wild grape, both white and red, which the Pilgrims praised as “very sweete and strong”. At this first Thanksgiving feast in New England, the company may have enjoyed, though there is no mention of it in the record, some of the long-legged “Turkies” whose speed of foot in the woods constantly amazed the Pilgrims.

Gift of Meat from Native Americans to Plymouth Colonists.
Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration.
(Illustration courtesy of North Wind Picture Archives).

Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, which references the event in more general terms. (It was brought back into print in 1856). Bradford writes:

They began now [fall of 1621) to gather in the small harvest they had, and to prepare their houses for the winter, being well recovered and in health and strength and plentifully provisioned; for while some had been thus employed in affairs away from home, others were occupied in fishing for cod, bass, and other fish, of which they caught a good quantity, every family having their portion. All summer there was no want. And now, as winter approached, wild fowl began to arrive [and] they got abundance of wild turkeys besides venison. (Book II. ch. 2)

Harvest time had now come, and then instead of famine, God gave them plenty, and the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many for which they blessed God. And the effect of their particular planting was well seen, for all had, one way or another, pretty well to bring the year about, and some of the abler sort and more industrious had to spare, and sell to others, in fact, no general want or famine has been amongst them since, to this day. (Book II. ch. 4) (3)

The First Thanksgiving In 1621, by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris. Another Ferris painting that, although somewhat romantic and popular, is wrong in most details.

What Was Really On The Menu?

Writer Joshua J. Mark continues: “Bradford mentions turkeys, which most likely were served as part of the feast, but no menu such as provided by Willison appears in the primary documents and, although cranberries probably grew in the nearby wetlands, nothing suggests they were harvested. Further, since the settlement had no ovens, butter, or wheat for crusts, there were no pies, pumpkin or otherwise. The most glaring misrepresentation of the First Thanksgiving story, however, which routinely adheres to the above passage from Willison, is that the Native Americans of the Wampanoag were invited to the feast; neither of the primary documents suggests this in any way.”

In addressing this quandary, Epicurious interviewed Kathleen Curtin the food historian at Plimoth Plantation (Plimoth Patuxet), who shares that “Most of today’s classic Thanksgiving dishes weren’t served in 1621,” says Curtin. “These traditional holiday dishes became part of the menu after 1700. When you’re trying to figure out just what was served, you need to do some educated guesswork. Ironically, it’s far easier to discern what wasn’t on the menu during those three days of feasting than what was!”

First Thanksgiving, by Artist unknown. (Image courtesy of Fine Art Storehouse).

She elaborates further, “Potatoes—white or sweet—would not have been featured on the 1621 table, and neither would sweet corn. Bread-based stuffing was also not made, though the Pilgrims may have used herbs or nuts to stuff birds. Instead, the table was loaded with native fruits like plums, melons, grapes, and cranberries, plus local vegetables such as leeks, wild onions, beans, Jerusalem artichokes, and squash. (English crops such as turnips, cabbage, parsnips, onions, carrots, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme might have also been on hand.) And for the starring dishes, there were undoubtedly native birds and game… Fish and shellfish were also likely [served].

“While modern Thanksgiving meals involve a lot of planning and work, at least we have efficient ovens and kitchen utensils to make our lives easier. Curtin says the Pilgrims probably roasted and boiled their food. ‘Pieces of venison and whole wildfowl were placed on spits and roasted before glowing coals, while other cooking took place in the household hearth,’ she notes, and speculates that large brass pots for cooking corn, meat pottages (stews), or simple boiled vegetables were in constant use.” (4)

“To make victuals both more plentiful and comfortable”

“The Pilgrims had to sell their butter in 1620 to pay expensive port fees caused by delays with the Speedwell. Little did they know that they would not taste cows’ milk, butter, or cheese for another four years. On September 8, 1623, Gov. William Bradford and Dep. Governor Isaac Allerton wrote to the Merchant Adventures in London imploring them to send goats and cattle in order ‘to make victuals both more plentiful and comfortable’ and stating that “the Colony will never be in good estate till they have some.

The London investors agreed, and finally sent over one bull and three heifers in 1623 on the Anne and five more cows on the Jacob in 1624. From that time forward, the food shortages came to an end. Why would the addition of cattle make such a difference?

Young Herdsmen with Cows, by Aelbert Cuyp, circa 1655-60.
(Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art).

“As the Pilgrims knew, the addition of milk, cheese and butter was so important to the diet of English colonists that it was called ‘white meat.’ The concentrated calories, proteins, calcium and fats were life sustaining, and particularly important for growing children. Most of the Pilgrims came from yeoman farming backgrounds and knew how to effectively use dairy cows. Dairying was ‘women’s work’ and it was hard and labor-intensive. The Colony women would have worked from dawn to dusk taking care of their cattle.

By 1627, the colonists had sufficient cattle to actually divide them by family group among the 156 colonists. The 1627 Division of Cattle into 13 family groups acts as an invaluable census for all those living in Plymouth during that year. The growth in cattle also caused a demand for farms, which led to the settlement of Kingston, Duxbury, Marshfield, and other towns throughout the colony.” (Mayflower Society Newsletter) (5)

Adopted — A Day of For Thanksgiving

Due to the advocacy of one woman, and a President who listened to her, we eventually gained a national holiday in November.

“Sarah Josepha Hale (1788-1879), the writer and editor of the popular periodical Godey’s Lady’s Book, campaigned for the national observance of Thanksgiving Day beginning in 1846. She wrote to each sitting president advocating the adoption of the holiday, but it was only acted upon in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln (served 1861-1865) during the American Civil War as a means of encouraging national unity.

Sidebar: Sarah Joseph Hale was quite intriguing as she was an early advocate for equal educational opportunities for women. She was the author of the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and retired in 1877 at the age of 89. That same year, Thomas Edison spoke the opening lines of Mary’s Lamb as the first speech ever recorded on his newly invented phonograph. Here is a 17 second audio clip (just below his photo), where Edison recalls the original event. Unfortunately, the original recording was too fragile and has not survived.

Inventor Thomas Alva Edison with his early phonograph, circa 1877. (Public domain)
Left image: A typical cover of Godey’s Lady’s Book, circa 1867. Note Hale’s name as editor on the front cover. Right image: Sarah Josepha Hale, 1831 by James Lambdin.

Americans already celebrated the holiday at different times in different places, but Hale wanted a specific national day of giving thanks to God for the blessings received during the past year. The Civil War context made such a day even more necessary, as both sides occasionally proclaimed days of thanksgiving to recognize and potentially foster divine support for their respective causes.” (World History Encyclopedia, WHE)

“Lincoln proved receptive to Hale’s ideas and officially declared the last Thursday in November ‘as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.’ He added (in an October 3, 1863, proclamation written by Secretary of State William H. Seward) that Americans should ‘with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.’” (Lincoln Presidential Library)

A public notice about one of several Thanksgiving proclamations Lincoln issued
during the Civil War, circa 1863. (Image courtesy of the Lincoln Presidential Library).

“The modern celebration of the holiday was formalized across the United States only as recently as 1963 under President John F. Kennedy (served 1961-1963), although it had been observed regionally for 100 years prior.” (WHE)

Finally, author Kathleen Donegan writes in Seasons of Misery: Catastrophe and Colonial Settlement in Early America, about the Pilgrims and the Native Peoples at the first celebration in 1621 —

“We love the story of Thanksgiving because it’s about alliance and abundance,” Donegan says… ‘But part of the reason that they were grateful was that they had been in such misery; that they had lost so many people — on both sides. So, in some way, that day of thanksgiving is also coming out of mourning; it’s also coming out of grief. It’s a very interesting narrative for a superpower nation. There is something sacred about humble beginnings. A country that has grown so rapidly, so violently, so prodigiously, needs a story of small, humble beginnings.’” (6)

Finally, Thanksgiving Dinner is Just Not Complete Without Pumpkin Pie!

Every year without fail we gathered together for our annual Thanksgiving dinner. Sometimes we would have twenty people gathered around the table at our home. It would always start out very well mannered and civilized, and then evolve into loosened belts, catching up on goings-on, mountains of dishes, and people yelling at the inevitable football games playing on the afternoon television.

Top photo: Around 1990, it looks like everyone decided to go to a restaurant and let someone else do the cooking. (Mom probably appreciated that). From left to right, John Bond, Daniel Bond, Jo Ann (Bond) White, and Marguerite Bond (who is casting glances at George Soule and Edward Doty). Middle right image, Susan Bond helping with a post dinner clean up. Bottom image, an example of our traditional family pumpkin pie, [with an overly crispy crust: ‘A’ for effort; ‘C+’ for execution].

Our mother was a good cook. Later in her life, we convinced her to write out some of her recipes and now we’re glad we did, except for the fact that she had very difficult handwriting to read. (Her excuse was always that when she was younger, she learned shorthand at secretarial school and it had ruined her handwriting. We would not disagree). In any case, for those of you who are interested — her actual recipe as she wrote it out, is transcribed in the footnotes. (7) By the way, the picture of the pie is not Mom’s, it’s from an experiment in pie making by two of her children!

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, 
Notes, and Observations

Freedom From Want

(1) — four records

The Saturday Evening Post
Thanksgiving
https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/collections/thanksgiving/
Note: For the text, and Norman Rockwell’s painting, Freedom From Want, 1943.

If It’s Hip, It’s Here
The 37 Best Parodies of Rockwell’s Freedom From Want (aka Thanksgiving Dinner)
https://www.ifitshipitshere.com/37-best-parodies-rockwells-freedom-want-aka-thanksgiving-dinner/
Notes: Freedom From Want — Peanuts version by Charles Schultz, Lego Version by Greg 50 on Flickr, Muppets version by Jim Henson

IESE Business School, University of Navarra
The Power of Myth, by Joseph Campbell
Review of this book by Brian Liggett
https://blog.iese.edu/leggett/2012/02/27/the-power-of-myth-by-joseph-campbell/
Note: For the text.

(NEFTA)
The National Endowment For The Humanities
Who Were the Pilgrims Who Celebrated the First Thanksgiving?
by Craig Lambert
https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/novemberdecember/feature/who-were-the-pilgrims-who-celebrated-the-first-thanksgiving
Note: For the text.

What Happened In That First Winter

(2) — seven records

The First Winter of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts, 1620. Colored engraving, circa 19th century. (Image courtesy of The Granger Collection).
Note: As found here, Exploration and the Early Settlers from Of Plymouth Plantation, on page 106:
https://www.muhlsdk12.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=4199&dataid=8729&FileName=Of%20Plymouth%20Plantation.pdf
Note: For the winter artwork.

PBS Learning Media
The First Winter | The Pilgrims
https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/americanexperience27p-soc-firstwinter/the-first-winter-the-pilgrims/
Note: For the text.

(NYNJPA)
The Pilgrims Barely Survived Their First Winter At Plymouth
https://nynjpaweather.com/public/2023/11/17/the-pilgrims-barely-survived-their-first-winter-at-plymouth/
Note: For the text.

Plimoth Pautexet Museums
Who Were The Pilgrims?
Arrival at Plymouth
https://plimoth.org/for-students/homework-help/who-were-the-pilgrims
Note: For the text.

Pilgrim Hall Museum
Charts About The Mayflower Passengers
https://www.pilgrimhall.org/ce_our_collection.htm
Note: We adapted these graphics for this chapter.

The Plymouth Colony Archive Project
Mayflower Passenger Deaths, 1620-1621
Patricia Scott Deetz and James Deetz
http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/maydeaths.html
Note: For the text.

The Mayflower Society
Women of The Mayflower
https://themayflowersociety.org/history/women-of-the-mayflower/
Note: For the text.

To Celebrate With A Harvest Feast

(3) — seven records

(NEFTH)
The National Endowment For The Humanities
Who Were the Pilgrims Who Celebrated the First Thanksgiving?https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/novemberdecember/feature/who-were-the-pilgrims-who-celebrated-the-first-thanksgiving
Note: For the text.

(VTHMB)
Voyaging Through History, the Mayflower and Britain
Mourt’s Relation (1622)
https://voyagingthroughhistory.exeter.ac.uk/2020/08/25/mourts-relation-1622/
Note: For the cover image.

State Library of Massachusetts
Bradford’s “Of Plimoth Plantation”
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/bradfords-manuscript-of-plimoth-plantation
Note: For the photograph of the original 17th century volume (book) Of Plimoth Plantation.

Saints and Strangers: Being the Lives of the Pilgrim Fathers & Their Families
by George F. Willison
https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.13804/page/509/mode/2up
Note: For the cover image.

(WHE)
World History Encyclopedia
Thanksgiving Day: A Brief History
by Joshua J. Mark
https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1646/thanksgiving-day-a-brief-history/
Note: For the text.

“Visit of Samoset to the Colony”
Illustration from the 1876 textbook, A Popular History of the United States 
by William Cullen Bryant, circa 1876
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_popular_history_of_the_United_States_-_from_the_first_discovery_of_the_western_hemisphere_by_the_Northmen,_to_the_end_of_the_first_century_of_the_union_of_the_states;_preceded_by_a_sketch_of_the_(14597125217).jpg
Book page: 400, Digital page: 472/682
Note: For the Samoset illustration.

North Wind Picture Archives
Gift of Meat from Native Americans to Plymouth Colonists
https://www.northwindprints.com/american-history/gift-meat-native-americans-plymouth-colonists-5877641.html
Note: Fir the hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration.

What Was Really On The Menu?

(4) — three records

Fine Art America
The First Thanksgiving In 1621
by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-first-thanksgiving-in-1621-by-ferris-artist-jean-leon-gerome-ferris.html
Note: For the painting.

The Real Story of The First Thanksgiving
by Joanne Camas
https://www.epicurious.com/holidays-events/the-real-story-of-the-first-thanksgiving-menu-recipes-article
Note: For the text and historical insights.

Fine Art Storehouse
First Thanksgiving
https://www.fineartstorehouse.com/photographers/frederic-lewis/first-thanksgiving-11428168.html
Note: A depiction of early settlers of the Plymouth Colony sharing a harvest Thanksgiving meal with members of the local Wampanoag tribe at the Plymouth Plantation, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 1621.

“To make victuals both more plentiful and comfortable”

(5) — two records

Mayflower Society Newsletter, July 2024
by Lisa H. Pennington, Governor General
Note 1: For the text cited in the article — 2024: The 400th Anniversary of the “Great Black Cow” (Access to this actual article is only available through a membership with the Mayflower Society).
Note 2: We have transcribed the relevant newsletter text below:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Young Herdsmen with Cows
by Aelbert Cuyp, circa 1655-1660
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436064
Note: For the painting image.

Adopted — A Day of For Thanksgiving

(6) — eight records

(WHE)
World History Encyclopedia
Thanksgiving Day: A Brief History
by Joshua J. Mark
https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1646/thanksgiving-day-a-brief-history/
Note: For the text.

Godey’s Lady’s Book
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godey’s_Lady’s_Book
Note: For the cover image.

Sarah Josepha Hale
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Josepha_Hale
Note: For the text, and her portrait.

The audio file housed at —
The Internet Archive
Mary had a little lamb
by Thomas Edison
https://archive.org/details/EDIS-SCD-02
Note: For the audio clip reference only.

The Public Domain Review
Edison reading Mary Had a Little Lamb (1927)
https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/edison-reading-mary-had-a-little-lamb-1927/
Note: For the photograph of Thomas Edison, and the MP3 download link at the articles end for the actual audio file used in this chapter.

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
Lincoln and Thanksgiving
https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/Blog/Posts/169/Abraham-Lincoln/2022/11/Lincoln-and-Thanksgiving/blog-post/
Note: For the text and 1863 proclamation image.

(NEFTA)
The National Endowment For The Humanities
Who Were the Pilgrims Who Celebrated the First Thanksgiving?
by Craig Lambert
https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/novemberdecember/feature/who-were-the-pilgrims-who-celebrated-the-first-thanksgiving
Note: For the text.

Finally, Thanksgiving Dinner is Just Not Complete Without Pumpkin Pie!

(7) — one record

All records are family photographs, or ephemera. Below is a transcription of Marguerite’s Pumpkin Pie recipe exactly as she wrote it out —

The Pilgrims — The Native Peoples

This is Chapter Six of seven. Long before our ancestors had arrived in the New Plymouth, the native peoples who already lived there had more than a century of experience with the Europeans.

In the first chapter, The Pilgrims — Saints & Strangers, we briefly learned about some of the historical consequences of the Columbian Exchange. We were then choosing to apply a light touch to that history, but here in this chapter, we need to delve more deeply.

(The English Exporer) Bartholemew Gosnold trading with the Wampanoag at Martha’s Vineyard,
circa 1597. (Image courtesy of The Newberry Library).

The Americas and The Great Dying

“The first manifestation of the Columbian Exchange may have been the spread of syphilis from the native people of the Caribbean Sea to Europe. The history of syphilis has been well-studied, but the origin of the disease remains a subject of debate.

There are two primary hypotheses: one proposes that syphilis was carried to Europe from the Americas by the crew of Christopher Columbus in the early 1490s, while the other proposes that syphilis previously existed in Europe but went unrecognized. The first written descriptions of syphilis in the Old World came in 1493. The first large outbreak of syphilis in Europe occurred in 1494–1495 among the army of Charles VIII during its invasion of Naples. Many of the crew members who had served with Columbus had joined this army. After the victory, Charles’s largely mercenary army returned to their respective homes, spreading “the Great Pox” across Europe, which killed up to five million people.” (Wikipedia)

This chart looks a bit heavy on the left side, doesn’t it?
Data gathered was from Wikipedia, and The National Library of Medicine, United Kingdom.
(See footnotes).

The Columbian Exchange of diseases towards the New World was far deadlier. The peoples of the Americas had previously had no exposure to Old World diseases and little or no immunity to them. An epidemic of swine influenza beginning in 1493 killed many of the Taino people inhabiting Caribbean islands. The pre-contact population of the island of Hispaniola was probably at least 500,000, but by 1526, fewer than 500 were still alive. Spanish exploitation was part of the cause of the near-extinction of the native people. (Wikipedia)

In 1518, smallpox was first recorded in the Americas and became the deadliest imported Old World disease. Forty percent of the 200,000 people living in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, later Mexico City, are estimated to have died of smallpox in 1520 during the war of the Aztecs with conquistador Hernán Cortés. Epidemics, possibly of smallpox, spread from Central America, devastated the population of the Inca Empire a few years before the arrival of the Spanish. The ravages of Old World diseases and Spanish exploitation reduced the Mexican population from an estimated 20 million to barely more than a million in the 16th century. (Wikipedia)

Known as the Port St. Louis map, by Samuel de Champlain, circa 1605. This image shows the Patuxet settlement (the future Plymouth Colony site), before the plague of 1617. Note the depictions of shelters and abundant cornfields. It was included in the book, Les Voyages du Sievr de Champlain Xaintongeois, 1613. (Image courtesy of the Library of Congress).

“There is disagreement regarding the number of Native Peoples before the first Europeans set foot in North America, but approximately five to eighteen million is currently the best estimate, and a much larger population of over 100 million including throughout the Americas and West Indies is probable. The arrival of Europeans… resulted in a catastrophic ‘demographic collapse’ of up to 95% of the indigenous population. By the beginning of the 20th Century, the number of Native Americans in this country had been reduced to about 237,000 people through disease, war, and relocation.” (See footnotes, Ipswich) (1)

Passage excerpted from: Indian Narratives: Containing a Correct and Interesting History
of the Indian Wars, From the Landing of Our Pilgrim Fathers, 1620. It was published in 1854,
by Henry Trumbull, Susannah Willard, and Zadock Steele. (See footnotes).

Closer to Home in New England

“The Wampanoag Tribe, also known as the People of the First Light, has inhabited present-day Massachusetts and Eastern Rhode Island for more than 12,000 years. In the 1600s, there were as many as 40,000 people in the 67 villages that made up the Wampanoag People, who firstly lived as a nomadic hunting and gathering culture. By about 1000 AD, archaeologists have found the first signs of agriculture, in particular the corn crop, which became an important staple, as did beans and squash.” (Mayflower 400)

Dr. Ian Saxine of Bridgewater State University, when interviewed near the time of the Mayflower’s 400th anniversary stated, “There is evidence that the inhabitants of the Outer Cape had interacted with European sailors from Portugal, England and France for at least 200 years. They traded, and at times, fought.” (GBH News) This area is shown on the right portion of the map below.


Map of Wampanoag Country in the 1600s.
Wampanoag territory in the 1600s was made up of about 67 villages, and this map shows some of them. The larger print shows the Wampanoag name, and the smaller print gives the modern name. (Map courtesy of Plimoth Patuxet Museums).

“Entire villages were lost and only a fraction of the Wampanoag Nation survived. This meant they were not only threatened by the effects of colonisation but vulnerable to rival tribes and struggled to fend off the neighbouring Narragansett, who had been less affected by this plague.

In the winter of 1616-17 an expedition dispatched by Sir Ferdinando Gorges found a region devastated by war and disease, the remaining people so “sore afflicted with the plague, for that the country was in a manner left void of inhabitants”. Two years later another Englishman found “ancient plantations” now completely empty with few inhabitants – and those that had survived were suffering.

In the years before the Mayflower arrived, the effects of colonization had already taken root.” (Mayflower 400)

Front cover and interior page from, Historical, Poetical and Pictorial American scenes:
Principally Moral and Religious: Being a Selection of Interesting Incidents in American History
to Which is Added a Historical Sketch of Each of the United States,
by John W. Barber and Elizabeth G. Barber, 1850. (Images courtesy of the Hathi Trust).

When the sickness came, the reduction of the population may have been incremental, episodic, and continuous, but in the end, it was relentless.
For the tribe with whom our family (mostly) interacted with, “the extraordinary impact of the Great Dying meant the Wampanoag had to reorganize its structure and the Sachems [the North American Indian chiefs] had to join together and build new unions.” (Mayflower 400)

“When we look back on the Aborigines, as the sole proprietors
of our soil, on the places which once knew them,
but are now to know them no more forever,
feelings of sympathy and sadness come over our souls.

In the light of history,
a tribe of men immortal as ourselves… have irrevocably
disappeared from the scenes and concerns of earth.

Joseph Felt writing in his 1834 book,
“History of Ipswich, Essex and Hamilton”

If you recall when we wrote in The Pilgrims — Saints & Strangers, we drew attention to the fact that people then had no concept of germ theory. The very healthy nature of the Native Peoples “proved their undoing, for they had built up no resistance, genetically or through childhood diseases, to the microbes that Europeans and Africans would bring to them. They did not cause the plague and were as baffled as to its origin as the stricken Indian villagers.

These epidemics probably constituted the most important geopolitical event of the early seventeenth century. Their net result was that the English, for their first fifty years in New England, would face no real Indian challenge.” (Lies My Teacher Told Me – LMTTM)

Drawing of a Wampanoag hut. (Image courtesy of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum).

Nature loves to exploit a new environmental niche, and viruses that complicate our lives are unintentionally skilled at exploiting new opportunities. We all know this, with the most recent example being the global SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).

It was into this world of empty landscapes that the Plimoth Plantation began. (2)

First Encounters With The Pilgrims

From the standpoint of the Native People, when the Pilgrims first arrived, their memories of some of their own having been taken prisoner and sold into slavery, led some to act aggressively. “The First Encounter… was not so much an attack on the English settlers as the Wampanoags defending themselves and their culture. Pilgrim records say the Nauset [a neighboring tribe of the Wampanoags] attacked once the Pilgrims had pulled their small boat ashore after spending the day exploring along the coast and were camped out near the beach. Although the Pilgrims and Nauset engaged in a brief firefight, there is no record of any deaths or injuries.

Saxine [of Bridgewater State University] said both sides felt they had won what was the first violent engagement between the Native Americans and the European settlers who would later colonize Plymouth. The Mayflower party felt that they had won because the Nauset fighters pulled back after this firefight,” Saxine said. “The Nauset probably felt they had won because the English people sailed away and left them alone.” (GBH News) (3)

The Pilgrims arrive at Plymouth, Massachusetts on board the Mayflower,
November 1620 (painting), by W.J. Aylward. (Image courtesy of Historynet.com)

These People Were Different.

“The story of the Pilgrims… has been told primarily from the English colonists’ point of view. How the Native Americans felt about the colonists’ arrival in the New World has been mostly absent from the story.” (GBH News)

“Four hundred years ago, this newly organised People [after the Great Dying] watched as yet another ship arrived from the east. These people were different. The Wampanoag watched as women and children walked from the ship, using the waters to wash themselves. Never before had they seen Europeans engage in such an act. They watched cautiously as the men of this new ship explored their lands, finding what remained of Patuxet and building homes. They watched them take corn and beans, probably winter provisions, stored for the harsh conditions that were to come. The Wampanoag People did not react.

