The romantic story of the Mayflower pilgrims, and its place in the life of to-dayAddison, A. C. (Albert Christopher)
History
The romantic story of the Mayflower pilgrims, and its place in the life of to-day
Addison, A. C. (Albert Christopher)
Mayflower (Ship); Pilgrims (New Plymouth Colony)
Francis Billington, son of John and Eleanor, went out in 1620 with his
parents. In 1634 he married widow Christian (Penn) Eaton, by whom he had
children. He removed before 1648 to Yarmouth. He was a member of the
Plymouth military company in 1643. He died in Yarmouth after 1650.
John Billington was hanged[11] in 1630 for the murder of John Newcomen.
His widow, Eleanor, who went over with him, married in 1638 Gregory
Armstrong, who died in 1650, leaving no children by her. John
Billington, a son of John and Eleanor, born in England, died at Plymouth
soon after 1627.
[Illustration: _Photograph by A. S. Burbank, Plymouth_
GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S MONUMENT, BURIAL HILL, PLYMOUTH]
William Bradford, baptised in 1589 at Austerfield, Yorkshire, was a
leading spirit in the Pilgrim movement from its inception to its
absorption in the Union of the New England Colonies. We have seen how,
on the death of John Carver, he became the second Governor of Plymouth
Colony, and he five times filled that office, in 1621-33, 1635, 1637,
1639-44, and 1645-47, as well as serving several times as Deputy
Governor and assistant. A patent was granted to him in 1629 by the
Council of New England vesting the Colony in trust to him, his heirs,
associates and assigns, confirming their title to a tract of land and
conferring the power to frame a constitution and laws; but eleven years
later he transferred this patent to the General Court, reserving only to
himself the allotment conceded to him in the original division of land.
Bradford's rule as chief magistrate was marked by honesty and fair
dealing, alike in his relations with the Indian tribes and his treatment
of recalcitrant colonists. His word was respected and caused him to be
trusted; his will was resolute in every emergency, and yet all knew that
his clemency and charity might be counted on whenever it could be safely
exercised. The Church was always dear to him: he enjoyed its faith and
respected its institutions, and up to the hour of his death, on May 9,
1657, he confessed his delight in its teachings and simple services.
Governor Bradford was twice married, first, as we know, at Leyden in
1613 to Dorothy May, who was accidentally drowned in Cape Cod harbour on
December 7, 1620; and again on August 14, 1623, to Alice Carpenter,
widow of Edward Southworth. By his first wife he had one son, and by his
second, two sons and a daughter. Jointly with Edward Winslow, Bradford
wrote "A Diary of Occurences during the First Year of the Colony," and
this was published in England in 1622. He left many manuscripts, letters
and chronicles, verses and dialogues, which are the principal
authorities for the early history of the Colony; but the work by which
he is best remembered is his manuscript "History of Plymouth
Plantation," now happily, after being carried to England and lost to
sight for years in the Fulham Palace Library, restored to the safe
custody of the State of Massachusetts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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