The Women Who Came in the Mayflower by Annie Russell Marble
A >>
Annie Russell Marble >> The Women Who Came in the Mayflower
Constance or Constanta Hopkins was probably about the same age as
Elizabeth Tilley, for she was married before 1627 to Nicholas Snow,
who came in _The Ann_. They had twelve children, and among the
names one recognizes such familiar patronymics of the two families as
Mark, Stephen, Ruth and Elizabeth. Family tradition has ascribed
beauty and patience to this maiden who, doubtless, served well both in
her father's large family and in the community. Her step-sister,
Damaris, married Jacob Cooke, son of the Pilgrim, Francis Cooke.
CHAPTER IV
COMPANIONS WHO ARRIVED IN THE FORTUNE AND THE ANN
After the arrival of _The Ann_, in the summer of 1623, the women
who came in _The Mayflower_ had more companions of good breeding
and efficiency. Elizabeth Warren, wife of Richard, came with her five
daughters; it is safe to assume the latter were attractive for, in a
few years, all were well married. Two sons were born after Elizabeth
arrived at Plymouth, Nathaniel and Joseph. For forty-five years she
survived her husband, who had been a man of strength of character and
usefulness as well as some wealth. When she died at the age of
ninety-three leaving seventy-five great grandchildren, the old
Plymouth Colony Records paid her tribute,--"Mistress Elizabeth Warren,
haveing lived a Godly life came to her Grave as a Shock of corn full
Ripe. She was honourably buried on the 24th of October (1673)."
Evidently, Mistress Warren was a woman of independent means and
efficiency,--else she would have remarried, as was the custom of the
times. She became one of the "purchasers" of the colony and conveyed
land, at different times, near Eel River and what is now Warren's
Cove, in Plymouth, to her sons-in-law. An interesting sidelight upon
her character and home is found in the Court Records; [Footnote: I,
35, July 5, 1635.] her servant, Thomas Williams, was prosecuted for
"speaking profane and blasphemous speeches against ye majestie of God.
There being some dissension between him and his dame she, after other
things, exhorted him to fear God and doe his duty."
Bridget Fuller followed her husband, Dr. Samuel, and came in _The
Ann_. She also long survived her husband and did not remarry. She
carried on his household and probably also his teaching for many years
after he fell victim to the epidemic of infectious fever in 1633. She
was his third wife, but only two children are known to have used the
Fuller cradle, now preserved in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth. It has been
stated that, in addition to these two, Samuel and Mercy, another young
child came with its mother in _The Ann_, but did not live
long. [Footnote: Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth; W. T. Davis] The son,
Samuel, born about 1625, was minister for many years at Middleboro; he
married Elizabeth Brewster, thus preserving two friendly families in
kinship.
Evidently, Bridget Fuller was very ill and not expected to recover
when her husband was dying, for in his will, made at that time, he
arranged for the education of his children by his brother-in-law,
William Wright, unless it "shall please God to recover my wife out of
her weake estate of sickness." It is interesting also that, in this
will, provision was made for the education of his daughter, Mercy, as
well as his son, Samuel, by Mrs. Heeks or Hicks, the wife of Robert
Hicks who came in _The Ann_. [Footnote: Plymouth Colony Wills and
Inventories; also in The Mayflower Descendant, 1, 245.] Not alone for
his own children did this good physician provide education, but also
for others "put to him for schooling,"--with special mention of Sarah
Converse "left to me by her sick father." This kind, generous doctor
left a considerable estate, in spite of the many "debts for physicke,"
including that of "Mr. Roger Williams which was freely given." One
specific gift was for the good of the church and this forms the
nucleus of a fund which is still known as the Fuller Ministerial Fund
of the Plymouth Congregational Church. Its source was "the first cow
calfe that his Brown Cow should have." [Footnote: Genealogy of Some
Descendants of Dr. Samuel Fuller of _The Mayflower_, compiled by
William Hyslop Fuller, Palmer.]