Given the horrific nature of the past years, the Wampanoag People were understandably wary of this new group. Months would pass before contact. But in this time, they would have recognised the opportunity for a new alliance to help them survive.” (Mayflower 400) (3)

Discovering Indian Corn… and Graves

In the book, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, author Charles C. Mann, states to National Geographic —

“When the pilgrims arrived in Cape Cod, they were incredibly unprepared. “They were under the persistent belief that because New England is south of the Netherlands and southern England, it would therefore be warmer,” says Mann. “Then they showed up six weeks before winter [actually less than six weeks] with practically no food.” In a desperate state, the pilgrims robbed corn from Native Americans graves and storehouses soon after they arrived; but because of their overall lack of preparation, half of them still died within their first year.

If the pilgrims had arrived in Cape Cod three years earlier, they might not have found those abandoned graves and storehouses… in fact, they might not have had space to land. Europeans who sailed to New England in the early to mid-1610s found flourishing communities along the coast, and little room for themselves to settle. But by 1620, when the Mayflower arrived, the area looked abandoned.

“Having their guns and hearing nobody, they entered the houses and found the people were gone. The sailors took some things but didn’t dare stay. . . . We had meant to have left some beads and other things in the houses as a sign of peace and to show we meant to trade with them. But we didn’t do it because we left in such haste. But as soon as we can meet with the Indians, we will pay them well for what we took.”

“We marched to the place we called Cornhill, where we had found the corn before. At another place we had seen before, we dug and found some more corn, two or three baskets full, and a bag of beans… In all we had about ten bushels, which will be enough for seed. It was with God’s help that we found this corn, for how else could we have done it, without meeting some Indians who might trouble us.”

“A couple of years before, there’d been an epidemic that wiped out most of the coastal population of New England, and Plymouth was on top of a village that had been deserted by disease,” says Mann. “The pilgrims didn’t know it, but they were moving into a cemetery,” he adds.

“The next morning, we found a place like a grave. We decided to dig it up. We found first a mat, and under that a fine bow. . . . We also found bowls, trays, dishes, and things like that. We took several of the prettiest things to carry away with us, and covered the body up again.”

“The newcomers did eventually pay the Wampanoags for the corn they had dug up and taken. Plymouth, unlike many other colonies, usually paid Indians for the land it took. In some instances Europeans settled in Indian towns because Natives had invited them, as protection against another tribe, or a nearby competing European power.” (National Geographic, and LMTTM)

Massasoit Meeting English Settlers, from Lives of Famous Indian Chiefs by Norman B. Wood, 1906. (Image courtesy of Encyclopædia Britannica).

“…just as the Pilgrims don’t represent all English colonists, the Wampanoags, who feasted with them, don’t represent all Native Americans. The Pilgrims’ relations with the Narragansetts, or the Pequots, were completely different.” (National Endowment For The Humanities – NEFTH) (5)

The Wampanoag Confederacy of Massasoit Sachem

The history that has come down to us today, records four individuals who made important differences in the lives of the Pilgrims, and helped them to succeed with their new colony endeavors.

Massasoit was the Sachem, or leader of the Wampanoag confederacy. Massasoit Sachem means the Great Sachem. Although Massasoit was only his title, English colonists mistook it as his name and it stuck. Massasoit needed the Pilgrims just as much as they needed him. [His] people had been seriously weakened by a series of epidemics and were vulnerable to attacks by the Narragansetts, and he formed an alliance with the colonists at Plymouth Colony for defense against them. It was through his assistance that the Plymouth Colony avoided starvation during the early years.

At the time of the Pilgrims’ arrival in Plymouth, the realm of the Wampanoag, also known as the Pokanokets, included parts of Rhode Island and much of southeastern Massachusetts. Massasoit lived in Sowams, a village at Pokanoket in Warren, Rhode Island. He held the allegiance of lesser Pokanoket Sachems [chiefs]. 

Massasoit forged critical political and personal ties with colonial leaders William Bradford, Edward Winslow, Stephen Hopkins, John Carver, and Myles Standish, ties which grew out of a peace treaty negotiated on March 22, 1621. The alliance ensured that the Pokanokets remained neutral during the Pequot War in 1636. According to English sources, Massasoit prevented the failure of Plymouth Colony and the starvation that the Pilgrims faced during its earliest years.

Massasoit Sachem images, from left to right: Pilgrim Edward Winslow comforting Massasoit. Center: A Map of New-England (Woodcut), attributed to John Foster 1677. Note: The crown, indicates the royal seat of Massassoit Sachem of the Wampanoags, and is drawn between the two branches of the Sowams River. Plimoth is nearby to the southeast. Right: 1902 postcard photo showing Profile Rock, …it was thought to be that of the Wampanoag Chief Massasoit Sachem. (See footnotes).

Massasoit was humane and honest, kept his word, and endeavored to imbue his people with a love for peace. He kept the Pilgrims advised of any warlike designs toward them by other tribes. It is unclear when Massasoit died. Some accounts claim that it was as early as 1660; others contend that he died as late as 1662. He was anywhere from 80 to 90 at the time.” (Wikipedia)

“In Winslow’s second published book, ‘Good Newes from New England (1624),’ he recounted at length nursing the Wampanoag leader Massasoit as he lay dying, even to the point of spoon-feeding him chicken broth.” (See footnotes, The Conversation) (6)

Samoset arriving at Plymouth Colony in 1621. (See footnotes).

Samoset, the Abenaki Native American

This is how we first learn of Samoset, “Yet, in March, a lone Indian warrior named Samoset appeared and greeted the settlers, improbably, in English. Soon, the Pilgrims formed an alliance with the Wampanoags and their chief, Massasoit. Only a few years before, the tribe had lost 50 to 90 percent of its population to an epidemic borne by European coastal fisherman. Devastated by death, both groups were vulnerable to attack or domination by Indian tribes. They needed each other.” (NEFTH) 

He “was the Abenaki Native American who first approached the English settlers of Plymouth Colony in friendship, introducing them to [the] natives Squanto and Massasoit who would help save and sustain the colony.

He was a Sagamore (Chief) of the Eastern Abenaki, who was either visiting Massasoit or had been taken prisoner by him sometime before the Mayflower landed off the coast of modern-day Massachusetts in November 1620. Massasoit chose him to make first contact with the pilgrims in March of 1621, and he has been recognized since as instrumental in bringing the Native Americans of the Wampanoag Confederacy and English colonists of Plymouth together in a compact which would remain unbroken for the next 50 years.”

All that is known of Samoset comes from these works except for a passing mention by the explorer Captain Christopher Levett who met Samoset in 1624 at present-day Portland, Maine, and considered it an honor based on Samoset’s role in helping to sustain Plymouth Colony in 1621. Samoset was highly regarded by other English and European colonists following his appearance in Mourt’s Relation, published in 1622. (World History Encyclopedia) (7)

Tisquantum. or Squanto, the Guide and Interpreter
by Charles de Wolf Brownell, circa 1864. (See footnotes).

Tisquantum, Who is Also Known as Squanto

“A Native American called Tisquantum was born in 1580. He became known as Squanto and little is known of his early life. Some believe he was captured as a young man on the coast of what is now Maine by Captain George Weymouth in 1605. Weymouth was an Englishmen commissioned to explore the American coastline and thought his financial backers might like to see Native American people.

“What do most books leave out about Squanto? First, how he learned English. Squanto spent nine years [in England, with three years being in the employ of Ferdinando Gorges]. At length, Gorges helped Squanto arrange passage back to Massachusetts. Some historians doubt that Squanto was among the five Indians stolen in 1605. All sources agree, however, that in 1614 an English slave raider, Thomas Hunt, lured 24 Native Americans on board his ship under the premise of trade. Their number included Tisquantum. Hunt locked them up below deck, sailed for Spain and sold these people into the European slavery in Málaga, Spain. Squanto escaped from slavery, escaped from Spain, and made his way back to England.

Malaga, Spain, circa 1572, 40 years before Tisquantum was delivered there in slavery.
(Image courtesy of Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg).

After trying to get home via Newfoundland, in 1619 he talked Thomas Dermer into taking him along on his next trip to Cape Cod as an interpreter. He searched for his homeland but tragically, he arrived as the Great Dying reached its horrific climax. His tribe had all been wiped out two years before.. His home village, Patuxet, was lost. — No wonder Squanto threw in his lot with the Pilgrims.” (LMTTM and Mayflower 400)

“Squanto’s travels acquainted him with more of the world than any Pilgrim encountered. He had crossed the Atlantic perhaps six times, twice as an English captive, and had lived in Maine, Newfoundland, Spain, and England, as well as Massachusetts.”
Excerpted from Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James W. Loewen, page 88.

“As translator, ambassador, and technical advisor, Squanto was essential to the survival of Plymouth in its first two years. Like other Europeans in America, the Pilgrims had no idea what to eat or how to raise or find food until American Indians showed them. [Massasoit was, as the Great Sachem of the Wampanoag Confederacy, the one who sent Tisquantum (Squanto) to live among the Pilgrim colonists.]

William Bradford called Squanto “a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectation. He directed them how to set their corn, where to take fish, and to procure other commodities, and was also their pilot to bring them to unknown places for their profit.” Squanto was not the Pilgrims’ only aide: in the summer of 1621 Massasoit sent another Indian, Hobomok, to live among the Pilgrims for several years as guide and ambassador.” (LMTTM)

Importantly, we learned that he “… facilitated understandings between the colony and its native neighbors and established trade relations with a number of villages.” (Wikipedia)

Pilgrim Fathers and Squanto, the Friendly Indian,
after an Illustration by C. W. Jefferys, 1926. (See footnotes).

“With spring, under the careful guidance of a Wampanoag friend, Tisquantum, the settlers planted corn, squash, and beans, with herring for fertilizer. They began building more houses, fishing for cod and bass, and trading with the Native Americans. By October, they had erected seven crude houses and four common buildings.” (NEFTH) (8)

Hobomok, A ‘Pneise’ of the Pokanoket

Almost nothing is known about Hobomok before he began living with the English settlers who arrived aboard the Mayflower. His name was variously spelled in 17th century documents and today is generally simplified as Hobomok, or Hobbamock. He was known as a Pneise, which means he was an elite warrior of the Algonquin people of Eastern Massachusetts. Also, he was a member of the Pokanoket tribe… whom Sachem Massasoit had authority over. William Bradford described him as “a proper lustie man, and a man of accounte for his vallour and parts amongst thed Indeans.”

“Hobomak is known to us primarily for his rivalry with Squanto, who lived with the settlers before him. He was greatly trusted by Myles Standish, the colony’s military commander, and he joined with Standish in a military raid against the Massachuset” [a neighboring tribe].

The March of Miles Standish, postcard image published by Armstrong & Co.
(Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, see footnotes).

Both Bradford and Winslow first record Hobomok’s actions in connection with a crisis in which Squanto was thought to have been kidnapped and possibly murdered. Long story short is that there were ongoing rival factions for control among the various Native nations, and therefore there was an attempt to have Massasoit driven “from his country.” Hobomak aided Miles Standish “to raid Nemasket at night to round up Corbitant and any accomplices.” This was a messy confrontation, but Squanto was released, and Massasoit remained as Sachem.

However, “The affair left the colony feeling exposed. They decided to protect the settlement by taking down tall trees, dragging them from the forest and sinking them in deep holes closely bound to prevent arrows from passing through. [This was the building of a stockade.] Moreover, Standish divided the men into four squadrons and drilled them on how to respond to an emergency, including instructions on how to remain armed and alert to a native attack even during a fire in the town.” (Adapted from Wikipedia)

An artist’s conception of the Plymouth Colony by 1630. (See footnotes).

“Hobomok helped Plymouth set-up fur trading posts at the mouth of the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers in Maine; in Aputucxet, Massachusetts, and in Windsor, Connecticut.” If you recall, the underwriters in London who had financed the voyage of the Mayflower still need to be reimbursed by the Pilgrims. The income generated by the sale and shipment of these fur skins back to the Europeans, helped to alleviate those debts. (LMTTM) (9)

Very Faithful in Their Covenant of Peace

When have written previously that it appeared that the demeanor of the Pilgrims had shifted during their years in Leyden, Holland. Perhaps after all of their harrowing experiences since they left there, some of them were becoming less strident in their views? We observed that instead of viewing the Native Peoples in America as Others — as they themselves had been treated in England — an appreciation and tolerance toward those who are different from them, had begun to take hold.

Left image: Portrait of Plymouth Colony Governor Edward Winslow, Attributed to the school of Robert Walker, circa 1651. Right image: Hand-colored woodcut of Edward Winslow visiting Chief Massasoit. (See footnotes).

“At the same time, Pilgrims did not actively seek the conversion of Native Americans. According to scholars like [Nathaniel] Philbrick, English author Rebecca Fraser and [Mark] Peterson, the Pilgrims appreciated and respected the intellect and common humanity of Native Americans.

An early example of Pilgrim respect for the humanity of Native Americans came from the pen of Edward Winslow. Winslow was one of the chief Pilgrim founders of Plymouth. In 1622, just two years after the Pilgrims’ arrival, he published in the mother country the first book about life in New England, “Mourt’s Relation.”

While opining that Native Americans “are a people without any religion or knowledge of God,” he nevertheless praised them for being “very trusty, quick of apprehension, ripe witted, just.” Winslow added that “we have found the Indians very faithful in their covenant of peace with us; very loving. … we often go to them, and they come to us; some of us have been fifty miles by land in the country with them.” (See footnotes, The Conversation) (10)

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, 
Notes, and Observations

The Americas and The Great Dying

(1) — eight records

The Newberry Library
(The English Exporer) Bartholomew Gosnold trading with
Wampanoag Indians at Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts
by Theodor de Bay, circa 1597
https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/nby_eeayer/id/3563
Note: For the image.

Post-Columbian Transfer of Diseases chart, sources —
Columbian Exchange
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_exchange
Note: For the text and the image of, Sixteenth-century Aztec drawings
of victims of smallpox, from the Florentine Codex.
and
New Hypothesis for Cause of Epidemic among Native Americans,
New England, 1616–1619
by John S. Marr and John T. Cathey
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2957993/
Note: For the data, “…leptospirosis complicated by Weil syndrome, a rare but severe bacterial infection, spread by non-native black rats that arrived on the settlers’ ships.”
and
Smithsonian Magazine
Alfred W. Crosby on the Columbian Exchange
by Megan Gambino
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/alfred-w-crosby-on-the-columbian-exchange-98116477/?no-ist
Note: For the bottom image.

Library of Congress
Les voyages dv sievr de Champlain Xaintongeois,
capitaine ordinaire pour le Roy, en la marine. Divisez en devx livres.
ou, Iovrnal tres-fidele des observations faites és descouuertures
de la Nouuelle France
by Samuel de Champlain, circa 1605
https://www.loc.gov/item/22006274/
Book page: 80, Digital page: 112/436
Note: For book frontipiece and credits.
and
Plimoth Patuxet Museums
Port St. Louis (map)
https://plimoth.org/yath/unit-1/port-st-louis
Note: For the text and map.

(Ipswich)
Historic Ipswich
The Great Dying 1616-1619, “By God’s visitation, a Wonderful Plague.”
https://historicipswich.net/2023/11/17/the-great-dying/

Indian Narratives: Containing a Correct and Interesting History of the Indian Wars,
From the Landing of Our Pilgrim Fathers, 1620, circa 1854
by Henry Trumbull, Susannah Willard, and Zadock Steele
https://archive.org/details/indiannarrative00steegoog/page/n10/mode/2up
Book page: 76, Digital page: 87/295
Note: For the text.

Closer to Home in New England

(2) — seven records

Mayflower 400
Native America and the Mayflower: 400 years of Wampanoag History
https://www.mayflower400uk.org/education/native-america-and-the-mayflower-400-years-of-wampanoag-history/
Note: For the text.

GBH News
Reframing The Story Of The First Encounter Between
Native Americans And The Pilgrims
by Bob Seay
https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2019-11-28/reframing-the-story-of-the-first-encounter-between-native-americans-and-the-pilgrims
Note: For the text.

Plimoth Patuxet Museums
Map of Wampanoag Country in the 1600s
https://plimoth.org/yath/unit-1/map-of-wampanoag-country-in-the-1600s
Note: For the map image.

Hathi Trust
Historical, Poetical and Pictorial American scenes:
Principally Moral and Religious: Being a Selection of Interesting Incidents in American History to Which is Added a Historical Sketch of Each of the United States, 1850
by John W. Barber and Elizabeth G. Barber
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuo.ark:/13960/t00057646&seq=199
Book page: 183, Digital page: 199/254
Note: For the text and the image.

History of Ipswich, Essex and Hamilton
by Joseph Barlow Felt, 1834
https://archive.org/details/historyofipswich00felt/page/2/mode/2up
Book page: 2, Digital page: 24/404
Note: For the text (pull-quote).

(LAPM)
Leiden American Pilgrim Museum
https://leidenamericanpilgrimmuseum.org/en
Note: For the illustration of the Wampanoag hut.

(LMTTM)
Lies My Teacher Told Me
by James W. Loewen
https://www.google.pt/books/edition/Lies_My_Teacher_Told_Me/5m23RrMeLt4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover
Book pages: 70-92
Note: Chapter 3: “The Truth About The First Thanksgiving”

First Encounters With The Pilgrims

(3) — two records

GBH News
Reframing The Story Of The First Encounter Between Native Americans And The Pilgrims
by Bob Seay
https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2019-11-28/reframing-the-story-of-the-first-encounter-between-native-americans-and-the-pilgrims
Note: For the text.

The Pilgrims arrive at Plymouth, Massachusetts on board the Mayflower,
November 1620 (painting)
by W.J. Aylward
https://www.historynet.com/how-collectivism-nearly-sunk-colonies/landing-of-the-pilgrims/
Note: For the painting image.

These People Were Different.

(4) — two records

GBH News
Reframing The Story Of The First Encounter Between Native Americans And The Pilgrims
by Bob Seay
https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2019-11-28/reframing-the-story-of-the-first-encounter-between-native-americans-and-the-pilgrims
Note: For the text.

Mayflower 400
Native America and the Mayflower: 400 years of Wampanoag History
https://www.mayflower400uk.org/education/native-america-and-the-mayflower-400-years-of-wampanoag-history/
Note: For the text.

Discovering Indian Corn …and Graves

(5) — five records

National Geographic
A few things you (probably) don’t know about Thanksgiving
by Becky Little
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/151121-first-thanksgiving-pilgrims-native-americans-wampanoag-saints-and-strangers
Note: For the text.

Interesting Events in the History of The United States: being a selection of
the most important and interesting events which have transpired…
by John Warner Barber, 1798-1885
https://archive.org/details/intereventshistus00barbrich/page/n5/mode/2up
Note: For text and the illustration, Discovering Indian Corn.

(LMTTM)
Lies My Teacher Told Me
by James W. Loewen
https://www.google.pt/books/edition/Lies_My_Teacher_Told_Me/5m23RrMeLt4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover
Book pages: 70-92
Note 1: Chapter 3 for text, The Truth About The First Thanksgiving
Note 2: The travel map for Squanto was adapted from graphics on page 88.

Encyclopædia Britannica
Wampanoag People
Massasoit Meeting English Settlers
from ‘Lives of Famous Indian Chiefs’ by Norman B. Wood, 1906
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wampanoag#/media/1/635211/179338
Note: For the image.

(NEFTH)
The National Endowment For The Humanities
Who Were the Pilgrims Who Celebrated the First Thanksgiving?
by Craig Lambert
https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/novemberdecember/feature/who-were-the-pilgrims-who-celebrated-the-first-thanksgiving
Note: For the text.

The Wampanoag Confederacy of Massasoit Sachem

(6) — seven records

Primary Source Learning:
The Wampanoag, the Plimoth Colonists & the First Thanksgiving
https://primarysourcenexus.org/2021/11/primary-source-learning-wampanoag-plimoth-colonists-first-thanksgiving/
Note: For the image of Massasoit And His Warriors

Massasoit
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massasoit
Note: For the text.

The Conversation
The First Pilgrims and the Puritans Differed in Their Views on Religion,
Respect for Native Americans
by Michael Carrafiello
https://theconversation.com/how-the-first-pilgrims-and-the-puritans-differed-in-their-views-on-religion-and-respect-for-native-americans-240974
Note: For the text.

Images for the Massasoit collage —
Hathi Trust
Historical, Poetical and Pictorial American scenes:
Principally Moral and Religious: Being a Selection of Interesting Incidents in American History to Which is Added a Historical Sketch of Each of the United States, 1850
by John W. Barber and Elizabeth G. Barber
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuo.ark:/13960/t00057646&seq=32
Book page: 16, Digital page: 32/254
Note: For the image of Massasoit.
and
The Massachusetts Historical Society
A Map of New-England (Woodcut)
Attributed to John Foster, 1677
https://www.masshist.org/database/68
Note 1: Originally published in William Hubbard’s Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians. Note 2: The Crown, indicates the royal seat of Massassoit, the Sachem of the Wampanoags, and is drawn between the two branches of the Sowams River.
and
File:Profile Rock (Assonet).jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Profile_Rock_(Assonet).jpg
Note 1: Image, 1902 postcard photo showing Profile Rock; scanned from a private collection.
Note 2: …it was thought to be that of the Wampanoag Chief Massasoit Sachem, from: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/profile-rock

Samoset, the Abenaki Native American

(7) — two records

Samoset
Samoset arriving at Plymouth Colony in 1621
by Artist unknown
https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Samoset/601202

World History Encyclopedia
Samoset
https://www.worldhistory.org/Samoset/
Note: For the text. 

Tisquantum, Who is Also Known as Squanto

(8) — seven records

Antique Print Club
Tisquantum. or Squanto, the Guide and Interpreter
by Charles de Wolf Brownell, circa 1864
https://www.antiqueprintclub.com/Products/Antique-Prints/Historic-Views-People/Americas-Canada/Tisquantum-or-Squanto,-the-guide-and-interpreter-c.aspx
Note 1: For the antique image of Tisquantum. or Squanto.
Note 2: “Rare wood engraving with contemporary hand color, from Charles de Wolf Brownell’s ‘The Indian Races of North and South America: comprising an account of the principal aboriginal races; a description of their national customs, mythology, and religious ceremonies; the history of their most powerful tribes, and of their most celebrated chiefs and warriors…’,
published in Hartford, Connecticut in 1864 by Hurlbut, Scranton & Co.”

Artwork of Málaga in 1572 —
40 years before Tisquantum was delivered there in slavery
Extracted from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squanto
Notes: Georg Braun; Frans Hogenberg: Civitates Orbis Terrarum, Band 1, 1572 (Ausgabe Beschreibung vnd Contrafactur der vornembster Stät der Welt, Köln 1582; [VD16-B7188) Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg

(LMTTM)
Lies My Teacher Told Me
by James W. Loewen
https://www.google.pt/books/edition/Lies_My_Teacher_Told_Me/5m23RrMeLt4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover
Book pages: 70-92
Note 1: Chapter 3: “The Truth About The First Thanksgiving”
Note 2: For the map from page 88, which we adapted for this chapter.

Mayflower 400
Native America and the Mayflower: 400 years of Wampanoag History
https://www.mayflower400uk.org/education/native-america-and-the-mayflower-400-years-of-wampanoag-history/
Note: For the text.

(NEFTH)
The National Endowment For The Humanities
Who Were the Pilgrims Who Celebrated the First Thanksgiving?
by Craig Lambert
https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/novemberdecember/feature/who-were-the-pilgrims-who-celebrated-the-first-thanksgiving
Note: For the text.

Pilgrim Fathers and Squanto, the Friendly Indian
after an Illustration by C. W. Jefferys, 1926
https://www.art.com/products/p53691947530-sa-i8600719/pilgrim-fathers-and-squanto-the-friendly-indian-after-an-illustration-by-c-w-jefferys-1926.htm
Note: For the illustration.

Hobbamock
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbamock#Hobomok_comes_to_live_with_English
Note: For the text about Squanto.

Hobomok, A Pneise of the Pokanoket

(9) — three records

Hobbamock
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbamock#Hobomok_comes_to_live_with_English
Note: For the text.

(LMTTM)
Lies My Teacher Told Me
by James W. Loewen
https://www.google.pt/books/edition/Lies_My_Teacher_Told_Me/5m23RrMeLt4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover
Book pages: 70-92
Note: Chapter 3: “The Truth About The First Thanksgiving”

The Conversation
The First Pilgrims and the Puritans Differed in Their Views on Religion, Respect for Native Americans
by Michael Carrafiello
https://theconversation.com/how-the-first-pilgrims-and-the-puritans-differed-in-their-views-on-religion-and-respect-for-native-americans-240974
Note: For the text.

Very Faithful in Their Covenant of Peace

(10) — three records

Hand-colored woodcut of Edward Winslow visiting Chief Massasoit.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2017/11/19/after-first-thanksgiving-things-went-downhill/vvDRodh9iKU7IB2Wegjt8J/story.html
Note: For the image.

The British Empire
Plymouth Colony in 1630
https://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/massachusetts/massachusetts3.htm
Note: For the image.

Portrait of Plymouth Colony Governor Edward Winslow
Attributed to the school of Robert Walker, circa 1651
File:Edward Winslow.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Winslow.jpg
Note: For the portrait of Edward Winslow.

The Pilgrims — Plimoth Plantation

This is Chapter Five of seven. In this chapter we are going to share some of the knowledge we’ve gained about what it was like to live in the new ‘Plimouth’ Plantation, but first an interesting history that is quite literally, about a rock.

But now, God knows, Anything Goes!

Times have changed / And we’ve often rewound the clock / Since the Puritans got the shock / When they landed on Plymouth Rock
If today / Any shock they should try to stem / ’Stead of landing on Plymouth Rock / Plymouth Rock would land on them!

In 1934, Cole Porter wrote the classic Broadway musical Anything Goes!, and it was quite an enormous hit with the Depression Era audiences. In fact, some of those catchy songs are still popular to this day. However, he got the introductory details in the lyrics just a little off in the title song.

The Puritans didn’t land at Plymouth Rock. Our ancestors the Pilgrims did — or did they?

Stereoscopic card image, circa 1925. (Image courtesy of the Library of Congress).

When you first lay eyes on Plymoth Rock, you can’t help but think, Is that all there is? (Cue singer Peggy Lee). It’s actually just pretty much a boulder. Even when you take a hopeful photograph wishing that through the magic of your camera, it will be… somehow more photogenic. It still ends up looking underwhelming — just like a rock from somebody’s yard down the street.

There are historical reasons for this. (1)

The Real Story of Behind Plymouth Rock

“There’s the inconvenient truth that no historical evidence exists to confirm Plymouth Rock as the Pilgrims’ steppingstone to the New World. Leaving aside the fact that the Pilgrims first made landfall on the tip of Cape Cod in November 1620 before sailing to safer harbors in Plymouth the following month, William Bradford and his fellow Mayflower passengers made no written references to setting foot on a rock as they disembarked to start their settlement on a new continent.

It wasn’t until 1741—121 years after the arrival of the Mayflower—that a 10-ton boulder in Plymouth Harbor was identified as the precise spot where Pilgrim feet first trod. The claim was made by 94-year-old Thomas Faunce, a church elder who said his father, who arrived in Plymouth in 1623, and several of the original Mayflower passengers assured him the stone was the specific landing spot. When the elderly Faunce heard that a wharf was to be built over the rock, he wanted a final glimpse. He was conveyed by chair 3 miles from his house to the harbor, where he reportedly gave Plymouth Rock a tearful goodbye. Whether Faunce’s assertion was accurate oral history or the figment of a doddering old mind, we don’t know.

By the 1770s, just a few years after Faunce made his declaration, Plymouth Rock had already become a tangible monument to freedom. As a revolutionary fever swept through Plymouth in 1774, some of the town’s most zealous patriots sought to enlist Plymouth Rock in the cause. With 20 teams of oxen at the ready, the colonists attempted to move the boulder from the harbor to a liberty pole in front of the town’s meetinghouse. As they tried to load the rock onto a carriage, however, it accidentally broke in two. The bottom portion of Plymouth Rock was left embedded on the shoreline, while the top half was moved to the town square.

On July 4, 1834, Plymouth Rock was on the move again, this time a few blocks north to the front lawn of the Pilgrim Hall Museum. And once again, the boulder had a rough ride. While passing the courthouse, the rock fell from a cart and broke in two on the ground. The small iron fence encircling Plymouth Rock did little to discourage the stream of souvenir seekers from wielding their hammers and chisels to get a piece of the rock. (Even today, chips off the old block are strewn across the country in places such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn.)

The long history of the Plymouth Rock in images.
Clockwise from the top left: The painting Memorial Housing the Plymouth Rock, (which was built circa 1920), the wharf which was built over the Rock, circa 1860s, a lithographic print of passengers arriving, Plymouth Rock in front of Pilgrim Hall, circa 1834, (note the painted numerals) and from the Historical Marker Database, the Plymouth Rock Marker. (See footnotes).

Finally, in 1880, at the same time that an America torn asunder by the Civil War was stitching itself back together, the top of Plymouth Rock was returned to the harbor and reunited with its base. The date ‘1620’ was carved on the stone’s surface, replacing painted numerals.

In conjunction with the 300th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ arrival, Plymouth’s Rock’s current home, which resembles a Roman temple, was constructed. The boulder now rests on a sandy bed 5 feet below street level, encased in an enclosure like a zoo animal. Given all the whittling and the accidents, Plymouth Rock is estimated to be only a third or half of its original size, and only a third of the stone is visible, with the rest buried under the sand. A prominent cement scar is a reminder of the boulder’s tumultuous journeys around town.” (History.com) (2)

The Landing of the Pilgrims by Henry Bacon, 1877. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia).
Comment: Was Plymouth Rock ever really this big? Or was the painter Henry Bacon just inspired?

English Clothing in the 1620s: Not What You Think

“Many people think the Pilgrims always wore black clothes. This may be because in many images of the time, people are shown wearing black clothes. This is because in the 1620s, the best clothes were often black, and people usually had their portraits painted while wearing their best clothes. It was not easy to dye cloth a solid, long-lasting black. It took a great deal of skill. People kept clothes made of such beautiful, expensive cloth for special occasions. Everyday clothes were made of many colors. Brown, brick red, yellow and blue were common. Other clothes were made of cloth that was not dyed. These clothes were gray or white, the natural color of the cloth.” (Plimoth Pautuxet)

Let’s just clarify something here at the get go —
The Pilgrims were not Puritans, even though they are sometimes labeled as such
by writers and artists from the past. (They just dressed similarly).

A Puritan Woman, About 1640 and A Puritan Man, About 1640.
These cards are from WD & HO Wills, a British tobacco company founded in 1786.
(The series is from 1929, English Period Costumes).
Note: The man’s clothing would likely have been more colorful, despite the fact that many Victorian era illustrators have frequently portrayed the Pilgrims as wearing black.

“Men wore a short jacket called a doublet, which was attached to breeches (which are knee-length pants), to form a suit. Usually they were made of wool cloth or linen canvas. A felt hat often completed the outfit. At the time when the Pilgrims first arrived in Massachusetts, colors were fashionable, and the colonists wore various hues. The wardrobe of colonist William Brewster, for example, included a pair of green trousers and a violet-colored coat.

Women colonists wore elaborate multi-layered outfits: a corset, multiple petticoats, stockings, a dress over those items, and a waistcoat or apron. They also wore linen caps called coifs over their hair, and felt hats as well.” (WordPress, George Soule History) (3)

The Everyday Life of The Settlers

Historian Carla Pestana shares her thoughts on their everyday lives with this story, and reflects on how the world they lived in, was quickly changing:

“One thing I got fascinated with was the everyday reality of the settlers’ lives. In the book, I tell the story of a man named Thomas Hallowell who gets called before the grand jury in Plymouth in 1638 because he’s wearing red stockings. The reason why his neighbors call him on this, is that they know he doesn’t own red stockings and has no honest way to acquire them. So they think it needs to be looked into. When he’s called into court, he immediately confesses, yes, I was up in the very new town of Boston. I saw these stockings laying over a windowsill, drying, and I pocketed them, and brought them back to Plymouth, and put them on, and wore them in front of my neighbors, who knew I didn’t have them.

“It’s just so tempting..”.

That story tells you so much. The neighbors knew exactly what clothes he had, because clothes were really scarce and valuable. The materials to make clothing were not locally available, at first, and so it all has to be imported, which means that it’s expensive. Mostly they have to make do with what they have.

There were lots of references in letters, accounts, and even in the court records about people and their clothing, and about having to provide a suit of clothes to somebody, or having some shoes finally arrive on a ship, and what they’re able to do because the shoes have arrived. You’d think, shoes arrived, no big deal, but the shoes don’t just make themselves!

Cloth is coming in, and it’s being traded with Native hunters, and it’s being used by local people to make clothes. They try to get sheep, so they can have wool and start making woolen cloth. All of this trade is connecting them to other places, where sheep are available, or skills are available, or the cloth is coming from, or the shoes are coming from. That little story about this man’s stockings really tells us so much.

Changes were happening in the wider world, of which they were part. English people are in Virginia and Bermuda. The English are going in and out of the Caribbean all the time, and thinking about setting up settlements down there. Fisherman operating off the Grand Banks and in the northern fisheries are always stumbling into Plymouth. Then shortly after Plymouth, the New Amsterdam [Manhattan Island] colony was founded so English have these not-too-distant European neighbors from the Netherlands. French fishing boats are constantly in the region, so there’s all kinds of activity, and people coming and going.

Woodcut engraving of 17th Century New England Cod-fishing.
(Image courtesy of Granger Art On Demand).

Almost immediately after Plymouth is founded, other peoples from England say, ‘Well, we can go there, too. We don’t need to be part of Plymouth, but we can go to that region, and actually mooch off of Plymouth for a while for food and supplies, and then go set up a trading post somewhere else.’ ” (Smithsonian) (4)

New England’s Great Migration Had Started

The eventual success of the Plimoth Plantation caught the attention of many investors and immigrants back home in England. The inset detail (below) is excerpted from the famous 1676 Map of New York and New England by John Speed of London. (And no, that dark spec next to the ‘New Plymouth’ name is not the Plymouth Rock before it went on all of its adventures).

As part of The Great Migration, a map like this, with all of the various harbors already named, helped familiarize people with this strange new world they had been hearing about.“It depicts the territories acquired by the British with the capture of New Amsterdam in 1664, which changed European influence in the colonies from the Dutch to the English. It is the first appearance of the name Boston, and the first map to use the term New York for both Manhattan and the colony.”

Inset detail showing the town of New Plymouth,
from A Map of New England and New York, by John Speed, circa 1676.
(Image courtesy of Raremaps.com).

“The Great Migration Study Project uses 1620 — the date of the arrival of the Mayflower — as its starting point. The peak years lasted just over ten years — from 1629 to 1640, years when the Puritan crisis in England reached its height.

Motivated primarily by religious concerns, most Great Migration colonists traveled to Massachusetts in family groups. In fact, the proportion of Great Migration immigrants who traveled in family groups is the highest in American immigrant history. Consequently, New England retained a normal, multi-generational structure with relatively equal numbers of men and women. At the time they left England, many husbands and wives were in their thirties and had three or more children, with more yet to be born.

Great Migration colonists shared other distinctive characteristics. New Englanders had a high level of literacy, perhaps nearly twice that of England as a whole. New Englanders were highly skilled; more than half of the settlers had been artisans or craftsmen. Only about seventeen percent came as servants, mostly as members of a household.” (American Ancestors) (5)

Contemporary pushpin map of Plymouth, Massachusetts.
(Image courtesy of Dreamstime).

Let’s Put A Pin In That (Place) Name!

We have come across some name variations about the place where the Pilgrims established their colony, which seem to cause a bit of confusion. We believe that these names depend upon the era in which the history was written, so we have sorted them out a bit.

Plymouth
This is the location of the eventual (future) town on Cape Cod Bay where the Pilgrims established their settlement.

Plimoth Plantation, or Plymouth Plantation
This is name with which Governor William Bradford described their settlement in his journal Of Plimoth Plantation. This old-fashioned spelling was soon supplanted with the more modern spelling: Plymouth Plantation.

Plimoth Colony, or Plymouth Colony
Whether the Name is spelled as Plimoth, or Plymouth depends upon your source material, (and your computer’s fussy spell-check programming). They are the same place, just not the same spelling.

New Plimoth, or New Plymouth
Again, the same place. Some people have assumed that the Pilgrims named Plymouth after the English port city they knew. Actually, John Smith had already named the area New Plimouth on his 1616 map. See the chapter, The Pilgrims — A Mayflower Voyage.

Contemporary photograph of the Plimoth Patuxet historical site.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia).

Plimoth Patuxet
This is the name of the museum and present day historical (replica village) site near the town of Plymouth. It is viewed as a more accurate representation of the cultures that co-existed at that time. “For the 12,000 years that the Wampanoag lived in and around what is now Plymouth, they called the land Patuxet, meaning ‘place of running water’ in the Wampanoag language. This land that is both Patuxet and Plymouth speaks to the emergence of an Indigenous-English hybrid society that existed here — in conflict and in collaboration – in the 17th century.” (See footnotes, The Enterprise) (6)

William Bradford’s 1620 Sketch of Plymouth

For our two Pilgrim ancestors — George Soule and Edward Doty — we have only been able to discern where the Soule family home was specifically located. We started with William Bradford’s 1620 Sketch of Plymouth, upon which he noted the two primary roads: one labeled the Streete, and the other the High Way. On this sketch, he also indicated where some homes were built, or intended to be built, since it was Winter time.

The second map is from the 19th century. If you look closely, you can see that First Street (the Streete), had a name change to Leyden Street. This happened in 1823, when it was renamed in honor of Leiden, Holland.

Four different plat drawings showing the original housing sites for various Pilgrim families. Top row, left: William Bradford’s original drawing, “The meersteads & garden plots of which came first layed out 1620, is the only known map of the original town layout.” Top row right: 19th century, origin unknown. Bottom row, left: This drawing was originally published in “The Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas), November 21, 1966. Bottom row, right: Origin unknown. (See footnotes).

The third sketch is from the 20th century and is an aerial view of the Plymouth Plantation* for a November 1966 newspaper article in the Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas). The George Soule home is tucked into the upper corner.
*Now known as the Plimoth Patuxet Museum, it opened in 1947.

Lastly, the image shown below at the lower right, appears as if it is from the mid-20th century. Note how several more homesites are accounted for, which earlier documents had not yet indicted. This brings us to any interesting point — it was a big challenge to work out exactly where the Soule house was, because all of these maps / had different authors / in different eras / with different purposes. Even the modern aerial photograph below does not account for a couple of new home additions to the Plimoth Patuxet site. (7)

The George and Mary Soule house as shown situated within Plimoth Patuxet Museum site. (Background image borrowed from Axiom Images, Aerial Stock Photos).

Leyden Street

In the last few years, archeologists have determined that the original location of Plimoth Plantation was likely Leyden Street in the present town of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

From the article See Plymouth, “The Pilgrims began laying out the street before Christmas in 1620 after disembarking from the Mayflower. The original settlers built their houses along the street from the shore up to the base of Burial Hill where the original fort/gun platform building was located, and now is the site of a cemetery and First Church of Plymouth.

Leyden Street is a street in Plymouth, Massachusetts that was created in 1620 by the Pilgrims, and claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited street in the Thirteen Colonies of British America. It was originally named First Street, …named Leyden Street in 1823.” (See Plymouth) (8)

Left image: Leyden Street in the 1800s from a period stereographic photo. Right image: This is a contemporary tourist map which shows the locations of the original Plimouth Colony, where the streets William Bradford sketched are still in use. The arrow indicates the distance to the Plimoth Patuxet Museum site — about 3.2 miles, or 5 kilometers.

If you recall from previous chapters, we learned that the British nobility were interested in developing these American colonies so that they could extract resources and bring those resources back to Europe to make money — and — the Pilgrims also had a responsibility to pay off their debts to the underwriters, who had financed their Mayflower voyage.

This transactional relationship required our ancestors to learn and develop new skills to prosper in this, their new home. They owe much of this success to the help of The Native Peoples.

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, 
Notes, and Observations

But now, God knows, Anything Goes!

(1) — three records

Anything Goes! (lyrics)
by Cole Porter
https://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/anythinggoes/anythinggoes.htm

Ella Fitzgerald – Anything Goes (Verve Records 1956)
We believe that the best version of this song, is this one.
Click on the link to listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NTO2n35Xo0

Library of Congress
Plymouth Rock, Plymouth, Mass. digital file from original
https://www.loc.gov/resource/stereo.1s13324/
Note: For the stereo scope image, circa 1925.

Plymouth Rock

(2) — eight records

History.com
The Real Story Behind Plymouth Rock
by Christopher Klein
https://www.history.com/news/the-real-story-behind-plymouth-rock
Note: For much of the text. Thanks Chris!

Colonial Quills
Saving Plymouth Rock
Massacusetts, Landing at Plymouth 1620
https://colonialquills.blogspot.com/2014/12/saving-plymouth-rock.html
Note: For the boat landing artwork.

The long history of Plymouth Rock in images,
with the five references which follow—
Memorial Housing the Plymouth Rock, Plymouth, Massachusetts
by E. Mote
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/memorial-housing-the-plymouth-rock-plymouth-massachusetts-147875
Note: For the Roman temple-like image which houses the Plymouth Rock.

Library of Congress
Where the pilgrims landed, Plymouth Rock and Cole’s Hill, Plymouth, Mass., U.S.A.
https://www.loc.gov/item/2018649923/
Note: For the wharf image.

Library of Congress
Plymouth Rock, in front of Pilgrim Hall, ‘1834’ b&w film copy neg.
https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3b43231/
Note: For the painted 1620 numerals image.

Mediastorehouse.com
Mayflower passengers landing at Plymouth Rock, 1620
https://www.mediastorehouse.com/north-wind-picture-archives/american-history/mayflower-passengers-landing-plymouth-rock-1620-5877623.html
Note: For the disembarking passengers image.

The Historical Marker Database
1. Plymouth Rock Marker
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=2896
Note: For the photograph.

The Landing of the Pilgrims
by Henry Bacon, circa 1877
File:The Landing of the Pilgrims (1877) by Henry A. Bacon.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Landing_of_the_Pilgrims_(1877)_by_Henry_A._Bacon.jpg
Note: For the painting image.

English Clothing in the 1620s: Not What You Think

(3) — five records

Plimoth Patuxet Museums
What to Wear?
English Clothing in the 1620s: Not What You Think
https://plimoth.org/for-students/homework-help/what-to-wear
Note: For the text.

George Soule History
Colony Lifestyle: Clothing
https://georgesoulehistory.wordpress.com/tag/mayflower/
Note 1: For the adapted text.
Note 2: Furthermore, it appear that this text above was adapted (or vice-versa), from:
What Did the Pilgrims Wear?
by Rebecca Beatrice Brooks
https://historyofmassachusetts.org/what-did-pilgrims-wear/

A Puritan Woman, About 1640 and A Puritan Man, About 1640.
These cards are from WD & HO Wills, a British tobacco company founded in 1786. (The series is from 1929, English Period Costumes).
Notes: Sources vary. For some of the text, see: https://tommies-militaria-and-collectables.myshopify.com/collections/wd-ho-wills-cigarette-cards For the card images; Google searches, such as: https://www.breakoutcards1.co.uk/a-puritan-woman-about-1640-24-english-period-costumes-1929-wills-card

The Everyday Life of The Settlers

(4) — three records

Smithsonian Magazine
Why the Myths of Plymouth Dominate the American Imagination
by Karin Wulf
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-myths-plymouth-dominate-american-imagination-180976396/
Note: For the text.

Interview of Samoset With The Pilgrims, book engraving
by Artist unknown, circa 1853
File:Interview of Samoset with the Pilgrims.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interview_of_Samoset_with_the_Pilgrims.jpg
Note: For the image of Interview of Samoset With The Pilgrims

Granger Art On Demand
Woodcut engraving of 17th Century New England Cod-fishing
https://grangerartondemand.com/featured/cod-fishing-17th-century-granger.html
Note: For the illustration. Woodcut engraving, American, 1876.

New England’s Great Migration Had Started

(5) — three records

A Map of New England and New York
by John Speed, circa 1676
https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/33805/a-map-of-new-england-and-new-york-speed
Note: For the map image.

Alexandre Antique Prints, Maps & Books
John Speed
A Map of New England and New York.
https://www.alexandremaps.com/pages/books/M8290/john-speed/a-map-of-new-england-and-new-york
Note: For the history of the John Speed map.“It depicts the territories acquired by the British with the capture of New Amsterdam in 1664, which changed European influence in the colonies from the Dutch to the English.. It is the first appearance of name Boston, and the first map to use the term New York for both Manhattan and the colony.”
Note: For the text.

American Ancestors
New England’s Great Migration
by Lynn Fetlock
https://www.americanancestors.org/new-englands-great-migration
Note: For the text.

Let’s Put A Pin In That (Place) Name!

(6) — four records

Dreamstime
A map of Plymouth, Massachusetts marked with a push pin
https://www.dreamstime.com/map-plymouth-massachusetts-marked-push-pin-image138326844
Note: For the map image.

Of Plymouth Plantation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Plymouth_Plantation#:~:text=Of%20Plymouth%20Plantation%20is%20a,the%20colony%20which%20they%20founded.
Note: For the text.

The Enterprise
Why was Plimoth Plantation changed to Plimoth Patuxet Museums?
https://eu.enterprisenews.com/story/news/history/2024/03/21/why-was-plimoth-plantation-changed-to-plimoth-patuxet-museums/72710390007/
Note: For the text.

File: Plimoth Plantation 2002.JPG
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plimoth_Plantation_2002.JPG
Note: For contemporary photograph of the Plimoth Patuxet site.

William Bradford’s 1620 Sketch of Plymouth

(7) — six records

The Plymouth Colony Archive Project
Bradford’s 1620 Sketch of Plymouth
http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/1620map.html
Note: For the map image.

Stagge-Parker Histories
George Soule 1600-1679
https://stagge-parker.blogspot.com/2009/05/george-soule.html
Note: For the map image.

File:Map of early Plymouth MA home lots.png
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_early_Plymouth_MA_home_lots.png#mw-jump-to-license
Note: For the map image.

Genealogy Bank
April 2022 Newsletter
Mayflower Descendants: Who’s Who, Part 14
by Melissa Davenport Berry
https://www.genealogybank.com/newsletter-archives/202204/mayflower-descendants-who’s-who-part-14
Note 1: For the map image.
Note 2: This map was originally published in “The Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas), 21 November 1966, page 25.” Original file name: arkansas-gazette-newspaper-1121-1966-plymouth-map.jpg

File:Plimoth Plantation farm house.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plimoth_Plantation_farm_house.jpg
Note: 2009 photo of a Pilgrim House, (George Soule and Mary Soule’s) from Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA.
Note: For the Soule house image.

Axiom Images, Aerial Stock Photos
https://www.axiomimages.com/aerial-stock-photos/view/AX143_108.0000260
Note: Borrowed as the background image of the Plimoth Patuxet site > The Plimoth Plantation museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts Aerial Stock Photo AX143_107.0000194

Leyden Street

(8) — four records

Phys.org
Researchers find evidence of original 1620 Plymouth settlement
https://phys.org/news/2016-11-evidence-plymouth-settlement.html
Note: For the text.

Leyden Street
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyden_Street
Note: For the stereographic photo and caption.

See Plymouth Massachusetts
Learn the True Story of the Pilgrims Along the Mayflower Trail —
Leyden Street
https://seeplymouth.com/news/learn-the-true-story-of-the-pilgrims-along-the-mayflower-trail/#:~:text=Leyden%20Street&text=After%20disembarking%20from%20the%20Mayflower,Thanksgiving%20was%20likely%20held%20nearby.
Note: For the text.

(Contemporary) Waterfront Visitors Center Map
https://seeplymouth.com/travel-guides/
Then use this link: https://seeplymouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DP-001-24_2024_Map.pdf
Note: To document the location of the Plimoth Patuxet site in relation to contemporary downtown Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The Pilgrims — A Mayflower Voyage

This is Chapter Four of seven. Finally, after many troubles, both Pilgrim Soule and Pilgrim Doty board the Mayflower and sail with the Saints and Strangers to the New World. As we learned in the chapter The Pilgrims — Colonial Pursuits, several European nations in the 15th and 16th centuries were seeking to exploit the resources available in the New World. They just needed good maps to guide them on their various quests.