Mrs. Alice Morse Earle says that gloves were gifts of sentiment;
[Footnote: Two Centuries of Costume in America; Alice Morse Earle;
N. Y., 1903.] they were generously bestowed by this physician of old
Plymouth. Money to buy gloves, or gloves, were bequeathed to Mistress
Alice Bradford and Governor Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony;
also to John Winslow, John Jenny and Rebecca Prence. The price allowed
for a pair of gloves was from two to five shillings. Probably these
may have been the fringed leather gloves or the knit gloves described
by Mrs. Earle. Another bequest was his "best hat and band never worn
to old Mr. William Brewster." To his wife was left not alone two
houses, "one at Smeltriver and another in town," but also a fine
supply of furnishings and clothes, including stuffe gown, red
pettecoate, stomachers, aprons, shoes and kerchiefs. Mistress Fuller
lived until after 1667, and exerted a strong influence upon the
educational life of Plymouth.
Is it heresy to question whether the sampler, [Footnote: In Pilgrim
Hall, Plymouth.] accredited to Lora or Lorea Standish, the daughter
of Captain Miles and Barbara Standish, was not more probably the work
of the granddaughter, Lorea, the child of Alexander Standish and Sarah
Alden? The style and motto are more in accord with the work of the
later generation and, surely, the necessary time and materials for
such work would be more probable after the pioneer days. This later
Lora married Abraham Sampson, son of the Henry who came as a boy in
_The Mayflower_. [Footnote: Notes to Bradford's History, edition
1912.] The embroidered cap [Footnote: In Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth.] and
bib, supposed to have been made by Mistress Barbara for her daughter,
would prove that she had
"hands with such convenient skill
As to conduce to vertu void of shame"
which were the aspiration of the girl who embroidered, or "wrought,"
the sampler. It is a pleasant commentary upon the tastes and industry
of Mistress Barbara Standish that, amid the cares of a large family
and farm, she found time for such dainty embroideries as we find in
the cap and bib.
Probably two young sons of Captain and Barbara Standish, Charles and
John, died in the infectious fever epidemic of 1633. A second Charles
with his brothers, Alexander, Miles and Josiah, and his sister, Lorea,
gladdened the hearth of the Standish home on Captain's Hill,
Duxbury. A goodly estate was left at the death of Captain Miles,
including a well-equipped house, cattle, mault mill, swords (as one
would expect), sixteen pewter pieces and several books of classic
literature,--Homer, Caesar's Commentaries, histories of Queen
Elizabeth's reign, military histories, and three Bibles with
commentaries upon religious matters. There were also medical books,
for Standish was reputed to have been a student and practitioner in
times of emergency in Duxbury. He suffered a painful illness at the
close of his vigorous, adventuresome life. Perhaps Barbara needed, at
times, grace to endure that "warm temper" which Pastor Robinson
deplored in Miles Standish, a comment which the intrepid Captain
forgave and answered by a bequest to the granddaughter of this loved
pastor. We may be sure Barbara was proud of the mighty share which her
husband had in saving Plymouth Colony from severe disaster, if not
from extinction. It is surmised that Barbara Standish was buried in
Connecticut where she lived during the last of her life with her son,
Josiah. Possibly, however, she may have been buried beside her
husband, sons, daughter and daughter-in-law, Mary Dingley, in
Duxbury. [Footnote: Interesting facts on this subject may be found in
"The Grave of Miles Standish and other Pilgrims," by E. V. J.
Huiginn; Beverly, 1914.]
The Colonial Governor and his Lady ever held priority of rank. Such
came to Mrs. Alice Southworth when she married Governor William
Bradford a few days after her arrival on _The Ann_. Tradition
has said persistently that this was the consummation of an earlier
romance which was broken off by the marriage of Alice Carpenter to
Edward Southworth in Leyden. The death of her first husband left her
with two sons, Thomas and Constant Southworth, who came to Plymouth
before 1628. She had sisters in the Colony: Priscilla, the wife of
William Wright, came in _The Fortune_; Dr. Fuller's first wife
had been another sister; Juliana, wife of George Morton, was a third
who came also in _The Ann_. Still another sister, Mary Carpenter,
came later and lived in the Governor's family for many years. At her
death in her ninety-first year, she was mourned as "a Godly old maid,
never married." [Footnote: Hunter's Collections, 1854.]