Samuel de Champlain, Explorer and Cartographer

One of the most famous early explorers and cartographers was the Frenchman, Samuel de Champlain (1574 — 1635). “He made between 21 and 29 trips across the Atlantic Ocean, [creating] the first accurate coastal map during his explorations [as he] founded various colonial settlements.

Born into a family of sailors, Champlain began exploring North America in 1603, under the guidance of his uncle, François Gravé Du Pont. From 1604 to 1607, he participated in the exploration and creation of the first permanent European settlement north of Florida. Champlain was the first European to describe the Great Lakes, and published maps of his journeys and accounts of what he learned from the natives and the French living among the Natives.” (Wikipedia) (1)

Known as the Port St. Louis map, by Samuel de Champlain, circa 1605. This image shows the Patuxet settlement (the future Plymouth Colony site), before the plague of 1617. Note the depictions of shelters and abundant cornfields. It was included in the book, Les Voyages du Sievr de Champlain Xaintongeois, 1613. (Image courtesy of the Library of Congress).

Reliable Maps Were Difficult To Come By

“On March 3, 1614, Captain John Smith set sail for Monhegan Island, a rocky outcrop ten miles off the coast of Maine. The spot was popular for fishing, and the funders of Smith’s voyage expected fresh whale on his return. When Smith and the crew of his two whaling ships landed in what was then called Northern Virginia that April, however, they found rorqual and finback whales to be painfully difficult to catch. To make the trip worthwhile, most of the men fished and traded furs, while Smith and eight other shipmates explored the shore.

Smith quickly discerned that the half-dozen maps of the region he had in his possession were useless, saying that they ‘so unlike each to other; and most so differing from any true proportion, or resemblance of the Countrey [sic], as they did mee [sic] no more good, then so much waste paper, though they cost me more.’

With a humble set of surveying tools—a crude compass, astrolabe, sextant, a lead line to measure depth, a quill pen and paper—they gathered notes for their very own map of what Smith named ‘New England.’ The official map was published alongside Smith’s book, A Description of New England, in 1616.” (Smithsonian)

Captain John Smith’s map of New England, published in 1616. (Image courtesy of Smithsonian).

Many writers feel that the Pilgrims almost certainly had access to the map of New England published by Captain John Smith in 1616. An interesting fact: Some people have assumed that the Pilgrims named Plymouth after the English port city they knew in England. Actually, John Smith had already named the area New Plimouth on his 1616 map. “John Smith had studied the region… he even offered to guide the Pilgrim leaders. They rejected his services as too expensive and carried his guidebook along instead.” (Lies My Teacher Told Me – LMTTM)

An 19th century depiction of the Pilgrim Fathers leaving Delfshaven on their voyage to America. (Image courtesy of History Extra).

Observation: Recalling that two of the concerns which the Pilgrims had when they chose to leave Leyden, Holland, were these: Losing their English culture, and losing their religious viewpoint (their worldviews), to Dutch influence, to Dutch language, and to that culture. Did these ideas in any way influence the possibility that New Amsterdam needed to be avoided? It turns out that this observation is true — “The [Pilgrim] congregation obtained a land patent from the Plymouth Company in June 1619. They had declined the opportunity to settle south of Cape Cod in New Amsterdam because of their desire to avoid the Dutch influence.” (Wikipedia) (2)

But What Destination Exactly Were The Pilgrims Supposed To Sail To?

“In 1620, Virginia extended far beyond its current boundaries and the Mayflower was originally meant to land at its ‘northern parts,’ specifically the Hudson River. When the Mayflower attempted to sail around Cape Cod to reach the Hudson, contrary winds and dangerous shoals forced the ship to turn around and instead anchor in modern day Provincetown Harbor.” (The Mayflower Society)

Was something fishy going on?
“The textbooks say the Pilgrims intended to go to Virginia, where there existed a British settlement already. But “the little party on the Mayflower”, explains American History, “never reached Virginia. On November 9, they sighted land on Cape Cod.” How did the Pilgrims wind up in Massachusetts when they set out for Virginia? “Violent storms blew their ship off course,” according to some textbooks; others blame an “error in navigation.” Both explanations may be wrong. Some historians believe the Dutch bribed the captain of the Mayflower to sail north so the Pilgrims would not settle near New Amsterdam. Others hold that the Pilgrims went to Cape Cod on purpose.

Bear in mind that the Pilgrims numbered only about 35 of the 102 settlers aboard the Mayflower; the rest were ordinary folk seeking their fortunes in the new Virginia colony. Author George Willison [of Saints and Strangers book fame] has argued that the Pilgrim leaders, wanting to be far from Anglican control, never planned to settle in Virginia. According to Willison, they intended a hijacking.” (LMTTM)

The Virginia Company of Plymouth managed the northern section (in yellow), which was much larger than what is shown here. The Virginia Company of London was responsible for the southern section shown in blue. The yellow rectangle designates overlapped responsibility. Competition between the two branches with overlapping territory was intended to motivate efficient settlement.

We have some observations about “something fishy” going on —
Observation 1: Despite what history textbooks say about bad weather hampering their voyage, the Pilgrims still spent about six weeks exploring the coastline along what eventually became the Massachusetts Colony. Even back then, that is a long time to sail up and down the coast line. Suspicious? Perhaps, but the evidence is soft.

Observation 2: Virginia was quite a vast area at that time. Perhaps some writers get confused about what was actually designated as Virginia. The northern area where the Pilgrims settled, was still technically Virginia territory; it was just the very, very outer reaches of Virginia in 1620. Boundaries then were still in flux in North America. As such, this caused many disputes among both nations and their colonizers.

The Pilgrims Patent was in question because of this, and it was a fundamental reason why the Mayflower Compact was crafted. The definition of what was constituted as Virginia and as English territory, settled out in the decades after the Pilgrims landed, and was fully resolved as England gained more control of the area.

Observation 3: Despite their charter, they actually settled quite north of the Hudson River. The Dutch were slowly building strong militarized influence near the Hudson River. Since the Pilgrims had just left Leyden, they wanted to steer completely clear of anything Dutch, their culture, their language, their influences, etc.

Observation 4: Jamestown was further south, in the area that was shared by another charter, so why not go there? At this time, Jamestown was still a tough, difficult colony. If the Pilgrims thought Leyden was wrong for their families, then tales of the many struggles in Jamestown (cannibalism!), probably made going there out of the question. And, it was also a place named after someone who for years had worked actively against their safety and beliefs. So that was not a real possibility either.

What choices did they actually have? Perhaps they intended a hijacking, but it is also plausible that they just couldn’t sail south. (3)

The Mayflower — A Merchant Ship

“The Mayflower was [newly] built shortly before its purchase in 1608. Experts estimate that the length of the deck was between 80 and 90 feet and that the ship was 24 feet at its widest ” (Family Search)

“The Mayflower is first recorded in 1609, at which time it was a merchant ship travelling to Baltic ports, most notably Norway. It was at that time owned by Christopher Nichols, Richard Child, Thomas Short, and Christopher Jones II. The ship was about 180 tons, and rested in Harwich. In its early years it was employed in the transportation of tar, lumber, and fish; and possibly did some Greenland whaling. Later on in its life, it became employed in Mediterranean wine and spice trading.

In 1620, Thomas Weston assisted by John Carver and Robert Cushman, hired the Mayflower and the Speedwell to undertake the voyage to plant a colony in Northern Virginia. Christopher Jones was the captain of the Mayflower when it took the Pilgrims to New England in 1620.” (Rootsweb)

 Mayflower II on Her Sailing Trials in the Waters Off Brixham, South Devon, April 1957
by Montague Dawson. (Image courtesy of Bonhams).

“The Mayflower set sail for home on April 5, 1621, arriving back May 6, 1621. The ship made a few more trading runs, to Spain, Ireland, and lastly to France. However, Captain Christopher Jones died shortly thereafter, and was buried March 5, 1621 or 1622, in Rotherhithe, Surrey, England. The ship lay dormant for about two years, at which point it was appraised for probate.

This probate inventory is the last record of the Mayflower. The ship was not in very good condition, being called “in ruinis” in a 1624 High Court of Admiralty record (HCA 3/30, folio 227) written in Latin. Ships in that condition were more valuable as wood (which was in shortage in England at the time), so the Mayflower was most likely broken apart and sold as scrap.” (Rootsweb)

“After 1624, the Mayflower disappeared from maritime records. Several places in England claim to have a piece of the original ship, but there is no historical proof to support these claims.” (Orange County Register – OCR) (4)

Embarkation of the Pilgrims by Robert Walter Wier, 1857. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia).

Saints, and Strangers, and Pilgrims, and Debts…

At the time, the definition “of who was a Pilgrim was much narrower than it is today. On board the 1620 voyage of the Mayflower to the New World were 102 passengers and 30 crew.” Not Everyone on the Mayflower was a Pilgrim.

The Saints
Of the passengers, 40 or so comprised a band of English seekers of religious independence [religious Separatists, also sometimes called Brownists], These religious people – whose journey to the New World began in Leiden, Holland – referred to themselves as Saints, and to the others – who boarded in Southampton, England — as Strangers.

The Strangers
These passengers are identified as people who were sympathetic to the cause of the Saints, but not necessarily people who shared their exact, specific viewpoint on faith. Some of them were Adventurers, who had contracted with the merchant Thomas Weston (1584-1647), for a ship to take them to the New World. Weston had enlisted some of the Strangers to assist the Separatists in establishing a colony and turning a profit for the investors who financed the expedition.

The Pilgrims
Later in time, William Bradford [the Colony Governor, who once referred to] the so-called Saints as Pilgrims, from an Old Testament reference, and the name eventually stuck. During the bicentennial celebration in 1820 of the founding of Plymouth, the term Pilgrim was broadened to include all of the Mayflower passengers. “The English term ‘pilgrim’ originally comes from the Latin word peregrinus (per, through + ager, field, country, land), which means a foreigner, a stranger, someone on a journey, or a temporary resident”. (University of York)

From the Virginia Historical Society, An example of an Indentured servant agreement
from July 31, 1627. (Image courtesy of Bridgeman Images).

The Indentured Servants
“Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. Between one-half and two-thirds of European immigrants to the American Colonies between the 1630s and the American Revolution came under indentures. The contract [is called an] ‘indenture’, [and] may be entered voluntarily for a prepaid lump sum, as payment for some good or service (e.g. travel), purported eventual compensation, or debt repayment.

Historically, in an apprenticeship, an apprentice worked with no pay for a master tradesman to learn a trade. This was often for a fixed length of time, usually seven years or less. Apprenticeship was not the same as indentureship”.

The Pilgrims started out deeply in debt —
“Seeking the right to worship as they wished, the Pilgrims had signed a contract with the Virginia Company to settle on land near the Hudson River, which was then part of northern Virginia.” (History.com / Mayflower Compact))

“To pay for the journey to America, the Pilgrims took a loan for 1,700 pounds. This was an astronomical sum of money, considering the average day’s wage back then was 10 pence. To repay the loan, the Pilgrims signed a legal contract called an indenture, which obligated them to work for seven years, six days a week, harvesting furs and cod. However, more than half the Pilgrims died from the bitter cold the first winter.” (OCR)

The Pilgrims were finally able to erase their debt to the Merchant Adventurers by 1648. (NY NJ PA Weather – NYNJPA) (5)

However, before we sail, here are some statistics about those who were on board. Of the 132 people on board —

The Julian Calendar Versus The Gregorian Calendar

An important understanding about calendars —
We have come across this important bit of information which we would like to share — When original sources are cited by some writers, it’s important to verify if they are citing dates that make sense with the calendar that is in use today. At the historical time of this journey, two calendars were in use. (Many writers do not realize this error).

“Simply put, the Mayflower passengers used a different calendar than we do now. According to their old-style
Julian calendar,
the Mayflower departed England on September 6, 1620.
However, the actual anniversary of their departure,
according to the Gregorian calendar we use today,
was September 16, 1620.”

Tamura Jones, for
Vita Brevis, Mayflower Myths 2020


“When the Pilgrims lived in Leiden, [known as the Low Countries] the Dutch were using the Gregorian calendar, while the English were still using the Julian calendar.” The difference is about ten days.

“The Julian calendar is named after Julius Caesar, who introduced it as a reform of the Roman calendar. The Gregorian calendar is named after Pope Gregorius XIII, who introduced it as a reform of the Julian calendar. Henry VIII had thumbed his nose at the Pope by creating the Anglican Church, with the English head of state as the head of the Anglican Church. The English monarch was not going to jump at some papal decision. Great Britain and the many English colonies kept using the Julian calendar till 1751.” (Vita Brevis)

Note: In the following section, we have corrected the calendar dates to correspond to the Gregorian calendar we use today. (6)

This map and two others below are from the Oklahoma Society of Mayflower Descendants. (See footnotes).

The Speedwell and The Mayflower

“The Pilgrim’s arduous journey to the New World technically began on August 1, 1620, when a large group of colonists boarded a ship called the Speedwell in the Dutch port city of Delfshaven. From there, they sailed to Southampton, UK, where they met the rest of the passengers as well as a second ship, the Mayflower. The two ships disembarked from Southampton on August 15 with hopes of speedy crossing to northern Virginia.”

The Mayflower and Speedwell in Dartmouth Harbor 
By Leslie Wilcox, circa 1971.

Between August 22 and September 14. through the ports at both Dartmouth and Plymouth, “The Mayflower and Speedwell [had] twice set sail from England and returned because the Speedwell leaked. After the second return, the Speedwell was deemed unseaworthy, although no specific leak was found*. A significant reorganization of the voyage followed. The frustrated and exhausted Pilgrims docked at Plymouth and made the difficult decision to ditch the Speedwell. Some of the Pilgrims also called it quits in Plymouth, but the rest of the passengers and cargo from the Speedwell were transferred to the already overcrowded Mayflower.
*Later it was found to be deliberately sabotaged by the crew who didn’t want to make the long voyage across the ocean on that ship. (NYNJPA)

On September 16, 1620, 102 passengers and 30 crew members crowded on board the Mayflower and set sail again, a month behind schedule. (Some of the passengers had already been living on the ship for one month by this time). They were leaving behind some of the passengers and vital supplies and would be crossing the Atlantic Ocean at the height of the storm season.

The Mayflower was a modest merchant ship built to carry crew and cargo. It had no passenger cabins, beds, dining rooms, or toilets. It also had very little ventilation. The passengers stayed on the gun deck, which measured about five feet tall (152.4 centimeters), preventing anyone taller than that from standing upright. At that time, all ships were cargo ships; the concept of passenger ships would not emerge for another two hundred years.

On November 21, the ship sighted American land, and the passengers rejoiced. However, as they approached the upper end of Cape Cod, they realized they were north of the area where King James had authorized them to settle. (This is the day when they signed The Mayflower Compact). After deliberating with the shipmaster, the Mayflower changed direction to sail south along the coast to its intended destination.

​Within a day, joy turned to terror as treacherous shallow waters and crashing waves threatened to splinter the ship. They could not continue south. Harsh winter weather was upon them, food and drink supplies were nearly gone, and passengers and crew were ill and dying. Having no choice, they reversed their course and sailed back to Cape Cod to look for a place to settle.

The Mayflower anchored at Provincetown. The long voyage was eventful. A baby was born, [They named him Oceanus Hopkins], a young passenger died [William Butten], a main mast cracked and fell during a storm, casting doubt on the ship’s fate until its repair; and a male passenger [John Howland]* fell overboard, requiring a dramatic rescue. In addition, the seas were often stormy, and the relentlessly cold and wet passengers suffered from seasickness, scurvy, dehydration, and hunger.

*Comment: “Howland not only made it to America and worked off his indenture, but married a pretty young woman in the new colony named Elizabeth Tilley. They produced ten children, who begat 88 grandchildren, from whom an estimated two million Americans descended over the next four centuries. These included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Joseph Smith, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Humphrey Bogart, Chevy Chase, and both Presidents Bush.” (National Endowment For The Humanities – NEFTH) (7)

Man overboard!
John and Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland should be proud of these four grandchildren,
if not many more of their two million (and counting) descendants.
From left to right: Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet and essayist; Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
32nd President of the United States; Humphrey Bogart, Hollywood legend;
and George H.W. Bush, 41st President of the United States.

What Was The Mayflower Compact?

When Pilgrims and other settlers set out on the ship for America in 1620, they intended to lay anchor in northern Virginia. But after treacherous shoals and storms drove their ship off course, the settlers landed in Massachusetts instead, near Cape Cod, outside of Virginia’s jurisdiction.

“English colonies at the time required “patents” – documents granted by the King or authorized companies which gave permission to settle at a particular place.  Since the Mayflower passengers had obtained a patent for Virginia, when they instead landed in New England this patent was no longer valid.” (The Mayflower Society)

Comment: See Observation 2 (from above) under the section, But What Destination Exactly Were The Pilgrims Supposed To Sail To?

The Mayflower at Sea, by John Clark Ridpath. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

Tensions arose on board the ship, and discord began before the colonists even left the ship. The strangers argued the Virginia Company contract was void. They felt since the Mayflower had landed outside of Virginia Company territory, they were no longer bound to the company’s charter. The defiant strangers refused to recognize any rules since there was no official government over them. Pilgrim leader William Bradford later wrote, ‘several strangers made discontented and mutinous speeches.’ (BBC)

[The strategy of the Pilgrim leaders was to] to quell the rebellion before it took hold. After all, establishing a New World colony would be difficult enough without dissent in the ranks. The Pilgrims knew they needed as many productive, law-abiding souls as possible to make the colony successful. With that in mind, they set out to create a temporary set of laws for ruling themselves as per the majority agreement.

On November 11, 1620 [November 21 on our Gregorian Calendar], 41 adult male colonists signed the Mayflower Compact, although it wasn’t called that at the time.

Signing The Mayflower Compact 1620, painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, circa 1899.
(Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

The Mayflower Compact created laws for Mayflower Pilgrims and non-Pilgrims alike for the good of their new colony. It was a short document which established that:

  • The colonists would live in accordance with the Christian faith.
  • The colonists would remain loyal subjects to King James, despite their need for self-governance.
  • The colonists would create and enact “laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices…” for the good of the colony, and abide by those laws. 
  • The colonists would create one society and work together to further it.”
    (History.com)

“The influence of the Mayflower Compact has far outlasted and outgrown the Pilgrims’ original intent. Legally, it was superseded when the Pilgrims obtained a patent from the Council of New England for their settlement at Plimoth in 1621. However, the Compact had already gained symbolic importance in the Pilgrims’ lifetimes, as it was considered important enough to be read at government meetings in Plimoth Colony for many years.” (The Mayflower Society)

The text of the Mayflower Compact was published as early as 1622, (see Mourt’s Relation below). However, the names of the signatories of that document were not published for many years due to fears of political retaliation against them. Both of our ancestors, Pilgrim George Soule and Pilgrim Edward Doty, were signers. (8)

Front cover for Mourt’s Relation —“Erroneously attributed to fellow settler George Morton, scholars now believe the work to be written by Edward Winslow with contributions from William Bradford. Their names are not quoted as authors to avoid the association of the new settlement with fugitive Brownist separatists – a fact that could spell trouble for the fledgling colony.” ((VTHMB)

Mourt’s Relation

“The earliest text detailing the settlement of New Plymouth is known as Mourt’s Relation or ‘A Relation or Journal of the Beginning and Proceedings of the English Plantation Settled at Plimoth in New England’ (1622). The manuscript was carried out of New Plymouth by Robert Cushman, Chief Agent in London for the settlers, on board the Fortune in 1621. When Mourt’s Relation was sold in John Bellamy’s London bookshop in the 1620s, its readers could have scarcely imagined this would become one of the most well-known texts in American history.

Perhaps the most significant feature of Mourt’s Relation is its inclusion of ‘The Mayflower Compact’: the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. Signed on November 21, 1620 (prior to landing), the text gave a legal framework of government to the eventual settlement.” (Voyaging Through History, the Mayflower and Britain – VTHMB) (9)

An image of the original handwritten page of Governor William Bradford’s history Of Plimoth Plantation. In the footnotes, we have added an exact, line-by-line transcription with the original spelling and punctuation. (The words of the text have not been modernized). 

Being thus arrived in a good harbor…

There is only one primary source account existing which describes the events while the Mayflower was at sea. It was written by Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford in his History of Plymouth Plantation. It concludes with this dramatic passage:

Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element. And no marvel if they were thus joyful, seeing wise Seneca was so affected with sailing a few miles on the coast of his own Italy; as he affirmed, that he had rather remain twenty years on his way by land, then pass by sea to any place in a short time; so tedious and dreadful was the same unto him. (10)

Top image: Frontispiece for the History of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford
(this edition), circa 1890. Background image: The first page of his original document,
Of Plimoth Plantation. (See footnotes).

What Was It Like to Live on the Mayflower Gun Deck?

Writer Jeff Goertzen describes it pretty gruesomely — “You’re crammed in a room, shoulder to shoulder with 100 other passengers. [The distance from the floor to the ceiling was only five feet (152.4 centimeters) — so anyone taller than that, was constantly bent over].*

It’s dark. It smells. It’s wet and very cold. There’s no privacy. No bathrooms. Your meals are pitiful — salted meat and a hard, dry biscuit. [hardtack biscuits] You, and people around you are sick, because the room is rocking side to side. There’s no fresh water and no change of clean clothes. In essence, you‘re trapped because land is thousands of miles away. These conditions seem inhumane, but this was the Mayflower, the Pilgrims’ only means of transportation to a better life in the New Land.

*Observation: (Looking at you artist Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, circa 1899). Many artists like you have painted scenes inside of the Mayflower (gun deck) showing fabulous amounts of head space, lots of light, healthy, noble looking voyagers, etc. We surmise that this made the paintings more palatable to your patrons, rather than realistic looking scenes of seasick people slightly hunched over in the dark?

Of the passengers, most of the men had been farmers and were used to working long, hard hours. But on the ship, they spent most of their time reading or playing board games. The men also met to talk about the journey and plans for their new home. The women: On the ship, women cared for the children, prepared the meals, and sewed clothes. Women were expected to obey their husbands, so they never questioned their decision to go to the New World. Of the children, there were 41 minors on board the Mayflower. Only ten were girls. The older girls helped care for the younger children and there was no place for them to play.” (OCR)

Amazing, isn’t it? We wonder which sizes they eventually had at the first Thanksgiving celebration. (Image modified from Quora clip art).

From Quora: “The Puritans [actually the Pilgrims] brought more beer than water on the Mayflower. They carried 42 tons [tun or tonne] of beer (in contrast to only 14 tons of water) and 10,000 gallons of wine. The beverage of choice for many extended voyages was beer. The casks of fresh water tended to go “off” during long storage. Even on land, water was questionable as a potable drink — sometimes even dangerous. Young children were often given beer to drink as their daily beverage. The brews weren’t necessarily crafted with an eye toward imbibing alcohol; they were actually carried to avoid the water on board the ship.”

Observation: So understandably, beer was the beverage of choice. Thus, as in other earlier historical periods — before there was reliable, clean, fresh water available for people to drink — everyone drank fermented beverages. The microorganisms of the beer-making process rendered the beverage safe, and even the children drank beer. However, we have pondered just how much they could have drunk on a voyage like this — not too much we gather, because the ship was always heaving too and fro.

The Mayflower was originally a merchant ship that transported goods across the English Channel. It’s “castle-like” structures fore and aft (front and back) of the ship were designed to protect the crew from the elements. This made it very difficult to sail against the North Atlantic westerly winds, which is why it took more than two months to complete the journey.

  1. Poop house: Despite this name, this was the living quarters for the Captain, and the higher ranking crew.
  2. Cabin: The general sleeping quarters for the Mayflower’s crew. The 20-30 crewmembers took shifts working the ship and sleeping in this small space.
  3. Steerage Room: Where the pilot steered the Mayflower with a special stick called a whip-staff, which moved the tiller, which then moved the rudder.
  4. Upper Deck: Where the seamen worked and attended to the ship.
  5. Forecastle: Where meals were cooked and the crew’s food supplies were kept.
  6. Capstan: A large apparatus used to lift and lower cargo.
  7. Gun Deck: Where the cannons were located — the ship carried 12 cannons to defend itself against pirates. Also, on merchant ships it was used to hold additional cargo, meaning this is where the ship’s passengers lived day in and day out. Note that there were no windows. All of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower’s journey to the new world lived in this cramped 58 foot x 24 foot space, [which equals 17.6 meters x 7.3 meters]. There was very little privacy and only the occasional opportunity to venture to the top deck to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air.
  8. Cargo Hold: This is where the Pilgrims stored their cargo, which consisted of biscuits, salt, dried beef, salted pork, oats, peas, beer, wheat, clothing, canvas sheets filled with straw bedding, pots and pans, utensils, and tools for building and farming. (OCR) (11)
The Mayflower II from Britannica.

The Pilgrims have finally made it to America, but it is late and Winter was arriving — but truthfully, it had already started! In the next chapter, we are going to write about their initial arrival and life at the Plimoth Plantation.

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, 
Notes, and Observations

Samuel de Champlain, Explorer and Cartographer

(1) — three records

Samuel de Champlain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_de_Champlain
Note: For the text.

Library of Congress
Les voyages dv sievr de Champlain Xaintongeois,
capitaine ordinaire pour le Roy, en la marine. Divisez en devx livres.
ou, Iovrnal tres-fidele des observations faites és descouuertures
de la Nouuelle France
by Samuel de Champlain, circa 1605
https://www.loc.gov/item/22006274/
Book page: 80, Digital page: 112/436
Note: For the book frontipiece and credits.
and
Plimoth Patuxet Museums
Port St. Louis (map)
https://plimoth.org/yath/unit-1/port-st-louis
Note: For the text and map.

Reliable Maps Were Difficult To Come By

(2) — three records

Smithsonian Magazine
John Smith Coined the Term New England on This 1616 Map
by Megan Gambino
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/john-smith-coined-the-term-new-england-on-this-1616-map-180953383/
Note: For the text and the map image.

(LMTTM)
Lies My Teacher Told Me
by James W. Loewen
https://www.google.pt/books/edition/Lies_My_Teacher_Told_Me/5m23RrMeLt4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover
Book pages: 70-92
Note: For Chapter 3: “The Truth About The First Thanksgiving”

History Extra
(The official website for BBC History Magazine)
Your Guide to the Pilgrim Fathers, plus 6 interesting facts
https://www.historyextra.com/period/stuart/pilgrim-fathers-facts-history-mayflower-who-why-leave-religion-new-world/
Note: For the 19th century image of the Pilgrims leaving Delft.

But What Destination Exactly Were The Pilgrims Supposed To Sail To?

(3) — four records

The Mayflower Society
The Mayflower Compact
https://themayflowersociety.org/history/the-mayflower-compact/
Note: For the text.

(LMTTM)
Lies My Teacher Told Me
by James W. Loewen
https://www.google.pt/books/edition/Lies_My_Teacher_Told_Me/5m23RrMeLt4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover
Book pages: 70-92
Note: For Chapter 3: “The Truth About The First Thanksgiving”

Plymouth Colony
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Colony
Note: For the text.

Virginia Company
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Company
Note: For the text and map.

The Mayflower — A Merchant Ship

(4) — five records

Take a Virtual Tour of the Mayflower
by Jessica Grimaud
https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/virtual-tour-mayflower-ship
Note: For some dimensions of the Mayflower in 1608.

Mayflower
by Rootsweb Author, kee46@msn.com  
https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ahopkins/cushman/mayflowe.htm
Note: For the text.

Mayflower II on Her Sailing Trials in the Waters
Off Brixham, South Devon, April 1957
by Montague Dawson, (British, 1890-1973)
https://www.bonhams.com/auction/23272/lot/54/montague-dawson-british-1890-1973-mayflower-ii-on-her-sailing-trials-in-the-waters-off-brixham-south-devon-april-1957-together-with-ramseys-book-montague-dawson-rsma-frsa-the-greatest-sea-painter-in-the-world/
Note: For the ship image.

Embarkation of the Pilgrims
by Robert Walter Wier, 1857
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Robert_Walter_Weir_-_Embarkation_of_the_Pilgrims_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
Note: For the painting image.

Orange County Register
How 102 Pilgrims Crammed Inside the Mayflower
a Year Before Their First Thanksgiving
by Jeff Goertzen
https://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/20/ahead-of-thanksgiving-day-2017-a-look-back-inside-the-mayflower/amp/
Note: For the text.

Saints, and Strangers, and Adventurers, and Debts…

(5) — six records

The University of York
Pilgrims and Pilgrimage
https://www.york.ac.uk/projects/pilgrimage/intro.html
Note: For text regarding the definition of Pilgrim.

Indentured servant agreement between Richard Lowther and Edward Lyurd, 31st July 1627 (ink on paper)
https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/american-school/indentured-servant-agreement-between-richard-lowther-and-edward-lyurd-31st-july-1627-ink-on-paper/ink-on-paper/asset/443693
Note: Example document, subtitled as “From the Virginia Historical Society, An example of an Indentured servant agreement from July 31, 1627.”

Indentured Servitude
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentured_servitude
Note: For the text.

History.com
Mayflower Compact
https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/mayflower-compact
Note: For the text.

Orange County Register
How 102 Pilgrims Crammed Inside the Mayflower
a Year Before Their First Thanksgiving
by Jeff Goertzen
https://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/20/ahead-of-thanksgiving-day-2017-a-look-back-inside-the-mayflower/amp/
Note: For the text.

(NYNJPA)
The Pilgrims Barely Survived Their First Winter At Plymouth
https://nynjpaweather.com/public/2023/11/17/the-pilgrims-barely-survived-their-first-winter-at-plymouth/
Note: For the text.

The Julian Calendar Versus The Gregorian Calendar

(6) — two records

Vita Brevis
Mayflower Myths 2020
by Tamura Jones
https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2020/07/mayflower-myths-2020
Note 1: This reference gives a very precise timeline for the Pilgrims journey from Holland to North America.
Note 2: For information about the differences between the Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar.

Family Search Blog
When Did the Mayflower Land in America? The Answer Might Surprise You!
by  Jessica Grimaud
https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/when-did-mayflower-land-depart

The Speedwell and The Mayflower

(7) — nine records

Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants
The Mayflower and Speedwell in Dartmouth Harbor 
by Leslie Wilcox, circa 1971
https://www.facebook.com/MassMayflowerDesc/photos/a.397753117000504/408962462546236/?type=3
Note: For this rare painting showing the two ships together.

Descriptions of the voyage are combined from these four sources:
(OCR)
Orange County Register
How 102 Pilgrims Crammed Inside the Mayflower
a Year Before Their First Thanksgiving
by Jeff Goertzen
https://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/20/ahead-of-thanksgiving-day-2017-a-look-back-inside-the-mayflower/amp/
Note: For some captions.
and
The Oklahoma Society of Mayflower Descendants
The Voyage
https://www.okmayflower.com/voyage
and
https://www.okmayflower.com/maps-1
Note 1: For the three maps, and the voyage information.
Note 2: We have corrected the dates from this online article to match the Gregorian calendar as per the Vita Brevis footnote above.
and
History.com
The Pilgrims’ Miserable Journey Aboard the Mayflower
by Dave Roos
https://www.history.com/news/mayflower-journey-pilgrims-america
Note: For the text.
and
(Rootsveb)
Mayflower
by Rootsweb Author, kee46@msn.com  
https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ahopkins/cushman/mayflowe.htm
Note: For the text.

AP News
Meet John Howland, A Lucky Pilgrim — and Maybe Your Ancestor
by Mark Pratt
https://apnews.com/general-news-0d370c58d0034038b6a16c3f57c22af4
Note: Show off!

(NYNJPA)
The Pilgrims Barely Survived Their First Winter At Plymouth
https://nynjpaweather.com/public/2023/11/17/the-pilgrims-barely-survived-their-first-winter-at-plymouth/
Note: For the text.

(NEFTH)
The National Endowment For The Humanities
Who Were the Pilgrims Who Celebrated the First Thanksgiving?
by Craig Lambert
https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/novemberdecember/feature/who-were-the-pilgrims-who-celebrated-the-first-thanksgiving
Note: For the text.

What Was The Mayflower Compact?

(8) — four records

BBC
What is the Mayflower and why is it celebrated 400 years later?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/54152197
Note: For the text.

The Mayflower Society
The Mayflower Compact
https://themayflowersociety.org/history/the-mayflower-compact/
Note: For the text.

File:The Mayflower at sea.jpg
by John Clark Ridpath
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Mayflower_at_sea.jpg
Note: From the 1893 textbook, United States; a history: the most complete and most popular history of the United States of America from the aboriginal times to the present day…

File:The Mayflower Compact 1620 cph.3g07155.jpg
Signing The Mayflower Compact 1620
by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, circa 1899
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Mayflower_Compact_1620_cph.3g07155.jpg
Note: For the painting image.

Mourt’s Relation

(9) — two records

(VTHMB)
Voyaging Through History, the Mayflower and Britain
Mourt’s Relation (1622)
https://voyagingthroughhistory.exeter.ac.uk/2020/08/25/mourts-relation-1622/

Caleb Johnson’s Mayflower History.com
The Mayflower Compact
http://mayflowerhistory.com/mayflower-compact
Note: We have included an exact, line-by-line transcription with the original spelling and punctuation. (The words of the text have not been modernized ).

In ye name of God Amen· We whose names are vnderwriten, 
the loyall subjects of our dread soueraigne Lord King James 
by ye grace of God, of great Britaine, franc, & Ireland king, 
defender of ye faith, &c

Haueing vndertaken, for ye glorie of God, and aduancemente 
of ye christian ^faith and honour of our king & countrie, a voyage to 
plant ye first colonie in ye Northerne parts of Virginia· doe 
by these presents solemnly & mutualy in ye presence of God, and 
one of another, couenant, & combine our selues togeather into a 
ciuill body politick; for ye our better ordering, & preseruation & fur=
therance of ye ends aforesaid; and by vertue hearof, to enacte, 
constitute, and frame shuch just & equall lawes, ordinances, 
Acts, constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as shall be thought 
most meete & conuenient for ye generall good of ye colonie:  vnto 
which we promise all due submission and obedience.  In witnes 
wherof we haue herevnder subscribed our names at Cap=
Codd ye ·11· of Nouember, in ye year of ye raigne of our soueraigne 
Lord king James of England, france, & Ireland ye eighteenth 
and of Scotland ye fiftie fourth. Ano: Dom ·1620·| 

Being thus arrived in a good harbor…

(10) — three records

Mayflower
by Rootsweb Author, kee46@msn.com
https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ahopkins/cushman/mayflowe.htm
Note: For the text.

Library of Congress
History of Plymouth Plantation, circa 1890
by William Bradford, 1590-1657
https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.historyofplymout00bra/?st=gallery&c=16
Note: For the cover image.
and
First page of “Of Plimoth Plantation” from a circa 1900 publication.
by William Brewster
File:Of Plimoth Plantation First 1900.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Of_Plimoth_Plantation_First_1900.jpg
Note: For the background image.

What Was It Like to Live on the Mayflower Gun Deck?

(11) — four records

Take a Virtual Tour of the Mayflower
by Jessica Grimaud
https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/virtual-tour-mayflower-ship
Note: For some captions describing various rooms on the 1620 Mayflower.

(OCR)
The Orange County Register
How 102 Pilgrims Crammed Inside the Mayflower
a Year Before Their First Thanksgiving
by Jeff Goertzen
https://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/20/ahead-of-thanksgiving-day-2017-a-look-back-inside-the-mayflower/amp/
Note: For the ship cut away image, and some captions.

Quora
Did settlers really land at Plymouth Rock because they were out of beer?
by James M. Volo
(MA in Military History and Wars , American Military University)
https://www.quora.com/Did-settlers-really-land-at-Plymouth-Rock-because-they-were-out-of-beer
Note: For the text and the image of the barrels chart.

Mayflower ship
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mayflower-ship
Note: For the Mayflower II ship image.

The Pilgrims — Life In Leyden

This is Chapter Three of seven. In this chapter, our ancestors really expand their horizons. They discover what it was like to be an exile in nearby Holland, and also, what it was like to boldly venture much further — to the unknown place in the New World across a great ocean.

In the century before our ancestors sailed on the Mayflower, there was much debate going on within the religious circles of Europe, about individual authority for direct religious experience. It is difficult for many of us today to quite understood how radical these thinkers were. This period was known as the Protestant Reformation and its development helped lead our ancestors (both figuratively and literally) out of the Old World and into a New World.

Martin Luther and the 95 Theses

“The Protestant Reformation was a religious reform movement that swept through Europe in the 1500s. It resulted in the creation of a branch of Christianity called Protestantism, a name used collectively to refer to the many religious groups that separated from the Roman Catholic Church due to differences in doctrine.

Martin Luther posting his 95 theses in 1517, by Ferdinand Pauwels.
(Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

The Protestant Reformation began in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, a teacher and a monk, published a document he called [the] ‘Disputation on the Power of Indulgences, or 95 Theses’. The document was a series of 95 ideas about Christianity that he invited people to debate with him. These ideas were controversial because they directly contradicted the Catholic Church’s teachings.” (National Geographic)

The Spread of Calvinism —
“Written between 1536 and 1539, [John] Calvin’s ‘Institutes of the Christian Religion’ was one of the most influential works of the era. Toward the middle of the 16th century, these beliefs were formed into one consistent creed which would shape the future definition of the Reformed faith. Through Calvin’s missionary work in France, his program of reform eventually reached the French-speaking provinces of the Netherlands.

Reformed theologians believe that God communicates knowledge of himself to people through the Word of God. People are not able to know anything about God except through this self-revelation. (With the exception of general revelation of God; ‘His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse’ [Romans 1:20].) Speculation about anything which God has not revealed through his Word is not warranted.” (Wikipedia)

From left to right: Portrait of Martin Luther, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, circa 1527. Title page to Disputation on the Power of Indulgences, by Martin Luther, circa 1519.
Portrait of John Calvin, by Artist unknown. Title page to Christianae religionis institutio,
by John Calvin, circa 1536. (See footnotes).

The Political Background —
“The Pilgrim migration can be viewed as an aspect of the major changes in church and state throughout Europe which we know as the Renaissance and Reformation and the beginnings of colonialism. The urge to return to an ideal form of the Christian church in conformity with what is described in the New Testament arose from a critical reading of ancient texts which characterized other fields of scholarly enquiry at the time as well. Similar study of the Bible had inspired Martin Luther, Menno Simons,and John Calvin. The state Church of England rejected by the Pilgrims was, however, part of a much larger movement opposed to the religious dominance of Rome and the political dominance of the Catholic Hapsburg Empire.” (Leiden American Pilgrim Museum – LAPM)

The English King “Henry VIII created the Church of England as a religious body unique from the Roman Catholic Church in order to achieve his goal of divorcing his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, in an attempt to remarry and father sons to continue his dynasty. The primary difference between the Catholic Church and the Church of England is that the Catholic Church recognizes the Pope as the Head of the Church, while the Church of England is led by the English monarch as Supreme Head of the Church.” (See footnotes). (1)

James I and England

In 1603, Queen Elizabeth of England was succeeded by James VI and I (James Stuart). He was the King of Scotland, the King of England and the King of Ireland, who faced many complicated religious challenges during his reigns in Scotland and England. For the purposes of this narrative, we are referring to him as James I and focusing solely on England.

Portrait of Jacobus I, 1566-1625, (James I, House of Stuart), by Artist unknown.
(Image courtesy of the Collection Museum Prinsenhof Delft / Loan Mauritshuis, The Hague).
“James I disliked Robert Browne’s followers, who did not care for the episcopal hierarchy of the Anglican state church. The king maintained that God had bestowed upon him his position as absolute ruler, making any criticism of him sacrilege. On James’s orders, the ‘Brownists’, the separatist movement to which the Pilgrims belonged, were fined, imprisoned or banished.”

“On his succession to the English throne in 1603, James was impressed by the church system he found there, which still adhered to an episcopate [the Bishops of the Church of England] and supported the monarch’s position as the head of the church. On the other hand, there were many more Roman Catholics in England than in Scotland, and James inherited a set of penal laws which he was constantly exhorted to enforce against them. Before ascending to the English throne, James had [pledged] that he would not persecute “any that will be quiet and give but an outward obedience to the law,” but he soon reinforced strict penalties against Catholics. Partly triggered by Catholics’ disillusionment with the new King, the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 led to a new wave of anti-Catholicism and even harsher legislation.

James took an interest in the scholarly decisions of [religious] translators, [and] often participated in theological debate. A notable success was the commissioning of a new translation of the Bible, completed in 1611, which became known as the King James… and “Ironically, the most popular translation of that Bible, the King James version, came to be under a monarch who, in a sense, drove the Pilgrims from England.” (Wikipedia) and (National Endowment For The Humanities – NEFTH) (2)

It was one thing to disagree with the church hierarchy, but the political problem was that the head of the Church of England
was also the reigning king. And James I,
was a strong believer in unity when it came to his church;
he had no patience with religious rebels…

“Anyone who separates from the church is not just separating from the church, but they’re separating from royal authority,”
explains Michael Braddick, a historian at the University of Sheffield. “And that’s potentially very dangerous.”

Cited within the article,
Who Were the Pilgrims Who Celebrated the First Thanksgiving?
by Craig Lambert
HUMANITIES, November/December 2015, Volume 36, Number 6

Historic Labels — Identifying Who “The Others” Are

Many historic references cite different terms when referring to the Pilgrims. They were religious non-conformists, who referred to themselves as Saints, not as Pilgrims. Later in time, William Bradford, the Plymouth Colony Governor, once referred to the Saints as Pilgrims, (from an Old Testament reference) and the name eventually stuck. In addition, “The English term ‘pilgrim’ originally comes from the Latin word peregrinus (per, through + ager, field, country, land), which means a foreigner, a stranger, someone on a journey, or a temporary resident”. (University of York)

People who disagreed with their views referred to them as English Dissenters, or Separatists, or (incorrectly) as Puritans, which was initially a pejorative phrase . The Separatists held many of the same beliefs as the Puritans, but “believed that their congregations should separate from the state church, which led to their being labelled Separatists.” In contrast, although they were perceived as similar, the Puritans wanted to work from within the established church framework to purify it from within.

“Pilgrims and Puritans get blended into one big origin story,
when in fact they are different peoples
with different colonies, patents, and perspectives.”

Abram Van Engen,
A History of American Puritan Literature*

*The Puritans “came to the Americas a decade later, in greater numbers, and with far more institutional resources at their disposal. Whereas 102 Pilgrims came over on the Mayflower, 1,000 Puritans came to Boston. Unlike the Pilgrims, the Puritans had an official charter from the King of England to establish a colony and had not separated from the Church of England.” (Washington University)

Finally, Some older texts refer to them as the Brownists. “The Brownists were a Christian group in 16th-century England. They were a group of English Dissenters or early Separatists from the Church of England. They were named after Robert Browne, [of] the 1550s, [and] the terms were used to describe them by outsiders…” (Wikipedia) (3)

1600s Pilgrim Couple Kneeling In Prayer is a painting by Herbert Paus.
(Image courtesy of History.com)

A Radical Notion At The Time

Having a direct experience of God, without intermediaries, was essentially what the Pilgrims sought in their religious beliefs. As such, “The Pilgrims strongly believed that the Church of England, and the Catholic Church, had strayed beyond Christ’s teachings, and established religious rituals, and church hierarchies, that went against the teachings of the Bible. This belief put them at odds with church officials, who in the early years of King James I tried to have them arrested and thrown in jail for refusing to participate in church rituals.”

The Pilgrim church had a number of religious differences with orthodoxy. Here were some of the main points and differences as further explained by Caleb Johnson’s Mayflower History.com —

Predestination 
The Pilgrims believed that before the foundation of the world, God predestined to make the world, man, and all things. He also predestined, at that time, who would be saved, and who would be damned. 

Sacraments and Popery
To the Pilgrims, there were only two sacraments: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The other sacraments of the Church of England and Roman Catholic church (Confession, Penance, Confirmation, Ordination, Marriage, Confession, Last Rites) were inventions of man, had no scriptural basis, and were therefore superstitions — even to the point of being heretical or idolatrous.

Church Hierarchy
The legitimacy of the Pope, the Saints, bishops, and the church hierarchy were rejected, as was the veneration of relics. The church of the Pilgrims was organized around five officers: pastor, teacher, elder, deacon, and deaconess (sometimes called the “church widow”). However, none of the five offices was considered essential to the church. 

Infant Baptism
The Pilgrims believed baptism was the sacrament that wiped away Original Sin, and was a covenant with Christ and his chosen people, and therefore children should be baptized as infants. 

Holy Days and Religious Holidays
The Pilgrims faithfully observed the Sabbath, and did not work on Sunday. Even when the Pilgrims were exploring Cape Cod, they stopped everything and stayed in camp on Sunday to keep the Sabbath. The Pilgrims did not celebrate Christmas and Easter. 

The Geneva (edition of the) Bible, from 1560.
(Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons via The Library of Congress).

Religious Texts
The Pilgrims used the Geneva edition of the Bible, first published in English in 1560. The translation and footnotes of the Geneva Bible were made by early Calvinists more trustworthy to the Pilgrims than the later King James Bible (first published in 1611) whose translation and footnotes were written by the Anglican church hierarchy.”

The red arrow indicates the location of the small village of Scrooby, in Nottinghamshire. From the atlas created by cartographer Christopher Saxton as part of his ‘Atlas of the Counties of England and Wales’ — a project commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I — Lincolnia nottinghamia, Map of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire from 1576. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia).

“Although most Puritans wanted to reform or ‘purify’ the Church of England [from within], a number of groups believed that the Church was irreparable. One such group of Separatists, as they were known, had its roots in the small village of Scrooby, in Nottinghamshire, England. It was in Scrooby, in the year 1607, that a group of people came together to form an illegal separate church after withdrawing from their Anglican parishes. As English citizens were required by law to become members of the Church of England, many of the Scrooby group suffered persecution, in the form of fines and imprisonments.” (See footnotes, The Plymouth Colony Archive Project – TPCAP) (4)

Excerpted detail showing the Village of Scrooby in Nottinghamshire, England. From the atlas created by cartographer Christopher Saxton as part of his ‘Atlas of the Counties of England and Wales.’ (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

William Brewster and the Scrooby Village Congregation

William Brewster is an important figure in the life of our ancestor George Soule. Likely born in 1566 or 1567, probably in Scrooby, Nottinghamshire — he was an educated English official. He was an illustrious figure in the Plymouth community, and became the senior elder and the leader there, by virtue of his education and existing stature with those immigrating from the Netherlands.

“Beginning in 1580, he studied briefly at Cambridge University, before entering the service of William Davison, ambassador to the Netherlands, in 1584, giving him opportunity to hear and see more of reformed religion. [As such] Brewster was the only Pilgrim with political and diplomatic experience. With his mentor Davison in prison*, Brewster had returned home to Scrooby for a time, where he took up his father’s former position as postmaster in 1590.”

Sidebar: Davison was an English diplomat and secretary to Queen Elizabeth I. As a Secretary of some influence, he was active in forging alliances with England’s Protestant friends in Holland and Scotland to prevent war with France. He was involved in the 1587 execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, and was made a scapegoat for this event.

The Old Manor House in Scrooby, by Artist unknown. “Not one to miss details, we suspect that she was probably keeping an eye on things going on at Scrooby.” Illustration of Queen Elizabeth I from Saxton’s ‘Atlas of the Counties of England and Wales.’

Using the manor house at Scrooby was a very brave move for this group of people. At that time, property like this was technically owned by the King, even though the era of manor houses was giving way to one of private country mansions. “The Tudor period (16th century) of stability in England saw the building of the first of the unfortified great houses. During the second half of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and under her successor King James I, the first mansions designed by architects began to make their appearance [and came to] epitomize the English country house.”

“Following the campaign led by Archbishop Bancroft to force puritan ministers out of the Church of England, the Brewsters joined the Brownist church led by John Robinson and Richard Clifton, inviting them to meet in their manor house in Scrooby. Restrictions and pressures applied by the authorities convinced the congregation of a need to emigrate to the more sympathetic atmosphere of Holland, and Brewster organized the removal. Leaving England without permission was illegal at the time, so that departure was a complex matter. On its first attempt, in 1607, the group was arrested at Scotia Creek, but in 1608, Brewster and others were successful in leaving from the Humber,” [on the east coast of northern England]. (Wikipedia) (5)

Fleeing to First to Amsterdam, and Then to Leyden, Holland

“Robinson’s church lived for a year in Amsterdam, but in 1609 one of their fellow Brownist churches there led by John Smyth became the first Baptist church. In the controversy that followed, Robinson and Brewster decided to take their church to Leiden.” (Wikipedia)

Left page only: Permit from the city council of Leyden for 100 Englishmen to be allowed to settle in Leyden, dated February 12, 1609, via Heritage Leiden, Stadsarchief 1574 – 1816. (Image courtesy of Leiden Museum de Lakenhal).