The first home of the Bradfords in Plymouth was at Town Square where
now stands the Bradford block. About 1627-8 they moved, for a part of
the year, to the banks of the Jones River, now Kingston, a place which
had strongly appealed to Bradford as a good site for the original
settlement when the men were making their explorations in December,
1620. William, Joseph and Mercy were born to inherit from their
parents the fine characters of both Governor and Alice Bradford, and
also to pass on to their children the carved chests, wrought and
carved chairs, case and knives, desk, silver spoons, fifty-one pewter
dishes, five dozen napkins, three striped carpets, four Venice
glasses, besides cattle and cooking utensils and many books. That the
Governor had a proper "dress suit" was proved by the inventory of
"stuffe suit with silver buttons and cloaks of violet, light colour
and faced with taffety and linen throw."
As Mistress Bradford could only "make her mark," she probably did not
appreciate the remarkable collection, for the times, of Latin, Greek,
Hebrew, Dutch and French books as well as the studies in philosophy
and theology which were in her husband's library. There is no doubt
that the first and second generations of girls and boys in Plymouth
Colony had elementary instruction, at least, under Dr. Fuller and
Mrs. Hicks as well as by other teachers. Bradford, probably, would
also attend to the education of his own family. The Governor's wife
has been accredited with "labouring diligently for the improvement of
the young women of Plymouth and to have been eminently worthy of her
high position." [Footnote: The Pilgrim Republic; John A. Goodwin,
p. 460.] She was the sole executrix of her husband's estate of
L1005,--a proof of her ability.
Sometimes her cheerfulness must have been taxed to comfort her
husband, as old age came upon him and he fell into the gloomy mood
reflected in such lines as these: [Footnote: New England Memorial;
Morton.]
"In fears and wants, through weal and woe,
A pilgrim passed I to and fro;
Oft left of them whom I did trust,
How vain it is to rest in dust!
A man of sorrows I have been,
And many changes I have seen,
Wars, wants, peace, plenty I have known,
And some advanc'd, others thrown down."
When Mistress Alice Bradford died she was "mourned, though aged" by
many. To her memory, Nathaniel Morton, her nephew, wrote some lines
which were more biographic than poetical, recalling her early life as
an exile with her father from England for the truth's sake, her first
marriage:
"To one whose grace and virtue did surpasse,
I mean good Edward Southworth whoe not long
Continued in this world the saints amonge."
With extravagant words he extols the name of Bradford,--"fresh in
memory Which smeles with odoriferous fragrancye." This elegist records
also that, after her second widowhood, she lived a
"life of holynes and faith,
In reading of God's word and contemplation
Which healped her to assurance of salvation."
This is not a very lively, graphic description of the woman most
honored, perhaps, of all the pioneer women of Plymouth, but we may
add, by imagination, a few sure traits of human kindliness and
grace. She was typical of those women who came in _The Mayflower_
and her sister ships. Although she escaped the tragic struggles and
illness of that first winter, yet she revealed the same qualities of
courage, good sense, fidelity and vision which were the watchwords of
that group of women in Plymouth colony. Yes,--they had vision to see
their part in the sincere purpose to establish a new standard of
liberty in state and church, to serve God and mankind with all their
integrity and resources.
As the leaders among the men were self-sacrificing and honorable in
their dealings with their financiers, with the Indians and with each
other, so the women were faithful and true in their homes and communal
life. They took scarcely any part in the civic administration, for
such responsibility did not come into the lives of seventeenth century
women. They were actively interested in the educational and religious
life of the colony. Their moral standards were high and inflexible;
they extolled, and practised, the virtues of thrift and industry. It
may be well for women in America today, who were querulous at the
restrictions upon sugar and electric lights, to consider the good
sense, and good cheer, with which these women of Plymouth Colony
directed their thrifty households.