Leyden, or Leiden?
A comment about spelling — the spelling of the city name at the time when the Pilgrims resided there was Leyden (with a y). That is the spelling we prefer to use for this history. However in the present day, the name is spelled Leiden (with an i), which you will see in some quoted contexts.

Images form left to right: “Boats like these sailed from Amsterdam to Leyden.” (Image courtesy of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum). ‘Imagined’ portrait of William Brewster, (Image courtesy of Family Search. The journey from Amsterdam to Leyden. Map of Holland: According to Astronomical Observations, circa 1791. (See footnotes).

“The move to Leiden was carefully prepared. The city’s permission included the statement, now famous, that Leiden ‘refuses no honest people free entry to come live in the city, as long as they behave honestly and obey all the laws and ordinances, and under those conditions the applicants’ arrival here would be pleasing and welcome.’ Putting inaction to fine words, the city refused to denounce the Pilgrims when the British ambassador requested information about them because they were rumored to be banished Brownists. Town officials let it be known that the city had heard nothing of their being either banished or Brownists, but rather that they were honest people of the Reformed religion – and would His Excellency please excuse them to the King in this matter.” (See footnotes, Leiden American Pilgrim Museum – LAPM) (6)

Winter Scene on a Canal, by Hendrick Avercamp, circa 1615. This painting shows typical winter activities that the Pilgrims would have experienced in Amsterdam and Leyden during the years
when they lived there. (Image courtesy of Wikiart.org).

The Brewster Press

The city of Leyden was the second largest in the Netherlands, with around 40,000 people living there by 1620. “Leiden’s city walls had to expand in 1611, when no more houses could be built in the gardens of the older residences. A city extension was carried out all along the northern side of the town. About a third of Leiden’s inhabitants were refugees from Belgium, and among so many thousands of newcomers, the group of 100 Pilgrims arriving in 1609 attracted little attention.”

Map of Leiden, by Pieter Bast, circa 1600.
(Image courtesy of Doopsgezinden en Remonstranten Leiden. See footnotes).

“Brewster lived near St Peter’s church (Dutch: Pieterskerk) in Leiden with his wife and children. He was chosen as assistant and later as an elder to Pastor John Robinson. (He was still an elder when he travelled to Plymouth Colony in 1620).

In Leiden, the group managed to make a living. Brewster had struggled for money in Amsterdam, but in Leiden he taught English to [Calvinist] university students. Leiden was a fountain of academic publishing; and it was again becoming a major artistic center as it had been in the earlier 16th century. When the Pilgrims were in Leiden, the Latin School counted among its pupils Rembrandt van Rijn.” (LAPM)

Leiden Museum de Lakenhal
Perth Assembly, 1619
(Image courtesy of David Calderwood, Leiden University Libraries).
“A year before their departure for America, the Pilgrims published this pamphlet in Leiden. It was immediately banned in England since it criticised royal decisions that had been made during an assembly in Perth, Scotland in 1618. In this pamphlet, the Pilgrims express their dislike of the celebration of Christmas and Easter, the episcopal hierarchy and the practice of kneeling during Holy Communion.”

“Brewster printed and published religious books for sale in England, but they were prohibited there. The press was prolific, printing “seven books against the regime of the Church of England in 1618 alone. In 1618, Brewster’s press published ‘De regimine Ecclesianae Scoticanae’ by Scottish minister David Calderwood, which was highly critical of James I and his government. They followed it up in April 1619 with ‘Perth Assembly.’

King James ordered an international manhunt for the writer and printer, but Brewster went underground. According to historian Stephen Tomkins, Brewster handed himself over to the Dutch authorities, who refused to send him to his death in England and so told James that they had arrested the wrong person and let him go. Tomkins judges that Brewster’s printing operation ‘came close to ruining his church’s plans for America.’ ” (Wikipedia) Clearly, King James I was against minority opinion being shared publicly.

For our ancestor George Soule, most of his future life experiences would be shaped by this period with William Brewster, and his life underground. (See The Soule Line, A Narrative — One). (7)

“The life of man compared to a weaver’s shuttle.”
(Copperstitch according to Adrian van Venne), from: J. Cats “Old age, country life, and court thoughts, on Sorgh-Vliet” Amsterdam, 1656. (Image courtesy of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum).

Pilgrim Occupations in Leyden

With so many refugees living in Leyden, the city welcomed some of them to work at the looms. Leiden American Pilgrim Museum notes, that among the Pilgrims, some worked at other professions —

  • Jonathan Brewster was a merchant who produced ribbon, that he exported to England.
  • Samuel Fuller, the Pilgrims’ physician in Plymouth Colony, was a serge-weaver in Leiden.
  • Myles Standish, the colony’s future military leader, was a soldier.
  • Isaac Allerton, later to become well-known as a merchant and Plymouth Colony’s representative in England, was a tailor in Leiden, a trade he had learned in London. 
  • Edward Winslow assisted William Brewster as a printer, (and significantly for us, had George Soule travel with him on the Mayflower as his Servant).
  • Nicholas Claverley was one of Leiden’s first tobacco-pipe makers, involved with other Englishmen in the tobacco trade that could be found wherever English soldiers were garrisoned. (Note: Nicholas Claverley is recorded as being part of the Pilgrim group in Leyden, but he did not travel on the Mayflower).

“But adults and children alike, who’d been farmers in England, now toiled from dawn to dusk, six or seven days a week, weaving cloth in the textile factories. Even with such hardships, the Pilgrims later regarded their Leiden years as a type of glory days, whose difficulties were nothing compared with the ordeals they faced in America.” (NEFTH) (8)

Family photographs from inside of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum, the Netherlands, November 2023. Located in a beautifully preserved house built circa 1365-1370. (Family photos).

Clockwise from the top: Street views of Beschuitsteeg (Biscuit) Alley), a portrait of Pilgrim Edward Winslow over the fireplace mantle, a view of the storage pantry, the sleeping area*, the museum exterior at the intersection of Beschuitsteeg 9 and Nieuwstraat. *Note: Curiously, in that era, people did not sleep lying down, but instead, slept in a sitting position. Two people and a nursing child would have slept in this nook).

Choosing to Travel to The British Colonies in North America

By 1617, the Separatists were getting anxious to move again. “Their biggest concern after a decade in this foreign land was that their children were becoming Dutch,’ Nathaniel Philbrick, the author of Mayflower explains. ‘They were still very proud of their English heritage. They were also fearful that the Spanish were about to attack again.’

Indeed, a conflict was building between Spain’s Catholic King and European Protestant powers, which would soon embroil the continent in the Thirty Years’ War. Radical Protestants viewed this as a battle between the forces of good (Protestantism) and evil (Roman Catholicism), little short of Armageddon. ‘Everything seemed to be on the edge of complete meltdown,’ Philbrick says. ‘And so they decided it’s time to pull the ripcord once again. Even if it meant leaving everything they had known all their lives.’ ” (NEFTH)

However by then, something had changed, as something had started to shift in their demeanor by living in Leyden, and this affected their views in the future Plymouth Colony —

“They were much more tolerant than people think, particularly for their time,” [Historian Jeremy Bangs] says. ‘They did not require people in the Plymouth Colony to follow Calvinist beliefs. This led to a conscious construction of a society with separation of church and state.’ Bangs, whose extensive research has made him one of the pre-eminent authorities on the Pilgrims, cites a 1645 proposal by the Plymouth Colony leaders that Jews, Catholics, Unitarians and many other sects be accepted in the Plymouth Colony.”

Further, in a Smithsonian magazine interview about her book, The World of Plymouth Plantation, historian Carla Pestana explores Plymouth’s grip on the American historical imagination. She says, “I do think that in Plymouth they tended to be somewhat more tolerant of alternate religious views. Decades later when the Harvard president openly explains that he’s a Baptist and has to leave Massachusetts, he goes to Plymouth. The first Quaker in Massachusetts who gets converted goes to Plymouth. I actually think that’s one reason why Plymouth wins in the sweepstakes for becoming the most important founding moment in the region. They don’t kill witches like Salem. They don’t kill Quakers like Boston. Some of the worst things that people in the late 18th century were starting to be embarrassed about, about their ancestors, didn’t happen in Plymouth.” (Smithsonian, for both Bangs, and Pestana)

We will be writing more about this evolution of their worldviews in the chapter, The Pilgrims — The Native Peoples.

The Departure of the Pilgrim Fathers from Delfshaven on Their Way to America on July 22, 1620.
by Adam Willaerts, circa 1620. When they left Leyden,“They boarded [canal boats] at the Rapenburg, not far from the Pieterskerk and John Robinson’s house.” (Vita Brevis) From there, they sailed to Delfshaven where the Speedwell was waiting to take them to England.
(Image courtesy of The Museum of Fine Arts Boston).

“Brewster and Robinson were the prime movers in the decision to sail for America, but once he was in hiding, the Separatists looked to their deacon John Carver and to Robert Cushman to carry on negotiations with the appropriate officials in London. Brewster returned to the Leiden congregation in 1620, when it was time for the Speedwell to sail to England. He had been hiding out in Netherlands and perhaps even England for the last year. At the time of his return, Brewster was the highest-ranking layman of the congregation and was their designated elder in Plymouth Colony.

When the passengers of the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Colony, Brewster became the senior elder, and so served as the religious leader of the colony in the colony, he became a Separatist leader and preacher, and eventually as an adviser to Governor William Bradford.

As the only university-educated member of the colony, Brewster took the part of the colony’s religious leader until pastor Ralph Smith arrived in 1629. Thereafter, he continued to preach irregularly until his death in April 1644. ‘He was tenderhearted and compassionate of such as were in misery,’ Bradford wrote, ‘but especially of such as had been of good estate and rank and fallen unto want and poverty.’ In 1632, he received lands in nearby Duxbury and removed from Plymouth to create a farm there.”

Our ancestor George Soule, had also done the same. (9)

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, 
Notes, and Observations

Martin Luther and the 95 Theses

(1) — nine records

National Geographic
The Protestant Reformation
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/protestant-reformation/
Note: For the text.

Luther Posting His 95 Theses
by Ferdinand Pauwels
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luther95theses.jpg#file
Note: For the painting.

Reformed Christianity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformed_Christianity
Note: For the text about John Calvin and The Spread of Calvinism.

Nationalmuseum (Stockholm, Sweden)
Martin Luther (portrait)
by Lucas Cranach the Elder, circa 1527
File:Martin Luther (1483-1546) (Lucas Cranach d.ä.) – Nationalmuseum – 22066.tif
https://collection.nationalmuseum.se/sv/collection/item/22066/
Note: For his portrait.

The Huntington Library
Globalizing the Protestant Reformations
[Title page of the]
Disputatio pro declaration virtutis indulgentiarum
(Disputation on the Power of Indulgences)
by Martin Luther, circa 1519
https://huntington.org/verso/globalizing-protestant-reformations
Note: For the book image.

Encyclopædia Britannica
John Calvin (portrait)
by Artist unknown
https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Calvin#/media/1/90247/113479
Note: For his portrait.

[Title page of the]
Christianae religionis institutio
by John Calvin, circa 1536
File:Christianae religionis institutio (1536).jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christianae_religionis_institutio_(1536).jpg
Note: For the book image.

(LAPM)
Leiden American Pilgrim Museum
The Political Background
https://leidenamericanpilgrimmuseum.org/en/page/pilgrim-life-in-leiden-the-political-background
Note: For the text.

The Church of England & Henry VIII | Reformation & Events
https://study.com/academy/lesson/henry-viii-and-the-anglican-church.html#:~:text=Henry%20VIII%20created%20the%20Church,sons%20to%20continue%20his%20dynasty.
Note: For the text from Who created the Church of England and why? and What’s the difference between [the] Catholic [Church] and [the] Church of England?

James I and England

(2) — three records

James VI and I and Religious Issues
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_VI_and_I_and_religious_issues
Note: For the text.

Collection Museum Prinsenhof Delft / Loan Mauritshuis, The Hague
Portrait of Jacobus I, 1566-1625, (James I)
by Artist unknown
https://www.lakenhal.nl/en/story/images-and-credit-lines-pilgrims
Notes: For his portrait.
“James I disliked Robert Browne’s followers, who did not care for the episcopal hierarchy of the Anglican state church. The king maintained that God had bestowed upon him his position as absolute ruler, making any criticism of him sacrilege. On James’s orders, the ‘Brownists’, the separatist movement to which the Pilgrims belonged, were fined, imprisoned or banished.”

(NEFTH)
The National Endowment For The Humanities
Who Were the Pilgrims Who Celebrated the First Thanksgiving?https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/novemberdecember/feature/who-were-the-pilgrims-who-celebrated-the-first-thanksgiving
Notes: For the pull-quote and the text.

Historic Labels — Identifying Who “The Others” Are

(3) — six records

The University of York
Pilgrims and Pilgrimage
The Origins of the Terms ‘Pilgrim’ and ‘Pilgrimage’
https://www.york.ac.uk/projects/pilgrimage/intro.html#:~:text=The%20English%20term%20’pilgrim’%20originally,journey%2C%20or%20a%20temporary%20resident.
Note: For the text that is the Latin definition for Pilgrims.

English Dissenters
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Dissenters
Note: For the text that defines English Dissenters.

Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrims_(Plymouth_Colony)
Note: For the text that defines Separatists.

Washington University Art & Sciences
Pilgrims, Puritans, and the importance of the unexceptional
by John Moore
https://artsci.washu.edu/ampersand/pilgrims-puritans-and-importance-unexceptional
Note: For the text that clarifies the differences between Pilgrims and Puritans, and for the pull-quote by Abram Van Engen.

Brownists
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownists
Note: For the text that defines Brownists.

1600s Pilgrim Couple Kneeling In Prayer
painting by Herbert Paus, via History.com
The Puritans
https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/puritanism
Note: For the illustration of 1600s Pilgrim Couple Kneeling In Prayer.

A Radical Notion At The Time

(4) — four records

Caleb Johnson’s MayflowerHistory.com
Church and Religion
http://mayflowerhistory.com/religion
Note: For the text regarding key beliefs of the Pilgrim congregation.

File:Geneva Bible.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Geneva_Bible.jpg
Note: For the image of the Geneva edition of the Bible, first published in English in 1560.

File:Lincolnia nottinghamia Atlas.jpg
by Christopher Saxton, 1576
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lincolnia_nottinghamia_Atlas.jpg
Note: For the map of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire from 1576. Atlas created by cartographer Christopher Saxton as part of his ‘Atlas of the Counties of England and Wales’. Contains hand-written marginal notes.

(TPCAP)
The Plymouth Colony Archive Project
by J. Jason Boroughs
http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/jbthesis.html
Note: For the text from the section, Background: The colonization of New England.

William Brewster and the Scrooby Village Congregation

(5) — six records

William Brewster (Mayflower passenger)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brewster_(Mayflower_passenger)
Note: For the text.

Scrooby
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrooby
Note: For the text.

Scrooby Manor House (illustration)
by Artist unknown
https://christianheritage.info/places/united-kingdom/east-midlands/bassetlaw/site/scrooby-manor-house/
Note: For the illustration.

Daniel Crouch Rare Books
Saxton’s Seminal Atlas of England and Wales in full original colour, circa 1579
https://crouchrarebooks.com/product/atlas/saxtons-seminal-atlas-of-england-and-wales-in-full-original-colour/
Note: For the image of Queen Elizabeth I.

File:Lincolnia nottinghamia Atlas.jpg
by Christopher Saxton, 1576
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lincolnia_nottinghamia_Atlas.jpg
Note: For the map of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire from 1576. Atlas created by cartographer Christopher Saxton as part of his ‘Atlas of the Counties of England and Wales’. Contains hand-written marginal notes.

Manor House
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manor_house
Note: For text under the section, Decline of the Manor House.

Fleeing to First to Amsterdam, and Then to Leyden, Holland

(6) — six records

William Brewster (Mayflower passenger)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brewster_(Mayflower_passenger)
Note: For the text.

Leiden Museum de Lakenhal
Permit from the city council of Leiden for 100 Englishmen
to be allowed to settle in Leiden, dated 12 February 1609.
Pilgrims to America — And The Limits of Freedom (Exhibition)
via Heritage Leiden, Stadsarchief 1574 – 1816
https://www.lakenhal.nl/en/story/images-and-credit-lines-pilgrims
Notes: (Left page only). This is the written agreement that granted permission for the Pilgrims – around 100 men and women – to settle in Leiden. The document was written on behalf of the city council by city secretary Jan van Hout on February 12, 1609. The religious community around John Robinson was probably larger than the hundred people mentioned in the agreement because children weren’t included.

(LAPM)
Leiden American Pilgrim Museum
Pilgrim Life in Leiden — Coming to Leiden
https://leidenamericanpilgrimmuseum.org/en/page/pilgrim-life-in-leiden-coming-to-leiden
Note 1: For the text.
Note 2: Borrowed image, Boats like these sailed from Amsterdam to Leiden. Engraving by Adrian van de Venne, ca. 1630

Family Search Blog
The Life and Legacy of William Brewster
https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/william-brewster-legacy
Note: For his portrait.

Map of Holland: According to Astronomical Observations, Measurements of Schnellius & c. and the Superiorly Redesigned Special Maps of F. L. Güssefeld, circa 1791.
https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_01132/?r=-0.547,0.047,2.094,1.047,0
Note 1: This map of the Netherlands coast is the work of Prussian cartographer Franz Ludwig Güssefeld (1744-1807). It was drawn based on the calculations of the renowned Dutch mathematician Willebrord Snellius (1580-1626), a professor of mathematics at the University of Leiden, who conceived the idea of measuring the earth using triangulation. Snellius’s discoveries helped to determine the radius of the earth as well as led to more accurate ways of measuring the distance between two cities.
Note 2: Adapted to document travel from Amsterdam to Leyden.

Winter Scene on a Canal
by Hendrick Avercamp, circa 1615
https://www.wikiart.org/en/hendrick-avercamp/winter-scene-on-a-canal
Note 1: For this painting.
Note 2: Avercamp was famed for both his winter landscape paintings and for his superior ability as a draftsman. Today, his drawings are highly valued and are considered to be accurate records of Dutch clothing and lifestyles from this time period.

The Brewster Press

(7) — four records

(LAPM)
Leiden American Pilgrim Museum
Pilgrim Life in Leiden — Leiden, a Fair and Beautiful City
https://leidenamericanpilgrimmuseum.org/en/page/pilgrim-life-in-leiden-leiden-a-fair-and-beautiful-city
Note: For the text.

Doopsgezinden en Remonstranten Leiden, > Geschiedenis
Map of Leiden
by Pieter Bast, circa 1600
https://doreleiden.nl/geschiedenis/
Note 1: For the map.
Note 2: The website section generally translates from the Dutch language as Church History of the Mennonites and Remonstrants

William Brewster (Mayflower passenger)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brewster_(Mayflower_passenger)
Note: For the text.

(LAPM)
Leiden Museum de Lakenhal
Pilgrims to America — And The Limits of Freedom (Exhibition)
via Heritage Leiden, Stadsarchief 1574 – 1816
Perth Assembly, 1619
(Image courtesy of David Calderwood, Leiden University Libraries).
https://www.lakenhal.nl/en/story/images-and-credit-lines-pilgrims
Notes: “A year before their departure for America, the Pilgrims published this pamphlet in Leiden. It was immediately banned in England since it criticised royal decisions that had been made during an assembly in Perth, Scotland in 1618. In this pamphlet, the Pilgrims express their dislike of the celebration of Christmas and Easter, the episcopal hierarchy and the practice of kneeling during Holy Communion.”

Pilgrim Occupations in Leyden

(8) — three records

(LAPM)
Leiden American Pilgrim Museum
The life of man compared to a weaver’s shuttle.
(Copperstitch according to Adrian van Venne), from:
J. Cats “Old age, country life, and court thoughts, on Sorgh-Vliet”
Amsterdam, 1656 (For the title in English).
https://www.abebooks.de/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31525694547&cm_sp=collections-_-2gwY4IoWG3dukN4eR0KkQ0_item_1_37-_-bdp
Note: The original image was obtained form from the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum in November 2023.

(LAPM)
Leiden American Pilgrim Museum
Pilgrim Life in Leiden — Pilgrim Occupations in Leiden
https://leidenamericanpilgrimmuseum.org/en/page/pilgrim-life-in-leiden-pilgrim-occupations-in-leiden
Note: For the text.

(NEFTH)
The National Endowment For The Humanities
Who Were the Pilgrims Who Celebrated the First Thanksgiving?https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/novemberdecember/feature/who-were-the-pilgrims-who-celebrated-the-first-thanksgiving
Note: For the text.

Choosing to Travel to The British Colonies in North America

(9) — five records

(NEFTH)
The National Endowment For The Humanities
Who Were the Pilgrims Who Celebrated the First Thanksgiving?https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/novemberdecember/feature/who-were-the-pilgrims-who-celebrated-the-first-thanksgiving
Note: For the text.

Smithsonian Magazine
The Pilgrims Before Plymouth
by John Hanc
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-pilgrims-before-plymouth-111851259/
Note: For the text about religious tolerance.

Smithsonian Magazine
Why the Myths of Plymouth Dominate the American Imagination
by Karin Wulf
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-myths-plymouth-dominate-american-imagination-180976396/
Note: For the text.

The Museum of Fine Arts Boston
The Departure of the Pilgrim Fathers from Delfshaven on Their Way to America on July 22, 1620.
by Adam Willaerts, circa 1620
https://www.mfa.org/article/2022/the-departure-of-the-pilgrim-fathers-from-delfshaven-on-their-way-to-america
Note: For the (possibly contemporanious to 1620) painting.

William Brewster (Mayflower passenger)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brewster_(Mayflower_passenger)
Note: For the text.

The Pilgrims — Colonial Pursuits

This is Chapter Two of seven. Here we are examining some of the colonization that Europe attempted in the decades before the Pilgrims sailed to British North America.

Preface — Show Me The Money

The first wave of European colonization began with the initial Spanish and Portuguese conquests and explorations. Those kingdoms were the primary ones involved with the European colonization of the New World — thus, the Spanish and Portuguese became profoundly rich. “It was not long before the exclusivity of Iberian claims [Spain and Portugal] to the Americas, was challenged by other European powers, primarily the Netherlands, France, and England.

[Everyone wanted access to the (potential) resources available to them.] “…the English, French and Dutch were no more averse to making a profit than the Spanish and Portuguese, and whilst their areas of settlement in the Americas proved to be devoid of the precious metals found by the Spanish, trade in other commodities and products that could be sold at massive profit in Europe provided another reason for crossing the Atlantic — in particular, furs from Canada, tobacco and cotton grown in Virginia, and sugar in the islands of the Caribbean and Brazil.” (Wikipedia) (1)

Roanoke Wasn’t America’s Only Lost Colony, map courtesy of National Geographic, June 2018 issue. Note that the yellow arrows designate which three colonies we will profile.

England Finally Gets In The Game

“In the early 1600s it was finally England’s turn to play the game.  Much like the young Spanish conquistadores coming to America a century earlier, young English aristocratics, or for that matter anyone seeking social betterment, looked to America in the hope of finding American gold with which they could buy land and thus social status.” (Colonial Foundations)

La Virgenia Pars — map of the E coast of N America from Chesapeake bay to the Florida Keys,
with arms of Sir Walter Raleigh, English vessels, dolphins, fish, whales and sea-monsters,
by John White, circa 1585-1593. (Image courtesy of The British Museum).

Virginia Was the Mother of the Colonies —
“The Spanish had established Saint Augustine, Florida in 1565 as a strategic outpost to protect Spain’s Caribbean empire from English privateers. Between Newfoundland and Spanish Florida was a vast unsettled territory. Raleigh named this area Virginia an honor to Queen Elizabeth, (the Virgin Queen), with whom he sought favors. For many years thereafter the vast temperate region of North America was referred to as Virginia. It had no boundaries, and no government.

Each of the other original colonies was directly or indirectly carved out of Virginia. It was the first territory to be claimed by England in North America. At its maximum extent, Virginia encompassed most of what is now the United States, as well as portions of Canada and Mexico.

Virginia was the first of the thirteen original states to be founded and settled. It was generally the tradition of the English during the colonial period to establish large geographic units, and then to subsequently sub-divide them into smaller more manageable units. This two-phase process was conducted in order to establish legal claims to maximum territory.” (See footnotes, How Virginia Got Its Borders — HVGIB) (2)

The Stuarts, King James I (reigned 1603 – 1625). Painting of James VI and I
Wearing the Jewel Called the Three Brothers in His Hat, circa 1605, (after) John de Critz .

King James I and the Virginia Company of 1606

Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, and the continued development of colonies in the Americas then fell to her successor. “It would have to wait for a new monarch before colonization would become a reality. That monarch was King James I, Elizabeth’s successor. In 1606, he chartered two joint stock companies for the purpose of establishing colonies in Virginia.” (See footnotes, HVGIB)

In Renaissance England, wealthy merchants were eager to find investment opportunities, so they established several companies to trade in various parts of the world. Each company was made up of investors, known as merchant adventurers, who purchased shares of company stock. Profits were shared among the investors according to the amount of stock that each owned. More than 6,300 Englishmen invested in joint-stock companies between 1585 and 1630, trading in Russia, Turkey, Africa, the East Indies, the Mediterranean, and North America.

Example colonial promotions for investors and settlers by The Virginia Company — The New Life of Virginea, circa 1612, from the University of Glasgow Library. A Good Speed to Virginia, circa 1609, and A True Relation, circa 1608, from the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

The Virginia Company emerged at a time when European empires chartered corporations for their imperial efforts. The English East India Company and Dutch East India Company had both recently received royal charters by their governments. (See also The DeVoe Line, A Narrative — One, Holland & Huguenots). The Virginia Company represented a new strategy that relied less on protected trade and ports — this strategy was settler colonialism.

Images left to right: The front and back of the royal seal of James I of England as the president of the Council of Virginia, the inscriptions signifying: Seal of the King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, and For his Council of Virginia, circa 1606. The Virginia Company Coat of Arms and flag, circa 1620, the original seal of the London Company of Virginia. (Wikipedia)

Therefore, the English King James I needed money to continue England’s struggle against Spain and was very willing to charter two new colonization efforts to the New World, for the area (at that point) known overall as Virginia. For this effort he created The Virginia Company on April 10, 1606. It was an English trading company chartered with the objective of colonizing the eastern coast of America. “The [initial] Charter of 1606[which] did not mention a Virginia Company or a Plymouth Company; these names were applied somewhat later to the overall enterprise.” (Wikipedia) Hence, the Virginia Company eventually became two companies:

 The Virginia Company of Plymouth was funded by wealthy investors from Plymouth, Bristol, and Exeter such as Sir John Popham. It was responsible for the northern part of Virginia (roughly what was to become New England). On August 13, 1607, the Plymouth Company established the Popham Colony along the Kennebec River in Maine. However, it was abandoned after about a year and the Plymouth Company became inactive. A successor company eventually established a permanent settlement in 1620 when the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, aboard the Mayflower.

The Virginia Company of Plymouth managed the northern section (in yellow), which was much larger than what is shown here. The Virginia Company of London was responsible for the southern section shown in blue. The white rectangle designates overlapped responsibility. Competition between the two branches with overlapping territory was intended to motivate efficient settlement.

The Virginia Company of London was responsible for the southern colony. It was primarily focused on the Chesapeake Bay area of today’s Northern Virginia and Southern Maryland. The company established the Jamestown Settlement in present-day Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. (Overall several sources utilized, see footnotes).

It is quite an understatement to say that establishing a new colony in The Americas took much in terms of resources, and quite honestly, a lot of luck too. Each country was literally building an entire new system for their explorations, along with an ambitious, concurrent new economic model. Hence, the results, whether they understood this or not, were quite new societies.

In summary, Spain, Portugal, and France moved quickly to establish a presence in the New World, while other European countries moved more slowly. The English did not attempt to found colonies until many decades after the explorations of John Cabot, and early efforts were failures — most notably the Roanoke Colony, which vanished about 1590. (3)

Left image: Sir Walter Raleigh, portrait by William Segar.
Right image: The House of Tudor, Queen Elizabeth I (reigned 1558 – 1603).

The Roanoke Colony, 1587 — ?

We learned from How Virginia Got Its Boundaries, that back “when Sir Walter Raleigh founded the first English settlement on Roanoke Island, there was no Virginia. There was only America… [and that] the failure of Roanoke Island was a financial disaster for Queen Elizabeth. She refused to invest further in colonial enterprises. Virginia remained in name only.” (See footnotes, HVGIB)

Some background —
From Wikipedia, Raleigh “was an English statesman, soldier, writer, and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonization of North America. He helped defend England against the Spanish Armada. He rose rapidly in the favour of Queen Elizabeth I and was knighted in 1585. He was granted a royal patent to explore Virginia, paving the way for future English settlements. In 1591, he secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting, without the Queen’s permission, for which he and his wife were sent to the Tower of London. After his release, they retired to his estate at Sherborne, Dorset.”

Observation: In addition to the cost of her war with Spain, Raleigh’s subterfuge of a marriage was another reason that Queen Elizabeth I decided not to further invest in his colonial adventures.

The Lost Colony, by William Ludwell Sheppard. This illustration from the 1876 textbook,
A Popular History of the United States, by William Cullen Bryant.

England’s desire for empire building finally started emerging — “Roanoke Colony was founded by the governor Ralph Lane in 1585 on Roanoke Island in present-day Dare County, North Carolina. Lane’s colony was troubled by a lack of supplies and poor relations with some of the local Native American tribes. A resupply mission by Sir Richard Grenville was delayed, so Lane abandoned the colony and returned to England with Sir Francis Drake in 1586. Grenville arrived two weeks later and also returned home, leaving behind a small detachment to protect Raleigh’s claim.

A second expedition led by John White landed on the island in 1587 and set up another settlement. Sir Walter Raleigh had sent him to establish the ‘Cittie of Raleigh’ in Chesapeake Bay. That attempt became known as the Lost Colony due to the unexplained disappearance of its population.”

John White illustrations of the Secoton Indians, circa 1585. “…in one of many scenes painted by John White, the Lost Colony’s artist governor. White’s realistic portraits of Native American life… became one of the earliest lenses through which Europeans saw the New World.”

From left to right: An Indian girl shows off an English doll, Equipment for curing fish used by the North Carolina Algonquins, Ritual dances, and the Village of the Secoton. (Images courtesy of The Trustees of The British Museum, and National Geographic).

“The ship was unable to return right away however, because the English at this point were deeply engaged in this struggle for their very survival against the mighty Spanish Armada.  Not until [after] the English survived this danger, three years after originally depositing the settlers in America, was a ship able to send supplies back to the colony.  But upon the ship’s arrival, the settlers were nowhere to be seen — nor was there any indication of where they might be or what had happened to them. The cryptic word ‘CROATOAN’ was found carved into the palisade, which White interpreted to mean that the colonists had relocated to Croatoan Island. Before he could follow this lead, rough seas and a lost anchor forced the mission to return to England.”

The news of the Lost Colony put a serious chill on any further thoughts about another such venture — until another generation came along at a time when the lure of gold seemed to be greater than the fear of failure.” (Overall several sources are utilized, see footnotes). (4)

Left image with inset: A fresh clue to the lost colonists’ fate emerged when curators backlit this 16th-century map of what is now coastal North Carolina and discovered a star-shaped symbol under a patch. Some researchers believe it may mark the location of a fort where the colonists fled after abandoning their settlement on Roanoke Island. (Image courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum). Right image: Portrait of John Smith via History.com.

The Roanoke Colony in the Popular Imagination

In today’s world, it seems that almost everyone has heard something along the way about the legend of Roanoke Island. One might think that this is a somewhat new phenomena due to the current omni-presence of social media and clickbait alternative reality programming. However, interest in this mystery goes back much further — nearly 200 years .

“United States historians largely overlooked or minimized the importance of the Roanoke settlements until 1834, when George Bancroft lionized the 1587 colonists in ‘A History of the United States’. Bancroft emphasized the nobility of Walter Raleigh, …the courage of the colonists, and the uncanny tragedy of their loss. He was the first since John White to write about Virginia Dare, calling attention to her status as the first English child born on what would become US soil, and the pioneering spirit exhibited by her name. The account captivated the American public.” (Wikipedia)

George Bancroft’s History of the Colonization of the United States,
originally published in 1841.

There were investigations, but those were done in the very early days of the English presence in North America. Nothing conclusive was then determined about the fate of the colonists. Intriguingly, “Two decades later the English established their first permanent beachhead in the Americas, a hundred miles to the north on the James River, in what is now Virginia. Captain John Smith, the leader of the Jamestown colony, heard from the Indians that men wearing European clothes were living on the Carolina mainland west of Roanoke and Croatoan Islands.” (National Geographic)

Modern scholarship combined with many archeological excavations have all but concluded that the Roanoke Colonists were in the area, but had chosen to integrate into the local tribal cultures to survive.

“They say that the colony vanished and they left behind this cryptic message on a tree, ‘Croatoan,’ and no one knows what it means…
The reason they do this is mystery sells, right?
But Croatoan is Hatteras Island. It’s clearly labeled on the maps.”

Scott Dawson, President, Croatoan Archaeologist Society,
Lost Colony Museum on Hatteras Island

Most recently, Dawson revealed that “archaeologists found ‘buckets’ of hammer scale, a leftover material from blacksmithing… ‘This is showing a presence of the English working metal and living in the Indian Village for decades —We’re finding this whole metalworking workshop on the site and natives didn’t do that…’ and ‘The Lost Colony is a marketing campaign that started in 1937 and it created this myth of a colony that vanished, and none of that is real…” (WHRO Public Media)

Playbills from 1937 and 1938 productions of The Lost Colony play.

The marketing campaign from 1937 was a play — We learned that, “The Lost Colony is an historical outdoor drama, written by American Paul Green and produced since 1937 in Manteo, North Carolina… The play was written during the Great Depression by Paul Green, who had earlier won the Pulitzer Prize for drama.”

“The drama attracted enough tourists to stimulate the economy of Roanoke Island and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Their hotels, motels, and restaurants thrived despite the bleak depression economy. The village of Manteo renamed its streets after historic figures in the drama. Originally intended for one season, the drama was produced again the following year and has since become a North Carolina tradition. Since 1937, more than four million visitors have seen it.”

Mystery sells. Mystery solved. (5)

John Hunt’s map of Fort George, at the failed Popham colony.
(Image courtesy of the Island Institute, The Working Waterfront).

The Popham Colony, 1607-1608

“The Popham Colony—also known as the Sagadahoc Colony — was a short-lived English colonial settlement in North America. It was established in 1607 and was located in the present-day town of Phippsburg, Maine, near the mouth of the Kennebec River. It was founded a few months after its more successful rival, the colony at Jamestown. (See Jamestown below).

Popham was a project of the Plymouth Company, which was one of the two competing parts of the proprietary Virginia Company that King James chartered in 1606 to raise private funds from investors in order to settle Virginia. At the time, the name Virginia applied to the entire east coast of North America from Spanish Florida to New France in modern-day Canada. That area was technically under the claim of the Spanish crown, but was not occupied by the Spanish.

The colony lasted just 14 months. It is likely that the failure of the colony was due to multiple problems: the lack of financial support after the death of Sir John Popham, the inability to find another leader, the cold winter, and finally the hostility of both the native people and the French. The settlement of New England was delayed until it was taken up by refugees instead of adventurers.” (Wikipedia) (6)

Jamestown settlement on the James River, Virginia, as it may have been in 1615, by Sidney E. King.
(Image courtesy of the National Park Service).

 The Jamestown Settlement, 1607

In the beginning, the Jamestown Colony was yet another English disaster. On May 14, 1607, a group of roughly 100 members of the Virginia Company founded the first permanent English settlement in North America on the banks of the James River. (Note: The two key words here are English and permanent). It was “known variously as James Forte, James Towne and James Cittie, the new settlement initially consisted of a wooden fort built in a triangle around a storehouse for weapons and other supplies, a church and a number of houses.

The settlers… suffered greatly from hunger and illnesses like typhoid and dysentery, caused from drinking contaminated water from the nearby swamp. Settlers also lived under constant threat of attack by members of local Algonquian tribes, most of which were organized into a kind of empire under Chief Powhatan.

Images from left to right, Portrait of Captain John Smith, Chief Powhatan, Map detail described “Powhatan held this state & fashion when Capt. Smith was delivered to him prisoner 1607”. Excerpted detail of John Smith’s Map of Virginia used in various publications, first in 1612. (See footnotes).

An understanding reached between Powhatan and John Smith led the settlers to establish much-needed trade with Powhatan’s tribe by early 1608. Though skirmishes still broke out between the two groups, the Native Americans traded corn for beads, metal tools and other objects (including some weapons) from the English, who would depend on this trade for sustenance in the colony’s early years. 

After Smith returned to England in late 1609, the inhabitants of Jamestown suffered through a long, harsh winter known as “The Starving Time,” during which more than 100 of them died. Firsthand accounts describe desperate people eating pets and shoe leather. Some Jamestown colonists even resorted to cannibalism. George Percy, the colony’s leader in John Smith’s absence, wrote: 

“And now famine beginning to look ghastly and pale in every face that nothing was spared to maintain life and to do those things which seem incredible, as to dig up dead corpse out of graves and to eat them, and some have licked up the blood which hath fallen from their weak fellows.”

In the spring of 1610, just as the remaining colonists were set to abandon Jamestown, two ships arrived bearing at least 150 new settlers, a cache of supplies and the new English governor.” (History.com)

Tobacco was a key crop that saved Jamestown, although with later, unintended consequences. Left image: A School History of the United States, 1878 by David B. Scott. Notice how the residents of Jamestown were so eager to plant this crop, that they even planted it in the city streets. Right image: Petum Tabaccam, Plate 14B from the National Library of Medicine. (See footnotes).

Tobacco became Virginia’s first profitable export —
“A period of relative peace followed the marriage in April 1614 of the colonist and tobacco planter John Rolfe to Pocahontas, a daughter of Chief Powhatan who had been captured by the settlers and converted to Christianity. (According to John Smith, Pocahontas had rescued him from death in 1607, when she was just a young girl and he was her father’s captive.) Thanks largely to Rolfe’s introduction of a new type of tobacco grown from seeds from the West Indies, Jamestown’s economy began to thrive. 

Pocahontas Saving The Life of Capt. John Smith, Credited to the New England Chromo. Lith. Company, circa 1870. This is the same Captain John Smith who was the famous cartographer, (see his map near the end of this chapter).

This “genre artwork” lithograph is typical for the period with its historical inaccuracies. The scene is idealized; there are no mountains in Tidewater Virginia, for example, and the Powhatans lived in thatched houses rather than tipis.

In 1619, the colony established a General Assembly with members elected by Virginia’s male landowners; it would become a model for representative governments in later colonies. That same year, the first Africans (around 50 men, women and children) arrived in the English settlement; they had been on a Portuguese slave ship captured in the West Indies and brought to the Jamestown region. They worked as indentured servants at first (the race-based slavery system developed in North America in the 1680s) and were most likely put to work picking tobacco.” (History.com)

Observation: A number of historians actually document that this event — Tobacco fueled English colonization, the use of slave labor — was the true beginning of slavery for the future United States, despite the indentured servitude designation written above. (Historic Jamestowne).

Jamestown 1660s, by artist Keith Rocco. (Image from the artists’s website. See footnotes).

“Also in 1619, the Virginia Company recruited and shipped over about 90 women to become wives and start families in Virginia, something needed to establish a permanent colony. Over one hundred women, who brought or started families, had arrived in prior years, but 1619 was when establishing families became a primary focus.” (Historic Jamestowne)

Wikipedia points out this grim fact about colonial life during this period, “Of the 6,000 people who came to the [Jamestown] settlement between 1608 and 1624, only 3,400 survived.” (7)

Captain John Smith and His Love of Maps

Captain John Smith was an ardent and skilled map maker. He published two maps in England of the east coast of North America, one in 1612, and the other in 1614. These early actions had much impact in how North America was eventually settled. Author Peter Firstbrook wrote in his book, A Man Most Driven: Captain John Smith, Pocahontas and the Founding of America —

“When Smith was mapping New England, the English, French, Spanish and Dutch had settled in North America. Each of these European powers could have expanded, ultimately making the continent a conglomerate of similarly sized colonies. But, by the 1630s, after Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay Colony were established, the English dominated the East Coast—in large part, Firstbrook claims, because of Smith’s map, book and his ardent endorsement of New England back in Britain.”

“Were it not for his authentic representation of what the region was like, I don’t think it would be anywhere near as popular,” says Firstbrook. “He was the most important person in terms of making North America part of the English speaking world.” (Smithsonian)

John Smith’s Virginia was originally published (separately) in London in 1612 and then in the 1612 Oxford publication of John Smith’s A Map of Virginia: With a Description of the Countrey, [sic] the Commodities, People, Government and Religion. Subsequently it appeared in several other works by Smith and other commentators on Virginia. It remained the most influential map of Virginia until the last quarter of the 17th century and many of the place names used by Smith remain in use.

Although our ancestors at Plymouth may have felt they were isolated in a new world of mostly Native Peoples, they were in fact part of an incredibly complex and inter-connected European network of trade and ideas. (8)

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, 
Notes, and Observations

Preface — Show Me The Money

(1) — one record

First Wave of European Colonization
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_wave_of_European_colonization
Note: For the text.

England Finally Gets In The Game

(2) — five records

National Geographic
Roanoke Wasn’t America’s Only Lost Colony
by Matthew W. Chwastyk
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/lost-colony-roanoke-virginia-mystery-map-interactive
Note: For the Colonial Pursuits map from the June 2018 issue.

Colonial Foundations
The Virginia Colony, Early 1600s
by Miles Hodges
https://spiritualpilgrim.net/02_America_The-Covenant-Nation/01_Colonial-Foundations/01c_Virginia.htm
Note: For the text.

List of North American Settlements by Year of Foundation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_settlements_by_year_of_foundation

La Virgenia Pars — map of the E coast of N America from Chesapeake bay to the Florida Keys, with arms of Sir Walter Raleigh, English vessels, dolphins, fish, whales and sea-monsters
by John White, circa 1585-1593
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1906-0509-1-2
Note: For the map image.

(HVGIB)
How Virginia Got Its Boundaries
by Karl R. Phillips
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/boundaries/boundaryk.html
Note: For the text.

King James I and the Virginia Company of 1606

(3) — nine records

Painting of James VI and I Wearing the Jewel Called the Three Brothers in His Hat, circa 1605
by (after) John de Critz 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_James_I_of_England_wearing_the_jewel_called_the_Three_Brothers_in_his_hat.jpg
Note: For the portrait of James I.

(HVGIB)
How Virginia Got Its Boundaries
by Karl R. Phillips
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/boundaries/boundaryk.html
Note: For the text.

Colonial Foundations
The Virginia Colony, Early 1600s
by Miles Hodges
https://spiritualpilgrim.net/02_America_The-Covenant-Nation/01_Colonial-Foundations/01c_Virginia.htm
Note: For the text.

Virginia Company
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Company
Note: For the text, map, and images.

Plymouth Company
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Company
Note: For the text.

Virginia Company of London
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Company_of_London
Note: For the text and images.

Virginia Museum of History & Culture
Virginia Company of London
https://virginiahistory.org/learn/virginia-company-london
Note: For the text and images.

University of Glasgow
Special Collections of the Glasgow University Library
Americana
https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/library/files/special/exhibns/Americana/17th_century.html
Note: For image, The New Life of Virginea.

Jamestown, Virginia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamestown,_Virginia
Note: For the text.

The Roanoke Colony, 1587 — ?

(4) — eleven records

Walter Raleigh (portrait)
by William Segar
https://www.worldhistory.org/Walter_Raleigh/
Note: For his portrait.

Encyclopædia Britannica
Elizabeth I, Queen of England (portrait)
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-I
Note: For her portrait.

(HVGIB)
How Virginia Got Its Boundaries
by Karl R. Phillips
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/boundaries/boundaryk.html
Note: For the text.

Walter Raleigh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Raleigh
Note: For the text.

The Lost Colony,
by William Ludwell Sheppard.
Illustration from the 1876 textbook, A Popular History of the United States 
by William Cullen Bryant, circa 1876
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_popular_history_of_the_United_States_-_from_the_first_discovery_of_the_western_hemisphere_by_the_Northmen,_to_the_end_of_the_first_century_of_the_union_of_the_states;_preceded_by_a_sketch_of_the_(14781233224).jpg
Notes: “This image depicts John White returning to the Roanoke Colony in 1590 to discover the settlement abandoned. A pallisade had been constructed since White’s departure in 1587, and the word “CROATOAN” was found carved near the entrance. White explained to his men that this was a prearranged signal to indicate that the colony had relocated, but was unable to search Croatoan Island for further information.”

Roanoke Colony
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roanoke_Colony
Note: For the illustration and text.

National Geographic
It Was America’s First English Colony. Then It Was Gone.
by Andrew Lawler
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/lost-colony-roanoke-history-theories-croatoan
Note: For the text and illustrations.

(HVGIB)
How Virginia Got Its Boundaries
by Karl R. Phillips
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/boundaries/boundaryk.html
Note: For the text.

The Roanoke Map Collage —
The British Museum
La Virginea Pars map
by John White, circa 1585-1590
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1906-0509-1-3
and
The First Colony Foundation
Hidden Images Revealed on Elizabethan Map of America
by Brent Lane
https://www.firstcolonyfoundation.org/news/hidden-images-revealed-elizabethan-map-america/
Note: Detail of “La Virginea Pars…” by John White showing the area of one of two paper patches (the northern patch) stuck to the map.
and
History.com
John White
By Artist Unknown
https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/john-smith
Note: For the John White portrait.

Roanoke in the Popular Imagination

(5) — seven records

Roanoke Colony
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roanoke_Colony
Note: For the text.

History of the Colonization of The United States
by George Bancroft, circa 1841
https://archive.org/details/historyofcoloniz00banc/page/n7/mode/2up
Book pages: 36-45, Digital pages: 66-74/568
Note: For the text and images.

National Geographic
It Was America’s First English Colony. Then It Was Gone.
by Andrew Lawler
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/lost-colony-roanoke-history-theories-croatoan
Note: For the anecdote about John Smith and stories of the Roanoke Colony.

WHRO Public Media
New Artifacts on Hatteras Point to the Real Fate of The Lost Colony
by Lisa Godley
https://www.whro.org/arts-culture/2025-01-20/new-artifacts-on-hatteras-point-to-the-real-fate-of-the-lost-colony?utm_source=enewsletter&utm_medium=enews&utm_term=text&utm_campaign=241213
Note: For the text.

The Lost Colony (play)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Colony_(play)

File:Playbill for the 1937 Federal Theatre Project production of Samuel Selden and Paul Green’s The Lost Colony.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Playbill_for_the_1937_Federal_Theatre_Project_production_of_Samuel_Selden_and_Paul_Green’s_The_Lost_Colony.pdf
Note: For the playbill cover artwork for the first year of the production of the play.
and
Library of Congress
The Lost Colony
Playbill from the 1938 production
by Paul Green and Samuel Selden
The Federal Theatre Project
https://www.loc.gov/resource/music.musftpplaybills-200221035/?st=gallery
Note: For the playbill cover artwork for the second year of the production of the play.

The Popham Colony, 1607-1608

(6) — two records

Island Institute, The Working Waterfront
Mysteries of Maine’s First European Colony
by Phil Showell
https://www.islandinstitute.org/working-waterfront/mysteries-of-maines-first-european-colony/
Note: For the text, and John Hunt’s map of Fort St George (Popham Colony).

Popham Colony
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popham_Colony
Note: For the text.

 The Jamestown Settlement, 1607

(7) — twelve records

The National Park Service
1492–1800 Colonial & Early National Period
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossils/1492-1800-colonial-early-national-period.htm
Note: For this painting, “Jamestown settlement on the James River, Virginia,” as it may have been in 1615, by Sidney E. King.

History.com
Jamestown Colony
https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/jamestown
Note: For the text.

Encyclopedia Virginia
Powhatan (d. 1618)
https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/powhatan-d-1618/
Note: For image of Captain John Smith.
and
Legends of America
Chief Powhatan – Wahunsunacawh
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/chief-powhatan/
Note: For the image of Chief Powhatan.
and
File:Powhatan john smith map.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Powhatan_john_smith_map.jpg
Note: Map detail described “Powhatan held this state & fashion when Capt. Smith was delivered to him prisoner 1607”. Cropped part of John Smith’s Map of Virginia used in various publications, first in 1612.
Note: For the map detail.