We would not assume that they were free from the whims and foibles of
womankind,--and sometimes of man-kind,--of all ages. They were,
doubtless, contradictory and impulsive at times; they could scold and
they could gossip. We believe that they laughed sometimes, in the
midst of dire want and anxiety, and we know that they prayed with
sincerity and trust. They bore children gladly and they trained them
"in the fear and admonition of the Lord." They were the progenitors of
thousands of fine men and women in all parts of America today who
honor the _women_ as well as the _men_ of the old Plymouth
Colony,--the women who faithfully performed, without any serious
discontent,
"that whole sweet round
Of littles that large life compound."
INDEX TO PERSONS MENTIONED IN THE TEXT
Alden, Augustus E.
Elizabeth
John
Captain John
Priscilla
Ruth
Sarah
Timothy
Allerton, Bartholomew
Isaac
Mary Norton
Mary
Remember
Armstrong, Gregory
Austin, Jane G.
Bartlett, W. H.
Bass, Ruth Alden
Beckeet, Mary
Billington, Francis
Helen
John
John, Jr.
Bowman, George Ernest
Bradford, Alice
Dorothy May
John
Mary
Joseph
Gov. William
William, Jr.
Brewster, Fear
Jonathan
Love
Mary
Patience
William, Elder
Wrestling
Brown, Lydia Howland
Peter
Carpenter, Juliana
Mary
Priscilla
Carter, Robert
Carver, Catherine
Gov. John
Chandler, Isabella Chilton
Roger
Chilton, Ingle
Isabella
Isaac
Chilton, James
Jane
Mary
Mrs. James
Nicolas
Converse, Sarah
Cooke, Francis
Hester
Jacob
John
Sarah
Cooper, Humility
Crakston, John
Cromwell
Cushman, Robert
Thomas
Davis, W. T.
De La Noye, Philip
De Rassieres
Dean, Stephen
Dexter, Henry M.
Morton
Doane, Deacon John
Dotey, Edward
Earle, Alice Morse
Eaton, Francis
Sarah
Eliot, Charles W.
Ford, Widow Martha
Fuller, Ann
Bridget
Edward
Mercy
Samuel, Dr.
Samuel
William Hyslop
Goodman, John
Goodwin, John A.
Heald, Giles
Hicks, Robert
Mrs. Robert
Hobomok
Hopkins, Caleb
Constance, or Constanta
Damaris
Hopkins, Elizabeth
Giles
Oceanus
Ruth
Stephen
Howland, Elizabeth Tilley
Lydia (Brown)
John
Huiginn, E. V. J.
Jenny, John
Jeppson, William
William
Jones, Christopher, Capt.
Thomas, Capt.
Latham, William
Lister, Edward
Longfellow, Henry W.
Lord, Arthur, VI
Martin, Mrs. Christopher
Masefield, John
Massasoit
Minter, Desire
John
Thomas
William
More, Ellen
Richard
Morton, George
Juliana Carpenter
Mullins, Alice, Mrs.
Joseph
Moses
Priscilla
Sarah (Blunden)
William
William, Jr.
Newcomen, John
Oldham, John
Pabodie, Elizabeth Alden
William
Parker, Richard
Penn, Christian
Prence, Thomas
Priest, Degory
Reynolds, William
Rigdale, Alice
Robinson, Pastor John
Sampson, Alexander
Henry
Samoset
Snow, Nicholas
Soule, George
Southworth, Alice
Constant
Thomas
Squanto
Standish, Alexander
Barbara
Charles
John
Josiah
Lora or Lorea
Mary Dingley
Miles
Miles, Jr.
Rose
Taylor, Ann
Thompson, Edward
Thwing, Annie M.
Tilley, Ann
Bridget
Edward
Elizabeth
John
Tinker, Mrs. Thomas
Turner, John
Warren, Elizabeth
Richard
White, Peregrine
Resolved
Susanna
William
Williams, Roger
Thomas
Winslow, Edward
Elizabeth Barker
Elizabeth
John
John, Brig. Gen.
Josiah
Kenelm
Mary Chilton
Susanna
Winthrop, John
Wright, Priscilla Carpenter
William