File:Pocahontas Saving the Life of Capt. John Smith – New England Chromo. Lith. Co. LCCN95507872.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pocahontas_saving_the_life_of_Capt._John_Smith_-_New_England_Chromo._Lith._Co._LCCN95507872.jpg
Note: For the lithographic print.

For the tobacco illustrations —
A School History of the United States,
from The Discovery of America to the Year 1878
by David B. Scott
https://archive.org/details/schoolhistoryofu00scot/page/40/mode/2up
Bool page: 40, Digital page: 40/431
Note: For tobacco crop illustration.
and
NIH, The National Institutes of Health
National Library of Medicine
Petum Tabaccam, Plate 14B
https://circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov/2016/04/14/some-of-the-most-beautiful-herbals/page14b/
Note: For the tobacco plant illustration.

A Short History of Jamestown
https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/a-short-history-of-jamestown.htm
Note: Regarding brides and families, 1619.

Historic Jamestowne
A Short History of Jamestown
https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/a-short-history-of-jamestown.htm
Note: For the text.

Jamestown, Virginia 1660s (painting)
https://keithrocco.com/product/jamestown-virginia-1660s/
Note: For his painting image of Jamestown.

Jamestown, Virginia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamestown,_Virginia
Note: For text regarding statistical survivals.

Captain John Smith and His Love of Maps

(8) — two records

Smithsonian Magazine
John Smith Coined the Term New England on This 1616 Map
by Megan Gambino
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/john-smith-coined-the-term-new-england-on-this-1616-map-180953383/
Note: For the text.

Virtual Jamestown
Virginia (map)
by John Smith, circa 1612
http://www.virtualjamestown.org/jsmap_large.html
Note: Virginia was originally published (separately) in London in 1612, and then in the 1612 Oxford publication of John Smith’s A Map of Virginia: With a Description of the Countrey [sic], the Commodities, People, Government and Religion. 
Note: For the map image.

The Pilgrims — Saints & Strangers

This is Chapter One of seven. We have written seven opening chapters about the history of The Pilgrims. They are structured around certain themes which frame the context(s) of the times within which these people lived. Think of them as a multi-lane highway where all lanes point in one direction — forward in time. At certain points, some lanes are more important than others, but together, they all inform the future, where we live.

In American culture, many people think that they have heard so much over the years about the Pilgrims, that there is nothing more they need to know. We disagree, because they haven’t met our family yet.

Two of our ancestors—
Pilgrim George Soule and Pilgrim Edward Doty, were on the 1620 voyage of the Mayflower. They and their fellow travelers, occupy a very prominent space in the collective consciousness of American mythology.

We highly recommend that these chapters be read before taking a look at The Soule Line, A Narrative, or The Doty Line, A Narrative. As with all of our ancestral families, this research honors them. Simply put, that is why we write and share this blog — because sometimes we have to go back, to go forward.

Atlantic Overture

When our Grandmother Lulu Mae (DeVoe) Gore died in 1975, we had to clean her house out of all its possessions. To be honest, although her home was quite neat and tidy, we just weren’t very efficient in getting rid of things. She had lived in that home for 55 years and most things that she owned meant something special to someone, so we took our time and distributed things carefully. We’re glad that we did.

Lulu was the genealogist of the family, and from her research, there had been whispers going on that we had a Mayflower ancestor — we just didn’t know who exactly. Then this book was found tucked amongst others, next to her favorite sitting chair in her dining room. When flipping through the pages, we came across a notation that she had made in the index at some moment in the past.

Who was this person named Soule, George? Is this the ancestor who had been whispered about? Our mother Marguerite (Lulu’s daughter), then took over the genealogy work and completed the history which led her back to our ancestor, Pilgrim George Soule. After Marguerite passed on, Susan (Marguerite’s daughter), took up the mantle as the family genealogist and was able to develop many more family lines because the world had changed. (Much more information was now readily available on the internet). Susan determined that we also had an additional Mayflower ancestor, Pilgrim Edward Doty.

We are descended from two of the original Plymouth Pilgrim families, from the 1620 voyage
of the Mayflower. Both of these lines meet with our 2x Great Grandparents, through
the marriage of Peter A. Devoe (for Edward Doty), and Mary Ann Warner (for George Soule).
Background image, Isolation: The Mayflower Becalmed on a Moonlit Night, by Montague Dawson.

To understand some things about our Pilgrim ancestors, it is important to first understand the times in which they lived. For example,they were coming from the Old World (their known worldviews), to the New World (a strange, unknown place). (1)

The Columbian Exchange

Historically, this time period had an over-arching theme which came to be known as: “The Columbian Exchange is… [a]widespread transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the New World (the Americas) in the Western Hemisphere, and the Old World (Afro-Eurasia) in the Eastern Hemisphere, from the late 15th century on. It is named after the explorer Christopher Columbus and is related to the European colonization and global trade following his 1492 voyage. Some of the exchanges were deliberate while others were unintended.” (Wikipedia) Another aspect of this period is the natural advent of cultural clashes which we will touch upon about in The Pilgrims — The Native Peoples.

Christopher Columbus Arriving in The New World, illustration in
Il Costume Antico et Moderno, i.e. The Ancient and Modern Costume (1817–26).
(Image courtesy of Encyclopædia Britannica).

Observation: Maybe it is due to Hollywood movies, or perhaps it is just a natural way that the human mind works, but… it seems as if everyone, (with us included), tends to have a manner in which we project the consciousness of the present period back upon the times when our ancestors lived. They were not like those of us in the present day, because their eras were very much different from ours. To help understand their worldviews, we are going to outline three ways in which The Pilgrims were unlike people who are living today. (2)

Theirs Was A Pre-Scientific World

Our Pilgrim ancestors were living in a pre-scientific world in which religion was still the dominant player. That point-of-view might be a little hard for those of us in the modern world to understand. Before us, people didn’t have the perspective to comprehend things which we take for granted: stars and planets, germ-theory, equal opportunity, democratic rule, freedom of religion, etc.

New worlds were being discovered, but their world was still the Britain of their ancient forebears. What was ahead was a century of continued ongoing conflict in which royalty and the church were pitted against each other for control of the English people.

“The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginning in Italy in the late 14th century. As in most of the rest of northern Europe, England saw little of these developments until more than a century later. Renaissance style and ideas, however, were slow to penetrate England, and the Elizabethan era in the second half of the 16th century is usually regarded as the height of the English Renaissance.

Shakespeare and his Friends at the Mermaid Tavern, by John Faed, circa 1850.
(Image courtesy of Meisterdrucke Fine Art Prints).

The English Renaissance is different from the Italian Renaissance in several ways. The dominant art forms of the English Renaissance were literature and music. Visual arts in the English Renaissance were much less significant than in the Italian Renaissance. The English period began far later than the Italian…” (Wikipedia)

To understand how much change was afoot in the world — here are just a few of the people who were alive during the century of 1530-1630 outside of England — artists, scientists, philosophers: Michelangelo, Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, René Descartes. Inside of England, it was a virtual hit parade of politicians, but also some explorers and writers: Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Sir Francis Drake, William Shakespeare, Walter Raleigh, Oliver Cromwell.

Our forebears lived during a time at the very beginning of scientific invention, even though much of this information took decades to develop and disperse across the world. The Enlightenment and the Age of Reason were yet to come. As an example, when our ancestors gazed with wonder upon the stars of the night sky, their conception of the world was very different from our understanding today… (3)

The Astronomer, by Johannes Vermeer, circa 1668. This painting was completed almost 50 years after the Pilgrims had already been in Plymouth, New England. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia).

The Earth Was The Center Of Their Universe

We think about what their journey on the Mayflower must have been like — sailing under the vastness of the night sky, with just the cool light of the stars to guide them. Or perhaps standing on the shores of the new Plymouth, staring out at a universe, something they may have wondered about — but then, they barely knew how to think about it like we do. In their world, the Earth was the center of the universe. This is called the Copernican Heliocentric model and what this means is, “…the Sun [is positioned] at the center of the Universe, motionless, with Earth and the other planets orbiting around it in circular paths… at uniform speeds.” (Wikipedia)

This of course, changed in the decades that followed, but few of the Pilgrims likely knew this. Ironically, the telescope was invented in the Netherlands in 1608 while they were living in Leyden [Leiden]. Through subsequent refinements and improvements, the telescope became fundamental in helping Galileo Galilei develop his theories, published in the  Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632), which was a rejection of the Copernican Heliocentric model.

Galileo Galilei at His Trial by the Inquisition in Rome in 1633., i.e. Galileo pushes away the Bible. (Courtesy of The Wellcome Collection, via Wikimedia Commons).

This “was met with opposition from within the Catholic Church and from some astronomers. The matter was investigated by the Roman Inquisition in 1615, which concluded that his opinions contradicted accepted Biblical interpretations. Galileo later defended his views in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632), which appeared to attack and ridicule Pope Urban VIII, thus alienating both the Pope and the Jesuits, who had both strongly supported Galileo up until this point. He was tried by the Inquisition, found ‘vehemently suspect of heresy’, and forced to recant. He spent the rest of his life under house arrest.” (Wikipedia) (4)

Top left: Title page of Galileo Galilei’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, published by Giovanni Battista Landini in 1632. Top right:  Early depiction of a ‘Dutch telescope’ from the “Emblemata of zinne-werck” by Johan de Brune, in 1624. Bottom image: It was nearly 350 years after the 1620 landing of the Pilgrims, before we saw the first images of the Earth taken from the moon. “This photo was taken from the Apollo 11 Columbia command module, shortly before the lunar module was dispatched to the surface…July 1969”.

They Had No Concept of Germ Theory

We can thank our lucky stars* that we now live in a time when medicine has evolved beyond the ideas that were once widely believed in the time of these ancestors.

“In Tudor times, the understanding of medicine and the human body was based on the theory of the four bodily humours. This idea dates back to ancient Greece, where the body was seen more or less as a shell containing four different humours, or fluids: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. The humours affect your whole being, from your health and feelings, to your looks and actions. The key to good health (and being a good person) is to keep your humours in balance. However, everyone has a natural excess of one of the humours, which is what makes us all look unique and behave differently. Shakespeare even mentions them on his plays: how medicine formed part of people’s lives and thoughts.” (Tudorworld.com)

Left image: From Humoralism and The Seasons— There were a number of things that could disrupt [the balance of the humours], including the kind of food you ate, whether or not you were getting enough sleep, and, of course, the changing of the seasons. Spring meant there might [would] be an excess of blood in the body, yellow bile was dominant in the summer, black bile rose to prominence with autumn, and phlegm was associated with winter. Right image: Woodcut print of “Quinta Essentia,”
by Leonhart Thurneisser zum Thurn, circa 1574.

As shown in the images above, the belief then was that humours were tied to the different seasons, and hence, their corresponding astrological signs. [Observation: *Lucky Stars — The use of this funny expression seems to imply that our belief in Astrology is still ok, no?]

“Humorism began to fall out of favor in the 17th century and it was definitively disproved in the 1850s with the advent of germ theory, which was able to show that many diseases previously thought to be humoral were in fact caused by microbes.” (Wikipedia)

“The English of that era really couldn’t bathe even if they wanted to, notes V. W. Greene, a professor of epidemiology at the Ben Gurion Medical School in Beersheva, Israel. “There was no running water, streams were cold and polluted, heating fuel was expensive, and soap was hard to get or heavily taxed. There just weren’t facilities for personal hygiene. Cleanliness wasn’t a part of the folk culture.” (Lies My Teacher Told Me – LMTTM; See footnotes, V. W. Greene)

“Queen Isabella boasted that she took only two baths in her life,
at birth and before her marriage.”

“Colonial America’s leaders deemed bathing impure, since
it promoted nudity, which could only lead to promiscuity.”

excerpts from an article written by Jay Stuller
titled “Cleanliness has only recently become a virtue”
Smithsonian Magazine, February 1991

It’s no wonders perfumes were highly coveted possessions.

It took another 230 to 300 years for the understanding of germ theory to take hold in the popular consciousness. As explained by Encyclopædia Britannica, “Developed, verified, and popularized between 1850 and 1920, germ theory holds that certain diseases are caused by the invasion of the body by microorganisms. Research by Louis Pasteur, [and others] contributed to public acceptance of the once-baffling theory, proving that processes such as fermentation and putrefaction, as well as diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis, were caused by germs.

A representation by Robert Seymour of the cholera epidemic of the 19th century depicts the spread of the disease in the form of deadly air via miasma. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons).

Before germ theory was popularly understood, the methods taken to avoid illness and infection were based on guesses rather than facts. After germ theory’s development and popularization, effective sanitation practices resulted in cleaner homes, hospitals, and public spaces— as well as longer life spans for the people who had never before known how to avoid getting sick.” (Encyclopædia Britannica) (5)

There Was No Concept of An Inherent Bill of Rights

Despite what many people think, the Mayflower Compact was not a democratic declaration of rights. (This is covered in the chapter, The Pilgrims — A Mayflower Voyage). What we want to convey here is that the day-to-day personal rights and freedoms which now exist and which many take for granted, didn’t exist at that time.

Much later than 1620, when the young United States adopted the Bill of Rights as the first 10 amendments to the Constitution in 1791, they began with the “First Amendment and Religion. The First Amendment has two provisions concerning religion: the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. The Establishment clause prohibits the government ‘establishing’ a religion. The precise definition of ‘establishment’ is unclear. Historically, it meant prohibiting state-sponsored churches, such as the Church of England.” (See footnotes, United States Courts)

American statesman Patrick Henry (1736-1799) delivers his patriotic “Give me liberty, or give me death” speech before the Virginia Assembly in 1775. Henry was the leading proponent of the Bill of Rights as a bulwark against government overreach. (Image courtesy of The Library of Congress).

For The Pilgrims and all of their forebears, they lived their entire lives under the rule of a Monarch. We understand from their history that The Pilgrims desired to have religious freedom to worship as they saw appropriate. This was certainly a minority opinion when you live under a King who took a strong interest in religious matters. That said, British law had been taking an ever so slow drift toward some personal rights, but the freedom of religious choice and worship was not among them.

However, in the long history of English common law, there were some milestones which came to eventually influence the future American Bill of Rights. These same developments were likely heard as the background music of the Pilgrim experiences in both England and Holland. As such, they may have been thinking about, or debating them occasionally, especially when new emigrants from England entered their community.

Three Key Documents From English Law, and One From Colonial Law

The Teaching American History website, helps us understand how these rights came to be — In the England of 1215, “the most important contribution of the Magna Carta is the claim that there is a fundamental set of principles, which even the King must respect. Above all else, Magna Carta makes the case that the people have a ‘right’ to expect ‘reasonable’ conduct by the monarch. These rights are to be secured by the principle of representation.” (See footnotes, Teaching American History – TAH )

It is interesting to observe that the Magna Carta is about equally distant in time from The Pilgrims, as they are from us today.

Magna Carta, 1297: Widely viewed as one of the most important legal documents in the history of democracy. Courtesy of the David M. Rubenstein Gallery at the National Archives.

The Pilgrims were English citizens (along with some Walloon and Dutch citizens) who, even though they were in the New World, they were required to abide by British law. Soon after they left on the Mayflower, “The 1628 Petition of Right is the second of the three British documents that provided a strong common law component to the development of the American Bill of Rights. In the thirteenth century, the nobles petitioned the King to abandon his arbitrary and tyrannical policies; four centuries later, [and most importantly] it was the commoners who petitioned the King to adhere to the principles of reasonable government bequeathed by the English tradition.”

“The third British contribution to the development of the American Bill of Rights is the 1689 English Bill of Rights… several ancient rights of Englishmen are reaffirmed: the right to petition government for the redress of grievances, the expectation that governmental policy shall confirm to the rule of law… the freedom of speech and debate and that there were to be frequently held elections. Not included, however, in the declaration of rights [is] that Englishmen have are the right to the free exercise of religion and the right to choose their form of government.” (See footnotes, TAH)

Click the link below to see a two minute video of the actual 1689 document: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bill-of-Rights-British-history/images-videos#/media/1/503538/210012

Outcome: 7 of 26 rights in the U.S. Bill of Rights can be traced to the English Petition of Rights, and 7 more to the English Bill of Rights. However, with some duplication, these all net out to be 10 rights. (7)

From Colonial Law — The Massachusetts Body of Liberties of 1641

“The Massachusetts Body of Liberties, adopted in December 1641, was the first attempt in Massachusetts to restrain the power of the elected representatives by an appeal to a document that lists the rights, and duties, of the people. The document, drafted and debated over several years, combines the American covenanting tradition [to make an agreement; a covenant] with an appeal to the common law tradition.

Pilgrims Going To Church, by George Henry Boughton, circa 1867.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia).

Even more importantly, there is a distinctively qualitative difference in the emerging Colonial American version of rights. Unique is the emergence of the individual right of religious worship, the political rights of press and assembly, and what became the Sixth Amendment in the U.S. Bill of Rights dealing with accusation, confrontation, and counsel. These are home grown.” (See footnotes, TAH)

Outcome: There is a strong relationship between the U.S. Bill of Rights and the Colonial past. 18 of 26 rights in the U.S. Bill of Rights, or 70%, can be traced directly to the Colonial tradition. And 15 of 26 rights, or 60%, come from one source alone: the Massachusetts Body of Liberties of 1641.

The currents for these reforms began with, and continued to thrive with, our ancestors when they came to this part of the world. This process still continues to evolve, even to this very day. (8)

Following are the footnotes for the Primary Source Materials, 
Notes, and Observations

Atlantic Overture

(1) — two records

Saints and Strangers: Being the Lives of the Pilgrim Fathers & Their Families
by George F. Willison
https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.13804/page/509/mode/2up
Book page: 509, Digital page: 509/513

Isolation: The Mayflower becalmed on a moonlit night
by Montague Dawson, (British, 1890-1973)
https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Isolation–The-Mayflower-becalmed-on-a-m/FD8D6C1A6976C620
Note: For the image of the Mayflower painting.

The Columbian Exchange

(2) — two records

Columbian Exchange
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_exchange
Note: For the text.

Encyclopædia Britannica
Columbian Exchange
Columbus Arriving in the New World
by Unknown Artist
https://cdn.britannica.com/08/142308-050-B404CF9D/Christoper-Columbus-New-World-worlds-Western-Hemisphere-1492.jpg
Note: Christopher Columbus Arriving in The New World, illustration in
Il Costume Antico et Moderno, i.e. The Ancient and Modern Costume (1817–26).

Theirs Was A Pre-Scientific World

(3) — two records

English Renaissance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Renaissance
Note: For the text.

Shakespeare and his Friends at the Mermaid Tavern
by John Faed, circa 1850
https://www.meisterdrucke.ie/fine-art-prints/John-Faed/281952/Shakespeare-and-His-Friends-at-the-Mermaid-Tavern.html
Note: For the image of the painting.

The Earth Was The Center Of Their Universe

(4) — eight records

The Astronomer
by Johannes Vermeer
File:Johannes Vermeer – The Astronomer – 1668.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Johannes_Vermeer_-_The_Astronomer_-_1668.jpg
Note: For the image of the Vermeer painting.

Copernican Heliocentrism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernican_heliocentrism
Note: This model positioned the Sun at the center of the Universe, motionless, with Earth and the other planets orbiting around it in circular paths, modified by epicycles, and at uniform speeds..

History of The Telescope
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_telescope
Note: “The history of the telescope can be traced to before the invention of the earliest known telescope, which appeared in 1608 in the Netherlands“.

Galileo Galilei at His Trial by the Inquisition in Rome in 1633, i.e. Galileo pushes away the Bible.
Courtesy of The Wellcome Collection via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galileo_Galilei_at_his_trial_Wellcome_V0018717.jpg#/media/File:Galileo_Galilei;_Galileo_Galilei_at_his_trial_at_the_Inquisi_Wellcome_V0018716.jpg
Note: For the image of the trial of Galileo Galilei.

Galileo Galilei
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei
Note: For the text.

File:Galileos Dialogue Title Page.png
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galileos_Dialogue_Title_Page.png
Note: “Frontispiece (by Stefan Della Bella) and title page of Galileo Galilei’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, published by Giovanni Battista Landini in 1632 in Florence.”

File:Emblemata 1624.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emblemata_1624.jpg
Note: “Early depiction of a ‘Dutch telescope’ from the “Emblemata of zinne-werck” (Middelburg, 1624) of the poet and statesman Johan de Brune (1588-1658).”

Science — 50 Photos Taken on The Moon
by Jessica Learish
https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/apollo-11-50th-anniversary-50-photos-taken-on-the-moon/
Note: For the July 1969 image, “This photo was taken from the Apollo 11 Columbia command module, shortly before the lunar module was dispatched to the surface.”

They Had No Concept of Germ Theory

(5) — eight records

What Were the Four Humours?
https://tudorworld.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Four-Humours-Information.pdf
Note: For the text.

Humoralism and The Seasons
by Elisabeth Brander
https://becker.wustl.edu/news/humoralism-and-the-seasons/
Note: For the text.

Humorism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humorism
Note: For the text.

Book illustration in “Quinta Essentia”
by Leonhart Thurneisser zum Thurn, circa 1574
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quinta_Essentia_(Thurneisse)_illustration_Alchemic_approach_to_four_humors_in_relation_to_the_four_elements_and_zodiacal_signs.jpg
Note: Woodcut print of the Alchemic approach to four humors in relation to the four elements and zodiacal signs.

V. W. Greene quoted in:
English-Word Information, Ablutions or Bathing, Historical Perspectives
https://wordinfo.info/unit/2701
Notes: “Colonial America’s leaders deemed bathing impure, since it promoted nudity, which could only lead to promiscuity.”
and
“The English of that era really couldn’t bathe even if they wanted to, notes V. W. Greene, a professor of epidemiology at the Ben Gurion Medical School in Beersheva, Israel. “There was no running water, streams were cold and polluted, heating fuel was expensive, and soap was hard to get or heavily taxed. There just weren’t facilities for personal hygiene. Cleanliness wasn’t a part of the folk culture.”

[LMTTM]
Lies My Teacher Told Me
by James W. Loewen
https://www.google.pt/books/edition/Lies_My_Teacher_Told_Me/5m23RrMeLt4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover
Book pages: 70-92
Note: Cited in LMTTM, by author Jay Stuller, — “Cleanliness has only recently become a virtue… Queen Isabella boasted that she took only two baths in her life, at birth and before her marriage.”
Cited in this article by author Jay Stuller —
Smithsonian Magazine
Cleanliness Has Only Recently Become a Virtue
by Jay Stuller
February 1991, pages 126-135

File:Cholera art.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cholera_art.jpg
Note: A representation by Robert Seymour of the cholera epidemic of the 19th century depicts the spread of the disease in the form of deadly air via miasma.

Encyclopædia Britannica
What Was Life Like Before We Knew About Germs?
https://www.britannica.com/story/what-was-life-like-before-we-knew-about-germs
Note: For the text.

There Was No Concept of An Inherent Bill of Rights

(6) — two records

United States Courts
First Amendment and Religion
https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/about-educational-outreach/activity-resources/first-amendment-and-religion
Note: For the text.

Library of Congress
“Give me liberty, or give me death!” Patrick Henry delivering his great speech on the rights of the colonies, before the Virginia Assembly, convened at Richmond, March 23rd 1775, concluding with the above sentiment, which became the war cry of the revolution.
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/pga.08961/
Note: For the artwork.

Three Key Documents From English Law, and One From Colonial Law

(7) — two records

(TAH)
The Origin of the Bill of Rights
by Natalie Bolton
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/resource/lessonplans/the-origin-of-the-bill-of-rights/
Note: For the text.

The National Archives
Magna Carta
https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/magna-carta
Note: For the image of the Magna Carta document.

From Colonial Law — The Massachusetts Body of Liberties of 1641

(8) — three records

(TAH)
The Origin of the Bill of Rights
by Natalie Bolton
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/resource/lessonplans/the-origin-of-the-bill-of-rights/
Note: For the text.

Encyclopædia Britannica
Bill of Rights: Media
See the Bill of Rights 1689 and the Draft Declaration of Rights (1689)
kept in the United Kingdom Parliamentary Archives Search Room
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bill-of-Rights-British-history/images-videos#/media/1/503538/210012
Note: For the video link.

Pilgrims Going To Church
by George Henry Boughton, circa 1867
File:George-Henry-Boughton-Pilgrims-Going-To-Church.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George-Henry-Boughton-Pilgrims-Going-To-Church.jpg
Note: For the image of a Pilgrim church gathering.